Administrator with Lambda Literary. Writer. Former Bookseller. Georgia kid living in Brooklyn. In need of a tea and an hour to read a book. He/Him
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Articles by Parrish Turner
New York Citys Hyper-Gentrification With the...
As New York City’s landscape rapidly gives in to gentrification, author and 25-year resident Jeremiah Moss stands as witness and activist to preserve what he can. When writer Jeremiah Moss moved to New York City in the early 1990s, hyper-gentrification had already begun.
The Differences Between Green Tourism...
Those looking to be more conscientious travelers have a lot of options, but what do all these sustainable-travel terms actually mean? Use Culture Trip’s guide to find the earth-friendly travel preference that’s right for you. Did you know – Culture Trip now does bookable, small-group trips? Pick from authentic, immersive Epic Trips, compact and action-packed Mini Trips and sparkling, expansive Sailing Trips. As responsible travel becomes more and more popular, buzzy travel terms continue to pop up.
How To Spend 24 Hours on Staten Island
Staten Island may be considered New York City’s “forgotten borough,” but it’s actually filled with interesting things to do. Take the free ferry for a great view of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, then stay and enjoy all that the area has to offer. So you’ve taken the Staten Island Ferry to get a free boat tour of New York Harbor. But what to do once you reach the island?
Key Stops on Your Civil Rights Tour of Atlanta
Home to the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta should top your list of destinations for a Civil Rights tour. Atlanta’s easiest claim to Civil Rights fame is as the home of the legendary Martin Luther King Jr, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States until his assassination in 1968. King’s legacy looms large in Atlanta, of course, but the city has a wealth of black history to explore.
When Animals Are Used as Stand-ins for Transgender Humans, People are Diminished | Essay
Parrish Turner, a transgender sensitivity reader, is tired of the tropes surrounding animal stories, particularly those involving the wish to be a different animal. For Parrish, the longing to be a more authentic version of oneself is all too human. As a transgender sensitivity reader, I have been noticing a troubling pattern; to tell the truth, I am tired of reading picture books about animals. Usually, these have some plot about an animal, say a bear, wanting to be another animal, say a tiger.
When Animals are Used as Stand-ins for Transgender Humans, People are Diminished | Essay
"I am tired of reading picture books about animals. Usually, these have some plot about an animal, say a bear, wanting to be another animal, say a tiger. I am not saying that these shouldn’t be passed my way. They absolutely should. But even though animals have little to do with trans lives, readers will see trans lives there no matter what." As a transgender sensitivity reader, I have been noticing a troubling pattern; to tell the truth, I am tired of reading picture books about animals.
How to Write About Kink Without Going Full "Fifty Shades"
It is hard to talk about sex and literature without making some sort of Fifty Shades of Grey reference. But where Fifty Shades shows a caricature of S&M, the new anthology Kink is a celebration of the range of human desires. From the power of control and the titillation of voyeurism, this collection is a toe in the water that is sexuality. With Kink, editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell sought to gather a diverse collection of stories which speak to the complexity of kink and human interactions.
How Do We Put Words to The Experience of Gender?
If you enjoy reading Electric Literature, join our mailing list! We’ll send you the best of EL each week, and you’ll be the first to know about upcoming submissions periods and virtual events. Transgender authors have long been put in specific boxes, but Zeyn Joukhadar’s second book, The Thirty Names of Night, has no time to dwell with such limits. The book wrestles with questions of selfhood and how one fits into the culture around them.
Key Stops on Your Civil Rights Tour of Atlanta
Martin Luther King Jr and his wife Coretta are buried at The King Center | © Steven Frame / Alamy Stock Photo Home to the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta should top your list of destinations for a Civil Rights tour. Atlanta’s easiest claim to Civil Rights fame is as the home of the legendary Martin Luther King Jr, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States until his assassination in 1968.
What to do in Atlanta for LGBTQ travelers
In the 1960s, Atlanta took on the name “The City Too Busy to Hate.” Originally, it was a moniker to describe Atlanta’s position on its business boom during the rise of the civil rights movement, but it has grown into a source of pride for those living in the city. While always a center for business, Atlanta has gained an artistic reputation in recent years, especially for film and music. Today, Atlanta acts as an epicenter for all things LGBTQ in the South, especially for black queer folks.
What to do in New York City for LGBTQ travelers
New York City has long been a destination for LGBTQ people, both tourists and permanent residents. In 2019, NYC hosted World Pride, which brought a record five million people to the city. Made infamous in song and story, the city is difficult to disentangle from its image as a place where the artists and business moguls come to find their fortunes, where LGBTQ people can find sanctuary, and where anyone can find their place — but it is much more complicated than the stories suggest.
8 Quirky Experiences in New York
Discover an alternative side to NYC on a unique tour | © Felix Lipov / Alamy Stock Photo New York is a mix of countless influences and a city filled with experiences for every possible interest. From ghosts to gossips, these eight unique experiences will give you fresh insight into the Big Apple. Greenwich Village Ghost Tour Cemetery Greenwich Village has a decidedly spooky side | ©Pacific Press Agency / Alamy Love a spooky tale?
7 Quirky Experiences in New York
View across Manhattan Meatpacking District, New York City | © Felix Lipov / Alamy Stock Photo New York is a mix of countless influences, a city filled with experiences for every possible interest. From ghosts to gossips, these 7 quirky experiences will give you fresh insight into The Big Apple. Greenwich Village Ghost Tour Cemetery Love a spooky tale? Greenwich Village is full of grisly murders and dark tragedies where spine-tingling energies can still be felt today.
Writer Jacob Tobia On Southern Queer Stories and Traveling While Genderqueer
Activist, author and performer Jacob Tobia has been writing for many years, but Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story marks their first foray into long-form writing. They sat down with Culture Trip to discuss queer storytelling, navigating airports and more. Jacob Tobia’s work has long been about changing assumptions, and their first book is no different. Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story details Tobia’s childhood in North Carolina.
The Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn Contains Queer Treasure
The Lesbian Herstory Archives contains photography by artists such as Del LaGrace Volcano | © Del LaGrace Volcano, Courtesy of Lesbian Herstory Archives Foundation Tucked away on a quiet street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the Lesbian Herstory Archives contains the world’s largest collection of photographs, periodicals, books, personal letters, T-shirts, buttons and other objects made by, or about, women who love women.
Parrish Turner
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The Unexpected Connection Between the Korean and Cherokee Languages
With an ocean of distance between them, the Cherokee and Korean languages may seem to have nothing in common, but in each case the written language was created by a single individual. Language is a foundational element of all human cultures, and written languages can become a strong symbol of cultural identity as well as an invaluable communication tool across distances. Not every culture has a written language, though the idea of creating one is often sparked through cultural exchange.
New York City Hacks Even Locals Don't Know
Between New York City’s crowds, never-ending lists of things to do and relentless attitude, the City That Never Sleeps can be overwhelming. Make your NYC experience a little bit easier with these hacks. Optimize your phone for transportation Your smartphone can be the ultimate tool to make the city manageable. Apps like Google Maps, MyMTA and CityMapper help you navigate New York while keeping you up to date on any public transport changes.
Songs About Cities: Artists Sing About This Place the Most
Jay-Z performs at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York | © Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock Looking at the lyrics of the top-charting singles in the US and UK since 1960, researchers analyzed songs with countries in the title and discovered that the city most likely to inspire musical tributes is New York City. Music Mapped is an interactive map from Celebrity Cruises that allows visitors to discover interesting trends in pop music.
The Differences Between Green Tourism, Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism
Ling Tang / © Culture Trip Those looking to be more conscientious travelers have a lot of options, but what do all these sustainable-travel terms actually mean? Use Culture Trip’s guide to find the earth-friendly travel preference that’s right for you. As responsible travel becomes more and more popular, buzzy travel terms continue to pop up. But what does it all mean? And how can you know if the tour you booked or the hotel you’re staying at is actually environmentally friendly or sustainable?
New York City’s Hyper-Gentrification With the Author of ‘Vanishing New York’
As New York City’s landscape rapidly gives in to gentrification, author and 25-year resident Jeremiah Moss stands as witness and activist to preserve what he can. When writer Jeremiah Moss moved to New York City in the early 1990s, hyper-gentrification had already begun.
Inside NYC’s Leslie-Lohman Museum, the Only LGBTQ Art Museum in the World
The Leslie-Lohman Museum has a message for passers-by | © Timothy Schenck When Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman first held an art show out of their SoHo loft in 1969, they could not have predicted what their passion for art collecting would become. Today, the Leslie-Lohman Museum puts a necessary spotlight on LGBTQ art and the artists’ legacies. In the center of SoHo sits the only accredited LGBTQ art museum in the world.
Tips for Traveling With a Disability in New York City
There are plenty of resources that help make tourist attractions, theatre trips and other classic New York City activities more accessible for all. Here’s how to take advantage of them.
‘The Parting Gift’ by Evan Fallenberg, Lush Drama on Israel’s Mediterranean Coast
Evan Fallenberg’s novel The Parting Gift is a riveting story of a man trying to escape something that he may not be able to outrun. The parting gift in question is a letter. It is given to Adam, the college roommate of an unnamed narrator who is about to vacate the couch he has occupied for four months. In some ways, the letter is an apology and an explanation for what brought the narrator to the couch in the first place.
Book Lovers Delight at NYC’s Singapore Literature Festival October 4-6
Singapore Unbound held the first Singapore Literature Festival in October 2014 in New York City in order to – as founder Jee Leong Koh put it to the Asian Books Blog – “introduce the Big Apple to the Little Red Dot.” A celebration of Singaporean-diaspora literature, the festival aims to build community and dialogue. “Singaporeans and Americans have been living in one another’s country for a long time,” Singapore Unbound explains on its website.
The Rise of ‘Latinx’ in America’s Spanish-Speaking Communities
The word ‘Latinx’ [la-TEE-neks] offers a gender-neutral alternative to ‘Latino’ and ‘Latina.’ In English, there has been a linguistic departure from using gendered terms like ‘policeman’ and ‘guys’ to refer to mixed groups of people. Spanish grammar, however, is highly gendered, making it difficult to refer to anything without specifying a gender.
Banned Books Reveal American Anxieties Around the LGBTQ Community
Any time a parent or concerned community member asks that a book be removed from a US library or classroom, librarians and teachers are watching. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles complaints against books found in either media reports or voluntary report forms to create the annual Banned Books List, first published in 1990.
Visit Riverhead's Pop-Up Reading Room to Celebrate Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week aims to spotlight books that have been pulled from schools and libraries around the world, as well as provide a rallying cry in support of the freedom of speech. In honor of this, Riverhead Books is hosting a pop-up reading room at Brooklyn Bridge Park on September 29 2018 from 1-4pm. Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, has a history of highlighting diverse voices from around the world.
‘Hey, Marfa’ by Jeffrey Yang, a Meditation on the Strangeness of Marfa, Texas
Located just north of the Mexico-United States border, Marfa, Texas is a strange small town whose main industry is art. Filled with galleries and artistic residencies, Marfa is an unexpected hub for the artistic community, considering its population hovers around 2,500. In the middle of the desert spring sculptures, like the Prada store on the empty highway, which maintain a distinct Texas sensibility while appealing to contemporary artists.
Ibi Zoboi On Brooklyn Gentrification and How Motherhood Informs Her Work
In her first book American Street, Zoboi drew from her own experiences as a Haitian immigrant to tell the story of teenage Fabiola as she navigates arriving in Detroit on her own. As a longtime Brooklyn resident, Zoboi centers her new book Pride; A Pride and Prejudice Remix closer to home, placing the Darcys as a wealthy black family moving to Brooklyn in a wave of gentrification. Zoboi spoke with Culture Trip about her writing habits and how her children shape her work.
‘Queen Solomon’ by Tamara Faith Berger, a Tense Examination of Sex and Racism
Queen Solomon is a thriller that follows the turmoil in a Canadian-Jewish family after they take in Barbra, an Ethiopian Jew. Narrated by the family’s teenage son, the book explores the ways in which he is both drawn to and terrified by the adolescent Barbra, who is more complicated than she first appears.
Why You Need To Attend the Brooklyn Book Festival
Every year in September, Brooklyn hosts the Brooklyn Book Festival, a week-long festival packed with a slew of literary events, from panels to author readings, culminating in Sunday’s Festival Day, an all-day book bonanza. The annual festival began in 2006 to showcase the “Brooklyn voice” in literature. Over the years, it’s grown to celebrate writers from around the world. During this year’s festival, more than 300 authors will participate in the official festivities.
‘Confessions of the Fox’ by Jordy Rosenberg, A Queer Reclamation of History
The lines of truth and fantasy blur in wild and delightful ways in Jordy Rosenberg’s sweeping novel Confessions of the Fox. When Dr Voth discovers a mysterious manuscript, he is unsure if it is a hoax or the lost confessions of notorious London thief Jack Sheppard (1702-1724). He combs through the text, littering the book with footnotes and telling his own parallel story as he analyses the validity of the autobiography.
‘Into?’ by North Morgan, the Fever Dream of Los Angeles Gay Life
Thirtysomething Konrad Platt was born in Germany and schooled in England. Following a devastating break-up, Platt chooses to leave London for sunny Los Angeles where his father has a cushy job lined up for him. Into? follows Platt’s spiral of sex, circuit parties and hours spent on social media trying to find human connection. This book offers complex commentary on the millennial struggle with social media.
‘Many Love’ by Sophie Lucido Johnson, an Intimate Introduction to Polyamory
For many, the go-to book about polyamory is Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy’s The Ethical Slut, published in 1997 and updated in 2017. But while The Ethical Slut offers a practical how-to guide to having more than one partner, Many Love: A Memoir of Polyamory and Finding Love(s) explores how polyamory works in one woman’s life. Polyamory, which positions itself against monogamy, was the fourth most googled word (relating to relationships) of 2017.
Native Writers Are Changing the American Literary Landscape
There There by Tommy Orange has taken the literary world by storm. The book is a fantastically rendered story of the lives of urban Native people, but its popularity also touches on a wave of interest in Native literature in the mainstream. Meanwhile, Mojave American poet Natalie Diaz launched a series with online publication LitHub where she has been sharing the work of Indigenous female poets and, in July 2018, Heid E.
Deborah A Miranda on Mixing Genres to Confront Cultural Trauma
Miranda is a descendant of what are known as “Mission Indians,” indigenous peoples of many Southern California tribes who were forcibly removed from their land into several Franciscan missions. These missions worked to strip people of their cultural identity. The long-lasting implications of these traumatic practices are part of the history Miranda explores in Bad Indians, her memoir about her family history and her own life.
Emily Wilson On Translating Ancient Texts and the Place of Mythology Today
Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s The Odyssey has been called “radically contemporary” and “fresh, authoritative and slyly humorous.” Translation is a challenging endeavor, which Wilson has accomplished beautifully. Her energy and joy for her work is evident. Culture Trip: August is Women in Translation month. Are you connected with other translators? What is it like translating classical works compared to more contemporary literature?
Heid E. Erdrich on Artistic Community and the Diversity of Native Poets
Erdrich is an Ojibwe poet with five books of poetry and a recipe book. New Poets of Native Nations is Erdrich’s latest work, collecting poems from Layli Long Soldier, Natalie Diaz, Tommy Pico, and more. Her own work brings together her community of artists as it plays with the lines between the visual and the poetic. Culture Trip: You have been working and publishing for a long time now. What changes have you seen for how the culture relates to poetry? Heid E.
Three Maps That Will Change the Way you See San Francisco
Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite City challenges conventional ideas of what maps can tell their viewers. Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas begins by asking what can be conveyed through a map. Approaching the subject through an artistic lens, Rebecca Solnit plays with the possibilities of what can be illustrated through cartography.
Sherwin Bitsui On Poetry as Translation and the Influence of Nature
Sherwin Bitsui’s next poetry collection, Dissolve, comes out in October 2018. His recent work leans long, providing him the space to explore his ideas. He writes about the tension between nature and the world humans inhabit, always keeping in focus the continuous movement between states of being. Bitsui sits down with Culture Trip to discuss his poetry and the power of language. Culture Trip: What brought you to poetry? Sherwin Bitsui: I was drawn by language and imagination.
Read an Excerpt From ‘The Tenth Island,’ a Memoir of a Woman Falling for the Azores
Every summer, a group of immigrants travel back to the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean from California where they largely work as farmers. They inspired journalist Diana Marcum to make her own pilgrimage. She leaves a life crisis behind for a new adventure. With her dog in tow, she sets off on a journey of self-discovery on these strange and special islands.
LiterarySwag: Inside Brooklyn’s Best Dressed Book Club
Yahdon Israel started the LiterarySwag Book Club in September 2015. Inspired by seeing well-dressed readers on the subway, he started the Instagram hashtag LiterarySwag to highlight the connection between fashion and literature. Israel grew up in Brooklyn and wants to elevate literature to the level of cool enjoyed by film and music, where he says it deserves to be. Each month, the group meets to discuss the chosen book and discover the next title.
emily m danforth On Montana Lit and Resisting the Conversion Therapy Book
Set in the early ’90s, The Miseducation of Cameron Post explores Cameron’s life as she comes of age in Montana. Culture Trip sits down with author emily m danforth to discuss the film adaptation and the discomfort of a book dealing with gay conversion therapy remaining relevant so many years later. Culture Trip: Your novel is now a movie available in theaters! How are you feeling? emily m danforth: It’s exciting. It is so its own thing.
Bani Amor On Travel Writing for People of Color and Fighting Colonial Narratives
Bani Amor is a travel writer. Frustrated by the lack of recognition for the work of people of color within travel writing, they set up an online book club for people of color focused on the genre. Through the book club and their own essays, Amor has built a community of writers who are challenging the status quo. Culture Trip: I wanted to start off and ask a bit about your book club. Where did you start? What was your mission? Bani Amor: It started in January of 2016.
Brandon Hobson On Gender Identity and the Future of Native Literature
Brandon Hobson’s book Where the Dead Sit Talking follows Sequoyah, a half-Cherokee boy who is placed in foster care with a white family. Sequoyah’s story is a coming-of-age tale told with clarity and honesty – one that speaks to Hobson’s own heritage as an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation Tribe of Oklahoma. The Cherokee originally lived in what is now the southeastern United States.
‘Severance’ by Ling Ma, the Unremarkable End of the World
Ling Ma’s protagonist Candice Chen is a first-generation Chinese-American, working away at a mindless job coordinating the production of Bibles in China from her New York City office. When Shen Fever, a fungal infection, starts to hit the news, Chen barely notices. She continues working as the world falls apart around her, sending emails to coordinate production in factories shut down by a rising epidemic.
‘Algeria Is Beautiful Like America’ by Olivia Burton, a Familial and Colonial Legacy
Burton’s memoir is both a story of her personal history and also a history of the relationship between France and Algeria. Her family is Pied-Noir, or Black Foot, a label for French people born in Africa. While the origins of the term are disputed, Burton experiences the identity to be laden with complications she never understood as a child. In Algeria is Beautiful Like America, Burton travels to Algeria to discover for herself what her family history means.
Eleanor Kriseman on the Textures of Florida and Assumptions of Autobiography
Kriseman’s The Blurry Years explores Florida in the 1970s and 80s through the lens of young Callie, a girl coming into adulthood. The books lyrical prose details Callie’s coming of age story surrounded by the sleaze and thrill of the Florida coastline. Over the course of Callie’s adolescence, readers follow her relationship with her mother and the complexities of what it means to grow up a woman. Kriseman sat down with Culture Trip to discuss her book and Florida as the rich setting for her work.
The Anatomy of a Greeting
In One Kiss or Two?: The Art and Science of Saying Hello, British writer Andy Scott answers every question you have ever had about greetings. From the subtle distinctions between different cultural welcomes to the evolutionary history of saying ‘hello’, Scott covers it all. As he writes in the book, a greeting is “the essence of what it means to live together as humans”.
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