Bücher veröffentlicht von Plain View Press, LLC

A richly detailed picture of the challenges and hardships confronting indigenous village peoples in contemporary Kenya. Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, author, Prisoners of Ritual; Children's Genitals Under the Knife; The Doctor and the Poet Steeped in wisdom and conflict, these pages tell a poignant, vivid tale of Kenyan sisters who struggle for a brighter future against the bonds of cultural traditions and sacrifices. The author writes with a calm authority, her prose richly detailing the setting and its people. Kirsten Johnson is a remarkable new voice writing in the tradition of authors such as Chitra Divakaruni and Alexis D. Pate. Christine DeSmet, author, faculty associate and director, Writers' Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison Kirsten Johnson's first novel, Footsteps, opens the door to life in a traditional, east Kenyan village. Johnson creates deep layers of authenticity, describing faces in firelight, capturing village customs and dialogue, and introducing us to fascinating words in the native languages of Swahili and Kitharaka. One wonders how on earth she came so close to the intricacies of the circumcision ceremonies of young teen boys and girls. She writes with great sensitivity to the feelings of those circumcised, as well as the often conflicting perspectives of the adults surrounding them. With all the shrill debate and despair over female genital mutilation and Africa's HIV/AIDS rates, it is a relief to read about young girls' actual experiences, their anxieties, pain and even triumph, as they create new paths, leading away from those of their brothers, fathers and lovers.. Madeline Uraneck, Teacher trainer, Lesotho College of Education and returned Peace Corps volunteer, southern Africa When you read Footsteps, you can almost smell the smoke of the cooking fires, hear the rhythm of African song and see the red clay of the footpaths around Kanini's village. In short, Kirsten Johnson has made the Kenyan bush come alive! Ms. Johnson's characters are Kenyans struggling to make sense of the changes taking place all around them. The protagonist, Kanini, faces challenges all her life - physical challenges, for sure, but more importantly, challenges to her beliefs and upbringing. Tradition has given a number of people the power to control her life, and they do ... forcing her to set aside her hopes and dreams. But somehow she survives and, in a sense, prevails over these setbacks and disappointments. Kanini's experience can help Americans better understand why Africa continues to struggle. But in the shadows of this struggle, we also find seeds of hope in the form of Kanini's sister, Gatiria, and a new generation that is ready to lead the people forward. Mark Green, Director, MalariaNoMore Policy Center, Ambassador to Tanzania, 2007-08, Member of Congress, 1998-2006

Letters Between Us is a powerful story of search for self, identity, of losing a friend and finding her in a deeper sense, and through her, making discoveries and gaining insights. Overman grips you with intimate, startling details so that you can't stop reading until you have reached the last page. Nahid Rachlin, author, Persian Girls and Jumping Over FireLinda Overman's Letters Between Us is a clever, intricate, powerful novel, a tale of girls gone wild amidst the sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll of the Sixties and of the women they become. The story of Katharine and Laura-electrified with the possibilities of youth, grounded in the accommodations of adulthood, charged with the irony and tragedy-would be hard to forget even if simply told. But Overman is an artist, brave and skilled enough to put the pen in her characters' hands and let them write their own story of hope and disappointment, passion and desire. That makes Letters unforgettable. David Bradley, author, South Street and The Chaneysville IncidentCutting edge. A rarity. In an era of male "e;buddy"e; sagas, a story of a deeply tender relationship between two women-only one of which is a survivor-in a time and place hard to navigate: late 20th century America. Their strong voices, both tough and tender, gutsy and sweet, compel us to listen. Read this book. Eve La Salle Caram, Award winning novelist, Senior Instructor in Fiction Writing, The Writers' Program, UCLA Extension Poignant and remarkable storytelling of lost friendships, family, and innocence. A rich narrative of coming of age in Los Angeles in the 70's while tackling generational differences, cultures and rediscovering life's regrets, hopes, tribulations, and pleasures. Mariana Galvez, Director of Media & Marketing, Emmy Award Winning Series 24

Julie Mughal has written a moving, compassionate and eloquent book that is ultimately about the strength of the human spirit, even when confronted with unimaginable adversity. It is especially about the strength of wives and mothers who struggle through their own grief and deprivation to see that their fatherless children continue to have hope for a brighter future. Only someone who has experienced this reality in her own life could have the understanding that makes these stories so illuminating. In spite of the many different ways societies support or oppress the widows in their midst, Land Without Hats is ultimately another reminder that the devotion of mothers to their children supersedes all boundaries and helps us "bear unbearable sorrow." Dr. Charles MacCormack, President, Save the Children Julie Mughal's story of her own grief and renewal woven into the stories of widows' severe losses and hardships gives a voice to widows worldwide. Too often, widows and their children are swept away by the culture of neglect and abuse and Land Without Hats can only help to support their collective struggles. Her book is a call to widows of the world to come together to create change and hope for all. AnnMarie Ginella, founder of WidowSpeak This global tour of grief shimmers with the beauty of the infinite differences among cultural traditions. At the same time it offers comfort through the shared familiarity of human loss. It's a lovely tribute to widows and the men they mourn in every part of the globe. Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu Daughter of the Wind Julie Mughal has written a stirring book, one that will touch the heart of anyone who knows what it feels like to suffer a shattering loss. She began this project as a way to make sense of the sudden death of her husband, but what she has produced is nothing less than a testament to the plight of widows and their children in some of the most desolate and dangerous parts of the world. The women whose stories Mughal brings us have survived hardships that will be all but unimaginable to many readers. But survive they have. And that, ultimately is the message of this heartfelt and deeply moving book. Phyllis Kosminsky, PhD, author of Getting Back to Life When Grief Won't Heal Unseen and unheard, widows in many countries still suffer appalling treatment because of traditional practices. They and their children are often forced into poverty at a time when they are most vulnerable. This book is a timely call for action to alleviate this fundamental breach of human rights. Patsy Robertson, Chair of Widows' Rights International.

A stereoscopic study of battlefield carnage and suburban aspirations - of the chaos of roadside explosions abroad and the masquerade of normality at home - Eve Ottenberg's stingingly detailed, stately paced Dead in Iraq is an elegy suffused with a sense of loss and fortified with a quiet fury over lives destroyed, dreams dashed, bonds severed. It's a novel about what happens under the noise of headline news, and how the lives of the survivors are lived after those headlines fade - the silent, invisible true casualty toll of war. James Wolcott, Vanity Fair columnist and author of the novel The Catsitters Eve Ottenberg not only knows how to tell a story, but brings you so far inside that it'll stay with you. Nat Hentoff, Village Voice columnist

In this richly polyphonic text, Radavich couples narrative verse with interlocking dramatic monologues to deliver a revisionist history of America since the second World War - an account across generations so inclusive as to seem Whitmanesque - encompassing personal and national identities, conscience and community. 'I hear the voices of America,' writes Radavich, and through them America Bound renders a cultural landscape altered in the wake of the Twentieth Century. By 'listening to the voices of those who lived simply for themselves and others in the heartland of their history,' voices aching to be heard, we sense how their stories are also ours, and their questions - 'Where do we all go from here?' - the ones we must live by. Christian Knoeller, poet, author of Completing the Circle American Bound rests firmly in a tradition of dramatic lives rendered through poetry, especially Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. David Radavich paints lovely portraits that fill an American town with rich and moving lives. Patricia Clark, poet, author of My Father on a Bicycle This is poetry that matters. Radavich has a dramatist's gift of being able to evoke character with only a few words from a speaker's mouth: these are poems that come from the tongue, and like intimate, personal speech, invite us to speak back. Though the speakers reflect social movements and economic booms and busts, they are never abstractions or simply victims, but people telling their stories of gains and losses in ways that invite compassion, respect, and fellow feeling. This book makes me hopeful for the future of American poetics as part of our political discourse, as part of a common life that binds our diverse interests. If more poets had Radavich's ambition - to write for a broad audience, instead of only a few; to write about the world we live in and what we owe to others - then we would see people everywhere with poems in their pockets and in their briefcases. Leonora Smith, poet, author of Spacial Relations In praise of By the Way, by David Radavich: David Radavich demonstrates how he has found the perfect poetic technique for the expression of his unfailingly interesting take on life. This is splendidly controlled free verse which takes the reader into fascinating alleyways that resolve themselves into neatly, though never glibly, turned conclusions. There are many 'Yes, yes, that's exactly how it is' poems . . . . Adrian Buckner, Orbis, Summer 1998

"From the beginning of time there have been individuals who have been intensely capable of knowing and revealing the presence of the Divine in human life. Through and in Loren Woodson''s THE PASSION OF MARYAM, we learn about our strengths, our weakness, our spirit, and ourselves..and indeed about all that connects us to the God of many names." Rev. Ann Louise Hutchins-Case, The United Methodist Church, South Indiana; Staff Chaplain, St. Francis Catholic Hospital, Beach Grove, Indiana "With his background in psychoanalysis, author Woodson is able to shed new and fascinating light on a familiar story by revealing, in language appropriate to the times, what Maryam and those closest to her might have experienced emotionally at each stage of her remarkable journey through life." Nancy Hardin, book editor and film producer, Frida, Noriega: God''s Favorite"Woodson set out to stir the reader to reconsider the widely accepted account of the birth of Jesus to the virgin, Mary. [He] has an amazing insight and understanding of family relationships. This insight is brilliantly used as he developed his characters, their interaction and their relationships." Richard R. Blake, Christian Education Consultant"THE PASSION OF MARYAM will challenge the thoughtful reader to reconsider just what was the whole story of the limited portion of Mary''s life that the Gospels provide. This is a book to read and reread and then consider its place in the reader''s view of Christianity."Frederick L. Simmons, University of Judaism, Los Angeles, author King David, a play; co-moderator Archaeology and the Bible "In the face of our tendency to imagine that God''s anointed ones are exempt from most worldly ills, THE PASSION OF MARYAM depicts a Mary (Maryam) and Jesus (Yeshua) who confront evil, fear, doubt, and struggle full-force, yet sensing the Almighty is truly at work in their lives."Rev. Larry Young, United Methodist pastor, Southern California

"A well crafted fictional account of a real life situation too common in the USA, the prospect of losing a small town''s ambiance along with its farm lands. Tied to the land and each other in complex ways, the characters are Ohio angels with halos slightly askew. The truth of this story made my heart sing." Phyllis Wilson Moore, Independent Researcher, West Virginia Literature, Clarksburg, WV"A story of two men and a village who find their heart''s desire - and their family roots - in their own backyard. The characters are original fiction, but the fight to save the farm is real. And the fight continues, every day, all across the nation."Krista Magaw, Executive Director, Tecumseh Land Trust, Yellow Springs, Ohio