Stateway’s Garden by our guest Jasmon Drain is a debut collection of linked short stories that explore characters who live in and are shaped by the Chicago public housing project Stateway Gardens, which was torn down in 2007. 

We discuss how a writer navigates the responsibility and expectations involved in writing about a real place. Jasmon also reveals the careful craft of weaving markers of time, nature, and Chicago political history into the lives of his characters. Our conversation is a celebration of the short story as a way of knowing about the world. 

We at the library think this book is a major contribution to the literature of Chicago. But you don’t have to take our word for it--Sandra Cisneros says of Jasmon Drain’s work “I bow to this writer in gratitude.”

You can check out Stateway’s Garden at the Deerfield Public Library, or find it at your local library or bookstore. 

We welcome your comments and feedback--please send to: [email protected]. More info at: http://deerfieldlibrary.org/podcast

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