Episode Sixteen: ”Incredible Endings and Mother-Daughter Relationships” with Tillie Olsen, Jamaica Kincaid, and Huda Al-Marashi

SHOW NOTES: On Episode 16, Pete discusses “Incredible Endings and Mother-Daughter Relationships,” as seen in writing by Tillie Olsen, Jamaica Kincaid, and Huda Al-Marashi.  In “As I Stand Here Ironing,” Olsen leaves us with an incredibly apt image wholly representative of the protagonist’s hopes for her daughter. In her short story, “Girl,” Kincaid’s protagonist asks a probing question of both her daughter and the reader in a way that leaves the reader pondering it for a long while after taking her gaze off the page. 

Al-Marashi’s final paragraph is a sort of promise to, and a prayer for, her daughter. Her work is nonfiction, which is a nice addition to the podcast. I actually read a lot more nonfiction than you might think from listening to this podcast, and Al-Marashi’s shining work is a perfect fit for this episode.

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You can find the literature referenced today in Tillie Olsen’s 1961 Tell Me a Riddle collection, published by New World Writing. Both Olsen’s “As I Stand Here Ironing” and Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” are widely anthologized. Kincaid’s story was published in the collection At the Bottom of the River, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

Huda Al-Marashi’s “A Birthday at the Cemetery” was published in the August 7, 2020, edition of The New York Times. 

The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other cool song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental Version”) by Matt Weidauer, used through Arches Audio. Matt’s artist page can be found here.

 

Authors Mentioned and Allusions and Songs Referenced During the Episode:

Tillie Olsen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillie_Olsen

Margaret Atwood Speaks of Olsen’s Hectic Life: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/books/03olsen.html

Jamaica Kincaid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Kincaid

Huda Al-Marashi’s Amazon.com Page: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Huda-Al-Marashi/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AHuda+Al-Marashi

Huda Al-Marashi’s “A Birthday at the Cemetery”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/well/family/a-birthday-at-the-cemetery.html

Saudade Description: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade