{"product_id":"american-gospel-9781625570437","title":"American Gospel","description":"A low-income Baltimore neighborhood is targeted for a controversial urban renewal project-- an amusement park in the theme of Baltimore itself-- that forces its residents to reckon with racism, displacement, and their futures. Peter Cryer is a queer teenager who fantasizes about leaving Baltimore and the instability of his home life while also seeking a place to belong. Ruth Anne, his prickly mother, is terrorized by her estranged husband and the indecision of what to do after the wrecking ball comes through her neighborhood. Thomas, a cleric and History teacher at Peter's school, questions his vocation in the face of the neighborhood's destruction. These three voices braid together a portrait of a neighborhood in flux, the role of community and violence in our time, and the struggles of a very real and oft misunderstood city.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMiah Jeffra is author of \u003cem\u003eThe Fabulous Ekphrastic Fantastic!\u003c\/em\u003e (Sibling Rivalry 2020), \u003cem\u003eThe Violence Almanac\u003c\/em\u003e (Black Lawrence 2021), the chapbook \u003cem\u003eThe First Church of What's Happening\u003c\/em\u003e (Nomadic 2017), and co-editor, with Arisa White and Monique Mero, of the anthology \u003cem\u003eHome is Where You Queer Your Heart\u003c\/em\u003e (Foglifter 2021). Awards include the New Millennium Prize, the Sidney Lanier Fiction Prize, The Atticus Review Creative Nonfiction Prize, the Alice Judson Hayes Fellowship, Lambda Literary Fellowship, and 2019 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Outstanding Anthology. Most recent work can be seen in \u003cem\u003eStoryQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, The North American Review, The Pinch, The Greensboro Review, DIAGRAM, jubilat\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBarrelhouse\u003c\/em\u003e. Miah is a founding editor of Whiting Award-winning queer literary collaborative, Foglifter Press, and teaches writing and antiracist studies at Santa Clara University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Black Lawrence Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50456199856402,"sku":"9781625570437","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4767342f-dec0-4f51-8edc-b5c51b2d5401.jpg?v=1729901974","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/american-gospel-9781625570437","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}