What's fiction for? Art of suffering, art of struggle

We've got a brand new conversation freshly posted over at Politerature, the site focused on political fiction that I maintain with author Meredith Sue Willis. This one starts with our mutual praise for the novel The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis and ranges outward from there, eventually toward questions about what art is for and what literature should be about. Plus, we've even included links to two pieces of writing, mine and MSW's, as examples of fiction that brings the reader right into the heart of political action.

Check it out.

Chinua Achebe

The great Chinua Achebe died this morning. This is a great loss for red readers, for literature, for the worldwide working class and oppressed peoples. His works, from Things Fall Apart  and his other novels of Nigeria and colonialism, to his essays and other non-fiction, constitute a peerless contribution to providing, as U.S. political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal does, a voice for the voiceless.

He was also a friend to the people of Palestine. I first heard of his death today via a Facebook posting from the Palestine Festival of Literature. Although he could not attend their 2008 gathering, he sent the following message.

Alice Walker's poem for Hugo Chavez

The great and good Alice Walker has posted a beautiful poem on her website Alice Walker's Garden. The title is "The Good Ones, for Hugo Chavez, Presente."

The good ones
who listen
to women
to children and the poor
die too soon,
their lives bedeviled
by opposition:
our hearts grieve for them. ...

Read the entire poem here. I especially like the line "What a mighty ruckus Hugo Chavez made!"

Hugo Chavez presente! Gracias por todos!