We are still reeling from the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis—one murder in a long history of violence against the Black community by those charged with protecting our citizens. This is a history in which we are all involved. This cannot continue. Black lives matter. Hugo House is committed to fight against racism.
We try to navigate troubled times with nuanced writing, serious listening, and the willingness to confront injustice. As a community of writers and readers, we must actively search for the right words to express our sorrow and our anger and our hopes for the future we can create together.
We have been searching for those words. We have read the work of Black writers who look unflinchingly at the world around them, writers whose voices should be in the spotlight not just now, but always. We offer links to some of that work in the newsletter below.
Hugo House is now and will always be here to help Seattle and all its writers and readers make sense of their rage, their grief, their fear, and to amplify the voices of our Black citizens and friends, to listen to their stories and share their words. We are here together. We will create the world we want to live in.
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The list below contains a small sample of the work the Hugo House staff and board have reached for and read over the past week.
The image above was created by Jane Mount for Ideal Bookshelf.
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Solitude Social Club with Major Jackson and Ed Pavlić
Friday, June 5 | 5 pm PDT
This week, we’re speaking with writers Major Jackson and Ed Pavlić. Major Jackson is the author of five books of poetry, including The Absurd Man (2020), Roll Deep (2015), Holding Company (2010), Hoops (2006), and Leaving Saturn (2002), which won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for a first book of poems. Ed Pavlić’s eleventh book is Let It Be Broke (2020). He is distinguished research professor of English, African American studies, and creative writing at the University of Georgia.
RSVP to join the Zoom conversation this Friday to find out which books Major and Ed have been turning to during the the current crisis.
Upcoming Solitude Social Club guests:
- June 19: Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviors. RSVP »
- June 26: Jabari Asim, author of Stop and Frisk: American Poems and We Can't Breathe. RSVP »
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