Kimberle

by Achy Obejas, Porochista Khakpour

"Obejas, if you don’t know, is a Cuban-American poet, translator, journalist, novelist, and short story writer, and “Kimberle” is a highlight of her new collection, The Tower of the Antilles, translated from Spanish by herself. On one level, it’s a Kimberle is that friend you have who comes and never leaves. She’s up for anything and everything. She’s the one who will take you on joyrides, get you involved in threesomes, makes you fall in love with her. She’ll also steal your books and drop racist comments at times, so subtle that you think you might be crazy but when it comes time take her to task she’s onto the next antic. She’s the friend you need to keep alive but you know you might die trying. Kimberle is too flesh and blood to be entirely mythic, but she has that mystique of the disturbing lost girls of Eighties and Nineties She’s just 16 years old, leave her alone they say. Or Janie’s got a gun, her whole world’s come undone. Or girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know, it’s really serious. Kimberle is the one who makes it though, just maybe." - Porochista Khakpour

About the  ACHY OBEJAS is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Ruins, Days of Awe, and three other books of fiction. She edited and translated (into English) the anthology Havana Noir, and has since translated Junot Díaz, Rita Indiana, Wendy Guerra, and many others. In 2014, she was awarded a USA Ford Fellowship for her writing and translation. She currently serves as the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Mills College in Oakland, California. The Tower of the Antilles is her latest work.

About the Guest  Porochista Khakpour is the author of the forthcoming memoir Sick (Harper Perennial, May 2018), and the novels The Last Illusion (Bloomsbury, 2014) — a 2014 “Best Book of the Year” according to NPR, Kirkus, Buzzfeed, Popmatters, Electric Literature, and more — and Sons and Other Flammable Objects (Grove, 2007) — the 2007 California Book Award winner in “First Fiction,” a Chicago Tribune’s “Fall’s Best,” and a New York Times “Editor’s Choice.” She is currently writer-in-residence at Bard College, adjunct faculty at Columbia University, and visiting faculty at VCFA’s MFA program.

About the Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction. Recommended Reading is supported by the Amazon Literary Partnership, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For other links from Electric Literature, follow us, or sign up for our eNewsletter.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 3, 2017

About the author

Achy Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Her poems, stories and essays have appeared in dozens of anthologies, including Akashic's Chicago Noir. A long time contributor to the Chicago Tribune, she was part of the 2001 investigative team that earned a Pulitzer Prize for the series, “Gateway to Gridlock.” Her articles have appeared in Vanity Fair, Village Voice, The Nation, Playboy, and MS, among others. Currently, she is a music contributor to the Washington Post and the Sor Juana Writer in Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Havana