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New To North America: Writing by U.S. Immigrants, Their Children and Grandchildren 2nd Ed.
Cultural Writing. Poetry. Fiction. Essays. NEW TO NORTH AMERICA is a collection of fiction, essays, poetry and memoir that documents the experiences and contributions of three critical generations from immigrant to second generation American. While the complex subject of immigration has been oversimplified by national headlines, the voices of immigrants have often been excluded from the debate. Our authors examine issues of identity, memory, assimilation, language, acceptance, struggle and the presence of "the American Dream." Used in history, anthropology, ethnic studies, geography and college composition classes, this text continues to voice relevant cultural themes.
358 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1997
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June 22, 2022
2019 read whole. Not especially happy or always pleasant but mostly enlightening. Such a variety being a collection of nonfiction essays, short stories and poetry.
Some highlights:
"The Handkerchief" by Elise Marie Ficarra, a reflection on Swiss old world ordered life versus American new world free-wheeling endless possibility and how that endless possibility isn't necessarily the good life.
"On the Mountain, the Cathedral and the Fast Food Culture" by Florin Ion Firimita, set in Romania, by Romanian-American, comparing the Romanian mountains to urban America.
2011 read as textbook for Immigration Rhetoric at University of San Francisco, excerpts:
Chapter 1: The Other Side
Alberto Angel, "Nameless Place"
Genevieve Duboscq, "The Occupied Zone"
Lyn Lifshin, "I Remember Haifa Being Lovely But"
Ebrahim Wahab, "He Read He Was"
Chapter 2: Passages
Hayan Charara, "When It Happens It Seems Altogether Impossible"
Florin Ion Firimita, "On the Mountain, the Cathedral and the Fast Food Culture"
Marja Hagborg, "The Rearview Mirror"
Chapter 3: Immigrant Dreams, Survival, Reflection
Anjali Banerjee, "Goddess of Learning"
Irene Zabytko, "Lavender Soap"
Jose Antonio Burciaga, "The Great Taco War"
Suheir Hammad, "Selections from Drops of this Story"
J Yarrow, "The Immigrant"
Elisavietta Artamonoff Ritchie, "Aide-Memoire"
Sridevi Ramanathan, "I Worry"
Chapter 4: First Generation - Language, Identity, Achievement
Dan Georgakas, "Funny-Sounding Names"
David Kherdian, "Chuck Pehlivanian" and "From 'Letters to My Father'"
Valerie Miner, "Our Life With the Windsors"
Chen Lin, "A Secret Language"
Nahid Rachlin, "Barely Audible"
Fran DeVenuto, "Everybody's Business"
Abby Bogomolny, "Dad"
Lawrence Saydal, "Dakota Thunderstorm"
Jennifer Lagier, " Gifts for the Dead"
Cathy Ruiz, "Both Sides of the Border"
Chapter 5: Second Generation - Assimilation and Amnesia
Carolyn Flynn, "The Shouting Within Us" and "Leaving California for Ireland"
Elise Marie Ficarra, "The Handkerchief"
Tara L. Masih, "Exotic or 'What Beach Do You Hang Out On'"
Abby Bogomolny, "From City to Suburb America"
Chapter 6: Looking to the Future
Anne Cooper, "Growing Old in an Alien Landscape"
Tony Diaz, "All Educated With No Place to Go"
David Kherdian, "Histories"
Abby Bogomolny, "We Are the Miracle"
Stanley Nelson, "Your Chosen Land"
Suheir Hammad, "First Writing Since"
Opal Palmer Adisa, "We Have It"
Some highlights:
"The Handkerchief" by Elise Marie Ficarra, a reflection on Swiss old world ordered life versus American new world free-wheeling endless possibility and how that endless possibility isn't necessarily the good life.
"On the Mountain, the Cathedral and the Fast Food Culture" by Florin Ion Firimita, set in Romania, by Romanian-American, comparing the Romanian mountains to urban America.
2011 read as textbook for Immigration Rhetoric at University of San Francisco, excerpts:
Chapter 1: The Other Side
Alberto Angel, "Nameless Place"
Genevieve Duboscq, "The Occupied Zone"
Lyn Lifshin, "I Remember Haifa Being Lovely But"
Ebrahim Wahab, "He Read He Was"
Chapter 2: Passages
Hayan Charara, "When It Happens It Seems Altogether Impossible"
Florin Ion Firimita, "On the Mountain, the Cathedral and the Fast Food Culture"
Marja Hagborg, "The Rearview Mirror"
Chapter 3: Immigrant Dreams, Survival, Reflection
Anjali Banerjee, "Goddess of Learning"
Irene Zabytko, "Lavender Soap"
Jose Antonio Burciaga, "The Great Taco War"
Suheir Hammad, "Selections from Drops of this Story"
J Yarrow, "The Immigrant"
Elisavietta Artamonoff Ritchie, "Aide-Memoire"
Sridevi Ramanathan, "I Worry"
Chapter 4: First Generation - Language, Identity, Achievement
Dan Georgakas, "Funny-Sounding Names"
David Kherdian, "Chuck Pehlivanian" and "From 'Letters to My Father'"
Valerie Miner, "Our Life With the Windsors"
Chen Lin, "A Secret Language"
Nahid Rachlin, "Barely Audible"
Fran DeVenuto, "Everybody's Business"
Abby Bogomolny, "Dad"
Lawrence Saydal, "Dakota Thunderstorm"
Jennifer Lagier, " Gifts for the Dead"
Cathy Ruiz, "Both Sides of the Border"
Chapter 5: Second Generation - Assimilation and Amnesia
Carolyn Flynn, "The Shouting Within Us" and "Leaving California for Ireland"
Elise Marie Ficarra, "The Handkerchief"
Tara L. Masih, "Exotic or 'What Beach Do You Hang Out On'"
Abby Bogomolny, "From City to Suburb America"
Chapter 6: Looking to the Future
Anne Cooper, "Growing Old in an Alien Landscape"
Tony Diaz, "All Educated With No Place to Go"
David Kherdian, "Histories"
Abby Bogomolny, "We Are the Miracle"
Stanley Nelson, "Your Chosen Land"
Suheir Hammad, "First Writing Since"
Opal Palmer Adisa, "We Have It"
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