Alex Poppe is a teacher and creative instigator whose work draws inspiration from the diverse places and people encountered during her teaching career across Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, Northern Iraq, the West Bank, Germany, and the United States. Her fiction and non-fiction have graced the pages of magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, earning her award nominations. Between extraordinary experiences, she dedicates herself to writing, crafting narratives that reflect her global perspective and adventurous spirit.
"Jinwar is a feminist collective that has formed in northern Syria (Western Kurdistan) near the village of Afrin and the border with Turkey. Here, the character in Alex Poppe's lead story comes for solace and healing after suffering sexual abuse in the US military"-- Provided by publisher
Sixteen-year-old Lava lives peacefully enough with her imperfect mother, Lila, and their boarder, Cody, an Iraqi war vet suffering from PTSD. Lava's ex-addict father, Jesse, is released from prison, and Lava's life in Detroit is upended when Jesse pressures Lava for her urine so he can pass his mandatory drug tests. After an altercation, Lava is sent to live with her mother's cousin Lola in Seville. Lola is a larger-than-life flamenco dancer who teaches Lava the language of flamenco dance; Lava's life opens outward as she becomes fluent in flamenco's structure, giving her new modes of expression as she experiences first love, friendship, and betrayal, and uncovers family secrets. Rich with lyrical, sensual prose, Duende is a coming-of-age novella about mothers and daughters, about legacy, about self-expression, about defining a way to live