Jamaica Kincaid vs. Roxane Gay
Over the transom.
1. Jamaica Kincaid.
“After a 10-year hiatus, Caribbean author Jamaica Kincaid, most known for At the Bottom of the River, is returning to the literary scene with last week’s release See Now Then and making a stop at Printers Row on Feb. 21 to speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune columnist Mary Schmich about the novel and Kincaid’s career. This will be the author s only Chicago appearance related to the release.”
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See Now Then Reviews:
* New York Times: The Marriage Has Ended; Revenge Begins.
* USA Today: One Quirky Read.
* Los Angeles Times: Jamaica Kincaid Scrolls Through Time.
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See also:
* New York Times: Never Mind The Parallels, Don’t Read It As My Life.
* Tribune/Printers Row Preview: Read It As Her Life.
2. Roxane Gay.
“Roxane Gay, a talented writer and editor, will visit Roosevelt University to read fiction and nonfiction selections at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, at Roosevelt University’s Gage Gallery, 18 S. Michigan Ave.
“Gay is the author of Ayiti, a collection of fiction and essays about the Haitian diaspora experience.
“She is also the co-editor of PANK, a non-profit literary arts collection founded in 2006 that promotes access to emerging and experimental poetry and prose.”
Here’s Gay last May in New York City:
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3. Chicago Writers Conference Kicking Off Quarterly Events At Open Books.
“Join us for an evening of speculative fiction! This month, we kick off our quarterly events at Open Books bookstore. Join us on Thursday, February 28 for an evening of short readings hosted by Hugo and Nebula Award nominated author William Shunn. This evening will feature science fiction, fantasy, and horror readings by local authors. This free event gets underway at 6:30 p.m.”
Here’s Shunn reading “an epic science fiction poem” inspired by Jay-Z, from a Tuesday Funk reading in Chicago.
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4. Applied Word Series.
“The Guild Literary Complex and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble are pleased to present an evening of performance, poetry, and visual art inspired by the poetry and mysticism of Rumi.
“‘A Night of Love’ includes a gallery of visual art, poetry reading, and a series of short segments from ‘Touch’ – a forthcoming performance by Chicago Danztheater Ensemble based on the work of Rumi. Please join us at 7 p.m. on March 9 at the Fulton Street Collective as we celebrate love and poetry.”
Featured poets include: Senyo Ador, Bobby Biedrzycki, L’Oreal Patrice Jackson, Teresa Kuruvilla and John Sacelli.
Featured performers include: Jack Ryan, Wannapa P-Eubanks, Ellyzabeth Adler, Lisa Leszczewicz, Amy Swanson and Momar Ndiaye (Klou).
Featured visual artists include: David Sarallo and Joshua Longbrake.
5. National Book Award Finalist.
“Cynthia Huntington’s Heavenly Bodies is a fearless and exacting exploration of illness, addiction, abuse, and the waning of American idealism,” the National Book Foundation says. “These poems are unblinking in the face of dark subject matter, and surprising in their capacity for hope, for grace. Huntington’s speakers are as vast and compassionate – as empathetic and multitudinous – as Whitman’s, and they sing of the beauty and seductive brutality of survival in a world perpetually ‘alight with new dangers.'”
Publisher of Heavenly Bodies: Southern Illinois University Press.
Just click here for video, an excerpt and more useful links.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on February 14, 2013