The Notable Books Council, first established in 1944, has announced the 2024 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of-list comprised of twenty six titles written for adult readers and published in the US including fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The list was announced today during the Reference & User Services Book & Media Awards Ceremony. “Side Notes from the Archivist” by Anastacia-Renee (Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) is one of its 2024 selections.
New York Public Library chooses Side Notes From The Archivist for its Best Books of 2023 list.
A still from Anastacia-Reneé's video “Alice in Parts,” part of a piercing show about the ruinous effects of white supremacy on the home and body, on view at Frye Art Museum. (Anastacia-Reneé)
The cancer of ‘keep going’ at the Frye Art Museum
“I do yoga. I read. I’m fine,” Alice Metropolis assures us from the black-and-white video screen, a bottle of liquor in hand. She goes to therapy. She’s working on being fine. She’s just gotta keep it going, keep it moving, stick to the plan. But the plan’s not working. Even in savasana, she doesn’t feel like she can rest.
Alice isn’t real: She’s a fictional character dreamed up by Seattle poet and artist Anastacia-Reneé. But Alice’s story, which Anastacia-Reneé tells through videos, wall poetry, installations of blood-spattered white laundry and piles of gifts inscribed with words like “home” and “sanctuary” rings true.
From Alice’s interior monologues emerges a portrait of her body as a house near-crumbling under the pressures of gentrification, redlining and white supremacy. But the rot, the cancer, is already in the walls. Wellness culture and kale and sleep and smoothies won’t patch this up, won’t stop the white liberals from invading her neighborhood, police from breaking down her door or cancer cells from taking over her body. In one video, Alice checks her breast for lumps, asking, “Cancer, are you still there?” She answers her own question: “Yep.”
If you go: Frye Art Museum is now open. Anastacia-Reneé: (Don’t Be Absurd) Alice in Parts runs through April 25.
My heartfelt gratitude to all who attended the Performance + Virtual Exhibition Opening of (Don't be Absurd) Alice in Parts at the Frye Museum. Thanks for your unwavering support to the folx who have been following the work of "Alice" for years and my appreciation to strangers who stumbled upon the opening and expressed excitement and gratitude around the exhibit and multiple media layers addressing gentrification of the black body, gentrification of neighborhoods, racism, classism, sexism, anxiety, fear and dis-ease. And the Lorde (Audre) too.
It you haven't had a chance to see it, here is the link.
To see the exhibit in person (safely) beginning February 11th, please clink here.
Programming related to (Don't be Absurd) Alice in Parts:
March 10th | Poetry and Activism: Educator Workshop
March 25th | Artist Talk: Anastacia-Renée in Conversation with Elisheba Johnson
Press for (Don't be Absurd) Alice in Parts:
NBC News | Queer Artists of Color Dominate 2021's Must-See LGBTQ Art Show
South Seattle Emerald | Anastacia-Renée's Solo Exhibit at the Frye Explores Gentrification of the Black Woman's Body
Seattle Met | Anastacia-Renée's Frye Show Is a Blistering Look at Gentrification
Stay tuned for information regarding two Lorde Knows poetry readings with 8 poets from across the country.
In the meantime, order a book and a bag here!
Alice's book list (Available at the Frye Museum Store)
Vetiver, Librecht Baker
Emergence, Kamari Bright
Blues Divine, Storme Webber
A(Live) Heart, Imani Sims
Summoning Unicorns: A Collection of Poetry, Reagan Jackson
I Say, T(hey) Say, Natasha Ria El-Scari
Blue Hallelujahs, Cynthia Manick
Patient, Bettina Judd
Say Mirror, JP Howard
neckbone visual verses, Avery R. Young
Chlorine Sky, Mahogany Browne
Sister Outsider, Essays and Speeches, Audre Lorde
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Ntozake Shange
May your days in February and beyond be filled with Black history, herstory, theystory and brilliance.
Anastacia-Renée
I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. I mean, really no fear!
- Nina Simone