In the beginning of 2014 I made a public pledge to read only writers of colour for a year. My decision was inspired by Lilit Marcus’s essay, “Why I Only Read Books by Women in 2013,” and by a lifetime of reading mostly works by white authors and not finding myself in the books that I read. In my original post I said many things about my decision but I think the last paragraph sums it pretty well. “I’m choosing to spend the year reading only books by writers of colour, because I want to read more deeply. Because as a…
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Reading at the Wonderful Women Writers Series
I’m reading at the Wonderful Women Writers Series on February 27th, at 5:00pm with Elizabeth Ruth. The event is sponsored by the Centre for Women’s Studies in Education at OISE/University of Toronto and will be hosted by their current writer-in-residence, Dr. Nora Gold. The centre is (from their website) “committed to promoting, supporting, and enriching feminist work at OISE and UofT; and connecting scholarship, education, and activism through constructive and critical dialogues with feminist communities locally, nationally, and globally.” So it’s a great honour to be be invited to read at this series and to be paired with the lovely Elizabeth Ruth.…
Letting Go of Books and Houses
Last week my mother and her partner moved to a new temporary home, leaving behind the house she had lived in for the past thirty years, the house my father had planned and built before he passed away. Sean, Baby and I moved with them, at least for the next few days before going back to Canada. I wrote the following post in December, when the idea that the house would soon be torn down didn’t fully sink in. Then I got busy—packing, cleaning, teaching workshops, visiting friends and family—and I never got around to publishing this. Now, one day…
Mini-Tour in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa and Other News
Exciting news! I’m going on another mini-tour on the first week of February. I will be reading from The Best Place on Earth and speaking about my experience as an Israeli of Yemeni descent and about writing Mizrahi stories. There will also be some time for a Q & A and books for sale. Oh, and did I mention that it will take place in licensed venues? So you can have a glass of wine and a snack with it? The event is called “Say it Again, Say Something else,” after one of the stories in the book. New Israel…
Why I Choose to Only Read Books by Writers of Colour in 2014
When I came across, “Why I Only Read Books by Women in 2013,” by Lilit Marcus, I wished that I’d thought of it. The meme of listing ten books that made the most impact on us had just gone viral on Facebook and I was saddened by the number of lists dominated by white, male writers. When I wrote my own list on FB, I listed only books by women. Not because I wasn’t influenced by male writers. I was. Hugely. Chekov, and Garcia and Nabokov all blew my mind when I was growing up. But because everyone already listed…
On Meeting Jhumpa Lahiri
I went to see Jhumpa Lahiri on Sunday at a free event put up by The Toronto Library. I’ve been a Lahiri fan since I read her first book, The Interpreter of Maladies. It was one of the first books I read in English. I bought it years ago at the Chapters on Robson in Vancouver, and I loved it. I remember thinking that maybe one day I’ll get back to writing short fiction. That maybe one day I’ll publish a book. I don’t know if it had even occurred to me to write in English at that point. It’s…
Every Year is the Year of the Short Story
I’ve been meaning to sum up my YoSS year (The Year of the Short Story) for a while, but have been too distracted by travel and writing and edits and life. It’s also possible that I’ve been slightly intimidated by writing anything that may resemble a book review. I admit: it’s a problem. I’m one of those silent members at Goodreads who rate books without ever saying a word about them. My friend, Jay, who is one of their top reviewers, actually threatened to unfriend me if I don’t start reviewing books. I promised to try. So far I’ve done…
Celebrating YoSS
YoSS. Not a short for Yossi, but the Year of the Short Story, which lucky for us, is this year, 2011. YoSS is the brainchild of three accomplished short-story writers, Jessica Westhead, Sarah Selecky, and Matthew J. Trafford, who felt it was time for the short story to get some good press. From their website: “Yoss aims to unite fellow writers and readers everywhere in one cause—to bring short fiction the larger audience it deserves.” If there’s ever been a revolution I wanted to take part in is this one. (Okay, there are a couple other revolutions I’d really like…