Maggie Messitt – The Rainy Season: Three Lives in the New South Africa

Late Night Debut, hosted by Amber Keller

This week we feature Maggie Messitt’s debut work of immersion journalism, The Rainy Season: Three Lives in the New South Africa, published by University of Iowa Press. “In the tradition of writers like James Agee and Katherine Boo, [Maggie Messitt] has immersed herself deeply in the everyday lives of people struggling with AIDS, early death, corruption, false promises, grinding rural poverty, and the daily struggle to make ends meet in a society that tourists and most foreign correspondents never see.” — Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

Act 1: Host Amber Keller covers entertaining book news and cool new debuts

Act 2: Co-host authors Olivia Olivia and Elizabeth Enslin discuss Maggie Messitt’s debut

Act 3: Olivia Olivia speaks with Maggie Messitt about writing real people truthfully, not perpetuating stereotypes, and creating a documentary on paper

Listen to the full episode here:

PURCHASE THE RAINY SEASON: THREE LIVES IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA HERE

GIVEAWAY: WIN A FREE COPY OF THE RAINY SEASON. LISTEN TO THE EPISODE FOR DETAILS, THEN EMAIL YOUR ANSWER TO [email protected] BY MIDNIGHT ON JUNE 14.

 ABOUT OUR ACT 2 CO-HOST AUTHORS:

Olivia Olivia writes for the Rumpus, Salon, and The Portland Observer, among other places. She has been featured on NPR’s Code Switch, KBOO’s Between the Covers, and OPB’s Think Out Loud. She is a Tin House 2008 Scholarship Recipient and a VONA 2012 alumni. You can follow her byline at facebook.com/oliviaoliviawriter or at www.oliviawrites.com.

Elizabeth Enslin is the author of While the Gods Were Sleeping: A Journey Through Love and Rebellion in Nepal (Seal Press 2014). Recognition includes an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the Oregon Arts Commission and an Honorable Mention for the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Eastern Oregon.