In this series, we highlight books we think our readers may enjoy, written by authors affiliated with the Collegeville Institute.
Black Girl Magic Beyond the Hashtag:
Twenty-First-Century Acts of Self-Definition
University of Arizona Press, 2019
Julia S. Jordan-Zachery and Duchess Harris, eds.
Jordan-Zachery is a former Collegeville Institute writing workshop participant.
The hashtag #BlackGirlMagic is an articulation of the resolve of Black women and girls to triumph in the face of structural oppressions. But while the notion of Black girl magic spreads in cyberspace, the question remains: how is Black girl magic experienced offline? The essays in this volume offer critical analyses and representations of the multiplicities of Black femmes’, girls’, and women’s lived experiences. These essays show how Black girls and women foster community, counter invisibility, engage in restorative acts, and create spaces for freedom. Intersectional and interdisciplinary, the contributions push the boundaries of Black feminist thought.
Pillar of Fire: A Novel
Wipf and Stock, 2020
By Joyce Hollyday, former writing workshop participant
Pillar of Fire captures the stunning witness of the medieval mystics known as Beguines. Amid the intrigues of kings and knights, against a panorama of church corruption, Crusader campaigns, and Inquisition trials, these bold women broke all the rules. In this sweeping historical saga, young Clarissa flees from a forced marriage, befriends a colorful minstrel, and unravels the mystery of a midwife’s murder.
White Knuckle Love: A Memoir of Holding
Wipf and Stock, 2020
By April Stace, former writing workshop participant
April Stace, a happily-married 35-year-old mother, ordained pastor and aspiring professor, thought she had “made it” when she accepted a dream job in New York City. Less than a year later, she
found herself jobless, divorced, and broke. To support herself and her son, she began training as a chaplain at an urban hospital. While encountering death day after day, she began to wonder: what would it mean to fall in love with being alive again? In White Knuckle Love, we encounter a spirit who learned to let go of the person she thought she should be in order to embrace life in unexpected places — hospital rooms, subway commutes, a lesbian dance club, daily parenthood, and even in her own checkered past.
Like this post? Subscribe to have new posts sent to you by email the same day they are posted.
Leave a Reply