Writer, Teacher
Excited to announce I’ll be leading the memoir writing workshop for the Tennessee Mountain Writers. The workshop will be a mixture of craft lectures on writing about family and writing about place. More info here.
Proud to be at Hindman Settlement School this week. I’m teaching a short story workshop full of amazing writers. Feeling lucky today!
Big thanks to Christina Consolino at Shelf Unbound for this wonderful interview and for helping me promote Daughters of Muscadine. Here’s the link:
I read Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn several years ago, and I also enjoyed that movie adaptation. Right now, I’m listening to the sequel, Long Island. This book follows Eilish and the events that occur after she and Tony have been married for twenty years. They are living in New York with their two children, and they live near Tony’s brothers and mother. The opening of the book really hooked me. A complete stranger with an aggressive posture shows up at Eilish’s door. The stranger sounds like an Irishman, and he says that Eilish’s husband has impregnated the Irishman’s wife. He goes on to say he refuses to raise the bastard and that he will deliver the baby to Eilish’s door once it is born. Eilish is shocked and hurt. She doesn’t want the baby, and she’s surprised and mortified to learn that her mother-in-law is considering adopting the baby.
This book reminds us that Eilish also had an affair in the previous book. We catch up to Eilish’s previous lover in here, and I like that I don’t know where exactly the author is going with these two storylines.
I’m only about six chapters along so far, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s a good premise for a book. I like the family dynamics in the story, and I have always loved domestic novels! I look forward to finishing this one.
Y’all, Daughters of Muscadine has been named the 2023 Weatherford Award winner!
Read more about the award here.
Proud to announce that the Georgia Center for the Book has chosen Daughters of Muscadine for their list entitled, “Books All Georgians Should Read.” Yay!
I’m reading from Julie Otsuka’s lovely novel The Buddha in the Attic this Saturday, February 3, 2024. Hope to see you there!
❤️ Thanks to Nancy Christie for this thoughtful interview:
I’m about halfway through Last Summer on State Street and I’m enjoying it because of the honest narration and the wisdom of the adult narrator looking back on her harrowing childhood. It’s the story of a 12-year-old black girl named Fe Fe who lives in a housing project in Chicago with her three friends: Precious, Stacia, and a newcomer named Tonya. The story is set in 1999, and the girls’ apartment building is likely to be demolished due to neighborhood gentrification. The girls and their families dodge bullets and witness violence. Fe Fe has a brother who is into guns and is being recruited by a gang. Her friend Tonya is being taken advantage of by grown men, and Tonya has a drug addicted mother. Stacia is a gang leader’s daughter, so she’s seen as dangerous by the kids around them. The novel is heartbreaking and feels true. I know these issues can be triggering, but if you can handle violence, gangs, crimes against children, and poverty, give this one a read.
I’m listening to the story on Hoopla Digital, and the opening paragraphs drew me in. I love the sense of place and time and the fact that these girls bond over something as innocent as double Dutch. The characters are flawed, and I feel so much sympathy for them. I especially like Fe Fe’s mother, a single parent who stresses the importance of good behavior and deportment.
The author is Toya Wolfe, and this is her debut work. This is an #OwnVoices read.
Monic Ductan 