Feb 10, 2022
In 1935, the Federal Writers' Project was launched by
President Roosevelt to create jobs for out-of-work writers
during the Great Depression and to provide a vivid literary
climate in the U.S. David Kipen, an L.A.-based author, critic,
broadcaster, UCLA Writing Faculty member and the founder of the
nonprofit bilingual lending library Libros Schmibros
in Boyle Heights, is a driving force behind the renewal of the
initiative. In this episode, he talks about how a project like this
can help trigger more curiosity and tolerance within a society.
Kipen is the author of several books, among his recent the
anthology Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and
Letters. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared
in The New York Times and the Los
Angeles Times.