WATCH: Julia Alvarez in Conversation With
John Freeman
On Strangers, Public Spaces, Bodies, and the Role of Tenderness
Acclaimed authors and friends John Freeman and Julia Alvarez present their new books, both of which engage with questions of how we decide who to care for, which bodies matter, how we occupy space with strangers. . . and whose presences we don’t see.
Freeman’s poetry collection The Park is a series of meditations inspired by The Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, spanning four seasons, which asks the reader to consider what role exclusion plays, and what role tenderness, in our sense of public space.
Alvarez’s novel Afterlife—her first in almost 15 years—tells the story of an immigrant writer confronted by personal and political crises, and asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?
Freeman and Alvarez read and discuss their work and engage with audience questions at this virtual event brought to you by Greenlight Bookstore.
The Virtual Book Channel
Launched during the coronavirus pandemic as virtual literary communities began emerging in vital and unexpected ways, The Virtual Book Channel seeks to provide the best possible platforms for writers to reach their readers. The VBC (aka “The Veeb”) is a curated channel that archives live-streamed programming through partnerships with independent bookstores, literary festivals, authors' WFH spaces, and more.
