Shelf Life: Ling Ma - ELLE.com
Shelf Life: Ling Ma - ELLE.com |
| Shelf Life: Ling Ma - ELLE.com Posted: 20 May 2021 06:00 AM PDT Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com's books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you're on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you're here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.  When the pandemic struck, Ling Ma's dystopian Severance (Picador)—about a zombie apocalypse that plagues America following a pandmic—had fresh relevance, not least because she won a Whiting Award in March 2020, when the world went into lockdown. It began as a short story on capitalism and work when Ma was laid off from her job as a Playboy fact-checker. Her unemployment checks were her "arts fellowship," and she moved from Chicago to Ithaca to pursue her MFA at Cornell. The debut novel, which also won the Kirkus Prize and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, was a New York Times Notable Book, shortlisted for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, and optioned for television. Ma was born in Sanming, China and grew up in Utah and Kansas; teaches creative writing and English at the University of Chicago; worked in book production (including the Bible, like Severance's protagonist, Candace Chen); once helped a supervisor write an online dating profile: and there's a podcast devoted to her book. (Fun fact: the original title was Chinese Bibles.) Likes: ghost stories, PT's Coffee, Terrace House. Dislikes: Twitter, scallions, most Abstract Expressionism. The book that:…made me weep:A Sorrow Beyond Dreams by Peter Handke. …I recommend over and over again:William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow is still pretty underrated. …currently sits on my nightstand:The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans, which I enjoyed and cracked me up. …I'd pass on to a kid:In my opinion, Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson is best appreciated when you're in your chaotic 20s, so I'd gift this to someone young enough still to be enthralled by it. …made me laugh out loud:You can turn to any page in Kafka's Diaries and get a laugh (and a cry) out of it. Even when he's not trying to be funny, he's funny. …I'd like turned into a Netflix show:Peking Story: The Last Days of Old China would fare well as a cinematic adaptation. It's a memoir by David Kidd about living within an aristocratic family on the eve of the Communist Revolution. Seems like a film Zhang Yimou would have made in the '90s. The ending was very hard to read. …I last bought:Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. It's such an intelligent, restless book, opening up many lines of conversation about being Muslim in a Western (Christian, capitalist) world. One of those books that makes me see a little differently. …has the greatest ending:Motherhood by Sheila Heti. I won't spoil it, except to say that the more I think about it, the better it gets. As for good short story endings, I'm a fan of Arthur Bradford's "Beach Trip" and Miranda July's "The Man on the Stairs." …should be on every college syllabus:A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. I still find it seething, urgent, and constructed with rhetorical moves that students can learn. …I brought on a memorable trip:I remember picking up Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis at SFO airport after touching down. I got sick and read it while bedridden during what was supposed to be a holiday vacation. The book's horror scenes converge with memories of that trip. …I consider literary comfort food:Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, and My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris. …I could only have discovered at:I found a first-edition Mrs. Caliban, along with many out-of-print titles by Rachel Ingalls, at John K. King Books in Detroit. It's a used bookstore housed in a multi-storied warehouse. …surprised me:The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. The penultimate chapter was so unexpected. …I'd want signed by the author:The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara. When I was in high school, this was the book I checked out most frequently from the library. …that holds the recipe to a favorite dish:The only recipe I remember from a book: You lay peeled tangerines on top of a radiator, until its inner skin gets thin and crackly and the fruit gets even juicier. From Serve it Forth by M.F.K. Fisher. Also, a cooking tip that's stayed with me: When making soft-boiled eggs, you take the pot off right before the air bubbles grow into the size of marbles. From Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. My favorite book of food writing, however, might be Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be…I used to shelve books at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library when I was in high school, so I wouldn't mind going back and living there. There's a wonderful small café inside and a stately study room. Read Ling Ma's Picks                   This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io  |
| 2021 Nantucket Film Festival Program - The Inquirer and Mirror Posted: 20 May 2021 09:01 AM PDT  The Inquirer and Mirror NFF NOW AT HOME FEATURE FILM PROGRAM THE END OF US Narrative Feature Writer/Director/Producer: Henry Loevner, Steven Kanter Producer: Claudia Restrepo, Lovell Holder After a savage breakup, two exes must continue living together when California issues its stay-at-home order for COVID-19, forcing them to try to move on without moving out. Cast: Ben Coleman, Ali Vingiano, Derrick DeBlasis, Gadiel Del Orbe, Kate Peterman, Colin Weatherby, Caroline Kwan, Will Neff, Jesse Benjamin, Claudia Restrepo. FIASCO Documentary Series Showrunner: John Marks Director, Episode 1: Lizzie Blenk, Alyse Shorland Director, Episode 2: Jonathan Clasberry Producer: Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, Leon Neyfakh, John Marks, Steven Fisher, Andrew Parsons, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhart, Kevin Vargas In his inimitable style, popularized by his podcast FIASCO, Leon Neyfakh chronicles the story of Iran Contra. Beginning in an unexpected place, the story of how the Iranian hostage crisis brought down Jimmy Carter, the saga unfolds the consequences of that downfall for Ronald Reagan, who campaigns on the disaster of Carter's hostage crisis and then falls prey to a hostage debacle of his own. Spanning multiple continents and time zones, FIASCO dives into one of the least understood of all political scandals and reveals the true scope of Iran Contra for the first time with groundbreaking interviews, rare archival, and a cinematic style that underscores the complexity of the mess. HIVE Narrative Feature Writer/Director: Blerta Basholli Producer: Valon Bajgora, Yll Uka, Agon Uka Fahrije, whose husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo, sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision: to wait for his return, or to continue to persevere. Cast: Yllka Gashi, Çun Lajçi, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha, Adriana Matoshi, Kaona Sylejmani. ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN Documentary Feature Director: Morgan Neville Producer: Caitrin Rogers A documentary about the uncommon life of the late storyteller, explorer, and chef, Anthony Bourdain. Directed by Oscar winner and past NFF honoree Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Won't You Be My Neighbor?). NFF NOW AT HOME SHORT FILM PROGRAM NFF TEEN VIEW SHORTS A presentation of the short films produced by Nantucket High School students participating in our Teen View Labs, organized in collaboration with Nantucket Community Television (NCTV). Coma Director: Samuel Hofford The History of the Nantucket Whaling Museum Director: Shadia Sabrah The Island Waves Director: JohnCarl McGrady Ms. Parker Director: Anna Popnikolova The Power of Animal Adoption Director: Natalie Mack Teaching During a Pandemic Director: Andrew Daume Individual NFF Teen View Shorts will screen in front of each Drive-In presentation, while the entire collection of films, NFF TEEN VIEW SHOWCASE, will screen as part of the Festival's online component, NFF NOW: AT HOME.
Documentary Feature Director: Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson The untold story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, featuring never-before-seen performances from Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & The Family Stone, and scores of others. The unreleased footage that was shot that summer sat in a basement for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost–until now. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's film is a joyous musical celebration and the rediscovery of a nearly erased historical event that celebrated Black culture, pride, and unity.
Documentary Feature Director: Sally Aitken Valerie Taylor is a maverick who forged her way as a fearless diver, cinematographer, and marine conservationist. Her life's work has become the basis for much of what we know about sharks today. Using stunning underwater archival footage, along with interviews with Taylor, filmmaker Sally Aitken follows her trajectory from champion spearfisher to advisor on the blockbuster classic JAWS to passionate shark protector.
Narrative Feature Writer/Director: Siân Heder Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family: a CODA, child of Deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family's struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school's choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Amy Forsyth, Kevin Chapman, Marlee Matlin. NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL NARRATIVE FEATURES How It Ends Writer/Director: Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein On the last day on Earth, one woman goes on a journey through LA to make it to her last party before the world ends, running into an eclectic cast of characters along the way. Cast: Zoe Lister-Jones, Cailee Spaeny, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Helen Hunt, Lamorne Morris. Inbetween Girl Writer/Director: Mei Makino Teenage artist Angie turns to secret hookups with the heartthrob of her private school after her parents' sudden divorce. Cast: Emma Galbraith, William Magnuson, Emily Garrett, Lizabeth Waters, KaiChow Lau, Thanh Phuong Bui, Shanshan Jin, Kelsey Buckley. Jack London's Martin Eden Writer/Director: Jay Craven Shot on Nantucket, this adaptation of Jack London's autobiographical 1909 novel tells the story of a poor and unschooled sailor, whose unconventional relationship with a magnetic young woman of means and education upends both their lives. Cast: Andrew Richardson, Hayley Griffith, Annette Mahendru, Jeff Adler. Language Lessons Writer/Director: Natalie Morales Writer: Mark Duplass When Adam's husband surprises him with weekly Spanish lessons, he's unsure about where or how this new element will fit into his already structured life. But when tragedy strikes, his Spanish teacher, Cariño, becomes a lifeline he didn't know he needed. Cast: Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass. Luzzu Writer/Director: Alex Camilleri A struggling Maltese fisherman – whose traditional livelihood is imperiled by diminishing harvests, a ruthless fishing industry, and a stagnating ecosystem – considers an illicit black-market fishing operation in order to provide for his family. Cast: Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia. Marvelous and the Black Hole Writer/Director: Kate Tsang A teenage delinquent forms an unlikely friendship with a surly magician who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand magic. Cast: Miya Cech, Rhea Perlman, Leonardo Nam, Kannon Omachi, Paulina Lule, Keith Powell. Naked Singularity Writer/Director: Chase Palmer Writer: David Matthews An idealistic public defender burned out by the system and seeing signs of the universe collapsing around him decides to rob a multi-million drug deal. Based on the critically-acclaimed novel A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava. Cast: John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, Bill Skarsgård, Ed Skrein. Ninjababy Writer: Johan Fasting Director: Yngvild Sve Flikke When Rakel finds out, way too late, that she's six months pregnant after a not-so-romantic one-night stand, her world changes. Cast: Kristine Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Christine Dietrichson. The Space Between Writer: Will Aldis Director: Rachel Winter Micky Adams, an eccentric has-been rock musician, has lost his grip on reality, prompting his record label to send Charlie, an ambitious young employee, to force Micky out of his contract—instead, an unlikely friendship develops. Cast: Kelsey Grammer, Jackson White, Julia Goldani Telles, Paris Jackson, Andy Daly, William Fichtner. Swan Song Writer/Director: Todd Stephens An aging hairdresser escapes his nursing home and embarks on an odyssey across his small town to style a woman's hair for her funeral, rediscovering his sparkle along the way. Cast: Udo Kier, Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael Urie, Ira Hawkins, Stephanie McVay. Documentary Features Alien on Stage Directors: Danielle Kummer & Lucy Harvey When a British bus driver's amateur stage adaptation of Ridley Scott's ALIEN somehow makes it to a famous London theatre, will the homemade homage win over the crowd? Dear Mr. Brody Director: Keith Maitland A psychedelic journey into the heart (and bank account) of Michael Brody, Jr, the hippie-millionaire who, in 1970, offered the world peace for the price of a postage stamp. The Disruptors Director: Stephanie Soechtig This immersive look at ADHD debunks harmful myths and re-frames our understanding of this deeply misunderstood condition, providing much needed insight and hope. Homeroom Director: Peter Nicks Oakland High School's class of 2020 confronts the developing pandemic while fighting to eliminate the school district's police force amidst nationwide demands for systemic change. In The Same Breath Director: Nanfu Wang This deeply personal film by acclaimed US-based Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang recounts the origin and impact of COVID-19, exploring the parallel campaigns of misinformation waged by leadership of both China and the US. The Jump Director: Giedrė Žickytė Lithuanian sailor Simas Kudirka tells the legendary tale of his desperate jump to freedom from a Soviet ship to a US Coast Guard vessel near Martha's Vineyard in 1970—an act that drew international media attention. The Loneliest Whale: The Search For 52 Director: Joshua Zeman In this fascinating story about isolation and interconnection, the filmmaker and a team of intrepid scientists set out on a wild quest to find the 52 Hertz Whale, which has spent its entire life calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. The Lost Sons Director: Ursula Macfarlane In 1960s Chicago, a newborn baby boy is kidnapped from a hospital. Fifteen months later, a toddler is abandoned in New Jersey. Could he be the stolen baby? Sabaya Director: Hogir Hirori With just a mobile phone and a gun, Mahmud, Ziyad, and their group risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by ISIS as sex slaves in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria. Television Event Director: Jeff Daniels The improbable behind-the-scenes story of the 1983 apocalyptic made-for-TV film The Day After, through which a Hollywood screenwriter tried to end nuclear proliferation and unseat a U.S. president. Try Harder! Director: Debbie Lum This humorous and heartfelt look at the reality of the American college application process focuses on San Francisco's top public high school and its majority Asian American student body, where the seniors are stressed out, keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. United States vs. Reality Winner Director: Sonia Kennebeck A state of secrets and a ruthless hunt for whistleblowers. This is the story of 25-year-old NSA contractor Reality Winner, who disclosed one document about Russian election interference to the media and became the number one leak target of the Trump administration. Writing with Fire Directors: Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit (untouchable) women. Armed with smartphones, Chief reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, be it on the frontlines of India's biggest issues or within the confines of their homes, redefining what it means to be powerful. Click here to sign up for "Above the Fold," The Inquirer and Mirror's twice-weekly newsletter, bringing you both the news and a slice of island life, curated with content created by Nantucket's only team of professionally-trained journalists. For up-to-the-minute information on Nantucket's breaking news, boat and plane cancellations, weather alerts, sports and entertainment news, deals and promotions at island businesses and more, Sign up for Inquirer and Mirror text alerts. Click Here ABOUT THE NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL The Nantucket Film Festival was founded by brother and sister team Jonathan and Jill Burkhart in 1996 to promote the cultural awareness and appreciation of the fine art of screenwriting in the world of cinema. Since then, NFF has become one of the world's premier destination film festivals. Visitors come from all over the world to experience new films, unique Signature Programs, and stand out hospitality on a magical island rich with history, a friendly atmosphere, and beautiful sandy beaches. In addition to its June festival, NFF presents Screenwriter Sessions Live: Conversation & Craft, with partner Screenwriters Colony; and the Tony Cox Screenplay Competitions. The Nantucket Film Festival is supported by White Elephant Resorts as Major Sponsor; A&E IndieFilms and Bank of America as Signature Sponsors; Lieb Cellars and VICE Media Group as Producing Sponsors; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, AMOREPACIFIC, Bridge Lane Wine, Eleish Van Breems Home, The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket Today, Polar Beverages, and WGA East as Contributing Sponsors. For more information about NFF, visit www.nantucketfilmfestival.org.  |
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