There are many things I could talk about with this masterful novel. Rap, hip-hop, police brutality, racism, rebellion, young love, friendship, poverty, expectations, assumptions. But honestly who am I to speak to any of those things? What I will say is this: Any book that makes fun of White people this much is desperately needed.
Read MoreThis was one of those books that disappointed me masterfully, pushed against my expectations and desires at every turn. I’d beg for one thing and be shown another. I grew frustrated, anxious, and I lost hope for our main character often. But in the end, the story fit and I’m glad it didn’t go the way I wanted it to.
Read MoreAlthough Little Fires Everywhere was about the collision of two opposite families— sparks flying left and right as each character knocks against the others— it was to me a beautiful display of right and wrong: both right and wrong being done in the same moment.
Read MoreI found immense joy in moments along the refugee family’s journey when they stopped to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr— they eat rice and goat and dance under the stars.
Read MoreMarlon James’ BLACK LEOPARD RED WOLF is the most impressive book I’ve read thus far in my life.
Read MoreThis month, I spoke with the owners and staff at two bookstores— Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe in my current home of Bend, Oregon and Union Ave Books in my childhood home of Knoxville, Tennessee. I wanted to hear success stories and learn the ins and outs of how to start and run a bookstore. I’ve created a super informal “How-to Guide,” compiled at the end of this piece for all of you out there who have wanted to open your own slice of book-heaven, but did not know where to begin. And, above all else, I spent this time researching, talking, and writing to highlight exactly how bookstores flourish: by supporting and having support in their community.
Read MoreMany young writers, like myself, don’t know the first thing about getting published.
Why?
Because, either our writing programs didn’t teach us and/or because even successful writers don’t often talk about the process. And when publishing is talked about, it is often through a privileged lens— a lens that doesn’t help the majority of new writers reach their goals. So how do we help each other get published when we aren’t privileged? We learn by example.
I chose these writers to be our examples not simply based on their popularity and their relevance alone. It’s also more than that. I wanted to highlight not just how White men can get published, but how everyone else can get published too, including Black writers, Asian writers, women, non-Western writers/writers who tell non-Western stories, and LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) writers. This is important. White people, especially White men, have owned the publishing stage for centuries. But what about the rest of us?
This post is for the rest of us.
Read More“Educated” suggests that Dr. Westover’s education is complete. But I believe our work is never done.
Memoirs are a reflection not simply on what was, but how that affects what is. That reflection is missing in Dr. Tara Westover’s wildly popular memoir Educated. What she is missing out on is the opportunity to address a massive and impossible question: How can we improve education for everyone? This is a great moment for Dr. Westover to step up as a survivor and a potential leader, someone who can maybe help others in her situation, with bold ideas for change— brave, and again perhaps impossible solutions for girls who grew up like she did. But she doesn’t. She approaches the ledge, looks down, and then backs away. Accountability is key here. Dr. Westover is accountable for her beliefs AND for her silence in the lack of her beliefs.
I won’t settle not because I hate Tara Westover or her story. Quite the opposite. I won’t settle because I love Tara Westover. I love her as much as I can love a stranger, a fellow writer, a fellow woman. I’m here to challenge her because I care. Love is work, after all.
Read MoreBy studying the structure of first chapters, we end up talking everything from non-western vs western literature aesthetics, to discomfort, to the “writerly” image, to passion, to feminism, to reflection as an active force, to time and even physics.
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