Jules’ Tools for Social Change: a Spring 2015 in review booklist

Dear Reader,Welcome to this month’s edition of Jules’ Tools for Social Change, a column that features a book, author or publisher whose work deals with issues of race, gender, sexuality, ability, colonialism, economic justice, or other social justice topics.This month, we’re showcasing a selection of books on All Lit Up that were released during the spring season that we didn’t have a chance to feature in this column, but want to give a little love all the same.’Til next time,Julia

In In Your Crib (Guernica Editions), Austin Clarke, himself an elder of the Civil Rights movement, gives us poetry, as the publisher says, ‘in the tradition of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song’.” The poet/elder speaks to a young Black man and reproaches him for his lack of engagement in the fight for justice, while expressing upset at himself for having grown too old to make a difference himself. Initially distancing himself from the young man, the elder eventually comes to see that different generations have their own ways of pushing back. This is a conversation that needs to continue, as youth seek to learn from their elders’ knowledge and continue to resist oppression in all forms.

 “What would happen if, instead of entering a world in which they are never really considered human, girls made a choice to abandon us?” Brenda Leifso’s Barren the Fury (Pedlar Press) follows a woman whose daughter first seeks answers and then vengeance in a post-apocalyptic kind of world reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale. You can read some excerpts of the poetry at Atlantic Books Today. Also: that cover image!

From the publisher, Mawenzi House: “In Bodymap, Lambda Award-winner Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha sings a queer disabled femme-of-colour love song filled with hard femme poetics and disability justice.” Including sections on disability, queer transformative love, femininity, politics and Sri Lankan identity, and ancestry and queer parenting, this collection of poetry is both personal and political. The collection contains work created and performed with Sins Invalid, a performance piece on disability and sexuality that centres artists of colour and queer and gender non-conforming artists.

In This Place a Stranger (Caitlin Press), a diverse collection of twenty-three Canadian women, including both new and established writers write about their experiences of travelling alone. Some of the stories are funny and uplifting, while others are painful. Fun fact, last month’s Jules’ Tools featured writer, Shannon Webb-Campbell, is a contributor!