Vol. 1 Brooklyn’s March 2021 Book Preview

March 2021 books

What’s caught our eye when it comes to new books out this month? For whatever reason, a number of intriguing works in translation top that list. Throw in a new memoir from a longtime Vol.1 Brooklyn favorite, an incisive cultural study, and a foray into the city’s history and you have a broader range of what we’re excited about in March.

Noémi Lefebvre, Poetics of Work; translated by Sophie Lewis
(Mar. 2, Transit Books)

What happens when a poet considers national history during a time of unrest and social change? In her newly-translated Poetics of Work, Noémi Lefebvre offers one answer to this question. We enjoyed Lefebvre’s previous book Blue Self-Portrait, and have been eager to explore this new work as well.

Forsyth Harmon, Justine
(Mar. 2, Tin House)

As an illustrator, you might know Forsyth Harmon’s name from The Art of the Affair, her collaboration with Catherine Lacey. Turns out Harmon’s skills go way beyond that realm, however: Justine is a coming-of-age story set in late-90s Long Island abound a young woman who becomes enamored with the title character, a cashier at the local grocery store.

Lucy Ives, Cosmogony
(Mar. 9, Soft Skull)

Lucy Ives’s writing has covered a lot of ground up until now, from compelling novels to thought-provoking musings on art. What’s next for her? Apparently the answer to that question is “a collection of supernatural-tinged short stories,” which we are wholeheartedly into.

Joshua Mohr, Model Citizen
(Mar. 9, MCD/FSG)

With this new memoir, Joshua Mohr revisits the territory of his earlier autobiographical work and offers an expanded perspective — a moving and sometimes harrowing look at families, addiction, and creativity that lands with a tremendous emotional force.

Jess Zimmerman, Women and Other Monsters
(Mar. 9, Beacon Press)

What does it mean that so many myths, fables, and folk tales conflate the feminine and the monstrous? Is there room for new stories to be told — and how have these old ones shaped society? Jess Zimmerman’s new book encompasses a wide array of cultural history and offers readers plenty to ponder.

Pola Oloixarac, Mona; translated by Adam Morris
(Mar. 16, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The protagonist of Pola Oloixarac’s new novel grapples with geographic displacement, professional frustrations, and a growing sense of menace in this tale of a literary conference gone very wrong. Oloixarac’s earlier Dark Constellations took a host of risks in its storytelling which paid off dramatically; we’re curious about the very different terrain she’s exploring here.

Andri Snaer Magnason, On Time and Water; translated by Lytton Smith
(Mar. 23, Open Letter)

Andri Snaer Magnason’s work has encompassed everything from satirical dystopias to poetry to environmentally-charged fiction for young readers. His latest book ventures into the world of nonfiction — specifically, it’s a literary response to climate change. (This book was for sale pretty much everywhere when I was in Iceland in 2019. -ed.)

Melissa Febos, Girlhood
(Mar. 30, Bloomsbury)

To read Melissa Febos’s nonfiction is to experience some of the most haunting, vital work being done today. In Girlhood, Febos chronicles her own coming of age (and what it meant) and explores concepts of girlhood and womanhood on a societal level. As is the case with her earlier work, this one should leave readers with much to think about.

Yanara Friedland, Groundswell
(Mar. 30, Essay Press)

What can poetry show about the nature of home, identity, memory, and borders? Yanara Friedland’s new book Groundswell encompasses a host of voices and spaces on its way to representing something massive — and finding room for the individual stories within.

Kaitlyn Greenidge, Libertie
(Mar. 30, Algonquin)

Kaitlyn Greenidge’s fiction blends high concepts with resonant characters and compelling prose. Her latest book, Libertie, is set in Brooklyn around the time of Reconstruction, and draws inspiration from the life of one of the nation’s first Black female doctors. Encompassing questions of identity and place, Greenidge’s new book is unafraid to explore grand themes.

 

Note: all artwork and release dates are subject to change.

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