For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] In Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights, historian Dylan Penningroth points to the journey towards civil rights for Black Americans beginning “in the fields and cabins of slaves.” Here, in the thick of Antebellum slavery, slaves crafted a knowledge of the law through acts such as accumulation and claims of … Read more
[ad_1] Kelly Link’s fiction always brings to my mind the old-timey phrase “spinning a yarn.” Although I’ve learned this idiom has nautical origins, for me, it evokes spindles, spinning wheels, and the realm of folktales. And while Link tends to reinvent her own style so that no two stories are alike, all of them can … Read more
[ad_1] In the latest episode of The Chicago Writers Podcast, Dan Finnen talks with Sarah Terez Rosenblum, author of Herself When She’s Missing, about using teaching to learn craft, knowing when to share your work, giving yourself permission to say “I don’t know,” and more! The Chicago Writers Podcast is a Stories Matter Foundation series … Read more
[ad_1] Tara M. Stringfellow’s newest novel, Memphis, captures the beauty of Black culture and how beauty is perceived by her characters. The brutality of life strips beauty away so quickly and so permanently that storytellers often pair beauty with trauma as if they are two sides of the same coin. Stringfellow manages to avoid those … Read more
[ad_1] In 1830, President Andrew Jackson, a former Army general with the nickname “Indian Killer,” signed into law one of the most cruel pieces of legislation ever aimed at an Indigenous people, the “Indian Removal Act.” Over sixty thousand Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek were forced to flee their lands, centuries-old dwelling places now … Read more
[ad_1] For Hawa Allan, history is a recurring nightmare. “Does this sound dramatic?” she asks in the beginning of her book Insurrection: Rebellion, Civil Rights, and the Paradoxical State of Black Citizenship. “I don’t care, because it’s true.” Allan is a lawyer, but also a writer of fiction and poetry. She is a lecturer at … Read more
[ad_1] Haunted by stories he hears while on jury duty, a documentary filmmaker finds himself in an abandoned mall at the dead of night. My fault. As usual. “Documentary filmmaker,” the prosecutor said, not looking at me or any of the other prospective jurors. He wasn’t even looking at his legal pad, only … Read more
[ad_1] Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel, The Other Black Girl, is set in the predominantly white and fiercely competitive world of publishing. Nella Rogers is Wagner Books’ only Black employee, so she’s thrilled when another Black woman, Hazel, is hired. Initially, the women bond, but soon everything shifts, and Nella finds herself at the bottom … Read more
[ad_1] Open Water, the debut novel by Caleb Azumah Nelson, begins when a barber notices the unnamed protagonist exchanging gazes in the mirror with a woman getting her hair cut. The barber says: “You two are in something. I don’t know what it is, but you guys are in something. Some people call it a … Read more
[ad_1] A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, features Hanif Abdurraqib’s considerable talents as a poet, essayist and thoughtful social commentator. Reading this book reminded me of listening to the late-night DJs of my youth—I especially remember Alison Steele, the Nightbird—who used songs as the starting point to improvise a jazz … Read more