Monthly Literature Group: ‘Tijuana Straits’

Monthly sessions, on or about the last Saturday of each month

The MEP Literature Group continues its summer noir tradition with a dark beach read. Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn is the story of how an ex-con, Fahey, a former champion surfer and now a worm farmer, finds redemption. After saving a Mexican environmental activist, Magdalena, from a wild-dog attack, he joins her in a confrontation against cartels profiting from toxic dumping in the border region between the United States and Mexico, polluting not only the Pacific Ocean, but the shanty towns of maquiladora workers. Nunn’s writing style recalls the cadences of his childhood within an evangelical church and the pacing of successful television script writing.

Review our previous selections here.

Convened by Jacqueline Cantwell and the MEP Literature Group. Jacqueline became involved with the MEP’s Literature Group because of her love of Victor Serge’s novels. Participating in an MEP reading group led by Serge translator Richard Greeman eight years ago, Jacqueline found a community of readers eager to be challenged by the ambitions of international writers devoted to the creative potential of political fiction. Since the death of Michael Lardner, who hosted and organized the Literature Group for so many years, Jacqueline has taken the lead in furthering the group’s goals of exploring international fiction and encouraging thoughtful conversation.