Hinton’s class of 2025
This graduation season three members of the Hinton Team, Rose Lindsey, Yanet Giles, And Ivonne Lares are ending their undergraduate education and starting the next phase of their lives. As they are all English and Creative Writing majors we wanted to get their perspectives on their studies and what they see for the future of writing and publishing.
Who are the writers and what are the books you are grateful to have been introduced in your studies?
Ivonne Lares: Throughout my studies, I have read many books, short works, and poetry collections, all of which have contributed to my growth as a more well-rounded reader. The three books and writers I am most grateful to have been introduced to in my studies are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, and Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I have always been hesitant to read classics, often finding it difficult to work past the excessive language to understand what the author is trying to say. However, through class discussions and analysis, I was able to overcome this intimidation and learn to enjoy the classics.
Rose Lindsey: Although I've been fortunate and thankful to read so many different writers and books, I've been most impacted by a lineage of queer poets offered to me by Serena Chopra in her writing classes. Selah Saterstrom and Kazim Ali are two poets that have fundamentally changed the way I think about my relationship to writing. In the world of fiction, my favorite encounter has been with C Pam Zhang's How Much of These Hills is Gold, a gripping narrative that unfurls with some of the most poetic prose I've read.
Who are some underinvited writers you would like more people to know about?
Ivonne Lares: Besides our talented authors here at Hinton Publishing (shout out to Reagan EJ Jackson and Juan Carlos Reyes!), I recommend Toni Morrison and Cameron Awkward-Rich. Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a powerful novel filled with rich metaphors. From the very first pages, it introduces the central theme in a way that draws you in immediately. Cameron Awkward-Rich’s Dispatch is a compelling collection of poems that reflects the turmoil caused by racial and gendered violence. Both authors offer important perspectives that are well worth reading.
Rose Lindsey: I'd like to give attention to a number of Black feminist authors whose work explores the relationships between systemic violence against Black bodies, the natural environment, and masculinity: Dionna Brand (In Another Place, Not Here), Jesmyn Ward (Salvage the Bones), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), and Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming). All of these works have been phenomenal reading experiences, accompanied by the politics they articulate.
Where do you see the future of publishing going, in relation to underinivited communities, especially in this political climate?
Ivonne Lares: As book bans increase and the political environment becomes more hostile, I believe the future of publishing will face more obstacles, especially for members of underrepresented communities. However, I believe the publishing industry will continue working to amplify the voices and stories of those in marginalized groups. Especially smaller publishing houses like Hinton Publishing, which aim to support the success of those who have been consistently overlooked.
Rose Lindsey: With the devaluing of intellectualism on a broader political scale, I believe the work of smaller publishing companies becomes all the more important. These are the publishers where individual voice and collective expression are fully realized, for author and reader alike. Although it might be tempting to sink into uncertainty, there can be no room for wavering. We must maintain our composure to maintain our support of the underinvited.
If anything, I hope to see a future in publishing where the smaller publishers become more prevalent. As larger corporations are more likely to bend to political pressure, working at the "ground level" allows us to keep doing the very necessary work. Although policy might attempt to scare us, I don't think the underinvited voice is going anywhere.
How can storytelling best be utilized to counter problematic narratives we see in our society?
Ivonne Lares: As a Creative Writing major, most of my classes throughout my academic career focused on unpacking an author’s use of literary devices, themes, and arguments. Literature offers commentary on societal norms, documenting injustices, and exploring the human condition. These conversations are not limited to books. They exist in movies, television shows, and even in social media. Storytelling gives the audience the ability to analyze and interpret the messages within all these forms of media that can bring reflection and connection.
Rose Lindsey: For me, the telling in storytelling is key. There is a flawed political conception that the written word, in its plainest and "purest" form, is where power lies. Definitions, laws, these written works do their best to cement one truth, one singular interpretation of what language can mean or do. Storytelling, though, subverts this cementing. The performance of the body, of other truths and ideals, of ephemeral words that will not last... Storytelling allows us to slip through and around the hard concrete boundaries of problematic political language. By sharing stories, we share in oral tradition that existed long before the regimented structures we recognize today. By bringing our own narrative, we trouble the depiction of there only being one narrative truth.