#immigrant voices

[illthdar]

Happy STS from writingamongthecoloredroses! How much of your story was inspired by yourself/your life?

Thanks for the ask!

Absolutely. See, I moved to the UK from Minnesota seven years ago and I experienced a period of instability due to culture shock. At the time I was writing the first draft to Guardians of Las, I had been here... I think it was something like 3 years at that point - anyway, I had troubles for more than one reason, but a large part was that things were similar-but-not. Sometimes, I felt like I was living on a completely different planet.

It's a weird feeling, being the outsider. Things people take for granted as the norm, aren't to you and there was more than one occasion where I either missed the cue, or just didn't have a clue.

Illthdar was a way of expressing the feelings of otherness immigrants can experience by dropping the reader into a similar-but-not world where every bit of logic that we cling to, to rationalise our lives doesn't exist. The chaos is normal, and when something is normal it isn't questioned, and when we don't ask questions we fail to grasp the implications of reality. I want readers to come away from the Illthdar series really taking a hard look at their own lives and society and ask themselves if not questioning the normal is really safe.

[oscarisaacappreciationsociety]

“Many Voices, One Nation” at the Smithsonian Museum of American History takes visitors on a chronological and thematic journey that maps the cultural geography of the unique and complex stories that animate the Latin emblem on the country’s Great Seal and the national ideal: E pluribus unum, Out of many, one.

Through almost 200 museum artifacts and about 100 loan objects, this exhibition shows how the many voices of the American people have contributed to and continue to shape the nation and its communities, from its earliest beginnings to the present. Through objects such as a painted elk hide from the Southwest, circa 1693, a Norwegian bowl brought by 19th-century immigrants, a gold miner’s trunk, symbols of union and liberty such as Uncle Sam and Columbia, and a baseball helmet used by Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski in the 1970s, the exhibition explores the never-ending process of becoming one nation.

[venusinorbit]

Green Card Voices seeking artists to illustrate immigrant stories for new anthology

The anthology from the non-profit organization will feature twelve different stories written by immigrants and refugees.

Green Card Voices, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, has put out the call for artist submissions for a forthcoming graphic novel anthology spotlighting the stories of immigrants in the United States. The anthology, Immigrant Voices, will feature 12 stories written by immigrants and refugees. The book is planned for a fall 2020 release.

Here’s how Green Card Voices describes Immigrant Voices:

Immigrant Voices: A Graphic Novel Anthology* will document and amplify the first person stories of 12 immigrants and refugees. These individuals live across the United States, in cities including Fargo, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, and are students, doctors, engineers, and artists. This project will detail their lives in their home countries and their reasons for leaving, document their journey to the US, and highlight their goals for the future.

[queenslibrary]

Learn their stories in Ridgewood, Jackson Heights, and Glendale!