Writers unite before inauguration
Large numbers of people are expected to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, but many others won’t wait that long.
On Sunday, Jan. 15, hundreds of writers and artists will gather at more than 50 events across the country and abroad — on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday — to “re-inaugurate” democracy, in their words.
A flagship event on the steps of the New York Public Library will include the participation of, among others, Alexander Chee, Michael Cunningham, Rita Dove, Jeffrey Eugenides, Masha Gessen, Siri Hustvedt, Mary Karr, Colum McCann, Rick Moody, Robert Pinsky, Francine Prose, Andrew Solomon, Art Spiegelman, Meg Wolitzer and Jacqueline Woodson.
Co-sponsored by PEN America, the gathering will feature authors reading from past and present works that address democratic ideals and freedom of expression.
“This is only a starting point in raising our voices in defense of democracy,” the poet Erin Belieu, who founded the Writers Resist movement, said in a statement. “Whether you live in a red or blue state, or another country that cares deeply about the American experiment, there is
no more important battle than our right to truth.”
Writers Resist sprang from a Facebook post in which Belieu wrote, “We will not give in to despair. We will come together and actively help make the world we want to live in. We are bowed, but we are not broken.”
In the Bay Area, writers will unite from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Starline Social Club, at 2236 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland. Those taking the stage will include poets Jane Hirshfield, D.A. Powell and Solmaz Sharif, memoirist and novelist Beth Nguyen, and poet, novelist and essayist Ishmael Reed. The event will benefit the International Institute of the Bay Area, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Transgender Law Center.
Elsewhere in California, events will be held in Fresno, Los Angeles, Modesto, Sacramento and Santa Cruz.
Other cities with Writers Resist gatherings — all open to the public — include Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Omaha, Neb.; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and overseas, Hong Kong, London and Zurich.
Litquake, the Bay Area literary festival, is mounting its own literary protest.
“Times are dark indeed,” Litquake wrote, “but it’s incumbent on the creative class to stand tall and contribute. And so we present some diverse and electric voices who speak to our nation’s fear, anger, and perhaps even optimism.”
The free Litquake event, “No Shadow Without Light: Writers Respond to Trump,” will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 18 in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library, at 100 Larkin St. Speakers will include novelist and playwright Robert Mailer Anderson, former San Francisco Poet Laureate devorah major, San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía and Pulitzer Prizewinning historian T.J. Stiles.
“Writing involves response, reaction and action,” said Nguyen, author of “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner,” “Short Girls” and “Pioneer Girl.” “It seeks to challenge and unsettle; and it is necessarily political. It can also provide hope and community. Writers Resist is a national effort to do all these things and more, and I’m honored to be participating.”
Protests, Nguyen added, “have driven tremendous social change and awareness in America. They’re about speaking out and speaking up, which is something we all can and should be doing.”
More information: www. writersresist.org