AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our May book club selections are Real Americans by Rachel Khong and With My Back to the World by Victoria Chang. We will be in conversation with Rachel on May 29th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is now open.I hope you can join us! Conversation date with Victoria, TBA! If you missed our conversation with Emily Raboteau, you can watch it now.
THE NEWSLETTER WEEK IN REVIEW
PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL NEWS
On May 11th, I am hosting a novel writing bootcamp at Rutgers. The day features one-hour workshops from acclaimed novelists Jami Attenberg, Gretchen Felker-Martin, James Hannaham, and Brandon Taylor. There will also be a masterclass by Benjamin Dreyer, the chief copy editor of Random House for more than thirty years, on how to copy edit yourself and produce tight, clean prose, and a session with literary agent Johanna Castillo on what to expect when you're expecting an agent. The day ends "The ABCs of Novel Writing," a workshop led by me on taking a novel from idea to finished book. Register HERE!
On May 14th, I will be in conversation with artist Carolina Caycedo about her instillation, Spiral for Shared Dreams. The event is free.
June 7-9, I will be participating in The Loft’s 50th anniversary weekend, with intensive classes, a conversation with me and three Roxane Gay Books authors, and agent/editor consultations and pitches. Minneapolis is quite lovely in June.
My essay series, Roxane Gay Presents, with Everand has launched. First up: Julia Turshen with Built For This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting and in this video, you will learn about the queer powerlifting club she started. The second essay in this series is: You Are a Teen Mom: Instructions by Randa Jarrar. You can learn more about Randa in this video. The third essay in this series is My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living by Gabrielle Bellot. The fourth essay in this series is Good Girls: Notes on Dog Rescue by Elaine Castillo. The final essay, by me, is called Stand Your Ground, and it will be out at the end of May.
Megan Pillow and I wrote a little book about power called Do The Work: A Guide About Power and Creating Change. It will be out in June of this year. Pre-order, now!
READING MATERIAL
College students on campuses around the country continue to protest. Columbia brought in the police after students occupied Hamilton Hall and renamed it Hinds Hall. At UCLA, counterprotestors inexplicably had hours to attack the pro-Palestinian encampment while the police did… nothing. UPenn asked the Philly PD to intervene on their campus but the police… declined? At the University of Mississippi, well, things went as you might expect. At Dartmouth, the former chair of the Jewish Studies program has been banned from campus for… protecting students. Meanwhile, Brown says it will vote on divestment in the fall which, of course, is not divestment but it’s something. NYPD also swept the campus of CCNY in a stupidly militaristic show of force. Student journalists aka journalists have proven themselves far better-equipped to report on these stories than mainstream media. The Pulitzer Prize board has made a statement in support of the Columbia University journalists. Anyway, protest on campus is NOT NEW.
The Onion really doesn’t miss.
Did you NYPD makes sizzle reel videos to hype themselves? It’s so fucking embarrassing. Like… yeesh. BRING SHAME BACK.
RIP Paul Auster. And Lucy Sante offers an appreciation of Auster’s work.
The 2024 Tony nominations are out!
Sometimes popular scientists make things sound cool, but in giving shallow, sometimes non-scientific or accurate information, they are doing real harm.
A summary of journalists’ rights when covering protests.
Brittney Griner shares some of what she endured while being held prisoner in Russia. And she has a new memoir that tells more of that story. And J. Wortham wrote a lovely, lovely piece about Griner and her captivity.
Another day, another set of allegations against Kevin Spacey. This guy….
Willow Smith had a tiny desk concert.
In other music news, Kendrick Lamar and Aubrey Graham are beefing and it’s not even a contest. Damn.
Across the pond in London, Sadiq Kahn has won his third term as mayor.
It’s always interesting to see these features on a certain kind of writer. I feel so old.
Extreme militias are using Facebook to coordinate their bullshit.
Despite the Republican control of Congress, Hakeem Jeffries is getting things done.
Looks like dating is pretty challenging when men can’t make plans.
The 1864 abortion ban thing in Arizona has been repealed.
Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian rapper, has been sentenced to death for protesting.
A profile of cookbook editor Judith Jones. A profile of Judith Butler. A profile of Deb Haaland. How Anna Sale gets it all done. A review of Alice Wong’s Disability Intimacy. A remembrance of Helen Vendler.
Brian Cox, professional hater.
Did you know there is a secret history of the Vatican and IVF? Neither did I!
Lauren Groff’s new bookstore in Florida is open!
The Valley, a new entrant into the Vanderpump Cinematic Universe is… good?
The new trends in streaming storytelling. Werewolves! Billionaires! Oh my!
In Italy, Sicily sold homes for a euro and this is what happened next.
Growing older and gaining weight and navigating gay culture.
The U.S. is going to ease restrictions on marijuana which is, like, legal in a lot of states anyway.
Total nightmare scenario for a writer aka why I don’t write in the cloud.
Can I ask how you do save your work, if not in a cloud based platform? I’m a writer who uses Google docs, but now that has been added to my ever growing anxiety list !
Omg I totally missed that the Onion piece was an Onion piece and thought it was real. And you know what…it could’ve been!