This Saturday, June 13 at 2pm, I will be reading at the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. I was graciously invited by festival co-founder Heidi Durrow, whose novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, is the most recent Bellwether Prize winner and will be published next February by Algonquin. It will be lovely to meet another Bellwether sister, and to be part of a day dedicated to celebrating multicultural stories. I have to admit, I do find myself struggling a bit with not feeling worthy of speaking at this event, since my own roots are pretty homogeneous, and all the old internal voices that told me I had no right to write The Book of Dead Birds, etc. are rising up inside me again, but I'm trying to quiet them so I can bring an open, humble, non-defensive heart to this beautiful, open-hearted festival.
Monday, June 08, 2009
This Saturday, June 13 at 2pm, I will be reading at the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. I was graciously invited by festival co-founder Heidi Durrow, whose novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, is the most recent Bellwether Prize winner and will be published next February by Algonquin. It will be lovely to meet another Bellwether sister, and to be part of a day dedicated to celebrating multicultural stories. I have to admit, I do find myself struggling a bit with not feeling worthy of speaking at this event, since my own roots are pretty homogeneous, and all the old internal voices that told me I had no right to write The Book of Dead Birds, etc. are rising up inside me again, but I'm trying to quiet them so I can bring an open, humble, non-defensive heart to this beautiful, open-hearted festival.
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3 comments:
This is wonderful! I don't think anyone is MORE qualified to be at this event than you. Don't be hard on yourself :)
I won't make it to this event as I won't have time until the next day. But I hope there will be some other time for us to cross paths again soon. (No, your wedding day won't work either - that's the first day I'll be occupied again :( )
Hope your Saturday will go very well!
Rach
Hi Gayle--just recently found your blog through the Afghan Women's Writers Project. I don't think you'll remember me, but my name is Shome, and I was lucky enough to be able to read with you and Alistair for my graduate readings at Antioch University-Los Angeles. I hope all is well.
Thanks, Rach (and hi Shome! Fun to see you here--that was a wonderful night of readings, wasn't it? I hope life after Antioch is treating you well!)
I wish I was at the festival right now, but I'm under the weather and can't make the drive to LA. :( Even with all my silly angsting, I was really looking forward to the event and am sad to not be part of it. And yes, Rach, I do hope our paths will cross soon...
xoxo
gayle
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