James Janko in conversation with Maxine Hong Kingston
City Lights celebrates the publication of
The Wire-Walker
By James Janko
Published by Regal House Books
This event is also being broadcast online. You will need a device that can access the internet. Use this link to attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83226392848
In the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, Palestine, sixteen-year-old Amal Tuqan finds her escape in tightrope walking. Living in an alley so narrow that “ the walls hold their breath,” she practices tirelessly on thin wires and slippery rebar. Her extraordinary talent leads her to Tel Aviv in the summer of 2019, where she joins The Flying Kids, a circus that brings together Israeli and Palestinian children. There, she forms a deep friendship with Tali Glazman, a Jewish Israeli juggler, and they discover they share a painful bond: both have lost their fathers to violence. As their friendship defies the deep-seated animosities that divide them, The Wire-Walker reveals more than just a tale of friendship; it is a raw and powerful commentary on the daily struggles faced by Amal and her community in the occupied West Bank. Set against the backdrop of 2019-2020, this poignant tale serves as a prequel to the struggles that have unfolded since, highlighting the enduring spirit of youth amidst conflict.
James Janko is the award winning author of the novels Buffalo Boy and Geronimo, What We Don’t Talk About, and The Clubhouse Thief. His short stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, The Sun, and Eureka Literary Magazine, among others. His story––“Fallujah in a Mirror” He has received numerous honors for his work. These include the Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award, the Illinois Arts Council Award for Fiction, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for the Novel, the Association of Asian American Studies Book Award and the Northern California Book Award. The Wire-Walker was a finalist for the 2023 Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, a finalist for the 2023 Dzanc Fiction Prize, and was awarded the Juniper Prize by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2021.
Maxine Hong Kingston is the award winning author of three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese Americans. Her published works include The Woman Warrior, China Men, and Tripmaster Monkey. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the National Book Critics Circle Award and National Book Award for Nonfiction. In 2013 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President of the United States Barack Obama.
This event is made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation