Author: Bee Lehman

Register to Vote!

Posted on by Bee Lehman
small logo promoting voter registration on the registertovote.ca.gov California government website.
https://registertovote.ca.gov/

It’s an election year. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, there’s still time! In California, you need to be registered at least 15 days before Election Day (this year that’s ⁦Tuesday, November 5). You can click on the link to the right to register.

As a quick reminder, there are two criteria to register. First (legal status), you must be a United States citizen and a resident of California. Second (age), you must be 18 years old or older on Election Day. You do not need a California state identification to register.

Office CA design for promoting voting by mail. Includes a yellow mailbox on the left with the words "vote by mail" before a video play symbol.
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/vote-mail

Once you register, you will be able to either vote by mail or at the polls on election day. Click on the link to the right to find out more information or to watch a video about how the process works.

If you aren’t from this state, be aware that California residents vote on multiple propositions alongside United States president. You can request an Official Voter Information Guide from the State which will contain a short blurb with pros/cons on each item for consideration. You can also choose to take a look at what will (probably) be on the ballot on Ballotpedia. Those propositions will include things like Mental Health Services; the right to marry; involuntary servitude; and more.

If you’re wanting to learn more about voting as a right, consider looking at this ACLU Voting 101 Toolkit:

Blue image with woman holding up sign declaring "your vote matters!" At the top, the sign promotes "know your rights."
Find the Voting 101 Toolkit on the ACLU’s website (click on image).

 

 

Prof. Elizabeth Abel Talks Odd Affinities and Virginia Woolf

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts (website) got there first, nonetheless I’m thrilled to share the news that Prof. Elizabeth Abel released Odd Affinities : Virginia Woolf’s Shadow Genealogies with the University of Chicago Press this year.

cover of odd affinities with a black and white image of Virginia Woolf sitting, looking wistfully at the camera.
Abel’s Odd Affinities (2024).

Prof. Abel (faculty page) teaches with the UC Berkeley English Department. They teach courses on Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group as well as broader overviews of 19th and 20th century English literatures. This fall, they are leading courses “Memoir and Memory” as well as on graduate readings and special study.

In Odd Affinities, Prof. Abel discusses Woolf’s influence beyond a female tradition, looking at echoes of Woolf work in four major writers from diverse cultural contexts: Nella Larsen, James Baldwin, Roland Barthes, and W. G. Sebald. Looking at those “odd affinities,” Abel looks at how “Woolf’s career and the transnational modernist genealogy was constituted by her elusive and shifting presence.”

You can access Abel’s book through the UC Library Search, where you can access it online and download the fulltext.

Booker Prize Longlist!

Posted on by Bee Lehman

To my delight, the Booker Prize longlist has been announced! I’m rather looking forward to a couple long weekends reading through these.

For the list, I’ve gone ahead and included the Booker Prizes’ official links for title and authors as well then a UC Search or Berkeley Public Library link in the parenthesis. 

Keep in mind that you can request these books at the Oakland or San Francisco Public Libraries as well.

I hope we all enjoy!