Christine Kitano: Alienation, Estrangement, Displacement: Examining the Relationship Between Literature and Place, or, “It’s the land, stupid” (July 2019)

The relationship between place and literature is never uncomplicated—and is often one of alienation, estrangement, or displacement. Investigating works by Agha Shahid Ali, Robert Frost, Toni Morrison, Brandon Shimoda, and others, Kitano explores strategies and techniques for navigating the tension between writing and place, especially for writers who feel a lack of ownership over the spaces they inhabit and write about.