Dear Friends,

I am kind of stunned that it’s June already. How did that happen? I remember when I taught 7th and 8th graders, the 7th graders said the year had gone by so much faster than 6th grade. And the 8th graders said that too about 8th grade. I didn’t know whether or not to tell them that I think it just keeps getting faster. So, it’s ever more important to take time to appreciate a sunny day, a dramatic spring sky, friendship, and community.

I wanted to share some news from the spring and some reading recommendations for the summer.

Tribute to Valerie Boyd, my editor and friend:

In March, I published a tribute to Valerie Boyd, my editor and friend. Valerie passed on February 12, 2022, but her immense legacy as an editor, journalist, and biographer lives on in the legions of writers she edited and mentored.I have by my bedside Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, edited by Valerie and published in April. Boyd’s work as an editor centered Black and Brown women’s voices. In her introduction to Gathering Blossoms, Valerie explained she had “sought to be as inconspicuous as possible, to make myself your invisible friend, leaning in only occasionally to whisper an important fact, clarification, or recollection in your ear.” Editors work in collaborative, powerful, and often unseen ways. There are so few editors of color, even now.

What I’m Reading / Summer Recommendations:

I am really looking forward to delving into two novels. The first is Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s lyrical novel The Evening Hero, about a Korean immigrant in America questioning the so-called American dream. Marie is an author I’ve long-admired and The Evening Hero just got a rave review in the New York Times.I’m also looking forward to Vauhini Vara’s The Immortal King Rao, which takes place in a near-future run entirely by corporations, and follows a tech-CEO’s daughter as she tries to make sense of and connect with her father’s past.

I recommend Madhushree Ghosh‘s thoughtful and striking Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family, also published in April. I was never at all interested in food or cooking, but both the pandemic and Khabaar have made me think twice about food. Khabaar is about joy and grief and the living we do; it’s also a beautiful art object, with color photos and a striking interior layout. Ghosh’s memoir is about life and writing about food as grief-notes, love-notes: cooking as a way to bring back—to conjure and channel—our loved ones.
Finally, I recommend Gayatri Sethi’s wonderful debut, Unbelonging, which weaves verse and memoir together. In May, we spoke about finding and honoring mentors and literary guides, the Desi / African diasporas, and finding community and mentorship as writers beyond academia. You can watch the recording of our conversation/online Zoom event here.

Friendship, Publishing, & (it’s even hard to write the word) Shame:

I’ve been thinking about how important friendship and community are to any creative practice.
At the beginning of May, I contributed to a conversation, “Five Writers Weigh in on the Weird Shame of Publishing a Book,” curated by Jennifer Huang. I wrote about the people who helped and advised me through the process of publishing This Is One Way to Dance, and how powerful it is to have people who understand the value of creativity and artmaking on your side: “their generosity made those values visible to me again. Now, I’m doing what I can to support others.” You can read the full conversation with Kemi Alabi, Liz Asch, Alina Stefanescu, and my friend Stephen J. West here.

News:

Last week was the two-year anniversary of the release of This Is One Way to Dance. I can’t believe it’s been two years. Thanks for all of your excitement and encouragement through the publication process. And, BIG NEWS!!!! The audiobook version of This Is One Way to Dance comes out at the end of June. I’m excited to share the book in this new format. You’ll be able to access it on Audible or wherever you listen to audiobooks