As 2019 comes to a close, the Southwest Festival of the Written Word committee highlights a few of the finest books we read this year.
The first is a reread from a million years ago: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A reminder to me of the life quest for truth and authenticity. The second is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I was truly inspired by her down to earth advice to writers and creative persons of all venues, affirming the tenet to do what you’re doing, above all, because you love it. The third is All They Will Call You by Tim Z. Hernandez. The work he accomplished to rectify the injustice done to the deportees was and is so important and timely, especially now in light of the present immigration and border debacle.
Lynne Zotalis, SWFWW committee member
Blanco Sobre Negro (in English, White on Black: A Boy’s Story) is a brilliant collection of vignettes from the life of Rubén Gallego. Originally from Spain, Gallego was born in 1968 with cerebral palsy and abandoned in an orphanage in the Soviet Union. His refuge was his imagination and his facility with the written word. The book, first published in 2002 and later translated into a dozen languages, is a marvel of perseverance and black humor. I picked up A Vida da Che in a used books street market in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s a graphic novel depicting the life of Che Guevara. The dramatic illustrations–black ink scrawls, almost abstract–and the spare, earthy prose do justice to the extraordinary life. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge is a flawed but eye-opening work of sociology. These seven essays, based on a blog post that went viral, are both a cri de coeur and a cold, clinical dissection of race relations in Britain.
JJ Amaworo Wilson, WNMU writer-in-residence, Chair of SWFWW
My best reads this year were Doris Lessing’s The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five (my favorite literary novel ever, which I reread every few years), Marge Piercy’s Gone To Soldiers, and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. All are panoramic novels about a fabled world, World War II, and the American Civil War, respectively. All provide food for thought, especially as concerns relationships between women and men, that haunting puzzle we have yet to solve.
Beate Sigriddaughter, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County
Homelands, Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration, by Alfredo Corchado, the Mexico Border correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, and presenter at our 2019 SWFWW, is a must-read! Corchado’s investigation of the complex, long-standing, and troubled relationship between the US and Mexico in regards to immigration is thorough and factual. It’s also highly engaging, as he informs and educates through personal experience. His knowledge of the issues is deep, his insights laser sharp, and his writing concise and fluid. The “Four Friends” (Corchado included) in this journalistic exploration are all fascinating characters with their own unique views and brilliance. And for a more metaphysical exploration, I recommend Flight Feathers: New and Collected Works 1993-2018 by Stewart Sutcliffe Warren. This whirlwind of Warren’s life journey expressed in poetry is spellbinding. It contains 500 poems spanning 25 years of his experience. I read it on a daily basis, as part of my meditation practice. I became immersed. I knew that Warren, a personal friend, was approaching the end of his life, which made the reading even more poignant. I was uplifted, and often filled with awe at the eloquence and beauty of the writing. Flight Feathers is a book of prayer. Read it as spiritual nourishment.
Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County, SWFWW committee member.
When picking up Uprooted, by Naomi Novik, I thought, “oh, it features an evil Wood, how ‘fairy-tale’ stereotypical,” but I went ahead and gave it a try. Then I read about the evil Wood. That Wood is SO evil. Evil in subtle, crafty, demonic-style ways. Evil that turns really good intentions into more evil. Good fantasy needs compelling evil to make the characters’ efforts meaningful, and Novik has drawn on the right inspirations and source materials to make that happen. The results are compelling. I was a little disappointed with the Wood origin story that she presented; it may have been better to leave more of that a mystery. The main character was strong and relatable. Overall, a great book.
Lillian Galloway, SWFWW committee member