Liberating Libraries

REPOST: An episode from 2018 about the work of Ursula K Le Guin. We talk about the books The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and The Word for World is Forest (1972), delving into her inventive and radical ideas on how we approach 'the other' and build trust. This episode was recorded a few months after Le Guin's death, in the wake of losing a giant in science fiction and liberatory imagination. 

RE-POST: While we work on our next episode, we're re-releasing some of our earlier stuff. This is a re-edit of a discussion we had in 2018 about the books Birdie by Tracy Lindberg and The Break by Katherena Vermette.  We explore reading these fabulous Indigenous women as settlers in Canada/Turtle Island, what this does in the larger picture for decolonization, and how to connect fiction to  our responsibilities as settlers and treaty people. 

Content Warning: Both books deal with trauma and violence against women and indigenous peoples and land. We don't discuss the plots in too much depth, but the material is still heavy to deal with.

This was recorded a few months after Gerald Stanley was acquitted of the murder or Colton Bouchie and the purchase by the Trudeau government of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, both of which heavily shaped our discussion. 

Here are some additional resources to expand what we talk about here:

 https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/ 

 https://yellowheadinstitute.org/ 

 https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2018/06/temporary-spaces-of-joy-and-freedom/ 

Here's part 2 in the series, all about John Steinbeck!  

About: In this series, we talk about authors who mean a lot to one of us, and less to the other, and explore how our reading styles can draw us to very different kinds of writing. Most people find certain kinds of stories and storytelling more compelling than others, and that’s okay. It’s important to distinguish between the practice of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and seeing the value of reading things you might not normally think of, and those moments when you find deep connections with the way a particular author writes. Styles are political and they’re personal. It doesn’t mean every book is good, or that styles can’t be problematic; rather, it shows how ‘this author’s style doesn’t grab me’ can be a really productive moment for delving into your own politics as a reader. 

Part 1 in a 2-part series. We talk about authors who mean a lot to one of us, and less to the other, and explore how our reading styles can draw us to very different kinds of writing. Most people find certain kinds of stories and storytelling more compelling than others, and that’s okay. It’s important to distinguish between the practice of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and seeing the value of reading things you might not normally think of, and those moments when you find deep connections with the way a particular author writes. Styles are political and they’re personal. It doesn’t mean every book is good, or that styles can’t be problematic; rather, it shows how ‘this author’s style doesn’t grab me’ can be a really productive moment for delving into your own politics as a reader. 

This series is structures in two interviews. Part 1 talks about the poetic politics of Dionne Brand, and Part 2 looks at the work and legacy of John Steinbeck.

Also check out this piece referenced in part 1: Words of (Dis)Comfort: On the Luxuries and Limitations of Reading While White

This episode asks how is contemporary fiction incorporating (or not) the present realities of climate change and can it provide avenues for building a response to climate crisis? To do this we look at two recent books about post-climate change dystopia - American War by Omar El Akkad and Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. We also bring in essays by Amitav Ghosh from his book The Great Derangement and reflect on his claim that "the climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of the imagination".

liberatinglibraries.org

 Welcome to our relaunch of Liberating Libraries by the Conspiracy of Equality. In this podcast we examine how fiction informs us as activists concerned about fostering empathy, justice, kindness, and equity.

In this episode we discuss where this project came from, who we are as people trying to become better readers, and some of the early reads that started our journeys into fiction.

For more on us, and our previous episodes visit liberatinglibraries.org

Music by Ketsa available at the Free Music Archive or at ketsamusic.com