Guernica’s latest issue is devoted to the American South. As the issue’s introduction states, “The American South is at once a geographical distinction and a bright spot in the imagination, where burden vies with birthright, and where ignorance and renaissance exist side by side.” The issue features a Kiese Laymon essay on inequality and language, Ed Winstead on the Southern accent in writing, an interview with Jesmyn Ward, fiction, and more.
Guernica’s South
Writing Home About
"In Go Home! — a collection that feels particularly timely in the midst of attacks on immigrant families and communities — Asian diasporic writers are both thoughtful and generous in their reflections about who they are, where they have been, and where they belong." For Shondaland, Nicole Chung interviewed Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, the anthology's editor, and a few contributors (including Alexander Chee, Karissa Chen, T Kira Madden, and Esmé Weijun Wang) about what home means to them. Pair with: our review of Chee's The Queen of the Night and Wang's 2016 Year in Reading entry.
Villain’s Law
Over the weekend, Canada’s National Post ran a book review by our own Michael Bourne, who contributed a piece on Bright Lights, Big City this week. In the review, Michael reads Thomas King’s The Back of the Turtle, which he says reaffirms the rule that bad guys are always more interesting.
L337 5P34K, on the other hand…
"Slang is here to stay, not as the enemy of Standard English but as its partner."
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Epistolary Criticism
Full Stop’s book club is discussing the stories of Clarice Lispector throughout this week in an in-depth email exchange conducted by contributors Becca Rothfeld and Nathan Goldman. Pair with Magdalena Edwards‘s Millions review of the collection.