We stare at our phones. We keep multiple tabs open. Our chats and conversations are full of the phrase “Did you see?” The feeling that we’re living in the worst of times seems to be intensifying, alongside a desire to know precisely how bad things have gotten—and each new catastrophe distracts us from the last.
The Unreality of Memory collects provocative, searching essays on disaster culture, climate anxiety, and our mounting collective sense of doom. In this new collection, acclaimed poet and essayist Elisa Gabbert explores our obsessions with disasters past and future, from the sinking of the Titanic to Chernobyl, from witch hunts to the plague. These deeply researched, prophetic meditations question how the world will end—if indeed it will—and why we can’t stop fantasizing about it.
Can we avoid repeating history? Can we understand our moment from inside the moment? With The Unreality of Memory, Gabbert offers a hauntingly perceptive analysis of our new ways of being and a means of reconciling ourselves to this unreal new world.
________________________________________________
Produced by Maddie Gobbo & Michael Kowaleski
Theme: "I Love All My Friends," a new, unreleased demo by Fragile Gang.
Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team.
SKYLIT: Jessica P. Pryde, ”BLACK LOVE MATTERS”
SKYLIT: Scott Meslow, ”FROM HOLLYWOOD WITH LOVE”
SKYLIT: Kai Harris, ”WHAT THE FIREFLIES KNEW”
SKYLIT: Sasha Fletcher, ”BE HERE TO LOVE ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD”
LIVE ON CROWDCAST: Jami Attenberg, ”I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MEET YOU” w/ Patricia Lockwood
THE HANDSELL: Harriet’s Bookshop w/ Jeannine Cook
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Akwaeke Emezi
SKYLIT: Cara Blue Adams, ”YOU NEVER GET IT BACK”
SKYLIT: Tim James, ”ASTRONOMICAL”
SKYLIT: Wajahat Ali, ”GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM”
SKYLIT: Duncan Birmingham, ”THE CULT IN MY GARAGE”
SKYLIT: Melissa Anderson, ”INLAND EMPIRE” & Erika Balsom, ”TEN SKIES”
SKYLIT: Ellinor Richey, ”JUNKWRAITH”
SKYLIT: Darieck Scott, ”KEEPING IT UNREAL” w/ Ramzi Fawaz
SKYLIT: Tabitha Lasley, ”SEA STATE”
SKYLIT: PEN Emerging Voices w/ Joanna Hong & Jenise Miller
SKYLIT: Brooks Hefner, ”BLACK PULP”
HANDSELL: Christine Bollow, ABA
SKYLIT: Mahogany L. Browne, ”VINYL MOON”
SKYLIT: George Saunders w/ Alena Saunders
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Great Expectations
Just So Stories
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends