Uncovering Buried Roots: Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater
There are two ways to read Freshwater: there is the knowing and the unknowing.
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Posts by: Abigail Bereola
Where You Put It on the Line: A Conversation with Mychal Denzel Smith
Mychal Denzel Smith discusses his debut nonfiction book Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, how the activist space has changed in recent years, and who he is writing for.
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The Rumpus Interview with Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay discusses her new collection, Difficult Women, the problem with whiteness as the default and the need for diverse representation, and life as a workaholic.
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The Rumpus Interview with Brit Bennett
Brit Bennett discusses her debut novel The Mothers, investigating “what-if” moments, and navigating racism in white spaces.
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The Rumpus Interview with Yaa Gyasi
Yaa Gyasi discusses her debut novel Homegoing, growing up in Alabama, the multiplicity of black experiences, the legacy of slavery, and her writing process.
...moreReflecting Your Radicalism, No Matter the Cost
Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones), known for his poems, plays, and for the initiation of the Black Arts Movement, died on January 9th. Though there have been many articles talking about the man as legend, over at The New Yorker, Hilton Als discusses the man as human through the lens of Als’ personal relationships with […]
...moreA Period in the Age of Texting
As we consider the limits of English punctuation, we should also consider the place of the period. According to Ben Crair at The New Republic, the period no longer signifies a neutral end to a sentence, but in the age of texting and social media, it has come to signal anger. Through a series of conversations, […]
...moreThe Rights of Children
Every day, my friend Laura brightens up my Facebook news feed. A gifted writer and mother of three precocious children, she relays their conversations, poignant moments, and hilarious activities with style and wit. I love her children: the deep thoughtfulness of her son, her daughter’s sass, and the smushy cheeks on her baby. I have […]
...moreWhen All the Ice is Gone
National Geographic has created a pretty fascinating look at a world where all the glaciers have melted. Check out their interactive map. Or don’t. It’s kind of terrifying.
...moreCreative Contradictions
“My thoughts make cohesive sense to me, yet others sometimes feel that I am contradicting myself or switching positions. What is wrong with me?” On his website, Matthew Schuler writes about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book where he describes nine contradictory characteristics that are often found in creative people. Most creative people have a great deal of […]
...more“All Your Life is a Work of Art”
The Atlantic has been hosting a series called “By Heart,” where authors discuss their favorite quotes in literature. Edwidge Dandicat talks about her immigration experience and chooses a passage from a novel by Patricia Engels, which articulates that “trying to start a life in a strange land is an artistic feat of the highest order, […]
...moreGratitude
Even without a government shutdown, writers are not usually known to be a happy bunch. “Writers are too neurotic to ever be happy,” author Connie Willis once said. It is often necessary for writers to dwell in certain worlds and mindsets in order to get their message onto the page. Some might call it a […]
...moreDo Likable Characters Equal Likable Stories?
I wonder if that is the case for many of us. Perhaps, in the widespread longing for likable characters, there is this: a desire, through fiction, for contact with what we’ve armored ourselves against in the rest of our lives, a desire to be reminded that it’s possible to open our eyes, to see, to […]
...moreGenre on the Mind
Is the wiring of our brains related to how we write as individuals? Joyce Dyer thinks so. One student in the summer group said she could retain nothing of the substance of her dreams, but only their sensations. What a dream smelled like or tasted like was all that was left to her… [She was], […]
...moreFirst Time Author, Two New Books
Kiese Laymon is a first-time author with two new books out. We have linked to essays by him in the recent past. Both of these essays (“You are the Second Person” and “The Worst of White Folks”) are included in his new book, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, published last week. […]
...moreThe McSweeney’s Poetry Series: Victoria Chang’s The Boss
On August 5th from 6 to 7 PM, McSweeney’s will be hosting a poetry reading with Matthew Zapruder and Victoria Chang. It will be held at SPUR on 654 Mission Street in SF. If you’re in the area, you should join them! The event is free and there will be drinks! See more details here. A […]
...moreWriter’s Block? These TED Talks May Help
Aerogramme Writers’ Studio, a website based in Australia, recently compiled a list of “13 Inspirational TED Talks for Writers.” Included are talks by Chimamanda Adichie, Amy Tan, Billy Collins, John Green, and more. With one exception, each talk is twenty minutes or less. Watch them when writer’s block hits or if you’re interested in another […]
...moreTwo-Sentence Horror Stories
Last week, a Reddit user posed a question: “What is the best horror story you can come up with in two sentences?” The question received over 14,000 comments and Buzzfeed compiled twelve of the best. Some are a little unnerving and others are completely terrifying, but all are entertaining.
...moreA Non-Inclusive Feminism
Last week, we linked to Meghan Murphy’s essay detailing why she believes that marriage is an anti-feminist choice. But Ona Anosike has a different view. I feel as marginalized in the dominant patriarchal society as I am in the feminist movement… Yes, marriage can be accused of engaging in patriarchy, but it can also be a […]
...moreDon’t You Know White Folks Don’t Care If You Die?
In what ways are we responsible to each other, and what happens when we don’t accept that responsibility? What happens when we do not recognize each other as being worthy? This Gawker essay may be called “The Worst of White Folks,” but those are the questions it implicitly asks. The worst of me, I understand, […]
...moreDown with Marriage?
Meghan Murphy at xoJane thinks that marriage is a tool of patriarchy. To her, rejecting marriage is the feminist choice. Marriage has been an institution within which women have suffered abuse, rape, murder and forced reproduction. It’s an institution that guaranteed men a maid and someone to bear and raise their offspring. It’s not that […]
...more“You’re Not Surprised, Are You?”
“Imagine a life in which you think of other people’s safety and comfort first, before your own. You’re programmed and taught that from the gate. It’s like the opposite of entitlement.” In light of George Zimmerman’s recent acquittal, drummer and producer Questlove reflects on “pie in the face” moments and what it means for him […]
...moreA Man, His Mother, and the Ballet
Jesse Eisenberg, known for playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, has published a Shouts & Murmurs column at The New Yorker titled “My Mother Explains the Ballet to Me.” Characterized by one-sided, rapid-fire conversation, the result is a frank, humorous scene of a mother chastising her adult son at the ballet.
...moreYou Can’t Have A Revolution Unless You Make It For Yourself
When a book is read, the story is transferred from the writer to the reader. Occasionally, however, the reader is allowed a glimpse into what the author may have been thinking through letters or interviews. When George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, it was primarily meant to be “a satire on the Russian Revolution.” But there […]
...moreWhat Makes a Book Not Worth Finishing?
Is it that you don’t connect to the characters, or that the writing is weak? Maybe there’s one too many typos or the plot seems implausible. Goodreads has created an infographic about the most abandoned books (Fifty Shades of Grey is among them) and the reasons for their abandonment based on the book reviews left […]
...moreFrom Your Mother
Sylvia Plath is known as a writer and a poet, but she almost became a visual artist instead. Plath’s daughter, Frieda Hughes, who is also a painter and a poet, has created a book out of more than forty of her mother’s drawings. Hughes’ father, Ted Hughes, also drew. Hughes says, “I used to assume […]
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McSweeney’s McMullens, Lost Sloth, and J. Otto Seibold
McSweeney’s McMullens has published a new picture book for kids—Lost Sloth by J. Otto Seibold—and they want to celebrate! Join them on Sunday, July 14th, at the Lost Sloth Pop-Up Kids’ Book Shop at 849 Valencia for family-friendly fun and a huge sloth piñata. Seibold will be there to sign and draw in copies of the […]
...moreAfter 65 Years, “The Lottery” Endures
Since its publication in 1948, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson has become an American classic, appearing in high school classrooms, as well as in the hands and on the computers of people around the nation. On the 65th anniversary of the publication of “The Lottery,” Ruth Franklin at the New Yorker discusses the 300+ letters, most […]
...moreA Brief Look at Other Victories and Defeats
From SB5 in Texas to the Voting Rights Act to the defeat of DOMA, this has been a bittersweet week. But among all of the apprehension and excitement, a few things happened that you may have missed. We don’t usually cover politics too heavily on the Rumpus, but the flurry of judicial activity seems worth […]
...moreShakespeare’s Plays: Fact or Fiction?
Has Shakespeare become so intertwined with our culture that we find it hard to separate myth from reality? Dan Jones at the Telegraph writes about how many of Shakespeare’s historical portraits are tinged with his own biases and those of his sources. Discussing plays such as Henry VI and Richard II, Jones reminds readers that […]
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