EPISODE #109 “Of Dust and Guts” 04-28-14
This week’s episode of “Books du Jour,” continues our mission to share different kinds of literature and books. The guests who have accepted to share our table are perfect examples of our mission.
Kelly Cosgwell has written a memoir of blood, sweat and spit. “Eating Fire,” is a heart-pumping account of old fashioned activism. In this instance, her memory of the Lesbian Avengers, a group formed in the early 90’s, who called for direct action campaigns, battling cops, and mobilizing 20,000 dykes in DC while literally eating fire outside the white house. “Eating Fire” is a witty and urgent coming of age memoir spanning two decades, from the Culture War to the War on Terror.
John Wareham, “How to Survive a Bullet in the Heart” is the work of a humanist who is not afraid to roll his sleeve and get the dirty job done. John’s job is to visit prisons, and teach poetry to convicts to help them get in touch with their inner life. “How to Survive,” is a heart-wrenching collection of short poems written by men in captivity, men who feel regrets, guilt, and whatever else they feel, they lay bare their soul. Check out the closing chapter on self-acceptance. Really moving.
Gwen Edelman’s “The Train to Warsaw,” takes you on a ride down the tricky memory lane of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. Through a pair of sympathetic characters, who survived the war, and now decides to revisit Poland for the first time, they must now confront the brutal forces of time and history, which usher them into the darkest corners of their psyche. Edelman brings about great questions. Indeed what does it mean to recapture one’s past when this past is pregnant with horrific nightmares?
Episode was shot at City Winery