BY RILEY GUERRERO ’20

It would be difficult not to note the recent trend towards the apocalyptic — and post-apocalyptic — in American fiction. From the popularity of television shows like “The Walking Dead” to the recent “Blade Runner” reboot to the renowned “Hunger Games” trilogy and its kin in the “Divergent” series, the end-times seem to loom large even in the urban centers around the world. However, for many located just miles outside these steel and concrete cores, that apocalypse has already arrived, either domestically or abroad.

BY RILEY GUERRERO ’20

In the unusually temperate weather, it’s all too easy to forget that we’re in the midst of October. This month, hot cocoa and pumpkin spice should be warming us up amidst a chilly breeze as we contemplate what lurks in the dead-still of the witching hours. But instead, with the sunny 60-degree days and most of the campus still abuzz late into the night cramming for midterms, it’s time to manufacture some proper Halloween spirit ––  and take a much-needed break from test prep -–– with some candy corn and a good book. As October is also LGBTQ History Month, no author comes to mind more than Oscar Wilde, who celebrated his 163rd birthday on Oct. 16.  

BY RILEY GUERRERO ’20

Write what you know” is perhaps the most feared piece of advice given to young authors. However, it was exactly this that lead to the first book of what would eventually become Grace Lin’s impressive bibliography. Lin, who concluded the Childrens Literature Series presentations last week, graduated from art school with aspirations to be a children’s book illustrator, Lin submitted her portfolio to editors across the country for years, but received virtually no call-backs. This all changed with a fateful phone call from a small-time editor who enjoyed her work, but felt that the images already had their own stories. Perhaps these were stories that she should write herself, and if she ever did, he said he would be happy to take a look at them. Thus, “The Ugly Vegetables” was born, followed by picture books, early-reader novels, poetry collections, folktales and realistic fiction, all borne of two decades of work, research and drawings.