About this Event
Nearly a decade ago, Bob Dylan fan Addie Mahmassani took a look at her large collection of books on the 1960s folk revival and asked what was missing. The answer was obvious: There was scarce feminist analysis of the scene.
(University of Iowa Press) takes an important step in filling this gap.
Deploying her background in cultural history, gender, sexuality, and performance studies, Mahmassani tracks the interwoven careers of Odetta and Joan Baez, creating a new story of the folk revival that is at once incisive and entertaining, while also grappling with broader questions of the way male-centered historical narratives take shape in the context of American popular culture.
A feminist take on the music scene that defined an era, Air Split Open is fueled by deep respect for the American folk tradition and all those, known and unknown, who have carried it forward.
Praise for Air Split Open
“In Air Split Open, Addie Mahmassani gazes at old rock territory from a perspective that has previously been entirely absent from the discourse. The result is so fresh, so insightful, and so beautifully written it feels like she is breaking open a whole new vein of scholarship. It’s a book that will undermine your assumptions about music while simultaneously reaffirming them, making it much like the work of the artists she is observing. It is a true reading pleasure.”
— Gina Arnold, author, Half a Million Strong: Crowds and Power
About Addie Mahmassani
Addie Mahmassani is a writer and cultural historian based in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Originally from the East Coast, she holds an MFA in poetry from San Jose State University and a PhD in American Studies from Rutgers University, Newark, where she specialized in women in popular culture.
Her work has appeared on NPR’s Code Switch, and she is the co-editor of En•Trance Journal, a poetry journal exploring altered states of consciousness and the lyric moment. She teaches English, history, and creative writing in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. Air Split Open is her first book.
Event venue & nearby stays
Henry Miller Memorial Library, 48603 Highway One, Big Sur, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.