02 | The Tribune | Weekend
Friday, October 12, 2018
books
Punk’s Pussy Riot protestor on keeping activism alive
P
ower to the people: Where have we heard that before? In the 1960s, to be sure. And again today in “Read & Riot,” an invigorating new guide to radical protest by Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova. Most of the world first heard of the punk art collective when Tolokonnikova and two others were arrested in an anti-Putin protest inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 2012. Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, whose prison memoir, “Riot Days,” came out last year, were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of hooliganism. Since their pardon in late 2013 as the Kremlin tried to clean up its image before the Sochi Olympics, they have travelled the world as global
celebrities, speaking out about their ordeal behind bars. Tolokonnikova’s stomach-churning description of the barbarous conditions of the labour camp where she was sent will resonate with activists in the U.S. protesting their own penal system. She sees numerous parallels between the two countries — “When two people fight for a long time, they end up looking more and more alike” — and between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. She hopes to spark protest against “a cosmic rise in inequality, the global empowerment of oligarchs, threats to public education and health care, plus a potentially fatal environmental crisis” with a DIY spirit and “pirate” mentality. The book is divided into a series of 10 “rules,” one per chapter, each accompanied by tactics and strategies
and enlivened by quotes from some of her cultural and political heroes. That’s a long list that includes Vaclav Havel and Noam Chomsky, Emmeline Pankhurst and bell hooks, Bernie Sanders and Diogenes the Cynic. Tolokonnikova, a self-described nerd who has read widely and deeply, fairly bursts with all the energy and passion you’d expect of a bright, thoughtful idealist who’s not even 30. She credits the Riot Girls feminist punk movement of the 1990s for inspiration as well as the radical protesters of the 1960s, who took their fight for civil rights and against the Vietnam War to the streets. Her joyously anarchic, radically egalitarian spirit recalls a revolutionary of that earlier era, Abbie Hoffman, whose 1971 manifesto, “Steal This Book,” offered tips on how to live for free and on the run.
Authors in frame for national honours A story collection by Lauren Groff, an Italian novel translated by Jhumpa Lahiri and poetry by Terrance Hayes were among the finalists announced for the US National Book Awards. Judges selected by the National Book Foundation chose five nominees in each of five categories — fiction, non-fiction, poetry, young people’s literature and translation — narrowed from longlists of 10 authors that came out last month. Winners will be revealed Nov. 14 during a dinner ceremony in Manhattan, when honorary awards will be given to Isabel Allende and to Doron Weber of the Sloan Foundation. Groff, a fiction finalist in 2015 for the novel “Fates and Furies,” was nominated Wednesday for “Florida.” Others in fiction include Jamal Brinkley for his debut book of stories “A Lucky Man,” Brandon Hobson for “Where the Dead Sit Talking,” Rebecca Makkai for “The Great Believers” and Sigrid Nunez for “The Friend.” In a year when few literary works had commercial success, two of the most talked about novels appeared on the longlist, but not in the
final five: Tommy Orange’s debut novel “There There” and Tayari Jones’ “An American Marriage,” which Oprah Winfrey selected for her book club. Lahiri, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former National Book Award fiction finalist, is among the nominees in the newly created translation category. She was cited for her work on Domenico Starnone’s “Trick.” Others chosen were Tina Kover, who translated Negar Djavadi’s “Disoriental” from the French; Martin Aitken, who translated Hanne Orstavik’s “Love” from the Norwegian; Margaret Mitsutani, who translated Yoko Tawada’s “The Emissary” from the Japanese; and Jennifer Croft, who worked on the English edition of the acclaimed Polish author Olga Tokarczuk’s “Flights.” In nonfiction, books touched upon everything from American Indians in the 18th century to poverty and capitalism in the country today. The nominees are Colin G. Calloway for “The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation,” Victoria
Johnson for “American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic,” Sarah Smarsh’s “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth,” Jeffrey C. Stewart for “The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke,” and Adam Winkler for “We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights.” Hayes, a National Book Award winner in 2010 for “Lighthead,” is in the poetry category this year for “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin.” Other finalists are Pulitzer winner Rae Armantrout for “Wobble,” Diana Khoi Nguyen for “Ghost Of,” Justin Phillip Reed for “Indecency” and Jenny Xie for “Eye Level.” In young people’s literature, finalists drew upon various narrative forms, from poetry to pictures, from fiction to nonfiction. Elizabeth Acevedo was a nominee
HARPERONE VIA AP
While much has changed since Hoffman was the face of youthful rebellion, he would no doubt be smiling at a how-to section of Tolokonnikova’s book devoted to shoplifting in Moscow. “Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism” (HarperOne), by Nadya Tolokonnikova Ann Levin Associated Press RIVERHEAS BOOKS/ VIKING VIA AP
for her novel in verse “The Poet X,” the story of a Dominican teen and her immersion in slam poetry. M. T. Anderson, a National Book Award winner in 2006 for “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party,” collaborated with Eugene Yelchin on the illustrated “The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge.” Other finalists were Leslie Connor for “The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle,” Christopher Paul Curtis for “The Journey of Little Charlie” and Jarrett J. Krosoczka for his graphic memoir “Hey, Kiddo.” Awards judges, who include writers, critics and other members of the literary community, chose from more than 1600 books submitted by publishers. Winners in the competitive categories each receive $10,000. In translation, the prize money is divided between the author and translator. HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer