Notes & links: 'How the Word Is Passed'

Hello, Readers!

Thank you to everyone who attended our September conversation about How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by essayist, poet, and thinker Clint Smith, PhD.

Here are some links for further exploration from our September discussion:

• Author Clint Smith's website

• The Whitney Plantation's photo gallery, which includes several of the sites described in the book.

• Angola Prison Museum's website, with photos of many parts of the prison described.

• "Take the Freedom Walk in Galveston," a virtual tour with photos and videos about Juneteenth

• "Monuments to the Unthinkable," the November 2022 essay Smith wrote for The Atlantic after how Germany has dealt with constructing public memory and memorializing the Holocaust.

• The Radio Atlantic podcast episode featuring Clint Smith, "How Germany Remembers the Holocaust," considers what the US can learn about how to remember slavery.

• My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson: The titular novella short story of the short story collection places a diverse group of people fleeing violent white supremacists in Charlottesville at the plantation.

And in literary news:

• Litquake returns to San Francisco this month! The full calendar of author events (October 5-21) includes the hallmark Litcrawl in the Mission.

• The first week of October is Banned Books Week. PEN America's new report highlights the increasing pressure to ban books in schools. San Francisco Public Library is hosting events.

Our October Discussion

• Topic: The novel Beloved by Toni Morrison

• When: Sunday, October 22, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to approx 12:15 p.m. (Pacific Time)

• Where: Books Inc. Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco

Copies are in stock now at Books Inc. Opera Plaza. The Ebook also is available.

As always, thank you for reading!