No, I Didn’t Work On My Vacation
Plus Banned Books Week, News & Appearances, and How To Use A Swiss Toilet
I just got back from five heavenly weeks of travel in Europe. Here are some things I did:
Hiked through alpine meadows bursting with wildflowers
Swam in natural bodies of water in four countries (that’s me in the photo, taking a dip in an alpine lake)
Read novels, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction
Wrote in my journal
Played cards
Had delightful conversations with old friends and perfect strangers
Gazed at the patterns the light makes on the water
Took photos of the weirdly-detailed instructions for Swiss public toilets
Listened to the sound of cowbells in the rain
Collected pretty rocks
Watched a thunderstorm move across the landscape
Studied the drawings on the walls of a thousand year old art school
Listened to a yodeling performance
Lingered over meals
Slept
Here are some things I didn’t do:
Post on social media
Answer email
Work
In much of the world, none of this would be terribly surprising. But when I returned to the U.S. last week, almost everyone I know responded to the news of my five-week respite with one or both of these two questions:
“Did you work during that time?”
“But, did you write?”
The answer is no and no. I mean, sure, I jotted down a few ideas and some stray sentences. I confess to having answered the occasional urgent email. But the point of a vacation—and it seems odd that I have to explain this—is not to work. And writing is work.
Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. At the end of a long vacation I’m usually itching to get to my desk. But it takes a while to get there. Five weeks, in this case.
At this point, my plan was to write a paragraph explaining that creativity requires rest. I was going to talk about the well of inspiration being filled by contemplation and stillness and “recharging.” But as I embarked on that line of thought, my entire being recoiled. I hate the mechanistic analogy embedded in the word recharging, for one thing. Humans are not batteries designed to run until we’re out of juice, nor does rest exist solely for the purpose of powering the next burst of productivity.
So here’s what I want to say instead, in honor of Labor Day, whose true meaning extends beyond a single day of barbecuing:
Relaxation doesn’t have to be in the service of creativity or inspiration or future hard work, any more than noodling around with a paper and pen has to result in a finished work of art. Sometimes it’s okay to just close your eyes and listen to the sound of cowbells as a herd of Swiss cows comes in from the rain.
What Are You Doing For Banned Books Week?
Banned books week is September 22-29 and Authors Against Book Bans is encouraging—nay, begging—our allies to go beyond the usual displays of banned classics and instead use this time to mobilize your community to fight the right-wing assault against books, libraries, and education. If you haven’t read the relevant portion of Project 2025, the blueprint for the next Trump presidency, here’s a taste (with the relevant words bolded):
Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered. (Project 2025, page 5)
In plain English, that means that any LGBTQIA+ content, plus anything that deals, however obliquely, with reproduction, sex, menstruation, or gender, could be reclassified as pornography, even if it’s written for adults. That doesn’t just mean banning books. It means shuttering libraries altogether, as is happening in states like Tennessee, Idaho, South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Iowa and Louisiana. It means imprisoning authors, teachers, and librarians. And in fact, this is already happening, with states ranging from Missouri to Indiana passing librarian criminalization bills and many more bills being introduced in each legislative session. My own book, The 57 Bus, was investigated by the Sheriff’s Dept. in New Hanover, North Carolina and referred to the local district attorney so that the librarians who had it on their shelves could be prosecuted. Fortunately, he declined to do so.
So here are five suggestions, spelled out in detail in this handy-dandy one-sheet, for Banned Books Week actions that meet the threat head-on:
Statehouse, Town Hall, or Public Library Read-In: let people hear the books that are being banned.
Postcard/Letter writing party to support librarians/school leaders/legislators: show your support to the people on the frontlines.
Banned book sale/drive to ship to a community in need: help kids in book-banning regions get the books that speak to their lives with honesty and compassion.
Voter registration event: make sure people’s voices are heard.
Candidate scorecard making party: help people get crucial information about what’s at stake in the down ballot races where fewer people vote.
And please make sure to investigate the races at the bottom of your ballot: school board, library board, state legislators, and the like. Book-banning candidates thrive in races where people aren’t paying attention, particularly those without a local newspaper.
A Few Things I’ve Enjoyed Reading (and Listening to) This Week
Rebecca Makkai’s essay on being jealous of other writers’ accolades.
Ben Shattuck’s luminous collection of short stories, The History of Sound, which are linked in surprising ways. I listened to it on Libro.fm and highly recommend the audiobook.
Short Stories from One Story Magazine, including X-Acto by children’s author Kate DiCamillo, You Can Be More by Kavi Yaga, and The Dissection Question by Emma Cairns Watson.
Upcoming Public Events
I’ll be at the Northern California Book Awards on Saturday, September 8 at 2pm at the San Francisco Main Library’s Koret Auditorium, and so will many other amazing authors. Here are some of the nominees:
I’ll be talking about Accountable, The 57 Bus, and banned books at the Central library in Houston, TX on September 26 at 10 am central time.
Members of the Berkeley High School Right Writers Club will interview me on stage at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library on October 8 at 6 pm, with an audience Q&A to follow.
Dr. Devorah Heitner and I will be teaching a virtual two-part workshop for educators and administrators on Accountability in the Digital World: Navigating the Complex Social Media Landscape in Partnership with our Students on November 12 and December 10 from 2-5 pm, sponsored by the California Teacher Development Collaborative.
I’ll be in Boston for NCTE on November 22-24, participating in a number of exciting sessions about media literacy, having challenging classroom conversations, and Escargot. Stay tuned for more details!
Other News
I wrote an essay about using poetry to write nonfiction for Omnium Gatherum Quarterly. Some of the other writers in the issue are R.O. Kwon, Cameron Walker, Sara Ellen Fowler, Rosa Lowinger, Jaclyn Moyer, Marguerite L. Harold, Ismet Prcic, and Jason Roberts. You can read the whole issue here.
The audiobook of Escargot and the Search for Spring was released last month by Macmillan Audio.
Accountable turned one year old last month! It’s had quite a year, winning the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Gold Award, the California Book Award Young Adult Gold Medal, the Russell Freedman Nonfiction for A Better World Award, the CALIBA Golden Poppy Book Award, an SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, and much more.
And, in case you need them, here are detailed instructions on the Dos and Don’ts of using a Swiss toilet. Never eat an apple while standing next to a toilet! Or open a portal to another dimension by drawing a circle with your pointy index finger!
I bow to you,
Dashka