Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Emily Robbins

Emily Robbins has lived and worked across the Middle East and North Africa. From 2007 to 2008, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Syria, where she studied religion and language with a women’s mosque movement and lived with the family of a leading intellectual. Robbins holds a BA from Swarthmore College and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and and in 2016 she received a second Fulbright, to study in Jordan.

Robbins's new novel is A Word for Love.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Robbins's reply:
We Eat Our Own, by Kea Wilson.

It is stunning how beautifully Wilson writes men and violence. And, the lush life of the Amazonian river! I am literally in the middle of this book, so couldn’t give away the end even if I wanted to. Wilson writes from the perspectives of many different characters; right now, I am reading a chapter from the perspective of a young student-turned-kidnapper, who plays classical music for the man he has helped to kidnap, and who reminds me of the hostage-takers in Bel Canto – mostly because I’ve come to love this character, as I loved the ones in that book. I have heard others call this novel suspenseful, and it is, but I’m also just delighting in the characters in it.

As Ohio Goes, by Rana Khoury

I read this small book of nonfiction soon before the November election. It is a lovely hybrid of creative writing and reportage, which brings the reader into the homes of Ohio, and thinks through the causes and impact of the devastating 2008 recession on rural America. It also pointed out the fact that the state of Ohio has voted for the candidate who later became president during every presidential election in recent history. I read this, and then a month or two later, the elections happened. Ohio voted for Trump. This book became even more prescient and urgent.
Learn more about A Word for Love.

My Book, The Movie: A Word for Love.

The Page 69 Test: A Word for Love.

--Marshal Zeringue