Holidays! Food! Solitude?

Posted on December 02, 2022

During the US holiday season, some of us are planning special meals or big parties, while others can't wait for some quiet time. Here are readings to fit each of these moods:

• Marías Mazahuas, a poem about migrant women in Mexico, ends with an imagined celebration complete with fireworks.
• Whether you prefer cooking or eating, the gently humorous Japanese story When My Wife Was a Shiitake will call up memories of favorite meals, and maybe help you better understand a loved one.
• Worried about a potential encounter with some problematic family members? Read about a Russian boy's quest for a good Christmas in None of Your Business.
• Craving some alone time? The Korean writer Jeon Sungtae remembers a beloved teacher and a teenage experience with "a solitude that was lonesome and yet fulfilling."