The Selection Committee with Maija Makinen, 8/20/23

Due to technical difficulties at Newtown Radio, the first part of this this show was lost. Apologies to all, especially Maija! We discuss her remarkable book The Ghosts of Other Immigrants, published 2023 by New American Press, winner of the New American Fiction Prize.

Maija Mäkinen has lived in Finland and Washington DC as a kid, Texas and Michigan as a teenager, New York and elsewhere as an adult, and her book of short stories tells some of the stories of what it means to be an immigrant. Maija’s grandmother was forcibly removed from her home when the boundaries of Finland and the Soviet Union were fixed. She never moved again, in great contrast to Maija’s parents, who moved to the United States when she was young, but who never considered themselves to be immigrants.

It’s a wonderful conversation, with songs divided by region, naturally. I only wish we were able to salvage the entire conversation. Thank you, Maija Mäkinen!