Interviewed by Vershawn Young

A new interview about Living with Lynching is now part of the New Books in African American Studies podcast series!  The audio series is hosted by Vershawn Young, who edited that fabulous essay collection Bourgeois to Boojie, which contains provocative chapters by Houston Baker, Amiri Baraka, Greg Tate, Dwight McBride, Lisa B. Thompson, and many others.  


It was a lively conversation in which I discussed what inspired the project, why I take issue with another scholar's declaration that African American literature ended, and why I believe that lynching plays do not depict physical violence.  I also talked about the importance of debate in black communities and about why scholars have gone astray by assuming that black drama did not keep pace with African American poetry and fiction.  


Listen to the interview here. 


For more on the interview series, see http://newbooksinafroamstudies.com/
For more on Vershawn Young's book Bourgeois to Boojie, click here. 

Interviewed on Austin Radio Show

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I was interviewed by Hopeton Hay, producer and host of KAZI Book Review, which airs on KAZI 88.7 FM in Austin, Texas. Our lively conversation will broadcast on Monday, June 11, 2012 at approximately 7:03 AM Central time. Those outside of Austin can listen live online at kazifm.org (click the microphone on left side of page) or through the TuneIn Radio app on iPhone or Droid phones. (Remember, this would be 8:03 AM Eastern.)

For more about the show, including on-demand listening to archived interviews, visit www.kazibookreview.wordpress.com

Two More Reviews

Four reviews in the book's first six months of existence? I'll take it!

The April 2012 issue of Arkansas Review includes a piece on Living with Lynching. One representative quotation: "Mitchell methodically documents and skillfully interprets lynching drama's important cultural work. . . . She illuminates an overlooked aspect African American literary history" (61).

In March, the Rutgers University website Criminal Law & Criminal Justice Books reviewed Living with Lynching. Though the piece has serious limitations, the review's existence suggests that a wide variety of readers are taking notice. It is perfectly normal for an academic book by a new author to go 2 years without a single review. So, I am thrilled that Living with Lynching is not only commanding that sort of attention, but also doing so among scholars in fields other than literary and performance studies—in its first 6 months in print! http://clcjbooks.rutgers.edu/books/living_with_lynching.html

(The other two reviews are referenced in earlier posts: Reviewed on H-NET and Highly Recommended by CHOICE.)

Community Activities Featured

As I have shared on this blog before, my scholarly work benefits from my running. Because running has been so good to me, I try to share it with as many people as possible. The local newspaper recently featured some of what I've been doing that has inspired more women to take notice! Story archived here: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2012/05/04/club-for-black-women-becoming-a-fitness-force.html

Boston University

Before my lecture at Boston University, Linda Heywood, director of the African American Studies program, called for a moment of silence for Trayvon Martin. This was Thursday, March 22, 2012 and I had just torn myself from the latest insulting press conference on CNN about the case. Silence was observed for a full minute and it changed the energy of every word I spoke that evening, almost as if I had never said those words before. I will never forget this lecture or the energy in that intimate space.

During the intense, intimate Q&A, a black male graduate student shared his experience of being beaten by a spontaneous mob and barely escaping with his life. At least he wasn't turned away at the hospital, he shared. I responded with (among many other points) my belief in the importance of community conversation, as articulated in Living with Lynching.