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Sharma Shields on living with multiple sclerosis
As 2018 comes to a close, Cascadia Magazine is proud to publish a fantastic essay, “Great Grinning Things,” by Spokane-based novelist Sharma Shields, in which she explores the daily struggles of living with multiple sclerosis, in the context of a review of Nicola Griffith’s novel So Lucky.
Both Shields, Griffith, and the novel’s protagonist have all been diagnosed with MS. Sharma’s essay is a gorgeous tribute to a sharply-written book on the challenges of living with a chronic, destructive illness.
“I wondered about my own incarnation of the disease: Not a dog or a monster, but maybe the black eels that sprouted from my legs in a dream I’d had right before I was diagnosed.”
If you haven’t yet read Sharma’s powerful essay, you can find it online at Cascadia Magazine via this link.
And if you appreciate the great writing we publish at Cascadia Magazine, please take a moment to visit our donate page and make a financial contribution. And if you’re already a supporting reader, thank you.
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In the Little Wenatchee Drainage
Read Seattle poet Martha Silano’s “In the Little Wenatchee Drainage,” a reflection on regrowth and reverence during a walk through a forest touched by wildfire. “Here was the lecture on succession,/ on fire suppression’s unforeseen consequence…” Read the full poem here.
Trade war taking toll on eastern WA farmers
Anna King reports for KNKX that farmers of lentils and garbanzos in the Palouse region of eastern Washington and west Idaho have seen an estimated $500 million loss of sales thanks to the Trump administration’s trade war with China. Meanwhile, the Georgia Straight notes what could be a surprising victim of the US-China dispute: Vancouver’s film industry — since China could limit screening of US films in retaliation.
Vancouver’s first private cannabis store to open Saturday
After a rocky first few months of legal cannabis in British Columbia, the first licensed private marijuana store in Vancouver is set to open this Saturday, CBC reports. The pace of pot-shop licensing in the province has been exceptionally slow, CBC also reports.
The complexities of housing density in Sea-Tac
Over at the Seattle Times, Nina Shapiro reports on the complexities of a proposed new, dense cluster of housing and businesses proposed near a light rail station in Sea-Tac Washington–that will likely displace up to 50 businesses important to the local Somali community there. And the Seattle Globalist profiles the very cool community space Estelita’s Library, that serves up a diverse range of literature and community in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Ocean acidification affects salmon migration
OPB reports on a new study that finds ocean acidification caused by climate change is affecting salmon’s ability to use their sense of smell and migrate home to spawning streams. Meanwhile, a guest columnist at the Spokesman Review says it’s time to reform the Bonneville Power Administration, which could reshape hydropower on the Columbia and facilitate removal of dams on the lower Snake River.
An essay on self-transformation by Marcus Green
At the Seattle Globalist, there’s an honest and reflective essay by Marcus Green, founder of the South Seattle Emerald, on his journey of self-transformation. “It’s easier to believe that you are who others advertise you to be, as opposed to who you are when there is no one watching. It’s so much easier to prefer smoke over the flame.”
“Christmas and Cancer,” an essay by Fiona Tinwei Lam
The Tyee republishes Fiona Tinwei Lam’s essay “Christmas and Cancer,” in which she reflects on her father’s death of cancer around Christmas, and how poetry helped her to finally grieve years later. “The branches on our artificial tree would sag lower each season despite our attempts to drape over the gaps with tinsel.”
That’s today’s selection of news, arts and culture from around the Pacific Northwest. Happy Boxing Day! ? –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: pulses and legumes by CSIRO via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0