Entries by Dora
Exciting Festival Sessions and More from Alta Magazine
“It means screaming like hell,” said legendary muckraker Warren Hinckle on the importance of telling the truth, which requires being “unreasonable” and even “mean and persistent about the truth.” “The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self-respect springs,” wrote Joan Didion. “In Western Civilization, our elders are books,” […]
Session Spotlight: What Makes a Family?
“That’s what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you’re not so lovable.” ― Deb Caletti “One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.” ― Jonathan Safran Foer “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the […]
Noteworthy: 10 Lit Links Worth Reading
1. Here’s how you can see your name among future Festival authors. 2. Unsure of what to read next? Ask Reese Witherspoon. No really, she can help! 3.Listen up—audiobooks may be the future of literature. 4. One publishing company’s mission to feed minds and bodies. 5. Based on a true story:fictionalizing yourself. 6. For readers with depression, […]
A Poem for You Right Now
An excerpt from “The Happy” by Ari Banias (Who’ll be at the Festival in April!) In a room more chicken coop than room, I rent a fan that feels on my face like sound. Low traffic from San Fernando, named for a king who became a city, a valley, a saint. We are meant to repeat […]
Noteworthy: 10 Lit Links Worth Reading
1. In memoriam: The female writers everyone overlooked, even in death.2. Your favorite LGBTQ character doesn’t have to die! 3. Why we still haven’t found the right way to write about race. 4. On Rachel Carson’s not-so-silent lifebefore “Silent Spring.” 5. To kill a stage adaptation. 6. The plot thickens on areal-life literary heist. 7. These famous writers were just as weird as the rest […]
The Fine Print: Here’s what we’re reading
(All by 2018 Festival authors!) “The Wonder Down Under” by Nina Brochmann and Ellen Støkken Dahl These Norwegian writers pack equal doses of humor and information in this groundbreaking “user’s guide to the vagina,” answering questions that, frankly, we didn’t know we had! “If you are raising a young person with a vagina and a […]
Speaker Spotlight: Viv Albertine
Viv Albertine made a name for herself as the guitarist of punk rock band The Slits in the late 1970s. She made history as a member of an all-female band when the music industry was dominated by men. Throughout her life, she has worked as a musician, a film director, and a writer. Her first […]
Author Spotlight: Geneen Roth
Our full list of Festival authors and speakers will go live mid-March, but to make the wait a bit less daunting, here’s one author you won’t want to miss in April. We’ve all experienced the messiness that is a constant byproduct of life. But have you ever thought about it and appreciated what it means? […]
Speaker spotlight: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Our full list of Festival authors and speakers will go live mid-March, but to make the wait a bit less daunting, here’s one author you won’t want to miss in April. Kenyan-born Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was dubbed by The Washington Post as “the writer the world needs right now.” Before coming to the United States, […]