Books are largely a conversation between an author and their audience. Some authors have enormous audiences, such as Stephen King or Louise Penny. Some audiences are narrower tastes, loving the quirky Neil Gaiman, thoughtful George Saunders, or the poems of Mary Oliver. Some books are written for a very specific audience, like a family history, a charity cookbook.
Other works are small and intimate, designed for an audience that wants an in-depth conversation. Writers know who they are trying to talk to, and know what they are interested in communicating. Reading is an act of joining into that conversation.
The books we’re taking a look at today are part of our local landscape, both written by Evergreen Faculty. We often think that writing a book is only something a well-known person does, and yet there are so many stories and conversations happening right here in Thurston County.
Steven Hendricks little gem of a book, Now Beacon, Now Sea, is wildly inventive, intimate in its tone and understanding of what it’s trying to convey, and the beginning of a long conversation with his readers. Part of a planned trilogy, this exploration of Dante’s library structures a tale of stabbing, love, regeneration, and requires deep and careful reading. If that sounds daunting, I understand. It’s good to stretch our minds sometimes. After all, it’s short, well-written, and worth the effort.
Hendricks began thinking about this book as lots of little stories that folded into each other. He’s interested in the process of writing and learning about how he writes as well. He told me he’s not looking for an enormity experience of writing, just a nice fit, with a community of readers to have these ideas of processing loss, things, and maybe the myths we tell ourselves. There are monsters and queens, Minotaur and Zeus. All swirling around seeking some meaning for the space his characters inhabit.
Hendricks has been teaching at the Evergreen State College since 2002. His current research focus is the work of Samuel Beckett, including his influences in literature and philosophy. In addition to Now Beacon, Now Sea (Kernpunkt Press, 2024), he is the author of Little is Left to Tell (Campanile Books, 2016)
Ansley Clark's new book of poetry, Bloodline, engages her readers in a conversation about what is left of the self after peeling back all the narratives we know. Clark's direct language and imagery are approachable, asking questions about how systems change the self, what stories we tell ourselves, and what stories we inherit. She uses couplets, which are simple two-line stanzas, as she wanted to explore how the form could allow her to circle and deepen the narrative.
Her poems have the effect of a conversation with the reader. At a recent reading at Browsers Bookshop, she talked about how writing is also about the community that receives the words written. She writes about illness, self-image, and the path of healing – not only for those around her – but for the generations that proscribed our behavior, our roles, and what we want for our community. “My bother was sick/And I had stopped eating because/I felt wary of my own joy” resonates with how women are expected to deny themselves. If you’ve never read a poetry book, this is a good one to start with.
Clark is the director of the Writing Center at the Evergreen State College. She teaches poetry workshops and mixed-media workshops on inheritance and resisting white supremacy culture at Hugo House in Seattle and other community arts organizations. In addition to Bloodline, she has published the chapbook Geography (dancing girl press 2015). Her work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Colorado Review, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere.
It’s fortunate timing to have these books, that want to have deep conversations with their readers, to talk about at the advent of Banned Books Week. Our stories, all of them, need to be told. More importantly, they need to reach their community. Not every book is the right one for you, or your beliefs or your family. In our country that celebrates our freedom of speech, we’ve had a dramatic increase in efforts to ban books. In 2023, challenges to books rose over 65% from the year before.
According to the American Library Association, 4,240 unique book titles were targeted for censorship, as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023. Pressure groups in 2023 focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023; school libraries saw an 11% increase over 2022 numbers.
Ray Bradbury famously stated, “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”
Let’s keep reading, listening and learning from each other. Blow a few of those matches out.
This column, Sound Words, is by Amy Lewis and focuses on the literary world of Thurston County. Taking inspiration from the phrase, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” it will focus on the local writing community, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types.
As always, please reach out to me (amy@thejoltnews.com) if you have a literary event, book, or reading I can feature in this column. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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