“If beauty is in acts of ordinary devotion I think ugliness must be in the acts of everyday neglect, small gestures that chip and chip and eventually rip shards of what it means to be human, to be loved and loving, out of you. It is easy to pretend nothing is happening.” – Arabelle Sicardi, “The Year in Ugliness” (Hazlitt) When I was sixteen, I started working at a corporate bookstore, and I kept working until I graduated from college. […]
Morning Bites: Mairead Case on Pauline Oliveros, Lidia Yuknavitch Nonfiction, Aaron Gilbreath, and More
In our morning reading: Mairead Case on Pauline Oliveros, essays by Lidia Yuknavitch and Aaron Gilbreath, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Philip Pullman, Marisa Anderson’s Latest, and More
In our afternoon reading: Sarah McCarry on Philip Pullman’s latest novel, news on Mairead Case’s next project, writers discuss fear, and more.
Morning Bites: Jac Jemc, Mairead Case Interviewed, Paul Kingsnorth’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on Jac Jemc’s latest novel, an interview with Mairead Case, a report from the Asian American Literature Festival, and more.
Weekend Bites: Mairead Case Nonfiction, Independent Bookstore Day, Lidia Yuknavitch’s Latest, Wendy C. Ortiz, and More
In our weekend reading: new writing by Mairead Case and Ashley C. Ford, thoughts on Lidia Yuknavitch’s new novel, and more.
Morning Bites: Samanta Schweblin Interviewed, Hilton Als, Natalie Eilbert Poetry, P.O.S.’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: interviews with Samanta Schweblin, Hilton Als, and Isaac Fitzgerald; the new P.O.S. album; and more.
Afternoon Bites: Shirley Jackson, Sarah Gerard Nonfiction, Vanessa Hua’s Lastest, Eve Babitz, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on books by Shirley Jackson and Eve Babitz, new nonfiction from Sarah Gerard, and more.
A Year of Favorites: Mairead Case
One of my students—she gave permission to share her style but not her name—writes with both hands at once. She makes two-column poems that fold into and out of each other like wings flapping. Textually, both columns move towards the center, so the right is in mirror-language and as she writes she smears ink on the sides of both hands. Sometimes the columns are in dialogue, and sometimes they are completely separate. When she shares the finished poem with our […]