In a follow up to Vegan & Vegetarian Authors of Classic Literature: 20th Century Edition, we're going back in time and exploring the work of a few notable animal activists from the 19th century! Though the term "vegan" was not coined until 1944, many activists were still abstaining from animal products well before the 20th … Continue reading Vegan & Vegetarian Authors of Classic Literature: 19th Century Edition
Book Review: Queer + Trans Voices
Queer + Trans Voices: Achieving Liberation Through Consistent Anti-Oppression is a project based on a simple premise: what does it mean to be an LGBTQIA+ vegan? Editors J. Feliz Brueck and Z. McNeill seek to answer this question by compiling this series of essays by LGBTQIA+ members of the vegan community. The essayists in Queer … Continue reading Book Review: Queer + Trans Voices
Book Review: Once Upon A Time We Ate Animals
When reading a new book about veganism, I always feel compelled to ask “What new light on veganism does this author have to shed?”. While reading Once Upon A Time We Ate Animals by Roanne van Voorst, I found myself returning to this question. The book provides a nonfiction account of vegan living while interspersed … Continue reading Book Review: Once Upon A Time We Ate Animals
Book Review: Bear Boy
Justin Barker discovered his love for animals and knack for animal activism as a middle schooler living in the suburbs of Northern California. Despite school bullying, family strife, and an ongoing identity crisis, Barker was motivated to advocate for animals after picking up a copy of Ingrid Newkirk’s Kids Can Save the Animals! 101 Easy … Continue reading Book Review: Bear Boy
An Interview with “Bear Boy” Justin Barker
Animal activist Justin Barker discovered his passion for saving animals as a young teenager. Faced with routine bullying at school, dismissive adults, and an unyielding desire to rescue animals from confinement, Barker set out to free two black bears named Brutus and Ursula from a defunct zoo in Northern California, deeming him "Bear Boy". Now, … Continue reading An Interview with “Bear Boy” Justin Barker
Vegan Book Club Moderator Picks
Tessa Altman joins Tofu Reader with her favorite titles from Vegan Book Club, the online community dedicated to vegan-related and animal-friendly literature and discussion. Check out Tessa's book picks and commentary below! Tessa Altman: As a vegan, it’s almost impossible to pick up a book - especially a novel - and see yourself represented in … Continue reading Vegan Book Club Moderator Picks
Book Review: Animals
Will Staples, the screenwriter perhaps best known for his work on the videogame Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and the upcoming Amazon Original Without Remorse, makes his first foray into novel writing with Animals. Clearly a passion project for Staples, Animals revolves around a rotating narrative of characters impacted by and participating in exotic … Continue reading Book Review: Animals
Book Review: A Traitor to His Species
The term “animal rights advocate” tends to conjure a very specific image in most people’s minds; an outspoken, overbearing, argumentative and often affluent caricature. Though this image may not apply to the vast majority of advocates, it does describe Henry Bergh, the godfather of the animal rights movement in the United States. Author Ernest Freeberg’s … Continue reading Book Review: A Traitor to His Species
Gretchen Primack on Poetry, Veganism, and Her New Book
Poet, educator, and indie book seller Gretchen Primack has spent years advocating for the rights and welfare of non-human animals. Primack's latest release, Kind, is a beautiful, absolutely necessary collection of poetry exploring the relationship between humans, the environment, and animals. You currently teach poetry workshops to incarcerated persons. Do you find that there is … Continue reading Gretchen Primack on Poetry, Veganism, and Her New Book
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