BOOK EVENTS
LGBTQIA+ Banned Book Club reading “Gender Queer”
Discussion, 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. June 16, online
For its last book of the summer semester, the LGBTQIA+ Banned Book Club is reading “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. This autobiography charts Kobabe’s journey of self-identity, which includes confusing adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. This book club was started in response to the recent uptick in attempts to remove or ban certain books from schools, public libraries and other educational spaces. According to PEN America, four in 10 books banned in 2022 contained LGBTQIA+ themes and representation. The University Library System and Pitt Queer Professionals have been hosting virtual discussions of popular LGTBQIA+ books that have been challenged or banned. Register at https://pitt.libcal.com/event/10568111
NEW BOOKS
“Musical Resilience: Performing Patronage in the Indian Thar Desert,” by Shalini Ayyagari, assistant professor of music, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences (Wesleyan University Press, 2022)
In Musical Resilience, Shalini Ayyagari shows how professional low-caste musicians from the Thar Desert borderland of Rajasthan, India have skillfully reinvented their cultural and economic value in postcolonial India. Before India’s independence in 1947, the Manganiyar community of hereditary musicians were tied to traditional patrons over centuries and through hereditary ties. In postcolonial India, traditional patronage relations faded due to new political conditions, technological shifts, and cultural change. Ayyagari uses resilience, one of the most poignant keywords of our times, to understand how Manganiyar musicians sustain and enliven their cultural significance after the fading of traditional patronage.
SEND US YOUR INFORMATION
The University Times welcomes information about new books, plays and musical compositions written or edited by faculty and staff.
Newly published works can be submitted through this link. Please keep the book descriptions short and accessible to a general audience.
Self-published works will not be accepted. The listings also are restricted to complete works, because individual chapters, articles, works of art and poems would be too numerous.
We’ll also be highlighting some books and book talks with connections to Pitt.
If you have any questions, please contact editor Susan Jones at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.