A new generation of African women writers are taking on the task of narrating their histories and imagining their futures. For the Christian Science Monitor, Ryan Lenora Brown delves into the ways these writers are rewriting the historical epic. “This is a generation [of African writers] that isn’t just writing about colonialism and postcolonialism, or just looking at African governance and its failures,” says Petina Gappah, a Zimbabwean writer and author of the novel, Out of Darkness, Shining Light. “We write history. We write romance. We write science fiction. In this generation we have gained the freedom to write about the things that American and European authors write about, which is to say anything we choose.”
A New Generation of Historical Epics
Delaney Nolan Photographs New Orleans
I’m thinking about installing a Delaney Nolan bat signal to alert the world of her new work whenever it appears. Previously I’ve evangelized about her writing in Guernica, Necessary Fiction, Sundog Lit, and The Rumpus, but this time I’d like to call attention to her photo essay about New Orleans in the latest issue of Oxford American.
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Jesmyn Ward Two-fer
Electric Literature’s posted a story by Jesmyn Ward, author of the reigning National Book Award-winning novel Salvage the Bones, as part of their ongoing Recommended Reading series. It’s worth checking out. Likewise, I recommend getting your hands on the latest issue of Oxford American so you can check out Ward’s inaugural “Native Daughter” column.
Oscar Wilde’s Love Letters Discovered
“No dress, just ourselves and a flask of Italian wine”; “Till Thursday night. This is all wrong, isn’t it.” A collection of love letters written by Oscar Wilde to a young male magazine editor have been discovered.
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DFW a Year Later
David Foster Wallace died a little more than a year ago. It’s a good time to revisit Garth’s excellent piece written shortly after Wallace’s death. More recently, No Pun Intended published a long reflection on Wallace.
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Transitions
In the latest issue of The Walrus, Casey Plett reads a number of books involving transgender people, critiquing several aspects of their depictions. Along with the essay, she provides a list of transgender novels everyone should read, including Nevada by Imogen Binnie and Wanting in Arabic by Trish Salah.
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The First Banned Book in America
Thomas Morton, an English businessman who had a knack for riling up Puritans, was the author of the first book explicitly banned in the United States.
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