Caroline Randall Williams, author of Lucy Negro, Redux, wrote a widely-shared piece for the New York Times opinion section on June 26. Williams’ must-read piece lyrically addresses the violent legacy of slavery and the American confederacy.
Heather McHugh’s Muddy Matterhorn was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review on June 24: “McHugh demonstrates her genius with language in a non-elitist way. . . . her poems teach us to look again and beckon us to find the enigmatic wisdom in the messy highs and lows of living.” Katherine Hill’s A Short Move was also reviewed on June 26: “[Hill] crafts a deftly detached third person to speak with one voice.”
The “tender” Drawing on Walls was in Brain Pickings on June 26.
In June we lost two wonderful artists that we’ll be keeping in our thoughts. Maurice Rajsfus, author of Operation Yellow Star/Black Thursday and The Vél d’Hiv Raid: The French Police at the Service of the Gestapo (both DoppelHouse Press), passed away on June 13. Rajsfus was a tireless activist against police violence in France who began his fight against nationalism as a youth during WWII. We are also commemorating Milton Glaser, illustrator of The Smallest Elephant in the World (Enchanted Lion Books). Glaser is also known for his iconic series of covers of Signet Shakespeare editions. Both men have far too many accomplishments to list here; we encourage you to take time to read about their lives and legacies.
CrimeReads‘ recommended reading list for June included Bluebeard’s First Wife by Seong-nan Ha, trans. Janet Hong (Open Letter), Deep as Death by Katja Ivar (Bitter Lemon Press), Outside the Lines by Ameera Patel (Catalyst Press), and The Summer of Kim Novak by Hakan Nesser, trans. Saskia Vogel (World Editions).
Neal Pollack, author of Pothead (Central Recovery Press), was interviewed in the Los Angeles Review of Books on June 28.
C. Spike Trotman, publisher and founder of Iron Circus Comics, was interviewed by Publishers Weekly on June 24. PW also wrote a feature on Akashic’s LyricPop series on June 25.
Mark Segal, author of And Then I Danced (Akashic Books), has been featured on multiple programs that have highlighted the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising and gay liberation movement—Fox 5 New York, Entertainment Tonight, and New York 1.
The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue (trans. Pablo Strauss, Biblioasis) has won the 44th annual First Novel Award.
Phoebe Stuckes has won the Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize for her poem ‘Thus I became a heart-eater’ from her debut collection Platinum Blonde (Bloodaxe Books).
The Mountains of Mumbai by Labanya Ghosh, illustrated by Pallavi Jain (Karadi Tales Picturebooks) has been shortlisted for the Neev Book Award 2020 in the ‘Picture Book’ category.
Sarah Bowen, author of Spiritual Rebel won a Benjamin Franklin Book Award. Spirituality & Health Magazine featured an article by Bowen on June 22.