Exploring Utopian Possibility in “The Mandorla Letters” – Chicago Review of Books

Exploring Utopian Possibility in “The Mandorla Letters” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] While award-winning creative flutist, composer, and bandleader Nicole Mitchell Gantt is no longer based in Chicago, she has certainly left a legacy. She was the first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and founder of the Black Earth Ensemble (BEE), “a musical celebration of the African American cultural … Read more

The Letters of Memory in “Cleave” – Chicago Review of Books

The Letters of Memory in “Cleave” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In an interview with Rappahannock Review, Holly Pelesky described the process of planning to write a memoir during her MFA program: “We discussed what it was I had to say and in doing so, recognized I stored my memories in objects or places—tangible places.” The resulting book, Cleave, is a memoir told through the … Read more

Dodie Bellamy’s “Bee Reaved” and “The Letters of Mina Harker” – Chicago Review of Books

Dodie Bellamy’s “Bee Reaved” and “The Letters of Mina Harker” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] One of the most stunning poems written out of grief is Hilda Morley’s “For Stefan 26 Months Later.” There, the poet imagines the grand gestures of loss, but is left, …wish[ing] only to see you sitting with me at a table & a red-and-white tablecloth between us, nothing more Morley’s poem cuts to the … Read more

Art and Culture on Their Own Terms in “Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the arts” – Chicago Review of Books

Art and Culture on Their Own Terms in “Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the arts” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “Sitting down to write a letter, with an addressee and signatory, is an intimate experience,” editors Christopher K. Ho and Daisy Nam write in the introduction of Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the arts. The pretext is deceptively simple: Ho, a visual artist, and Nam, a curator, invited Asian Americans, loosely defined, working … Read more