Post Election Edition
Dear Friends,
I hope you are experiencing some relief to be on this side of the election. And yes, we have a long way to go to end structural racism, the pandemic, and the myriad other ills that ail us. Nevertheless, this was a long, hard fought battle. For all that you have done to strengthen our communities and our democracy, I send huge, heartfelt thanks.
Despite intense ups and downs, the last few weeks have been full ones for me. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at Malvern Books in Austin Texas, with five gifted writers of color. The panel was called: Brown in America: Community, Culture and Code and has been uploaded to YouTube.
I am delighted to share some new work as well.
A review of French/Senegalese writer David Diop's novel At Night All Blood is Black [translated by Anna Moschavakis] in Words Without Borders. In a furious reversal of right and wrong, this book demands an accounting of colonial oppression and its fallout.
A review of French journalist Delphine Minoui's The Book Collectors [translated by Lara Vergnaud] on NPR; the poignant and heartbreaking story of a library rising from the rubble of Assad's Syrian war.
A review of Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett's The Upswing on NPR; an examination of how America became more egalitarian following the Gilded Age, which was characterized by gross inequities similar to our own.
A review of Tom Zoellner's The National Road on NPR; a wonderful collection of essays that reads like an Atlas Obscura of the US of A.
And....
ICYMI (from the October 7 edition) A personal essay about transitioning from my job, and homelessness, and a few other things after the late great John Prine's song, Hello in There.
ICYMI (from the October 7 edition) A blog about my forthcoming novel, Three Muses.
Wishing you and your families good health and joy, and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Love,
Martha