Local authors Susan Mills and Barbara Morrison read from their books and discuss incorporating social justice issues in fiction and memoir.
Susan Mills’ new novel, On the Wings of a Hummingbird, follows a 15-year-old Guatemalan girl who draws on Mayan mythology to help her carve a future out of a childhood scarred by gang violence. Susan was a Spanish-speaking immigration attorney for twenty years and prepared asylum cases for thousands of immigrants from Central America. (please note On the Wings of a Hummingbird is also available as a hardcover)
Barbara Morrison, who writes as B. Morrison, is the author of a memoir, Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother—now an audiobook—and two poetry collections, Terrarium and Here at Least. She conducts writing workshops and provides editing services.
At 15 years old, Petra must grow into the lessons of the Mayan hummingbird as she carves her future out of a childhood scarred by gang violence. Petra's life has been upended by local gang violence in her small Guatemalan village. Her childhood friend Emilio had a hand in their friend Justina's murder, and his father is the local gang leader's right-hand man.
At 15 years old, Petra must grow into the lessons of the Mayan hummingbird as she carves her future out of a childhood scarred by gang violence. Petra's life has been upended by local gang violence in her small Guatemalan village. Her childhood friend Emilio had a hand in their friend Justina's murder, and his father is the local gang leader's right-hand man.
Growing up in a prosperous neighborhood, B. Morrison was taught that poverty was a product of laziness and public assistance programs only rewarded irresponsibility. However, when her marriage soured, she abruptly found herself an impoverished single mother.