Alex Poppe is een lerares en creatieve aanstichter wiens werk inspiratie put uit de diverse plaatsen en mensen die ze is tegengekomen tijdens haar onderwijscarrière in Polen, Turkije, Oekraïne, Noord-Irak, de Westelijke Jordaanoever, Duitsland en de Verenigde Staten. Haar fictie en non-fictie hebben de pagina's van tijdschriften aan beide zijden van de Atlantische Oceaan gesierd, wat haar nominaties voor prijzen opleverde. Tussen buitengewone ervaringen door wijdt ze zich aan het schrijven, waarbij ze verhalen creëert die haar wereldwijde perspectief en avontuurlijke geest weerspiegelen.
"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