Michael Janairo

Blog

  • Review: ‘The Last Black Unicorn’ by Tiffany Haddish

    Tiffany Haddish has just been nominated for an Emmy for her “Saturday Night Live” hosting duties.

    https://twitter.com/TiffanyHaddish/status/1017439050943393794

    She is very funny, and this book and its multiple, episodic stories adds to the story of her success.

    the-last-black-unicorn-9781501181825_lgSome of the stories are already familiar from her appearances on late-night comedy shows, such as the Groupon swamp tour in New Orleans she took Will and Jada Pinkett Smith during the filming of “Girls Trip.” That story touched upon a few points that made Haddish’s story so effective: it marked a moment of her place within the world of entertainment as a relatable up-and-comer suddenly finding herself not only working with Hollywood superstars, but also socializing with them.

    The distance between them, with Haddish and most of her audience on one side, and the Smiths on the other, only deepens (and the comedy, too) when it becomes clear that the Smiths didn’t know that a Groupon is just kind of a coupon and that they swamp tour isn’t private but open to the public. (Another nice touch of separation in the story is when Will Smith gets in Haddish’s car and says, “I can’t remember the last time I was in a real car.”) It’s a winning story, and the book has lots of them that make Haddish relatable. (more…)

  • Review: ‘The Secret History of Wonder Woman’ by Jill Lepore

    91xyaczlfwlWonder Woman came into my life in the form of Lynda Carter in the TV series of the mid-1970s. Not being that into comic books, I didn’t pay her much attention until the Patty Jenkin’s directed film came out last year. The 2017 movie reminded me that Wonder Woman has been a firm part of my consciousness throughout my life, often with the theme song playing in my head (Wonder Woman, the world is waiting for you…).

    I never thought much about the people behind her creation, and so The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore, published in 2014, was a fascinating read, especially Wonder Woman’s ties to such important figures in the history of the American feminist movement like Margaret Sanger, who opened the first birth control clinic in 1916 (and was arrested for it, along with her sister, who went on a hunger strike during her incarceration).

    (more…)

  • Spoken Word Artist: Ruby Ibarra

     

    Check out this great spoken word piece by a young artist born in the Philippines and lives in California.

    Ruby Ibarra’s website is here: https://www.rubyibarra.com/

     

     

  • Good, clean fun on a Sunday morning

  • Friday Photo: Found art on the street

    img_9739
    Found on the street, July 3, 2018

  • Thank you!

  • SFPA announces 2018 Rhysling Awards

    Congratulations to the 2018 Rhysling Award winners!

    These are the best speculative poems of 2017, as voted on by members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (I am a voting member). This was my first time voting for the awards (and my first time being nominated, for the long poem “Instructions for Astronauts.” I enjoyed all these winning poems, and think it’s great that Mary Soon Lee won in both categories, including for a poem published in the same new journal I was published in, Mithila Review.but I still think Brandon O’Brien’s “Birth, Place” from Uncanny Magazine 18 deserves more recognition. You can read it here.

    It is especially poignant that the Sara Cleto’s poem was published in the long-time fan favorite journal Mythic Delirium which, after twenty years, closed up shop with its April 2018 issue. The win is a testament to Mike Allen’s vision and talent and hard work.

    Out of 83 short poems, and 63 long poems, only three won in each category. Click on the titles for links to the poems to read them. Enjoy!

    Short Poem Category

    First Place
    “Advice to a Six-Year-Old”
    Mary Soon Lee • Star*Line 40.2

    Second Place
    “How to Grieve: A Primer for Witches”
    Sara Cleto • Mythic Delirium, May

    Third Place
    “Gramarye”
    F. J. Bergmann • Polu Texni 12/26/17

    Long Poem Category

    First Place
    “The Mushroom Hunters”
    Neil Gaiman • Brainpickings 4/26/17

    Second Place
    “For Preserves”
    Cassandra Rose Clarke • Star*Line 40.4

    Third Place
    “Alternate Genders”
    Mary Soon Lee • Mithila Review 9

  • Today’s Earworm: ‘Flames’ by David Guetta and Sia

  • Book review: ‘Insurrections’ by Rion Amilcar Scott

    insurrections-coverI recommend the story collection Insurrections by Rion Amilcar Scott.

    The stories offer glimpses of life in the fictional town of Cross River, Maryland, a largely black settlement founded in 1807 after the only successful slave revolt in the United States.

    In “Good Times,” a troubled man with a wife and child finds his way back into the good graces of his family through the help of a neighbor and a ratty old Cookie Monster costume. In “Everyone Lives in a Flood Zone,” a man searches for a brother who is linked to criminals in a flooded out section of town and finds unexpected solace with strangers.

    And in “Juba,” a young man is mistaken for a pot dealer named Juba, and gets arrested. Angered, he tracks down Juba and finds not only a pot dealer, but a man on a mission to capture and save the dying language of Cross River. He is even translating the Bible into the language that used to be spoken by the black residents of Cross River.

    What Scott achieves with this story, and many others in the collection, is to let readers experience the strangeness and joy of these kinds of unexpected encounters. The narrator of “Juba,” for example, is on his way to a job interview when he is arrested. The  police action—they throw the narrator to the ground when arresting him—echoes the kind of violence against black people in America that has given rise to the social media hashtag #LivingWhileBlack. That Scott is able to take his story (and his readers) through  such an undercurrent of social injustice and violence, while also bringing his narrator deeper into a drug world, and toward concerns of language, and not just language in general but a specific kind of language of a people in a specific (if fictional) place that is being lost.

    What an amazing place to take a story. Scott is a writer that earns a reader’s trust and willingness to go wherever his stories lead. It is one of the main reasons why spending time in Cross River is so enjoyable. Check out the book now. You can buy it from the publisher, University Press of Kentucky. A new collection of Cross River stories, titled The World Doesn’t Require You, is slated for publication in 2019.

    Rion Amilcar Scott won the 2017 PEN/America Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction for Insurrections. His website is http://www.rionamilcarscott.com and you can also find him on Twittter at https://twitter.com/ReeAmilcarScott.