[The arrival of summer means a lot of good things, but high on the list for this AmericanStudier is the chance to read for pleasure, preferably on a beach blanket with a view of the crashing surf. For this year’s annual Beach Reads series, I’ll highlight recent or forthcoming books by colleagues and friends. Add your Beach Read ideas and nominations for a crowd-sourced weekend post that’ll always keep toes in the sand!]
I wrote
about my then-FSU colleague Ian Williams
and his inspiring teaching in a state prison in one of my
earliest posts, and have gone on to feature two
different books of his (one poetry and one fiction, because as I mentioned
in Monday’s post Ian is another creative writer who truly excels in both
genres) in prior
Beach Reads series. But as long as Ian continues to put out excellent new
books in his still-blossoming (and already hugely successful)
career, I’ll continue to share them here, and this time I’ve got two recent
publications to nominate for your beach bag: his most recent poetry collection,
2021’s Word Problems;
and another 2021 release (what can I say, the man is prolific), the essay
collection Disorientation: Being
Black in the World. I’m truly honored to call this man a former
colleague and a lifelong friend, and to be able to read each and every piece of
that evolving and deepening literary career—on the beach and everywhere else!
Next Beach
Reads tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Beach Reads you’d nominate?
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