Z. Z. Packer

All the Women in My Family Sing tells the sometimes raw, always illumining stories of women of color in today's political climate. Sixty-eight authors in total--African American, Asian American, Chicana, Native American, Cameroonian, South African, British and LGBTQI--these voices broaden cross-cultural understanding and contribute to building bridges to understanding how very alike we are in the daily experiences of life. No other anthology offers the wide spectrum of stories about cultural identity, migration, sexuality, illness, racism and generosity from such illustrious voices, includingAmerica Ferrera on her powerful experience at the Women's March in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2017;Natalie Baszile on returning to Louisiana to research Queen Sugar and finding the "painful truths" her father experienced in the "belly of segregation;"Porochista Khakpour on flying across America under the Muslim travel ban; andLalita Tademy on her transition from top executive at Sun Microsystems to NY Times bestselling author. In other essays, a woman writes from prison about widows incarcerated for cashing their husbands' retirement checks. A young mother writes of suffering hundreds of strokes and a heart attack while giving birth. An art historian argues why Carmen Lomas Garza is as important as Norman Rockwell to our conception of what constitutes the American tableau. An escapee from the Cambodian Killing Fields writes about her life in America after losing 37 family members. A daughter writes about her father growing up in Louisiana having the soles of his feet set on fire as a joke.

An Anthology by Women of Color

All the Women in My Family Sing

Kathy Pories

A collection of outstanding short stories by masterful voices in Southern literature features a broad spectrum of twenty works by both established and new writers, including Pinckney Benedict, Ron Rash, Clyde Edgerton, and Holly Goddard Jones, among others, all selected and introduced by guest editor ZZ Packer. Original.

The Year's Best, 2008

New Stories from the South

Award-winning writer ZZ Packer shows an impressive range and command of language in her debut story collection. She surprises and dazzles us with unexpected turns and indelible images as she takes us into the lives of characters on the periphery, unsure of where they belong. We meet a Brownie troop of black girls who are confronted with a troop of white girls; a young man who goes with his father to the Million Man March and must decide where his allegiance lies; an international group of drifters in Japan, who are unable to find work; a girl in a Baltimore ghetto who has dreams of the larger world she has seen only on the screens in the television store nearby, where the Lithuanian shopkeeper holds out hope for attaining his own American Dream. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a striking performance—fresh, versatile, and captivating. It introduces an arresting and unforgettable new voice.

Z. Z. Packer

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