The inheritance of bone / Cleyvis Natera -- The scream / Danusia Trevino -- My family WhatsApp group / Mazin Sidahmed -- What it takes to make a dream come true / Hass Agili -- Is this thing on? / Aparna Nancherla -- The nostalgia bug / André Aciman -- True identity / Tatenda Ngwaru -- On modesty / Abeer Hoque -- 1993-2018 / Khalid Warsame -- Good dogs, good humans / Noël Duan -- Don't they have irons in America? / Magogodi Oamphela Makhene -- The table of the kings / Xavier Trevino -- The limpia / Xochitl Gonzalez -- A little tattle-tale around the nannying gig / Christine Yvette Lewis -- My heart's journey home / Hisla Bates -- Birth / Sofija Stefanovic -- The heart attack uncle / Alexander Chee -- Three decades of unsolicited fashion advice from a migrant mother / Alice Pung -- An island unto herself / Roxanne Fequiere -- Second language / Maria Tumarkin -- Ungrateful / Mashuq Mushtaq Deen -- Mortar, porcelain / Brick Kay Iguh -- Crisis (Christian rappers influenced by scripture infiltrating Satan) / Rufat Agayev -- My china / Agustinus Wibowo -- Don't follow your dreams (especially, the American dream) / Emma Ramos -- Sweet stinking elevators / Zuzanna Szadkowski -- Jaikisan Heights / Suketu Mehta -- The great divide : on a trip upstate, learning to listen / Laura Gómez -- The river / Rojo Perez -- Go back to your country / Maysoon Zayid -- The foreign girl / Siri Hustvedt -- Puerto Rico of my dreams / Sonia Manzano -- Friendly enemy aliens / Paul Holdengräber -- Field notes from my youth / Tanaïs -- Where did we go? / DJ Tikka Masala -- Leaving Cabramatta / Matt Huynh.
Summary:
"Originally told on-stage and adapted here for the page, these 36 fascinating, unique, and celebratory stories of migration, culture shock, family, and life come from well-known voices including Sonia Manzano, Alexander Chee, André Aciman, Laura Gómez, Aparna Nancherla as well as regular people hailing from every corner of the world. The past and present of immigration in the United States springs to life in this anthology of stories compiled and edited by "This Alien Nation" host and author Sofija Stefanovic. These stories, originally performed on stage, are sometimes painful, often funny, beautiful, but above all honest and enlightening. The writers-some of them well-known figures such as Alexander Chee and Aparna Nancherla, others regular (read: fascinating) people hailing from every corner of the world-share moments from their lives, reminding us that immigration is not simply a word but a world, "alien" and throbbing with talent and potential. ALIEN NATION is a balm, a link through human stories, and a celebration of immigration at a turbulent time. Grab your popcorn, imagine yourself in Joe's Pub (one of the best-known stages in New York City with seating as comfy as your couch), and dig into these real experiences and inner thoughts of immigrants and children of immigrants; those who left in search of newness, opportunity, and survival, and those who grew up in that newness with their tongues in multiple languages and feet in multiple worlds"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.