Over at Buzzfeed, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah travels to James Baldwin’s home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, and explores his life as an expat. She writes, “Baldwin left the States for the primary reason that all emigrants do — because anywhere seems better than home.” Pair with Justin Campbell Millions essay on Baldwin and fatherhood.
James Baldwin, the Expat
Trump the Truth
“It is not normal for the President of the United States to refuse to offer even passing respect to the idea that telling the truth matters. It is not normal for the President to pretend that any news coverage he dislikes is ‘fake news’ that has been fabricated by the reporters who made up the story as well as their sources.”Because this is where we are, PEN America has issued Trump the Truth, a report on free expression during the President’s first 100 days. And in case you missed it, you must read our own Adam Boretz‘s review of Mark Lamont Hill‘s Nobody.
Drinking with Journalists
At the LARB, Scott Korb interviews Rosie Schaap, who offers up a theory that bars and churches are both a kind of “sanctified space.” To get more insight, you could also check out her Rumpus interview, or even go watch her mix cocktails with Kurt Andersen of NPR. (You could also just go buy her book.)
The Loneliness of the Icelandic Translator
Victoria Cribb is one of Icelandic literature’s “best-known” translators into English. Among the works she’s translated is The Blue Fox, which was selected by Nuruddin Farah in our Year in Reading series.
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Reality Slips
“I sensed myself hurtling into the reality of the film, and leaving my own behind.” Esme Weijun Wang writes on the slippage of reality in films and schizoaffective disorder.
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No, I Will Speak
“How had no one ever told me about (Othello‘s) Emilia, who, in only a couple of lines, brings down one of the most conniving, merciless villains in all of Western literature? How had no one told me about this fantastic female character who defies not one but two sword-wielding men in order to make sure Desdemona, her mistress and friend, receives justice? I wanted to rip up my diploma. I wanted to start over as a freshman and devote my entire undergraduate career to the Gospel of Emilia.” On Othello’s Emilia and her refusal to be silenced.