Permission, Encouragement, and Proof in “Body Work” – Chicago Review of Books

Permission, Encouragement, and Proof in “Body Work” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The four essays in Body Work, the new book by Melissa Febos, pull at several underlying power struggles that are inherent in acts of creative writing: vulnerability risks judgment, writing your side of the story privileges your memories and perspective over others in the story, presenting a perspective at odds with hegemonic forces invites … Read more

An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South” – Chicago Review of Books

An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The artist Winfred Rembert accomplished unbelievable things in his seventy-five years, and he was the first to admit how unbelievable they seemed. But he wants you to know what drove him from picking cotton at age nine to being a local basketball star to surviving a lynching, working chain gangs, and gaining renown as … Read more

Unifying the Female Self in “Girlhood” – Chicago Review of Books

Unifying the Female Self in “Girlhood” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] After a storytelling show a couple of years ago, years after the Weinstein news was everywhere, I mentioned to a group of women who gathered around me after my performance that I had been sexually assaulted twice in my twenties. My point wasn’t to discuss my harm. My point, I went on to tell … Read more