Literary Events and a Walking Playlist
A walking playlist, Fluxblog's 1980 playlist , interviews with Anne Elizabeth Moore & Bethanne Patrick, and more
I went to a literary event yesterday with my friend Rachel (whose brilliant new novel Half-Life of a Stolen Sister is out this summer, more on that in a future newsletter). She suggested we meet a couple of miles from the bookstore and enjoy a walk in the beautiful spring weather.
I have always loved to walk, but having spent most of my life in the south, haven’t had many opportunities to stroll without dodging traffic. Living in NYC the past 11 years has spoiled me. I walk by the East River near my home in north Brooklyn. I meet my friend Gabi for walks in Williamsburg to talk politics and books. Walking clears my head, connects me to my home, offers me inspiration. I hear snippets of conversation, see colorful people, occasionally pet a cute dog.
Do you have a favorite book that features walking? I love Teju Cole’s Open City, where his protagonist wanders NYC throughout the novel.
Do you listen to music when you walk? Podcasts? Nature? I leave my headphones at home. Something about being immersed in the city’s sounds always mekaes me feel more alive.
The event was for our friend Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s impressive new YA novel, Hurt You, a modern take on John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. N. West Moss brought perceptive reader and writer perspectives as Marie’s conversation partner about the book, but the highlight was the young person who interviewed Marie at the end of the event. Daniel, a high school student already writing a book, offered insightful questions and seemingly limitless literary energy to the room. More readings should feature young people.
Have you been to any interesting literary events lately? What made them great?
A Walking Playlist:
This week’s themed playlist featutres songs about walking, or in a couple of cases, movement (physical, intellectual, or emotional). Do you have a favorite walking song?.
Largehearted Links
Fluxblog’s Summer 1980 playlist
This week’s playlist is THIS WAS SUMMER 1980, an interesting moment in time in which disco was dying down, new wave was thriving, rap and dancehall were being born, metal was ascendent, and no one knew what the 80s might be.
Kristopher Jansma’s history of having five literary agents
…I keep being asked about literary agents, by students and former students, and I keep telling this story because I want to help others avoid some of the mistakes I've made. My aim truly is to help my fellow writers figure out what they want from a relationship with an agent, and what’s OK to ask, and what’s good to hear, and what their expectations should be.Mississippi inmates are taking a class on blues music
Ledale Williams, 46, hometown Vicksburg, Miss.: "I never looked at the blues the way I look at the blues now. This is trials and tribulations just being here for almost 29 years since I was a child. So that's the blues in itself."Amy Key on the music of Jenny Lewis
Jenny is two years older than me. We’re basically at the same stage of life.Bethanne Patrick’s interview with Oldster
I overcame a serious form of mental illness, double depression, and proper treatment and self care have given me a new lease on life and a new ability to create.
Last Week’s LHB Feature Posts
Amy Key’s playlist for her memoir Arrangements in Blue
C. E. McGill’s playlist for their novel Our Hideous Progeny
Caroline Hagood’s playlist for her novel Filthy Creation
David van den Berg’s playlist for his poetry collection Imagine Your Life Like This
Frank Bill’s playlist for his novel Back to the Dirt
Jacqueline Vogtman’s playlist for her story collection Girl Country
Jane Wong’s playlist for her memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City
Johanna Hedva’s playlist for their novel Your Love is Not Good
Joshua James Amberson’s playlist for his essay collection Staring Contest