“I want to share what I observe in the world and connect with others and be a part of conversations that are important to me,” Is what Josina Manu Maltzman said when asked why they wrote. Maltzman is an author and activist who cares deeply about problems in the world. Teo Shannon, a fellow author, appeared with Maltzman at a book talk on Oct. 28 directly at Winona State University. These authors shared passages from their respective books for the audience. Shannon shared from his poetry collection “A Chronology of Blood” and Maltzman shared from “Ride Safe.”
Maltzman shared that the story of “Ride Safe” revolves around the idea of three questions. Those questions being what is safety? How do our positionality and experiences influence when, and how, we feel safe? And how does healing from trauma contribute to community safety? Maltzman found the answers to these questions as they reflected on motorcycle trips they had taken back in 2005. These questions are quite personal for Maltzman.
“And these are all, you know, the conversation of what is safety and community safety is really pressing in the communities I’m a part of and the world that we’re in right now, and I wanted to be a part of the conversation,” Maltzman said.
In both Shannon and Maltzman works they share experiences of trauma and how they have been affected by events in the world. Writing is not only a great way to relieve stress in one’s own life, but it also has the potential to help others heal in turn. Writing has the wonderful ability to create an emotional response, much like art. Art is expression and so is writing. Not only is it important to write about things that may be troubling, it’s important to engage with them and hear them.
A book talk is an immersive experience. Any book can create an immersive experience, but listening to the author themselves putting their feelings into their stories is something that everyone should experience. They also convey the subtle nuances of each story, and not everyone tells the same story the same way.
“Josina’s readings about witnessing the Israeli occupation of Palestine is important for understanding the impact of colonization and imperialism. Teo’s readings examined the intergenerational trauma of domestic violence, which is critical to understand in relation to the movement to end interpersonal violence,” Mary Jo Kliner, who is the director of the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies program at Winona State, explained. They both discuss similar concepts, but they have their own differences that can be conveyed in what they decide to read at the talk and the emotion they put behind it.
Community is a very important concept that this book talk revolved around. Humans are an inherently social species and are, by nature, driven to community. Community is an integral part of being happy and safe in many cases. Our personal experiences make us who we are but finding people who can understand how you feel and support you is something that everyone benefits from. This was the case for the book talk as people built connections through these books and hearing them be talked about.
