The Nation We Live In, a Collection of Essays and Short Stories

June 16, 2020 Hello, writers, First things first, the staff and board of the WLT support Black Lives Matter and the movement for racial equity and justice. Period. We have been talking a lot these last two weeks about the ways the WLT can meet the challenge of this moment and take meaningful steps that will live up to the responsibility we have as the largest literary arts organization in Texas. Most important, we've talked about making a measurable impact and holding ourselves accountable when this moment is past so that we continue to do better not only this year but the next year and the year after that. While we don't have all of the answers (we're writers, after all; we write to  find  the answers), we know where we want to start and we know that we must start now. Our commitment to our community: 1) Because we believe that racial equity should be a priority in every area of our programming,...

 ‌    ‌    ‌ Dear Reader, Over the last week we have taken some time to reflect on ways to be more effective allies. To start off, we want to make this perfectly clear: Black Lives Matter. BookPeople condemns white supremacy and the police brutality that has long targeted the Black community. We stand with those who are out in our streets, speaking out and fighting for Black lives. Systemic racism is not a matter of opinion, it is fact. We believe that one of our roles as a community bookstore is to provide access to books and educational resources that will inspire and enact change. However, there's always room to be better, to speak louder, and to do more. We are 100% committed to doing the work, to listen, to learn, to take action. We have opened the dialogue internally between leadership and staff members in order to crea...

So we have all now become numb and bombarded by the city of Austin, Texas perpetually being on the "Best of Lists." i.e Best Place to Live, Best Place for Millennials, Best Place for Live Music etc...blah blah we get it, Austin Texas is sooo cool, and has obviously been discovered. We don't need the public relations campaigns anymore. The following piece highlights some reasons why Austin is not cool. As a local Austinite born at Seton Hospital on West 38th in the year of 1981, I feel aptly qualified to write and disclose the warts and often overlooked problems with the city of Austin, Texas. On a side-note, locals like myself are now known as Unicorns. In the words of CNN's Chris Cuomo, " let's get after it." The weather is too damn hot,  everlasting and often Houston level humid. The summer in Austin, Texas commences in late April and runs hot, long, sticky, sweaty and bothersome until November. Air Conditioning Bills anyone? Some cities poss...

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