Dear Literature

In this episode, Vanessa and Alyssa discuss All the Rage by Rosamond S. King (Nightboat Books). V-book: https://rosamondsking.black/V-Book

CN: Violence against Black people; police violence; gun violence; rape/sexual assault

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media Mentioned:

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead (Catapult)

Some of My Best Friends by Tajja Isen (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster) - 029: First-Half 2022 Releases

018: Buddy Reads: Yolk

013: Buddy Reads: Wound from the Mouth of a Wound

"Going It Alone" by Rahawa Haile (Outside)

“My Disability Forced Me to Become More Visible in my Work as a Translator” by Amanda Sarasien (Electric Literature)

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Phillyaw, performed by Janina Edwards (Tantor Media / West Virginia University Press)

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur (Honford Star)

Violets by Kyung-sook Shin, trans. Anton Hur (Feminist Press)

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee, trans. Anton Hur (Bloomsbury)

In this episode, Alyssa and Vanessa chat about post-grad life, including current/recent reads, planned writing projects, employment, hobbies, and more!

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media Mentioned:

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard (HarperTeen)

CN: War (colonialism), violence, police violence, death, alcohol use

Incendiary + Illusionary by Zoraida Córdova (Disney-Hyperion)

Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab (Tor Books)

CN: war, violence, death, alcohol use, sexual content

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake (Tor Books)

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery/Saga Press)

CN: violence

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor)

CN: Death, racism/colorism, violence, police violence

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han (Counterpoint Press)

CN: Drug use (weed)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (Tor Books)

CN: Violence, war

Linguistic Revival: How Japan Restored the Native Ainu Language with “AI Pirika” by Keona Blanks (Rewired)

In this episode, Alyssa and Vanessa discuss Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From The Twenty-First Century, edited by Alice Wong (Vintage).

Essays Discussed:

“The Erasure of Indigenous People in Chronic Illness” by Jen Deerinwater

CN: Settler colonialism, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, erasure, sexual assault, violence, suicide, suicidal ideation

“While You Are Waiting to Be Healed” by June Eric-Udorie

“The Isolation of Being Deaf in Prison” by Jeremy Woody

CN: Sexual assault, language deprivation, isolation, incarceration, trauma, audism

“Common Cyborg” by Jillian Weise

CN: Hate, misogyny, harassment, rape threats, death threats, racis, suicide, sterilization, ableism, eugenics

“How to Make a Paper Crane from Rage” by Elsa Sjunneson

“Why My Novel Is Dedicated to My Disabled Friend Maddy” by A. H. Reaume

“So. Not. Broken.” by Alice Sheppard

"The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by Disabled People" by s.e. smith

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media Mentioned:

Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology, edited by Alex Hernandez, Matthew David Goodwin, and Sarah Rafael García (Mad Creek Books)

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor)

“I Needed to Know if My Favorite Books Were Products of Cultural Appropriation” by Cindy Fazzi (Electric Literature)

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Tor)

Vanessa and Alyssa discuss their more anticipated releases for the first half of 2022

"Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2022" & "61 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2022" by R.O. Kwon

I. The Octopus Museum by Brenda Shaughnessy | Odes to Lithium by Shira Erlichman | Deadline City | Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - II. Constellation Route by Matthew Olzmann | Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez | Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi | Violeta by Isabel Allende | The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn, trans. by Martin Aitken | Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu | Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, trans. Sarah Booker | Reclaim the Stars: Seven Tales Across Time and Space, ed. Zoraida Córdova | Gallant by V.E. Schwab | The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories edited and collected by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang | Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library by Amanda Oliver | "Library as Infrastructure" by Shannon Mattern | The Promise of Access by Daniel Greene | Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong | Night Sky with Exit Wound | True Biz by Sara Nović | Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li | Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service by Tajja Isen |The Trees Witness Everything by Victoria Chang | Siren Queen by Nghi Vo | Empress of Salt and Fortune |Swallowed Light by Michael Wasson | Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera | Woman of Light: A Novel by Kali Fajardo-Anstine | Sabrina & Corina | III. "Why PhDs Need to Study Creative Writing" by Anthony Ocampo | Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses

In this episode, Alyssa and Vanessa review their 2021 in books and writing.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media Mentioned:

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong (McElderry Books)

“Twitter vs. MFA” by Denne Michele Norris (Electric Literature)

Wound from the Mouth of a Wound by torrin a. greathouse (Milkweed Editions)

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatatil (Milkweed Editions)

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (One World)

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (McElderry Books)

When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Díaz (Copper Canyon Press)

A House Made of Water by Michelle Lin (Sibling Rivalry Press)

Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal by Wendy S. Walters (Sarabande Books)

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet Books)

Spinning by Tillie Walden (First Second)

Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay (BOA Editions)

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang (One World)

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Usborne)

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (Copper Canyon Press)

Having a Coke With Godzilla by Kazumi Chin (Sibling Rivalry Press)

“Lydia Davis on How Translation Opens a Writer’s Mind” by Lydia Davis (Literary Hub)

“Baba Yaga Is a Lesbian” by Mallory Pearson (Electric Literature)

Vanessa and Alyssa discuss Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal by Wendy S. Walters (Sarabande Books).

CN: Racism (anti-Black), enslavement, classicism, gentrification, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, violence (gang, gun, police), death

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (Simon & Schuster)

CN (so far): Racism (anti-Black, including use of slurs), enslavement, Jim Crow, murder, violence, spousal abuse, drug use (mostly meth and prescription drugs), child neglect, abandonment, incarceration, terminal illness (cancer), animal death

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)

CN: Anti-Asian racism

The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (Erewhon Books)

CN: Death, suicide, violence (including gun violence), gore, medical trauma, manipulation and gaslighting, graphic language

We Won't Move: A Living Archive

"A Cyborg Manifesto" by Donna Haraway

“Why Don’t American Schools Value Creativity?” by Erin Crosby-Eckstine (Catapult)

CN: Mention of emotional abuse in an intimate partner relationship, anti-Black racism, institutional oppression

Imani Barbarin (Crutches&Spice)

“Starting Testosterone During Ramadan Led Me to the Sacred in My Trans Self” by Zeyn Joukhadar (Catapult)

In this episode, Alyssa and Vanessa discuss the global supply chain issues and how they're affecting the book publishing industry.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media:

Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin (Feminist Press)

CN: Sexism, slavery, forced institutionalization, murder, child death, emotional abuse, illness (cancer), sexual content

“Forget Billionaires! The Future Of Literary Magazines Depends On Us” by Denne Michele Norris (Electric Literature)

@firstdraftpod, “Books and the Great Supply Chain Disruption”

“The Book Biz Tries to Avoid Supply Chain Disruptions” by Jim Milliot (Publishers Weekly)

“‘The Beginning of the Snowball’: Supply-Chain Snarls Delay Books” by Elizabeth A. Harris (The New York Times)

”Supply Chain Issues Are Slowing Down the Production of Books Ahead of the Holidays” by Petra Mayer (NPR)

”Two Acclaimed Writers on the Art of Revising Your Life” on The Ezra Klein Show (The New York Times)

Transcript for this podcast episode

"Why I Paid Tenfold to Buy Back the Rights to Two of My Books" by Kiese Laymon (Literary Hub)

CN for both the podcast and the essay: Death (specifically COVID-death), health anxiety; Podcast: racism (specifically anti-Black), fatphobia, sexual assault of minors

“My Mom, Princess Diana, and Me” by Matt Ortile (Catapult)

CN: Death & grief

For this week's Buddy Reads, Vanessa and Alyssa discuss recent science fiction release The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (they/them) from Erewhon Books.

CN: Death, suicide, violence (including gun violence), gore, medical trauma, manipulation and gaslighting, graphic language

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

"Forty-One False Starts" by Janet Malcom (The New Yorker)

“The Next Word” by John Seabrook (The New Yorker)

“Imitation Games” by Franny Choi (Gulf Coast)

In this episode, Alyssa and Vanessa talk about their experiences in writing workshops.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media:

Sonnets by Bernadette Mayer (Tender Buttons)

“The Endless Life Cycle of Book Cover Trends” by Alana Pockros (AIGA Eye on Design)

“A New Take on Publishing: Giving More Writers Transparency and Power” by Carolyn Kellog (Shondaland)

Vanessa and Alyssa discuss YA thriller Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé in this week's Buddy Reads.

CN: Racism and white supremacy (anti-Black), homophobia, violence, bullying, stalking, gaslighting, attempted suicide, mention of rape, drugging of a minor, incarceration, capital punishment, police brutality, racial slurs, alcohol use (Note: All of these involve minors)

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dearlitpod

Media:

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao (Bloomsbury YA)

"Faster Than We Thought: What Stories Will Survive Climate Change?” by Omar El Akkad (Literary Hub)