Dear reader,
2021 was not a great year for my writing—I did not make great progress on my project or publish any new creative nonfiction pieces. But it was another difficult pandemic year, and I’m trying to be more gentle on myself.
On the bright side, I got a piece accepted that should be published in 2022. For my day job, I got to work with some fantastic organizations, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and PEN America. I attended Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing’s conference as a parent-fellow, and the Tin House Summer Workshop. Both filled me with joy and inspiration, enriched me with lessons on the craft of writing, and allowed me to meet talented and generous writers.
I loved attending weekly Pen Parentis meetings with other parent writers—seeing my group members’ faces in the little Zoom boxes kept me going during another dumpster fire of a year. I got to do a Q&A with Longreads about this newsletter, and taught a workshop on immigrant writing.
I’m sad I decided to cancel my flight to Toronto see my family for the holidays, but grateful I visited relatives and friends in Croatia over the summer. Our little household of three is fully vaxxed and boosted, and I’m thankful for the researchers, scientists, and health professionals who made that happen.
I met my yearly reading goal of 25 books, totaling about 6,460 pages, according to my goodreads app. As you can probably tell from reading this newsletter, most were memoirs by women of color, but I also read some great novels and essay collections. The authors have connections to Bosnia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iran, Korea, and Mexico—to name just a few countries. A couple of my favorites were Nadia Owusu’s Aftershocks memoir and the essay collection A Map Is Only One Story. One of the book’s editors is Nicole Chung—my kind and talented Tin House Summer Workshop leader.
I love that immigrants and children of immigrants are creating so much terrific work, and look forward to sharing more of it with you in 2022. I’ll leave you with this quote from the late Desmond Tutu, which I think about a lot. There is no shortage of racism or anti-immigrant vitriol in this world, and I hope that every time we encounter bigotry and injustice, we are guided by his words.
I wish you a happy and healthy 2022. I hope it’s filled with writing, books and whatever brings you love and joy. And whether you’re setting New Year’s resolutions or not, remember to be kind to yourself.
vesna
About this newsletter: Writing about immigrant and refugee life—the struggles, triumphs, and quirks—by immigrants and refugees, and children of immigrants and refugees. For more info, here is a Q&A I did with Longreads about the newsletter. Photo in the logo: Miguel Bruna/Unsplash.
About me: I grew up in the former Yugoslavia, then immigrated to Canada, and now live in the United States, where I work as a writer and communications consultant for nonprofits focusing on human rights and social justice. I have written about my immigrant experience for The New York Times, Catapult, the Washington Post and the New York Daily News. This year, I attended Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing conference as a parent-fellow, and participated in the Tin House Summer Workshop. Find me on twitter, @vesnajaksic, or on my website, www.vesnajaksic.com.