From the Farmhouse Table: December 2023
Literature Makes Me Whole
I am an unabashed reader. A book hound. A sneaky skimmer.
My hands are never happier than when they are holding a book, even going back to the very first Little Golden Book I followed along with as my mother read to me out loud.
From Ramona The Pest to The Famous Five, Nancy Drew to Judy Blume, I was an unrepentant under-the-bedcovers young reader. I especially loved books that turned place into character, from James Herriot’s semi-autobiographical series about the lives of a pair of brother veterinarians in rural Yorkshire to stories set in New York—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Street, and Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl, Brownstones. As I grew older, I cherished the Southern worlds of Carson McCullers and Gloria Naylor, along with the Ohios of Langston Hughes, Rita Dove, Toni Morrison, and Nikki Giovanni—I’ve still got a thing for Ohio writers: Nnedi Okorafor, who was born in Cincinnati, and Columbus-born Jacqueline Woodson, a Hedgebrook alum and winner of a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship. Reading was, and remains, the most compelling feast of voice and ideas.
My reading practice comes from my mother and father, who were voracious readers across genres and subjects. My dad bought copies of his favorites to press on those who expressed even an inkling of interest. My mom’s reading made her an activist. Together, they modeled a life well-read. When we moved, every three years or so, the boxes labeled “books” outnumbered boxes of anything else.
My oldest sister, Denise, will tell you that my reading habit had from the beginning an element of chore avoidance, meaning I could be found in the WC with a book when it was time to clear the table or clean my room. She isn’t wrong. I would fall into what I read. I still do. Reading is fuel. Newspapers are fuel. My engine runs better on the octane of journalism, long form and daily alike, plus poetry, history, expertly crafted short stories, fiction: all fuel. Literature makes me function, makes me whole.
At the moment, I am wrapping up a book by Dr. Joy Buolamwini, Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. (So interesting! Our annual fundraiser, Equivox, will feature a panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence and human creativity. Tickets are available here—please join me!) Next, I’ll finish reading Killers of the Flower Moon, then crack the binding on Myriam Gurba’s collection of essays, Creep: Accusations and Confessions. Before the ball drops in Times Square, I plan to read Hula, by Jasmin Iolani Hakes, another Hedgebrook alumna. In between it all, I am researching the science around cellular evolution and CRISPR technology. Oy, so much to learn!
Tell me what you are reading. What must I read? And which book should I clutch, under the covers with a penlight, to start off 2024?
And before I sign off, I’d be remiss not to ask for your help. Our official name is Hedgebrook Foundation but we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit and we can use your support. Would you be able to make a gift before year’s end to support everything we do to make radically hospitable space for women-identified writers? Our writers, and the millions and millions of listeners, filmgoers, theater patrons and readers their works touch, are only the beginning. Help us bring more writers to the land at Hedgebrook so they, too, can change the world.
-Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Executive Director, Hedgebrook