Not From Here: the Song of America

After she was invited by the Houston Opera to create a libretto celebrating local immigrants, Leah Lax listened to hundreds of stories from fellow Texans about their struggles to reach the United States. In NOT FROM HERE: The Song of America (Pegasus 2024) Lax recalls her conversations with several of the immigrants who  came from El Salvador, Vietnam, Pakistan, India​, Ukraine, Nigeria, and Cuba. Many fled their countries due to destruction instigated by this country, and although they had to endure terrible hardship to get here, they all feel lucky to be in the U.S. In story after story, Lax reminds us that we’ve always been a nation of immigrants -  very few of us came from here. https://newbooksnetwork.com/not-from-here

Leah Lax is an award-winning author who has also written libretti for some of America’s top composers. She began her career publishing essays and short stories in HuffPost, Longreads, Salon and others journals. Her “Berkeh’s Story” won the first Moment Magazine Karma Fiction Award. She received grants from National Endowment for the Arts, Brown Foundation, Houston Arts Alliance, and residencies at Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and Vermont Studio Center. She created the sold-out Houston In Concert Against Hate featuring the Houston symphony and rapper Bun B. Her script was narrated by actress Audre Woodard. Her memoir, Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home was a Redbook Book of the Year, Houston Chronicle #1 Pick, a Booklist starred review, many “best of" lists, praised by Lambda Literary, Jewish Book Council, and Gloria Steinem. With composer Lori Laitman, Leah wrote Uncovered as an opera about a Hassidic mother/secret lesbian who has an abortion and dares to find real love. With Mark Buller, Leah wrote Overboard about survivors of WWII, Mass In Exile, a search for new faith in a broken world, and Requiem In the Light. These last two were performed in two cities and recorded and published by ECSchirmer. review, Midwest Books Book of the Month, Houston Chronicle Sunday Feature, etc... all before the 2023 Hamas attack in Israel, after which Leah and her book were boycotted. Not a full-time hack, Leah also loves making music with friends, romping with Airedale Gracie, and, with her awesome quirky wife, kayaking waterway around the world.