What we have
Dear friends
I want to thank you for your sincere responses to my last letter in which I called for a baby strike as part of a strategy to elect Bernie Sanders. I had a hard conversation with my grandmother recently in which I explained that now, it’s “no babies till Bernie’s policies.” I don’t think that slogan will catch. But! I would like to keep thinking together about how to demand for a caring future.
As our infrastructure crumbles, I have been wondering: what can we do as writers and readers and friends for one another?
Our enthusiasm is one resource that no one can take away (unless they totally crush our souls!). I have been getting so many texts from folks reading Stages saying it’s helped them slow down and feel. I want to highlight a response from Small Press Distribution, which picked Stages as a staff pick.
In Stages, we accompany Rachel Kauder Nalebuff in her creation of a play we will not see, performed by the caregivers of a nursing home….Every page pinches you—sometimes bringing tears, sometimes with a familiar, forgiving hand, asking if you are awake.—Franny Weed, SPD
SPD is now on the brink of collapse due to a 75% decrease in sales (largely due to Amazon’s delay on non essential items). I encourage you to support SPD, and the entire small press ecosystem, by contributing to their Gofundme and buying Stages and any other books from them directly if you can.
Would you like to lead a discussion of Stages? Thick Press is offering a free copy of the book to anyone running a book group!!! The Press is also offering free digital copies to educators. We’ve put together a discussion guide for reading groups and classrooms. Please write to erin@thickpress.com to sign up for these materials. Know that I would love to “visit” your book group or classroom, too!
I’ve had the pleasure of continuing a dialogue with Erin and Julie at Thick Press about the questions under the surface of Stages, published by DIRT (this sweet critical platform based in DC!). While reflecting for this conversation, I tried to sound like a policy journalist and then crossed everything out and wrote it all over again. I hope it offers you something real, too.
Wishing you peaceful weekends ~
Rachel