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A Conversation with Allison Pitinii Davis

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System and the Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights welcome back Allison Pitinii Davis to hear about her award-winning collection, "Line Study of a Motel Clerk," her contribution to the anthology "What Things Cost," and the stories of those who are, in the words of Barbara Ehrenreich, "not getting by in America."

Allison Pitinii Davis previously joined us as a guest when we featured the book "What Things Cost," as she was a contributor to that anthology.

"Line Study of a Motel Clerk" examines a family’s century-long effort to make a home in a changing world. Pitinii Davis takes readers on a heart-stopping journey through her lineage, with all the grit, beauty and truth of the working class immigrant struggle. One side of the family opens a trucking motel, the other a laundry. The businesses change hands through three generations as the industrial steel valley booms and busts. When these two disparate families become one, the new generation must question what it means to endure a place, a culture, a language, and a history. (Boabab Press) 

Allison Pitinii Davis is the author of "Line Study of a Motel Clerk" (Baobab Press, 2017), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and the Ohioana Book Award. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Best American Poetry, the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day Series, The New Republic, The Oxford American, and elsewhere. She received fellowships from Stanford University's Wallace Stegner program, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the Severinghaus Beck Fund for Study at Vilnius Yiddish Institute. She holds a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing.

Find Allison Pitinii Davis' contribution to "What Things Cost," in our collection: Book | Ebook

Find out more about Allison Pitinii Davis here.