New Books In Literature

Lily Lloyd Burkhalter speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “Raffia Memory,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. Lily talks about traveling to the Cameroon Grassfields to research the rituals and production of ndop, a traditional dyed cloth with an important role in both spiritual life and, increasingly, economic life as well. She also discusses the book-length project she’s working on, which explores loss, grief, fabric, sewing, and weaving. Lily Lloyd Burkhalter is a writer living in Lille, France. She is a Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow and holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work can be found in Ploughshares, Gulf Coast, The Missouri Review, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. She is represented by Audrey Crooks at Trident Media Group. She learned to sew in Cameroon and learned to weave in Chicago. ­­Read Lily’s essay “Raffia Memory” in The Common here. The Common is a print and online literary magazine publishing st