A Conversation with Michele Tracy Berger, author of “Doll Seed: Stories” | Medicine for Nightmares

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Michele Tracy Berger is the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of English. Her short fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction has appeared in 100 Word Story, Apex Magazine, Glint Literary Journal, The Wild Word, Blood and Bourbon, FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Midnight and Indigo, Oracle: Fine Arts Review, Carolina Woman, Ms., and various anthologies. She is the 2019 winner of the Carl Brandon Kindred Award from the Carl Brandon Society for her story Doll Seed published in FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. In 2020, her science fiction novella, Reenu-You about a mysterious virus transmitted through a hair care product billed as a natural hair relaxer was published by Falstaff Books. The experiences of five unlikely heroines weave a speculative tale that explores race, gender, female friendship, the politics of beauty and corporate conspiracy. Much of her work explores psychological horror, especially through issues of race and gender. Dr. Berger’s books include Workable Sisterhood: The Political Journey of Stigmatized Women with HIV/AIDS (Princeton University Press, 2004), the co-edited collections Gaining Access: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Qualitative Researchers (Altamira Press, 2003) and The Intersectional Approach: Transforming the Academy Through Race, Class and Gender (University of North Carolina Press, 2010) and the co-authored Transforming Scholarship: Why Women’s and Gender Studies Students Are Changing Themselves and the World (Routledge 2011, 2014, 2021). She is the author, most recently, of Black Women’s Health: Paths to Wellness for Mothers and Daughters (New York University Press, 2022), the first monograph to focus on the role of southern African American mothers and their adolescent daughters in shaping health practices. She is a sought-after public speaker and commentator. Her public scholarship has appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Ed, Ms. Magazine, The Feminist Wire and other media outlets. She is currently co-chair of the Ms. Scholars Board. For this event, Michele will be in conversation with Isis Asare. About Aunt Lute Books: Aunt Lute Books is an intersectional, feminist press dedicated to publishing literature by those who have been traditionally underrepresented in or excluded by the literary canon. Core to Aunt Lute’s mission is the belief that the written word is critical to understanding and relating to each other as humans.Through the sharing of stories, we strengthen ties across cultures and experiences, and at the same time honor the hurt, loss, and harm incurred through structural power imbalances, prejudiced and gendered systems, and ancestral trauma. We uplift these voices in order to build a more just future. About Medicine for Nightmares/Medicina para Pesadillas: “The bookstore is a portal and a space for connection,” says Alderete, a poet whose book, Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos, was published by Black Freighter Press in 2021. “It’s not just a bookstore. We hang, we kick it, we create, we sustain art, we remember cultura. For the Mission, that has been going on for years. The most obvious thing for a culture or group or movement is to teach the next generation, so it continues.” The shop on 24th Street was previously Alley Cat Bookstore & Gallery, which Kate Razo sold to Alderete and Khánh Cao last year. The pair collectively took over and remodeled the space within a whirlwind of two months (Nomadic Press founder J.K. Fowler was also pivotal in launching Medicine for Nightmares, but he is no longer involved). With backgrounds in visual art, poetry, and community advocacy, Khánh Cao and Alderete have extensive experience with small, local institutions: Alderete once owned a taco shop in the North Bay and was employed at City Lights Books, while Khánh Cao worked prior at City Lights and The Luggage Store art gallery. Information Source: Aunt Lute Books | eventbrite