I was recently troubled by a conversation that occurred in a book club meeting I attend. We’d read The Five Wounds, a contemporary novel by Kirstin Valdez Quade about a dysfunctional, multi-generational Hispanic family. A participant expressed doubt about his ability to read Quade’s novel with proper understanding and "sensitivity," because he doesn’t share the author’s heritage or gender…
Read MoreWelp, they’ve started canceling Dr. Seuss, and on his birthday, no less. And to think it could happen to Mulberry Street! March 2, Dr. Seuss’s birthday, is National Read Across America Day (#DrSeussDay across social media). It’s an annual event by the National Education Association (NEA) encouraging reading among school-aged children. Yet this is the moment that the NEA, along with the White House, has chosen to break from tradition…
Read MoreAs I sat rubbing sleep from my eyes this morning, wondering what new coronavirus mandates might come to disrupt our routines today, I found myself on social media. The comments and videos that most affected me were those from you moms who recently discovered that you were homeschooling by government mandate. You look tired, bewildered, and overwhelmed. You look like beginning swimmers who have been thrown in the deep end of the swimming pool – with your infants, toddlers, and teens. My heart goes out to you…
Read MoreGreetings, CenterForLit folks. I have missed you! As many of you know, and the rest of you should’ve jolly-well gathered by now, I recently took a year-long hiatus from CenterForLit to pursue another teaching opportunity. I am home in Northeastern Washington now, and feeling blessed to be back among fine friends like you. (I include you all in that warm rejoinder. Except, of course, those of you who never noticed I was missing…)
Read MoreDo you ever feel guilty at Thanksgiving because you’re not thankful enough? Do you ever evaluate your degree of thankfulness and find yourself wanting? Does it sometimes seem like thankfulness is a duty, just one more thing that is expected of you that you are failing to perform adequately?
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