Overview

From rediscovering an ancestral village in China to experiencing the realities of American life as a Nigerian, the search for belonging crosses borders and generations. Selected from the archives ofCatapultmagazine, the essays inA Map Is Only One Storyhighlight the human side of immigration policies and polarized rhetoric, as twenty writers share provocative personal stories of existing between languages and cultures. Victoria Blanco relates how those with family in both El Paso and Ciudad Juarez experience life on the border. Nina Li Coomes recalls the heroines of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and what they taught her about her bicultural identity. Nur Nasreen Ibrahim details her grandfather's crossing of the India-Pakistan border sixty years after Partition. Krystal A. Sital writes of how undocumented status in the United States can impact love and relationships. Porochista Khakpour describes the challenges in writing (and rewriting) Iranian America. Through the power of personal narratives, as told by both emerging and established writers,A Map Is Only One Storyoffers a new definition of home in the twenty-first century.

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9781948226783

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Reviews

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story Fierce and diverse, these essays tell personal stories that humanize immigration in unique, necessary ways. A provocatively intelligent collection. --Kirkus Reviews This collection is a vital corrective to discussions of global migration that fail to acknowledge the humanity of migrants themselves. -Publishers Weekly In A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, the first anthology of writing from Catapult magazine, editors Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary gather essays that offer 'a new definition of home in the twenty-first century.' Victoria Blanco, Porochista Khakpour, Niina Pollari, Nadia Owusu, and others upend expected narratives of the immigrant experience. --Poets & Writers Each narrative draws readers close, offering sight lines into private lives and conflicts. The talented writers gathered here offer wide-ranging perspectives essential for our current environment. --Booklist A capacious and devastating collection of essays that have to do with migration and belonging, bringing together writers such as Natalia Sylvester, Bix Gabriel, and Jennifer S. Cheng. --Electric Literature, 1 of 56 Books by Women & Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read This Year A vast, astute collection exploring questions of identity and belonging. A Map Is Only One Story is about margins, ideas of home, migration, and the violence of borders, but it's also so capacious that it's impossible to summarize. Candid and devastating. -R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries Moving and intimate. These disparate voices come into their power when they reach beyond the broken self toward something greater-love, kindness, family-even as homes are lost, pride shattered, identities remade. -Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee A Map Is Only One Story has a kaleidoscopic effect, breaking our image of the world with fixed borders and identities to create something new again and again. In this anthology, finding home is more than just a search for a place, but for a way to exist. Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. -Akil Kumarasamy, author of Half Gods Praise for Catapult It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks-and its most thoughtful folks-who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. -Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there 'get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult: what a sanctuary for writers and readers. -Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. -John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story Fierce and diverse, these essays tell personal stories that humanize immigration in unique, necessary ways. A provocatively intelligent collection. --Kirkus Reviews This collection is a vital corrective to discussions of global migration that fail to acknowledge the humanity of migrants themselves. -Publishers Weekly A vast, astute collection exploring questions of identity and belonging. A Map Is Only One Story is about margins, ideas of home, migration, and the violence of borders, but it's also so capacious that it's impossible to summarize. Candid and devastating. -R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries Moving and intimate. These disparate voices come into their power when they reach beyond the broken self toward something greater-love, kindness, family-even as homes are lost, pride shattered, identities remade. -Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee A Map Is Only One Story has a kaleidoscopic effect, breaking our image of the world with fixed borders and identities to create something new again and again. In this anthology, finding home is more than just a search for a place, but for a way to exist. Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. -Akil Kumarasamy, author of Half Gods Praise for Catapult It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks-and its most thoughtful folks-who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. -Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there 'get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult: what a sanctuary for writers and readers. -Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. -John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story One of The Millions's Most Anticipated Books of the Year The literary world has seen an explosion of crossing narratives lately; it is easy to forget about the increasingly nuanced, complicated, and human ways that immigrant lives unfold after arrival. This collection contributes to the burgeoning canon of works set beyond the crossing. The essays move like ink in water, dispersing in infinite directions to illuminate psychologies, family dynamics, steamy affairs, vibrant foods, politicized accents, and particular kinds of losses. Most powerful of all is its subtle work of demonstrating that violent immigration policies implicate everyone in a country, immigrant and citizen alike . . . A standout collection that adds new dimension and depth to the lived experiences of immigrants long after they settle in a new community. --Library Journal (starred review) Fierce and diverse, these essays tell personal stories that humanize immigration in unique, necessary ways. A provocatively intelligent collection. --Kirkus Reviews This collection is a vital corrective to discussions of global migration that fail to acknowledge the humanity of migrants themselves. -Publishers Weekly In A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, the first anthology of writing from Catapult magazine, editors Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary gather essays that offer 'a new definition of home in the twenty-first century.' Victoria Blanco, Porochista Khakpour, Niina Pollari, Nadia Owusu, and others upend expected narratives of the immigrant experience. --Poets & Writers Each narrative draws readers close, offering sight lines into private lives and conflicts. The talented writers gathered here offer wide-ranging perspectives essential for our current environment. --Booklist A capacious and devastating collection of essays that have to do with migration and belonging, bringing together writers such as Natalia Sylvester, Bix Gabriel, and Jennifer S. Cheng. --Electric Literature, 1 of 56 Books by Women & Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read This Year This collection of essays from both new and established writers is necessary reading in 2020, examining through myriad lenses what it means to 'belong.' --Frannie Jackson, Paste, 1 of the 10 Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of the Year A vast, astute collection exploring questions of identity and belonging. A Map Is Only One Story is about margins, ideas of home, migration, and the violence of borders, but it's also so capacious that it's impossible to summarize. Candid and devastating. -R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries Moving and intimate. These disparate voices come into their power when they reach beyond the broken self toward something greater-love, kindness, family-even as homes are lost, pride shattered, identities remade. -Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee A Map Is Only One Story has a kaleidoscopic effect, breaking our image of the world with fixed borders and identities to create something new again and again. In this anthology, finding home is more than just a search for a place, but for a way to exist. Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. -Akil Kumarasamy, author of Half Gods Praise for Catapult It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks-and its most thoughtful folks-who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. -Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there 'get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult: what a sanctuary for writers and readers. -Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. -John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story Moving and intimate. These disparate voices come into their power when they reach beyond the broken self toward something greater-love, kindness, family-even as homes are lost, pride shattered, identities remade. -Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee A Map Is Only One Story has a kaleidoscopic effect, breaking our image of the world with fixed borders and identities to create something new again and again. In this anthology, finding home is more than just a search for a place, but for a way to exist. Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. -Akil Kumarasamy, author of Half Gods Praise for Catapult It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks-and its most thoughtful folks-who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. -Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there `get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult: what a sanctuary for writers and readers. -Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. -John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story Moving and intimate. These disparate voices come into their power when they reach beyond the broken self toward something greater--love, kindness, family--even as homes are lost, pride shattered, identities remade. --Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee A Map Is Only One Story has a kaleidoscopic effect, breaking our image of the world with fixed borders and identities to create something new again and again. In this anthology, finding home is more than just a search for a place, but for a way to exist. Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. --Akil Kumarasamy, author of Half Gods Praise for Catapult It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks--and its most thoughtful folks--who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. --Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there 'get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult what a sanctuary for writers and readers. --Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. --John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi

Praise for A Map Is Only One Story It's tricky to pinpoint, exactly, what Catapult means to me. A publisher is only ever defined by the people who run it, and working with some of the industry's kindest folks--and its most thoughtful folks--who are nonetheless among its most incisive, can do a funny thing to a writer: it shows you some of the many ways to be. As a storyteller, sure. But also as a person. Mainly as a person. And maybe that's what sets Catapult apart and what will continue to set them apart: they champion people, in their messy, glorious, unending multitudes. --Bryan Washington, author of Lot: Stories I'm both an avid reader of Catapult, as well as a published author via Catapult. The editors there 'get it' and apply their skills with meticulous craft and unfettered heart. And it shows in the writing I read in the magazine and in their books; I walk away learning something I never expected to learn but realized I needed to learn each and every time. Catapult what a sanctuary for writers and readers. --Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember In the stories it chooses to uplift, Catapult is changing the game, both for its writers and for the literary world we inhabit. --John Paul Brammer

Author Information

Nicole Chung is the author of All You Can Ever Know, a contributing writer and editor at The Atlantic, and Catapult's former digital editorial director. Mensah Demary is a founding editor of Catapult magazine and an editor at Catapult books.

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