*

Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Lo Galluccio

Is the title ironic? Is it meant to mimic a toothpaste or detergent commercial? X-tra Whiteness suggests not race in this book, but some kind of gleam. Or maybe Gager is playing on the theme of whiteness, and even including race. After several readings, I’m still not sure but the title, it’s pop and its ambiguity, drew me to this collection, without a doubt.

October 9

*
Poet Sebastian Lockwood’s new collection, Written in Granite, has fourteen poems and four stories. Folded in with the text are a series of paintings and photographs that reflect the themes of the poems and stories. Many of the poems are woven into the short stories. The stories are set in 1862 in the Fox Tavern at Hancock Inn, New Hampshire. Three of the stories feature three famous women, two of whom knew each other. Emily Dickinson, as The Woman in White in Rooks & Indian Pudding and Helen Hunt Jackson in The Woman with an Owl On Her Head knew each other well and were powerful friends. Fly Rod Crosby was an extraordinary sportswoman and fellow sharpshooter with Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane. Here are some excerpts:

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Boston DSA, today and every day, stands in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ siblings. Saturday, known far-right groups protested a scheduled drag queen story hour at the Somerville Public Library, which culminated in a bomb threat. These right-wing provocateurs screamed at community members to repent and that they were “devils,” accused them of molesting children, and told them that they were going to hell.

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

By Jack Connolly
Jackconnolly422@gmail.com

For well over a year, Davis Sq merchants, employees, area residents, and passersby on the way to the T station have constantly alerted the city with 311 calls, emails to elected officials, and in person meetings with city staffers, to the myriad number of ongoing problems in the Davis Sq area. What’s happening, one might inquire?

Host, Sarah Fishman speaks with Ward 4 school committee member, Andre Green.

BALA-BILA brings together two African master musicians – Balla Kouyate on balafon, calabash, bass guitar and voice, and Matchume Zango on timbila, mbira, percussion and voice – through a live concert framed as an intercultural musical conversation between the two artists. Kouyate, from the West African country of Mali, and Zango, from the East African country of Mozambique, are leading exponents of their respective principal instruments – BALAfon and timBILA – two world heritage instruments that are played together for the first time.

Robin Lipson, Acting Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs for Massachusetts; Ed Augustus, Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities for Massachusetts; and Dr. Rishi Manchanda, MD, MPH, and CEO of HealthBegins, are among the featured speakers at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services’ daylong forum on aligning social and health care to advance health, equity, and independence. The event will take place on October 9 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Boston University’s Metcalf Trustee Center at 1 Silber Way, Boston.