Freebird book drive for NYC Books Through Bars
While NYC Books Through Bars operating out of Freebird's basement is currently limiting in-person volunteering and drop offs due to COVID-19, book requests continue to pour in from prisons around the country: nearly 300 per week. In response to the challenges of accepting those donations during the pandemic, we have started a monthly program in which specific, in-demand titles can be purchased through Freebird at a discount.
August's pick for NYC Books Through Bars
Following July's drive featuring titles from AK Press--550 books collected!--we revisit our friends at Grove Press, who a year ago collaborated on what still stands as our most successful monthly campaign to date. Generating an astounding 1,600 books in just two weeks, it brought special attention to Albert Woodfox's memoir of incarceration, Solitary, who we had the good fortune of interviewing about his experiences. This time we selected another three titles that also spotlight the diversity of Grove's catalog, representative of a storied publisher long committed to fighting censorship and social injustice. Alif the Unseen is a debut work of fantasy that pulls upon Arabic folklore to spin a cyperpunk tale worthy of Neil Gaiman. Lakota Woman is a classic of indigenous literature, the story of Mary Brave Bird and her activism within the Native American movements of the 1970s and '80s. And Wilmington's Lie is the recent Pulitzer Prize-winner that documents the long forgotten but brazen coup of white North Carolinians against an integrated city in the late 19th century.
Following July's drive featuring titles from AK Press--550 books collected!--we revisit our friends at Grove Press, who a year ago collaborated on what still stands as our most successful monthly campaign to date. Generating an astounding 1,600 books in just two weeks, it brought special attention to Albert Woodfox's memoir of incarceration, Solitary, who we had the good fortune of interviewing about his experiences. This time we selected another three titles that also spotlight the diversity of Grove's catalog, representative of a storied publisher long committed to fighting censorship and social injustice. Alif the Unseen is a debut work of fantasy that pulls upon Arabic folklore to spin a cyperpunk tale worthy of Neil Gaiman. Lakota Woman is a classic of indigenous literature, the story of Mary Brave Bird and her activism within the Native American movements of the 1970s and '80s. And Wilmington's Lie is the recent Pulitzer Prize-winner that documents the long forgotten but brazen coup of white North Carolinians against an integrated city in the late 19th century.
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PLEASE NOTE that the books purchased through Freebird are ones that will be delivered directly to Books Through Bars so that they can fulfill requests from incarcerated readers.
Looking for a book for yourself? Check out our page at Bookshop.org, including lists of recommended reads from Piper Kerman, Victoria Law, Albert Woodfox, Victor LaValle, Mat Johnson, and others! Want to give a gift card? Freebird has e-gift cards available here for your birthday and holiday needs (and to redeem for future book drives)! To get updates on future selections, subscribe to Freebird's newsletter |
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