Friends at Sophia House are hosting a book reading and signing of my recent novel, Dear Layla Welcome to Palestine. I and those present will take turns reading aloud a few of the short chapters and discussing themes in small and large groups.
Dear Layla is the story of how a third-year medical student, Layla Espinoza, came to decide to take a year off and work in Gaza. Through a long letter sent to her by a former processor, she learns about compromismo, accompaniment, and staying human in and beyond Palestine from other characters like Ibtihaj, Carla Nguyen, Abu Ahmed, Shameeka Smith, Shahnawaz Awan, Safa Khalidi, Sharooq, Henry Nagler, Umm Safi, Sabine Laserstein, Neeta Gupta, Danesha Clark, Rob Renaud, Abu Razi, Barakat, Tanya Chatterjee, and Sophie Polyakova.
Actor Katie Consamus said this about her experience of the book: “I read Dear Layla on the long commute from Queens to Brooklyn, and the first thought I had was that I ought to pack a bag immediately and go to Palestine (expired passport be damned). I realized by the time I was back in Queens that the message was larger and louder and transcended far beyond that. And I cried. Bawled. Snot and all. I wept at the tragedy that is the world, and I wept at the hope I felt that change, everywhere and anywhere, might actually come, so long as people keep taking action and so long as writers like Mark Chmiel continue to illuminate.”
Join us on Saturday 24 October; potluck dinner begins at 6:00 and the reading and sharing begin at 6:45, and the signing begins at 8:00. We meet at Sophia House (4547 Gibson Avenue) in Forest Park Southeast (63110). Please park at the west end of Gibson or on Taylor Avenue.
If you want to reserve a copy of the paperback, send me a message, and I will bring it to the gathering. Or, you can purchase the book from Xlibris (E-book, paperback, cloth) or Amazon.
