Ocean Vuong Shares His Reading List with the New York Times
Ocean Vuong’s poetry collection Time is a Mother was released earlier this month, and now the poet and author has shared his reading list with the New York Times. Authors mentioned include Toni Morrison, Ernest J. Gaines, Kenzaburo Oe, Cynthia Cruz, Jason Reynolds, Jia Tolentino, and many more.
Obamas’ Higher Ground Signs on to Netflix Adaptation of Leave the World Behind
Higher Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, has signed on to Netflix’s adaptation of Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. The film will star Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Myha’la Herrold. Sam Esmail, the creator of Mr. Robot and Homecoming, wrote and directed the adaptation.
Wipf and Stock Publishers to Pull Bad and Boujee from Distribution
Wipf and Stock Publishers have initiated the removal and ceased distribution of the book Bad and Boujee: Toward a Trap Feminist Theology after the book was criticized on many platforms. Cascade, an imprint of Wipf and Stock, originally published Bad and Boujee on February 22nd. The book’s goal is to engage “with the overlap of black experience, hip-hop music, ethics, and feminism to focus on a subsection known as ‘trap feminism’ and construct a Trap Feminist Theology.” The problem? Author Jennifer M. Buck is white. On April 11th, popular Christian writer and podcaster Jo Luehmann criticized Bad and Boujee on her Instagram account, asking Buck how she was qualified to write a book on the experience of Black women. On April 13th and 14th, several Black women authors, academics, and theologians took to Twitter to criticize the book and share their perspective. Jim Tedrick, Wipf and Stock’s director of publications, said the publisher has “initiated the removal [of] the book from publication and distribution.”
What Do School Boards Do?: This Week’s Book Censorship News
A look at what role the school board plays, particularly with book challenges. That and this week’s roundup of censorship news.