I have a new piece out on JSTOR Daily about one of Samuel R. Delany’s early novels, The Ballad of Beta-2. Check it out!
On THE BALLAD OF BETA-2 by Samuel R. Delany
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Category Archives: Books
Children of the People
I am proud to be included in a newly published anthology of writings by CUNY students and faculty on race and social justice.
The Children of the People: Writings by and about CUNY Students on Race and Social Justice, edited by Rose M. Kim, Grace M. Cho, and Robin McGinty, is now available from DIO Press.
My contribution is a reprint of my essay on Audre Lorde, “Dear Sister Outsider.”
Back on September 15, 2022 I attended the book launch at the CUNY Graduate Center. This event page by the Center for the Humanities includes a full video of the reading, and more photographs from the event.
https://centerforthehumanities.org/programming/the-children-of-the-people-write
EDIT: I also meant to add this link to a recent podcast with some contributors to the volume. I will try to add more links about The Children of the People to this post as I find them.
https://indoorvoicespodcast.com/2022/11/14/episode-80-the-power-of-sharing-stories/
Lucille Clifton
Here is a new piece on JSTOR Daily about Lucille Clifton’s memoir Generations, just in time for the start of Black History Month.
Remembering Her Memories: Lucille Clifton’s Generations in Our Time
Occasional Views
I guess the theme of these new posts is: “Blogging About All of the Things That I Didn’t Blog About in 2022 Since I’ve Spent the Whole Year Chasing a Toddler Around.”
Anyway, back in March, I was fortunate to participate in this conversation with the great Samuel R. Delany, on the occasion of his two new books, Occasional Views, Volumes 1 and 2 (Wesleyan University Press), and to celebrate his 80th birthday which was on April 1, 2022. Thanks to Wesleyan UP publicist Stephanie Prieto who invited me, and Rain Taxi’s Eric Lorberer who organized the livestream, and to Chip, who graciously hosted us in his apartment in Philly. This was one of my most memorable events of the year.
(Yes, I was still rocking the COVID ‘fro which has since been cut down after two years.)
Nova (and more) by Centipede Press
It feels a little weird to post about a new book that is already out of print. But this volume deserves mention here, and I am grateful that I was able to play a small role in it.
I was invited by Centipede Press and Chip Delany to write an introduction to Nova for this special hardcover edition of the classic 1968 space opera. The edition features the full text of Nova by Samuel R. Delany (and tarot cards by Russell FitzGerald), an introduction by yours truly, and illustrations by Piotr Jabloński. There are only 300 copies of this edition, each of them numbered and signed by all three of us, and they all sold out pretty quickly.
However, there are regular copies of Nova readily available in paperback and e-book (via the author’s website).
Back in March I took a trip to Philly to do a virtual event with Chip (more about that in another post) where I signed the last of the Nova signature pages. (Chip took the following two photos.)
This unboxing video by a Centipede Press fan shows just how beautifully crafted this volume is:
I feel less weird posting about this now because there is another Chip Delany volume just out from Centipede. This gorgeous edition of Babel-17 and Empire Star has the two short novels published together, a tribute to the “Ace Double” format. It features an introduction by Lonely Christopher, and artwork by Vikki Zhang.
http://www.centipedepress.com/sf/babel17.html
Here’s another unboxing video, by a different Centipede fan, which shows this amazing volume.
THE BLACKADEMIC LIFE: THE BLOG 