What is the price of diversity? Colleen Muir asks this question at The Rumpus in relation to the hefty cost of writers’ conferences. A piece of her essay: “I’m not claiming that Breadloaf [sic] lacks for talent, or that its writers don’t have interesting things to say. But it certainly lacks for diversity in at least one significant way, because most attendees share a privileged experience of the world.” Pair with Gail Gauthier’s essay on working in the kitchen crew at Bread Loaf.
The Price of Diversity
Auditors Welcome
Historians N. D. B. Connolly and Keisha N. Blain have done us all a serious solid by assembling a syllabus of readings around “what many simply call ‘Trumpism’: personal and political gain marred by intolerance, derived from wealth, and rooted in the history of segregation, sexism, and exploitation.” The self-directed course contains readings from more than 100 scholars – including Audre Lorde, Aziz Ansari, and Ta-Nehisi Coates – and aims to “introduce observers to the past and present conditions that allowed Trump to seize electoral control of a major American political party.”
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“It was not intended to drive people crazy”
In a piece originally published in a 1913 edition of The Forerunner, Charlotte Perkins Gilman explains why she felt inspired to write “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
Ocean Vuong on Being a Participant in Creation
Ocean Vuong discusses the ideas surrounding language and creation that went into his most recent book, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.
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Free Wodehouse
PSA: Many of P.G. Wodehouse’s earliest stories are available in the public domain. (h/t Anna Wiener)
Let’s Get Ready to Reaaaaad
Recommended Reading (Super Welterweight Edition): Here’s a pair of articles to prepare you for tonight’s championship bout between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Still Kicking
How often do journalists unfairly stereotype the Rust Belt? All the time, says Jim Russell. In a piece for Pacific Standard, he argues that much of the reporting on Dayton, Flint and other industrial towns falls prey to hyperbole and generalization. (Related: Darryl Campbell on the recession and Rust Belt fiction.)
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A Fanfiction Guide
Fanfiction has been gaining mainstream popularity and cultural heft – just take our own Elizabeth Minkel‘s Year in Reading post as evidence. For those of us with less experience in the fic community, Vulture has assembled a comprehensive “Guide to the Fanfiction Explosion,” complete with infographics on Harry Styles fic, an explanation of why Annie Proulx isn’t thrilled about Brokeback Mountain spinoffs, and, of course, a syllabus for further reading.