I was trying to find my old blog about writing and literature, and I couldn't find it -- until I went directly to blogger and realized I was logged in already. I guess because I'm logged into email.
Other than that, I've little to say right now. I'll have to do a better job of keeping a log of readings and performances I've attended or books, etc., I'm reading, with a goal to promote work I think should enjoy a larger audience. Till then, cheerio.
I should be keeping up with the blog more. I meant to sort of keep a journal of literary and cultural activities here, but alas, I haven't thought to write much of that down lately. I started reading The Bee Sting by Irish novelist Paul Murray, and I'm throughly impressed so far. Saw a wonderful production of Richard II at the Guthrie Theater a couple of weeks ago. And I saw Allison Russell perform live for the first time at a Gala for the Brooklyn music nonprofit National Sawdust. So I've been out and about and hope to have more details to share in the near future, if I remember that I've got this culture blog that I want to resurrect.
Have I been a lazy culture blogger? You betcha, as we say here in Minnesota. That's not to say I haven't been taking in lots of plays, concerts, readings, etc. The Loft Literary Center's annual Wordplay event was a treat. Tremendous productions of Hamlet and Into the Woods at the Guthrie Theater. And Mu Performing Arts impressed again with a premier of Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals, presented at the Luminary Arts Center in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. And since it's summer, there have been lots of outdoor concerts, many free in our excellent park system, including performances by Barlow, Machinery Hill, and Old Guys Play the Blues. I also heard the Minnesota Orchestra's season sampler opening performance and got to hear some of the best local performers and singers participating in the Source Song Festival. But I've been lazy about chronicling these adventures.
In terms of reading, I'm currently enjoying the novel Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Falade, and I've returned to reread one of my all time favorite poets, Thomas McGrath (there ought to be a memorial to him someplace here in Minneapolis). And I'm also delving into poet Chris Santiago's collection, Tula.
I'm grateful that both of my cities, Minneapolis and New York, offer such exciting cultural offerings. Hopefully I'll do a better job of reviewing some of those experiences here in the future.
Well, it's been a minute. I'd like to publish a list of best theatre/music/books I've discovered this past year, but it seems like too much work. Instead I'll just recommend that you spend sometime this winter listening to The New Standards cover of "Snow Days," a Trip Shakespeare song that they do really well in their annual holiday show. The song's a kind of melancholy celebration of winter's wonders. Recordings of it can be found on various online streaming video and music platforms.
So now you know how I spent much of my afternoon, listening to The New Standards and Trip Shakespeare. I've got many books to read before I sleep, much to read before I sleep.
In the new year, I hope to spend more time keeping this blog up to date with reading/listening/viewing suggestions and reflections. Happy New Year.
As the kids say today. I've sort of neglected this blog, but I think I should return to it. Perhaps jotting down some occasional thoughts bout literary and cultural events and such will force me to be more disciplined to read works and attend events that enriched my cultural life. The pandemic has been a bit of a downer, as they say. I'm reading Anthony Veasna So's much praised debut story collection, After Parties, feeling sad that this auspicious beginning is by nature a capstone on his career as well. I'm reading an anthology, A Garden of Black Joy, which is introducing me to many Black poets I hadn't encountered before and also includes some beautiful and insightful essays by the editor, Keno Evol.
The old keeps spinning, and I'm still looking for opportunities to jump on the carousel. Hopefully I'll have more to share soon.
Well, the pandemic has left me suffering from ennui, and not reading or writing as much as I should have. It's a beautiful day for a walk in Minneapolis, which I did this morning (we get excited by temperatures approaching 40 degrees Fahrenheit here at this time of year.)
I'm reading Jill Lepore's "These Truths," a one volume history of the United States, and Jeanette Wilkerson's Caste, which has enlightened me about the roadblocks Black Americans face in this country. I've also been making my way through an enlightening collection of Black poetry, interspersed with some essays and interviews, "A Garden of Black Joy." It's edited and includes essays by Keno Evol, who founded Black Table Arts for Black writers here in Minnesota.
And of course social media keeps a slew of mostly contemporary poetry before my eyes on a daily basis. I'm particularly fond of poetryisnotaluxury's feed on instagram, as well as Forgotten Good Poems on Twitter.
Well, time to get back to reorganizing home library shelves as I continue to procrastinate on my backlog of reading.
I read an Audre Lorde poem earlier today, part of the Academy of American Poet's daily poetry feed. It's determination, resistance, and outrage seemed to speak to the moment we are experiencing in what I hope are the waning days of Trumpism in the United States.
The poem, one of her most famous I believe, is "I Must Be a Menace to My Enemies." Here's the poem on the Academy of American Poets website.
Enemies does not seem, at first glance, in an emotion reflected in tranquility kind of way, like a suitable muse for poetry. But injustice anytime is an injustice to all, and a call to action must start with a naming and confronting of the enemy. With American democracy under attack, the late Audre Lorde's poem resonates today just as it did during her turbulent lifetime.
As a white person reading a Black poet's work, I'm forced to confront my own fear in this poem. And I'm also invited to feel for a moment that measure of anger that someone Black feels when their very presence is considered cause for fear and unease.
With white nationalists storming the US Capitol, incited by a deranged and dangerous president, becoming a menace to our enemies is essential work.
