weekend links: paranormal romance, menopause media, anticolonial art
Indigenous American parka, ca. 1890-1910. Image courtesy John Bigelow Taylor, collection of Minneapolis Institute of Art/Longreads.
Bernard and Lisa Selz, donors to numerous art institutions in the country, have also been donating large sums of money to various anti-vax groups. These groups downplay the effects of diseases like measles, or exaggerate the harm caused by vaccines. This article looks at one family who has done so much for the art world, yet at the same time done so much harm to the rest of the world. [Hyperallergic]
In the age of influencers, travel photography has gone from being a sort of universal language to a method of strategic branding. Emily Nathan, a travel photographer, sees the medium losing its soul, and argues why travel photography needs to get back to its roots: the people living in the place you’ve traveled to. Nathan acts on this, creating her own corner of Instagram in which she and her colleagues create human-centric travel photography. [Artsy]
Daniel A. Gross was offered 10,000 dollars to be a fellow in a new program set up by the owners of Barnes and Noble. The offer seemed too good to be true—and it was. Gross details his experience with the Springing center, which quickly went from the opportunity of a lifetime to a near-hostage situation. If you’re looking for a thriller this weekend, look no further. [The New Yorker]
Sherrilyn Kenyon is a paranormal romance author best known for her Dark Hunter series. On the side, she accuses her ex-husband of plotting to kill her. This profile of Kenyon showcases her work as an author and the attempt on her life that she claims to have dodged. [Vulture]
When author Darcey Steinke hit menopause, she realized that there was no good media that deals with the process in an informative and positive way. So she turned to nature—specifically whales. In this interview excerpt, Steinke discusses Moby Dick, her empathy to captured orcas, and patriarchy. [The Atlantic]
Native Americans have been exploited throughout Western history, but seldom talked about is how. Soraya Roberts talks about the art of Native American women, and how when the colonialists came they took their art without even acknowledging it was created by women. This has led to a culture of Native American women not being taken seriously in their societies. Fortunately, there are organizations working to reverse this course. [Longreads]
When colonizers came to Nigeria, they brought a culture and theology that clashed with that of the Nigerians. Nnamdi Ehirim goes over this clash and how it has affected the literature of the country, often told from the colonial perspective. Now, a new generation of Nigerian writers are taking back their culture through their writing. [Lit Hub]
—Nicolas Perez