We’re excited to announce that we’ve hired a part time intern. Hurrah! It’s just a few hours per week (we are paying her, of course) but an extra set of hands is incredibly helpful right now as we prepare all the pieces of our upcoming Kickstarter campaign, finalize our website, and get everything in order for smooth bookkeeping and tax accounting, and plan some (dare we say) groundbreaking ways of reaching readers. So here we go, introducing Sydney Alexander, who will tell you a bit about her background and what she’s doing for us, and kick off our monthly reading wrap-up. It’s been a pleasure to work with this bright and very well-organized young woman.
Hi all,
My name is Sydney Alexander, and I am the new intern at Galiot Press! It has been a pleasure getting to know Anjali and Henriette, and supporting their mission and efforts to rethink publishing in a more sustainable way. Part of the work I am doing now for Galiot Press includes helping out with social media, contributing posts to their Substack, and researching events such as book festivals and literary conferences that Galiot Press may attend later on. Less officially, I’ve just been helping out in any way that I can.
I am a student joint-majoring in English and geography at Middlebury College, but I am currently taking a gap semester this Spring. In years past, I served as a Reader for Yellow Arrow Publishing, an independent publisher in Baltimore, MD dedicated to uplifting the voices of women writers. This year, I will be an Editorial Associate for Yellow Arrow. I also write blogs for them.
In addition to all my editorial work, I enjoy reading and writing. My favorite genres are general (literary?!) fiction, magical realism, and fantasy. I also particularly enjoy short story collections, especially those by Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado. Right now, because I enjoyed We Were the Mulvaneys so much last summer, I am currently reading Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates. As for other books I’ve been reading recently, I was disturbed by both My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell and Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid, and, as Lemony Snicket would say, thoroughly rollicked by Thistlefoot, by GennaRose Nethercott. Truly, one aspect of my gap semester that I am particularly grateful for is all the time I have to read my own books! The next book on my list is Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang.
Here at Galiot Press, we’re starting a monthly wrap of our favorite reads. We are particularly interested in highlighting books that take shape at the confluence of different cultures and ideas.
I’ll kick things off with my favorite read of January, which was Hungry Ghosts, by Kevin Jared Hosein. This book takes place in 1940’s Trinidad, following the lives of the Saroops, a Hindu family living amongst other families in a claustrophobic and densely populated building called the “barracks.” The Saroops dream of building a new and better life for themselves in Bell, a nearby wealthier Christian neighborhood, but this dream is upset by one terrible betrayal. Hungry Ghosts is gritty and visceral; as much as Hosein evokes a beautifully rich landscape with his writing, he does not shy away from portraying violence and rampant inequality. This novel felt important to me for the way that I was introduced to new places and cultures I had never read or learned about before, and also for the way that it investigated tensions that emerge amidst the clash of religion and class.
Anjali here, to chime in with a book that really stayed with me this month: This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Talk about blurring genres! This absolutely gorgeously written slim novel that encompasses all of humanity and our history blends sci-fi, romance, mystery, and fantasy, as well as past and future. Every word has clearly been so carefully chosen, with striking imagery and voice that leaps off the page. I discussed it over winter break with the college students for whom I have run a book club for over ten years now, and we all agreed that it was stunning, confusing, and that it bears–no, deserves–re-reading. This is the kind of book I love: that defies expectations, that surprises, that leaves one thinking for weeks, and through which it is clear that the author (in this case pair of authors) loves and respects words and language. Up next on my reading pile, after I finish Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, is the newly released The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzales James.
Henriette is currently on her way to Antarctica to fulfill a lifelong dream, so we’ll wait until next time to hear about what she’s been reading. Hopefully she’ll share some Antarctica photos, too.
Comment and let us know what books you’ve enjoyed this month!
I’ve brought two Big Novels with me for this month-long journey: Zadie Smith’s Fraud (Anjali, you know I loved Swing Time) and Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. There’s something Dickensian in the air, apparently!
Welcome Sydney!
Anjali, I completely agree about This is How You Lose the Time War. I listened to the audio version, and it took me two tries because the beginning was deceptive: I thought, this isn't my kind of book at all. But I heard so much buzz that I gave it another shot and I'm so glad I did. What artistry! It's genre-defiant, gorgeous and inventive and, as you said, surprising in so many ways. It's a beautiful story, but it's so much more than that, and I'd encourage writers especially who might not think it's their kind of book at first to stick with it just to experience the craft woven into its pages.