Jordan Silversmith Featured in Chicago Review of Books

A Baker’s Dozen of Books for Mental Health Awareness Month

BY JEN ST. JUDE MAY 11, 2021

Jordan Silversmith, author of Redshift, Blueshift

“Hamlet’s dilemma could be restated. It is not enough to be, but to be well: the challenge is in knowing that both can be had, but only one comes as a matter of course in living, while the other must be sought. The solace that books provide is one way to get there: in the loneliest times, often, the only ones who will talk to us, and listen to us, are those long-dead voices in books. We can learn a way to be well through reading. It’s there, but it must be sought through the mire.”

About the book: When a prisoner in an unnamed labor camp finds his journal of memories taken from his cell, he sets out to console himself and perhaps reclaim his freedom by again writing down what he can remember from his past. As the prisoner writes and passes through the vivid world of a distant life, he is eventually confronted by a strange memory that, if true, questions the reliability of his memories and whether what he remembers was really his own life or, somehow, someone else’s.

Redshift, Blueshift By Jordan Silversmith Gival Press

Coming in October 2021

The Verdict

Gival Press wants to share its community’s (Arlington, Virginia) statement with regard to the verdict issued on Tuesday:

“Arlington County Board Statement on the Derek Chauvin Verdict

The Arlington County Board commends the Minneapolis jurors for returning a guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial and joins others around the nation in relief. The shocking video of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Chauvin while other officers stood by and failed to intervene, showed the disregard for and devaluing of Black lives that is too common. The Board hopes that today’s verdict is a step forward in dismantling the systemic racism that pervades life throughout our nation.

We know that Arlington is not exempt from this racism and its impacts, and we renew our commitment to addressing those inequities and creating a culture of caring and respect. We are proud to live in a vibrant, diverse and inclusive community that champions human and civil rights, and while we know there is more work to be done, we are inspired by the efforts of Arlington community members and leaders who strengthen us as a whole.”

From Robert L. Giron, Gival Press’s publisher:

There still is more to be done in the USA regarding how Americans of diverse ethnicity, skin color, religion and gender identity are treated in the USA not only by police and elected officials but also by USA citizens who they themselves are or their ancestors were immigrants to the USA.

We forget that Native Americans of numerous tribes had their land taken away from them and were not declared USA citizens until the June 1924 law the Indian Citizenship Act signed by President Calvin Coolidge, after hundreds of years and after countless abuses against humanity committed at times by our own government.

—RLG

Robert L. Giron Joins Authors of "This Is What America Looks Like" for Reading

Poets from the Anthology, “This Is What America Looks Like,” Read from their Works Please join the Global Humanities Institute as we host a National Poetry Month event featuring MC Faculty (past and present) and Takoma Park's Poet Laureate whose works are published in the anthology, "This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Fiction from DC, Maryland, and Virginia" on Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 5.30 PM.

Featured Poets: Kateema Lee, Robert L. Giron, David Lott, Christopher Ankney, &

Kathleen O'Toole

For more information and mini lesson plans, please contact Jona Colson: jona.colson@montgomerycollege

Where: Zoom! https://montgomerycollege.zoom.us/j/92690356495