South End Writes
Filthy Labors by Lauren Marie Schmidt, Tuesday, January 26, 7:00 PM 8:00 PM
Lauren Marie Schmidt made her first appearance for South End Writes on July 14, 2020 when, during an event featuring her partner, the poet Martin Espada, she handed him their little fluffy dog while she searched the floor for an outlet to recharge a laptop being used in the poetry reading. The dog won a brief but decisive victory over poetry in the battle for audience attention.
Lauren Marie Schmidt will again join South End Writes to read from her latest collection, Filthy Labors, on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 PM. She will be introduced by Martin Espada. No word yet on whether the dog will make an appearance.
"The Resisters" by Gish Jen
Tuesday, February 2, 7:00 PM 8:30 PM
Gish Jen, the acclaimed author of many novels, short stories and thought-provoking essays, has agreed to return to South End Writes to discuss her widely praised eighth novel, The Resisters, on Tuesday, February 2, via ZOOM.
Jen visited the South End library in 2017 to present her earlier work of fiction, The Girl at the Baggage Claim: Explaining the East-West Culture Gap.
The first paragraph in the New York Times review of The Resisters describes a searing picture of a world we hope we will never see but which conceptually appears increasingly close at hand: The Resisters " ... imagines a society even more catastrophically divided than our own. In Jen's AutoAmerica, almost all of the jobs have been automated and rising seas have swamped large sections of the country. The privileged, known as the "Netted," have "angelfair" skin and live on high ground, while the "Surplus," whose skin is often "coppertoned," suffer on swampland and rickety houseboats..."
More information at www.friendsofsouthendlibrary.org