Author and activist Melissa Chadburn will discuss her debut novel, “A Tiny Shove Upward,” during an event on Thursday, April 21, at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. The in-person event begins at 7 p.m.
In the book, Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society’s castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim.
Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead. Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother’s old Filipino stories – an “aswang,” a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others. Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known – even her killer – as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an “aswang,” while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
Melissa Chadburn is based in greater Los Angeles, where she grew up and entered foster care at 15. She’s done extensive reporting on the child welfare system and appears in the Netflix docuseries “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez.” Through her own work and literary citizenship, she strives to upend economic violence.
Although she writes fiction, she has been most prolific in her nonfiction output. Her particular focus, sharpened by her own experience of foster care, is on the children who become victims under supposed government supervision. Her writing has appeared in The LA Times, the New York Times Book Review, the New York Review of Books, Longreads, Paris Review online, and dozens other places. Her essay on food insecurity was published in Best American Food Writing 2019.
She has also taught creative writing at the University of California San Diego and journalism at Loyola Marymount University. Currently, she is a doctoral student in writing at the University of Southern California.
Attendance at Thursday’s event is free. By visiting Vroman’s Bookstore, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19. Masks are strongly encouraged for this event.
For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit www.vromansbookstore.com/
Vroman’s Bookstore is at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.
