Fire and Ink: An Anthology of Social Action Writing

Fire and Ink is a powerful and impassioned anthology of stories, poems, interviews, and essays that confront some of the most pressing social issues of our day. Designed to inspire and inform, this collection embodies the concepts of "breaking silence," "bearing witness," resistance, and resilience. Beyond students and teachers, the book will appeal to all readers with a commitment to social justice.

Fire and Ink brings together, for the first time in one volume, politically engaged writing by poets, fiction writers, and essayists. Including many of our finest writers--Mart n Espada, Adrienne Rich, June Jordan, Patricia Smith, Gloria Anzald a, Sharon Olds, Arundhati Roy, Sonia Sanchez, Carolyn Forche, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Alice Walker, Linda Hogan, Gary Soto, Kim Blaeser, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Li-Young Lee, and Jimmy Santiago Baca, among others--this is an indispensable collection.

This groundbreaking anthology marks the emergence of social action writing as a distinct field within creative writing and literature. Featuring never-before-published pieces, as well as reprinted material, Fire and Ink is divided into ten sections focused on significant social issues, including identity, sexuality and gender, the environment, social justice, work, war, and peace. The pieces can often be gripping, such as "Frame," in which Adrienne Rich confronts government and police brutality, or Chris Abani's "Ode to Joy," which documents great courage in the face of mortal danger.

Fire and Ink serves as a wonderful reader for a wide range of courses, from composition and rhetoric classes to courses in ethnic studies, gender studies, American studies, and even political science, by facing a past that was often accompanied by injustice and suffering. But beyond that, this collection teaches us that we all have the power to create a more equitable and just future.

Author: Frances Payne Adler
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 10/15/2009
Pages: 484
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.44lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.04w x 0.98d
ISBN: 9780816527939


Award: IndieFab awards - Silver Medal Winner


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/10/2009 pg. 47
Choice 06/01/2010
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2010 pg. 277

About the Author
Poet Frances Payne Adler is a professor and founder of the Creative Writing and Social Action Program at California State University, Monterey Bay. She is the author of five books, including The Making of a Matriot, and is nationally recognized for her collaborative social action art exhibitions. Fiction writer Debra Busman, a longtime activist and community organizer, and poet Diana García, a founding member of the Border Voices Project, are both professors and co-directors of the Creative Writing and Social Action Program, California State University, Monterey Bay.


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