I find it to be fateful that I lost my teaching job a couple of weeks ago. I had been eager to get back to writing full time, which, in turn would allow me to pull Publik / Private out of its forced hiatus. There are so many hours in a day, and I was at full capacity taking a few college courses and teaching part time. I could not write as much as I desired and Publik / Private had to take a backseat to my daily affairs for a number of months.
Nevertheless, all of that is behind me now and I am at ease. I am not in dire straights or frantic because I saved accordingly for such a time as this.
Almost immediately after I got notice about the job, I headed to the bookstore to re-up on material. I still frequent the library as well. My logic has always been, if you are going to write, you have to read. It’s the only method I understand when it comes to producing a lot of work for a foreseeable future.
I’ve chosen 8 books out of the dozen I have acquired over the past 6 months. They are for my self-education. Some of the books teach me how to work on my craft of writing, others educate me on feminism and masculinity, and some are classic collections. They are my Source of Self-Regard, and a list that I think is worth sharing. Moreover, it’s been ages since I’ve written a reading list, which is a practice I did often in the past.
I hope you find these books useful in any capacity.
Frottage: Frictions of Intimacy Across the Black Diaspora
By Keguro Macharia
Reasoning from Race: Feminism, Law and the Civil Rights Revolution
By Serena Mayeri
Bodies of Information: Intersectional Feminism and Digital Humanities
Edited By Elizabeth Losh and Jacqueline Wernimont
Measuring Manhood: Race and Science of Masculinity, 1830-1934
By Melissa N. Stein
Anton Chekhov’s Selected Plays
Translated and Edited by Laurence Senelick
Imaginative Writing: Elements of Craft
by Janet Burroway
Prose and Poetry
by Adrienne Rich
The Source of Self-Regard
by Toni Morrison