My visit to the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan/(October 27 – 29) included presentations from both The Marvellous Equations of the Dread and Notes From a Writer’s Book of Cures and Spells. I also had the honor of being a guest in Dr. Loretta Collins Klobah’s graduate class, “The Visual Imagination in Literature, Art and Video Art of the Caribbean and its Diaspora(s),” as well as teaching a creative writing workshop. Many thanks to Dr. Loretta Collins Klobah and the University of Puerto Rico for their hospitality.
JLF, 2016
The Jaipur Literature Festival brought many great writers and performers to Boulder, CO this year. I participated on panels with: Andrew Lam, Scott Haas, Suketu Mehta, Tim Z. Hernandez and Maina Chawla Singh (Walls and Bridges: The Immigrant Story); Jovan Mays, Carolyn Finney and Arthur Flowers (Black Lives: A Dream Deferred?); Michael Patrick MacDonald, Amrit Kaur Lohia and Manuel Ramos (Race, Class and Gender); and Carolyn Finney, Arthur Flowers, Tim Z. Hernandez and Maeve Conran (African-American and Latino Voices.) Thank you, JLF.
Home: An Imagined Landscape
Marjorie Agosin, poet and Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Wellesley College, has edited a beautiful collection of essays, Home: An Imagined Landscape (Solis Press, 2016) about place and displacement and the immigrant experience. I am honored to have my piece, “Girl in the Ring,” included. https://www.amazon.com/Home-Imagined-Landscape-Marjorie-Agos%C3%ADn/dp/1910146188
Rex Nettleford Arts Conference/Kingston, Jamaica
Just got back from EMCART! I presented with two very interesting writer/artists–Alecia Mckenzie and Loretta Collins Klobah. We spoke on “Children and Art: What We Learn From Our Mothers.” Four of my art dolls were on exhibit– “Sister Story-Ma,” “Alva,” “Millie Donovan,” and “Willa,” alongside my daughter’s photography. Alecia and Loretta exhibited work alongside their daughters’ art as well. Plenty thanks to EMCART–“growing the arts: breaking boundaries.”
Jaipur Literature Festival
JLF came to Boulder, CO this fall– a feast of local and international writers. Great to see world literature center stage in the Rockies, and to meet so many wonderful writers. Laura Pritchett moderated as Namita Gokhale, Hannah Nordhaus and I shared thoughts on fiction, memory and the imagination. It was meaningful too, to share spoken word connections with Vikram Chandra, Linda Hess, Christi Merrill and Claudia Cragg. And later, I met four very powerful women who are in the business of “raising the spirits”– Linda Hogan, Debra Magpie Earling, Lisa Jones and Elizabeth Fenn. Thank you, Jaipur!
Junot Diaz & Edwidge Danticat Condemn Deportation of Haitians
Let us join Junot Diaz and Edwidge Danticat in protesting the deportation of Haitians from the Dominican Republic. Read about the June 24 rally in Miami:
So meaningful to see writers as activists. This is a call for all of us to join forces.
The Chibok Girls
Over 200 girls are still missing in Nigeria. It has been a whole year since the Chibok girls were abducted.
Sign a petition to help:
“Boy with a Water Gun in his Schoolbag”
You can listen to me read this story here:
Dedicated to schoolchildren everywhere.