Riz Ahmed and Lulu Wang to Produce Comedy Series The Son of Good Fortune
Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Films and Lulu Wang’s Local Time are partnering to develop the comedy series The Son of Good Fortune, an adaptation of Lysley Tenorio’s novel of the same name, for Amazon. The novel follows the story of an undocumented Filipino teenager in the Bay area who is working through his troubled relationship with his mother, a former B-movie action star, while also falling in love for the first time and trying to figure out how to pay back a massive amount of debt. Filipino and Korean writer, director, actor and stand-up comic Andrew Lopez will adapt the book for the screen and executive produce, alongside Riz Ahmed and Allie Moore of Left Handed and Lulu Wang and Dani Melia for Local Time.
This Black-Owned Bookstore is Delivering Books on Horseback
Harriett’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Philadelphia, has taken to delivering books on horseback. Jeannine A. Cook, the owner of Harriett’s Bookshop, says the idea started with her partnership with the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, a North Philly organization known for promoting horseback riding for inner city youth. “December 2020 I took my first ride on [horseback] in partnership with the Fletcher Street Riding Club. From there we’ve periodically found ways to bring together the world of horses and books. It is believed that Harriett Tubman stole a horse to deliver her elderly parents to freedom. There is a rich riding tradition among our ancestors and many indigenous cultures. That tradition continues with us,” Cook told Because Of Them We Can. To learn more about the bookshop, check out their website here.
Read the New Poem by Saeed Jones
Columbus poet, essayist, and author Saeed Jones recently shared the title piece from his forthcoming book, Alive at the End of the World, which is hitting shelves in 2022. The poem was released yesterday via the author’s Werk-In-Progress newsletter, but you can read the poem in full online. Jones said the poem emerged from a time when he was reflecting on the apocalyptic state of the world in 2020. “I think what I’ve learned is the apocalypse is a state of being, and it’s not a linear, one-time event,” Jones said in an interview with Alive. “Every time there’s a mass shooting, every time a cop shoots a kid and gets away with it, every time we learn about a sexual assault and it’s just paved over and someone becomes a Supreme Court justice. Those are all apocalyptic, world-ending events, or at least they should be, because that’s how meaningful they are to the people implicated.” Here is Jones’ full poem.
Why Police Shouldn’t Be in Libraries (and How to Help Change That)
Libraries are an essential public institution. They should be a safe, accessible space for everyone. So why are there police in libraries, compromising this very safety?