Guest Post by Reem Ali

I genuinely don’t think I can recommend Mariam Khan’s It’s Not About the Burqa enough. Wow, just wow. I’m not much of a nonfiction gal, however, this was the exception. As a Muslim woman living in a western country, I’ve accepted that descriptive representation requires decades more of advocacy and activism. However, what I don’t accept is the blatant islamophobia and racism portrayed by the media that’s being fueled by white supremacists (and the like) commanding elected positions. This collection of essays not only expands upon this issue, but many others as well.

The authors are all successful women in their respective careers, breaking down stereotypes of Muslim women ingrained into western society. There have been so many cultural, moral, and systemic issues that I have pondered and struggled with, but these essays articulate and address them in such a succinct and thoughtful manner. I sincerely believe that this is a definite must-read. With the wave of people aiming to educate themselves on BLM issues, I suggest picking this up as well.

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It’s Not About the Burqa by Mariam Khan. Pan Macmillan, February 2020.

Reviewer bio: Reem Ali is a third-year law student, and a born-and-raised Texan. She loves spending her free time reading, traveling (pre-coronavirus) and playing backgammon. She enjoys engaging with tough readings and sharing her perspectives. For more book reviews: @reemsreads.

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Guest Post by Wilfred M. McClay

For at least the past thirty years, we have done a terrible job in this country of educating the young for the tasks of citizenship in a republic. Despite endless talk about the problem, little is actually done to improve matters. The concept of “civic literacy” is the latest buzzword of educators, and yet no one seems to know what the word signifies, let alone how to achieve it. But help is on the way.

Civic literacy, meaning the body of knowledge that enables a citizen to function actively, intelligently, and effectively, is precisely what is offered us in Edwin Hagenstein’s splendid new book The Language of Liberty. To call it a “citizen’s vocabulary,” as the author does, is true enough; but the book is much more than that. It is not a treatise, but instead a collection of wise, subtle, and reflective essays on the keywords of our political and social discourse, covering everything from “the administrative state” to “the referendum,” with topics as philosophical as “conservatism” and “liberalism” and as down-to-earth as “gerrymander” and “whip.” It is both a handy reference book and a work of philosophy, nicely parceled out into easily digested essays. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

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The Language of Liberty: A Citizen’s Vocabulary by Edwin C. Hagenstein. Rootstock Publishing, October 2020.

Reviewer bio: Wilfred M. McClay is the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty at the University of Oklahoma.

Guest Post by Amber Caron

Like other readers, I had grand plans when the world went on lockdown. I would begin with War and Peace. I went as far as borrowing the book from a friend, left it on my shelf unopened, and instead turned to newly published nonfiction that grappled with the question of what it is to live a good life. The most recent addition to this stack of books is Jennifer Sinor’s Sky Songs. (Disclosure: Sinor and I teach at the same university.)

Both the title and cover image of Sinor’s essay collection are drawn from Alfred Stieglitz’s photographic study Songs of the Sky (later titled Equivalents), nearly four hundred abstract images captured when Stieglitz turned his camera to the clouds. “What is of greatest importance,” Stieglitz said, “is to hold a moment, to record something so completely that those who see it will relive an equivalent of what has been expressed.”

It was an emotional equivalence Stieglitz sought, and the same could be said of Sinor’s fifteen essays. Sky Songs meditates on the defining moments of a life—the tragic death of an uncle, a dissolving marriage, new love, the birth of a child, an encounter with wildlife, the loss of one religion and, years later, the unfolding of another. Read on their own, each essay offers a patient, lyrical examination of these moments. Together, the essays offer a profound reading experience, enriched by a layering of images, a deep sense of place, and the inescapable truth that although we are often haunted by our earliest tragedies, we are equally shaped by the beauty we find in the world around us. Ultimately, Sky Songs delivers what it promises, and what it promises is no small thing: the emotional equivalence of a life well lived.

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Sky Songs: Meditations on Loving a Broken World by Jennifer Sinor. University of Nebraska Press, October 2020.

Reviewer bio: Amber Caron’s fiction and non-fiction can be found in The Threepenny Review, PEN America Best Debut Short Stories, Southwest Review, Longreads, and elsewhere.

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Guest Post by James Gering

Here is a born creative writing teacher generously imparting dollops of warmth, humor, and wisdom in three sections that combine to resemble no other book in this crowded genre.

“The Shapes of Fiction” is the first section, where Stern vividly demonstrates his ideas in original and artful little storylines often featuring engaging dialogues. The first three shapes “show (you) how to handle thoughts, dialogue and action—techniques you’ll use over and over.” In “Iceberg,” a writer focuses on what characters choose to express or choose to keep in mind:

 

Brian thought, Oh God, here it comes. My Principal. The Pig That Walks Like a Man. “Hello, sir. What a fine day.”

Eiswold nodded. “What’s that on your tie, boy? Your lunch?”

“Oh, goodness,” Brian said, “I hadn’t noticed. Thank you, sir.”

A dynamic interplay between thought and speech unfolds, and it should be noted that fulsome conveyance of thought is where fiction triumphs over film.

Other shapes include “Bear at the Door,” “Onion,” “Visitation,” “Aha!,” and “Explosion,” the last of which advises you to blow the rest of the advice to smithereens and exclusively celebrate your own brilliance. The point: these are Stern’s insights (culled from decades of teaching at tertiary level), not cumbersome rules.

In the second section, “A Cautionary Interlude,” Stern points out common pitfalls on narrative journeys. Find out how to avoid “Population Explosions,” “The Banging-Shutter Story,” “The Hobos-in-Space Story,” and more.

The final section, is a comprehensive alphabetical rendering of writing terms, some universally known, others, like ‘intrigant,’ less so. The terms are deftly cross-referenced, making it a pleasure to follow related strands.

Befriend Jerome Stern! His wisdom and generosity will enrich your writing.

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Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern. W.W. Norton & Company, November 1991.

Reviewer bio: James Gering is a poet and short story writer from the Blue Mountains in Australia. He welcomes visitors at jamesgering.com.

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