Des Moines Book Festival and Moving!
Back in March I went to the Des Moines Book Festival in Beaverdale! It was my first time at any sort of book festival, and it was quite nice~
The event was full of author signings and lectures. I didn’t partake in the author signings, but I did check out two lectures (Conversations? Programming? Lectures sounds so formal haha!).
The first one was my main draw to the event. It was Is It Hot in Here, Or Is It My Book? with Chloe Angyal, Denise Williams, Leigh Michaels, and moderated by Tracey Garvis Graves. That was such a fun conversation! It discusses sex positivity in romance novels, as well as current struggles with publishing romance in today’s culture. I especially loved Denise Williams’ perspective. I’m quite biased- she’s a local author here in Iowa and she does lectures at Iowa State (which I wish I took!). Let’s just say it’s a light fangirl crush haha.
The second conversation was Drawing Readers: Words from Book Illustrators with Claire Sedovic, Paula Kerman, Sarah Becan, and moderated by Nic Roth. Obviously, this was an educational talk to me since I’m very interested in book illustration. Again, it was great to hear all of their perspectives! It ranges from self publishing to professional publishing, graphic novels to picture books. At the end of the talk, I asked a question about how to find a creative community and they gave me very great advice.
There were two other talks I was interested in. The first was A Celebration of Literary Arts with Ada Zhang, Claire Lombardo, Carmen Maria Machado, Lan Samantha Chang, and moderated by Marc Dickinson. This one was at the same time as the Drawing Readers panel and it was so tough picking between the two. I’m a huge fan of Carmen Maria Machado’s work! It would’ve been so cool to see her, but alas, logically the Drawing Readers panel was the right choice. I also don’t read a lot of lit fic, so I’m not sure how interesting the talk would’ve been for me.
The second talk was one of the headliners. I decided not to go since it was so late in the day, and I read anything from this author (but I’m very much interested in his work). It was the Headlining Talk with Hanif Abdurraqib. Abdurraqib is most well known for his essays on Black culture, and he creates poetry as well. His first collection of essays recieved numerous awards, titled, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us. Full details of that book are down below in my book haul!
I had a lot of fun at the festival (although my anxiety decided to kick in halfway through). I do wish the exhibitor booths were expanded to more than just author signings. I wasn’t able to scratch my treasure goblin itch at the festival! I would’ve bought so many bookish shirts, mugs, bookmarks - you name it! However, here are the books I bought.
Book Haul:
The Other Side of Tomorrow by Tina Cho, Illustrated by Deb Jj Lee
From never knowing where they’ll find their next meal to avoiding soldiers lurking at every corner, many North Koreans have learned that sticking around can be just as deadly as attempting to flee . . . almost.
Both shy, resourceful Yunho and fierce, vibrant Myunghee know this. So when they each resolve to run away from the bleak futures they face, it’s with the knowledge that they could be facing a fate worse than death. (via Bookshop.org)
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
When first published in 2017, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us became an instant cultural sensation, appearing in music videos, B-sides to singles by The National's Matt Berninger and Julien Baker, as an essay prompt on standardized tests, and led critics at NPR to herald Hanif Abdurraqib as "one of the most essential voices of his generation." This expanded paperback edition includes three additional essays by the author and an original afterword by Jason Reynolds.
In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib's is a voice that matters. Whether he's attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown's grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly. (via Bookshop.org)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet has been viewed more than 10 million times.
As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that it promised freedom. A place of justice for all. But in the past twenty years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie. That there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a chronicle of that painful realization, a moral grappling with what it means, as a citizen of the U.S., as a father, to carve out some sense of possibility in a time of carnage. (via Bookshop.org)
The Stonewall Reader, multiple authors, edited by the New York Public Library
June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots. Most importantly the anthology spotlights both iconic activists who were pivotal in the movement, such as Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), as well as forgotten figures like Ernestine Eckstein, one of the few out, African American, lesbian activists in the 1960s. The anthology focuses on the events of 1969, the five years before, and the five years after. Jason Baumann, the NYPL coordinator of humanities and LGBTQ collections, has edited and introduced the volume to coincide with the NYPL exhibition he has curated on the Stonewall uprising and gay liberation movement of 1969. (via Bookshop.org)
Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth—all the Earths.
A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden. (via Bookshop.org)
