You will have to forgive my disjointed, fragmented retelling of this experience. It happened four or five years ago, and at the time, I did not yet see travel for the political act that it is. I did not document it. I was just a young black woman—still a girl, in a lot of ways—on…
“If you ever come to Beijing, you should call me.” At the start of June, we were sitting in my classroom, the day after final exams ended. My student, C—, had stopped by one last time to drop off a gift: a beautiful little black wallet, adorned with azure flowers and a velvet tassel. I’d…
It is no strange concept that places leave impressions on us. We form deep connections to the places where we’ve been, places where we’ve had deep experiences. The same can be said for our characters in the stories we write. What places matter to them? How do they map their worlds? I’d like to start…
I did not choose travel. Travel happened to me frequently when I was young, most often without my permission. Three cities. Ten houses. Two middle schools. Three high schools. A thousand different phone numbers. In the final days of ninth grade I came home and found my mom in tears. Crying because we were being…