With the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, political upheaval has arrived; writers in Chicago, like many across America, wonder if they should address any other subject. On January 15, Writers Resist, a national network of authors and journalists driven to defend the ideals of a free, just, and compassionate democratic society, launched a concurrent series of events nationwide to foster communal strength in advance of president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. This day of resistant rhetoric looped in seemingly every literary collective in the city, and included events at Open Books, Woman Made Gallery, Flor del Monte, Cafe Urbano, Bookends and Beginnings, and La Bruquena, with a concluding showcase in the evening at Cole’s in Logan Square.
Lin’s larger ongoing project, a parabolic novel populated with Japanese folklore, responds to what happened to her family during World War II. “People wonder why I’m so obsessed with mythology, since they’re just made-up stories from long ago,” Lin said. “But myths are a reflection of a society’s fears, and myths are prevalent today. Look at our ‘postfactual’ society, filled with all this fake news. What is fake news? Myths! We’re doing the exact same thing: creating stories to demonize people who are different, to prey on fear.”
