Virtual fundraiser to support Edward Said Libraries in Gaza
In 2017, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was a visiting poet at Harvard in 2019-2020, founded the English-language Edward Said Library in North Gaza, opening a second branch in Gaza City in 2019. Many libraries have been destroyed by Israel’s bombings of Gaza since October, and the Edward Said Libraries remain at risk and require funding to continue and rebuild. The Brookline Booksmith is hosting a virtual fundraiser to support the Edward
Said Libraries with a powerful line-up of authors doing short readings in solidarity with the literary communities of Palestine. Authors include: Mosab Abu Toha with Kaveh Akbar, Rabih Alameddine, Hala Alyan, Jorie Graham, Fanny Howe, Ha Jin, Ilya Kaminsky, Peter Balakian, Leila Farsakh, Nick Flynn, Ru Freeman, Carolyn Forché, Damian Gorman, Askold Melnyczuk, Eileen Myles, Fatima Bhutto, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Shuchi Saraswat, and Lloyd Schwartz. The virtual reading is free to attend, and donations can be made to the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which will be earmarking donations directly for the libraries. As Abu Toha wrote in the locally based Arrowsmith Journal in 2019, “In the process of building the library, books became my closest friends, offering wisdom, consolation, and hope, and writing itself became the air I breathe.” The event takes place Saturday, Jan. 6 at noon. For more information, visit brooklinebooksmith.com/events.
Poetry Hotline offers inspiration and connection via phone
For a quick dose of poetry in your day, SPACE, the multidisciplinary art center in Portland, Maine, is running a Poetry Hotline — call the phone number and listen to a poet read one of their poems. The audio exhibit runs through May and will feature a new poem every few weeks. The series begins with Palestinian American poet Noor Hindi reading her poem “Ode to Friendship.” “Our gloom as loud as shells,” she reads. “Listen. Even the ocean begs . . . What’s heavy. What’s heavy? / Becomes light.” You can hear her poem through January 7. After that, it’ll be a poem by Sa Whitley. It’s a screenless moment of pause, to be read to, to listen to a voice and poem, an injection of language and connection untethered to commerce. As SPACE notes, the Poetry Hotline “offers audience a direct line to Maine-based and national poets and their visions for the future, and another medium to connect and inspire audiences in a time of heartache, anger, love, humor, rage, and regeneration.” Call 207-828-5607 to listen, and visit space538.org/exhibition/poetry-hotline-2024/ for more information.
Local booksellers receive funds from author James Patterson’s bonus program
James Patterson has sold over 425 million copies of his books and has made hundreds of millions of dollars doing so. Each holiday season he gives some of that wealth to independent booksellers across the country, this year donating $300k to give 600 booksellers bonuses of $500. The booksellers are nominated by customers, managers, fellow booksellers, authors, or publishing people. A number of local booksellers were recipients of Patterson’s bonus program, including: Shana Hausman at Somerville’s All She Wrote Books; Toyoko Kumasaka of Boston’s Beacon Hill Books; Sophie Chen of Belmont Books; Amanda Zarni of Book Ends Winchester; Sara Waltuck of the Brookline Booksmith; James Fraser of Cambridge’s Grolier Poetry Book Shop; Victoria Yaden of the Harvard Bookstore; Eleni Sacre of Boston’s I Am Books; Noah Willette of Boston’s Trident Booksellers & Cafe; Hannah Robinson of Cambridge’s Porter Square Books; Julia Causle of Plainville’s An Unlikely Story; Katie Ouimette of Easthampton’s Book Moon; Laure Colodner of South Hadley’s Odyssey Bookshop; Scott Purcell of Northampton’s BookLink Booksellers; Tineke Brinks of Webster’s Booklovers’ Gourmet; Michelle Kock of the Brewster Book Store; Roxie Mack of Northampton’s Broadside Bookshop; Kristine Jelstrom-Hamill of Cohasset’s Buttonwood Books and Toys; Jessie Wright of Beverly’s Copper Dog Books; Richard Carey of Provincetown’s East End Books Ptown; Sophie Rock of Franklin’s Escape into Fiction; Lexi Walters Wright of Florence’s High Five Books; Beth Orisini of Westborough’s Hygge House Books; Thea Lamarre Anderson of Lowell’s LALA Books; Debra Rivera of Ayer’s Little Bee Bookshop; Timothy Ballou of Greenfield’s World Eye Bookshop; Alyson Cox of Marlborough’s Word on the Street; Peter Sherman of Wellesley Books; Megan Birch-McMichael of Acton’s Silver Unicorn Bookstore; Cheri Anderson of Great Barrington’s the Bookloft; and Deb Sullivan of Stoneham’s the Book Oasis.
Coming out
“Sugar, Baby” by Celine Saintclare (Bloomsbury)
“Wild and Distant Seas” by Tara Karr Roberts (Norton)
“The Collected Poems of Denise Levertov” (New Directions)
Pick of the week
Laure Colodner of Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts, recommends “Enlighten Me” by Minh Lê, illustrated by Chan Chau (Little, Brown): “This fantastic graphic novel has universal appeal. Its unique way of introducing meditation and Buddhism invites readers to interpret for themselves the Buddhist teachings, and relate to them in their own personal way. Bình’s situation is not uncommon, and any child who has been a victim of bullying or has felt singled out will be able to relate to Bình’s anger and confusion, and might find peace within these pages. Hopeful, thought-provoking, and accessible, this book is a must-read.”