One of our readings (Kevin Young’s The Grey Album) this week came at the perfect time. It’s the perfect time because a few weeks ago I decided that I am going to explore the black vernacular for my final project for this course. Elizabeth Alexander is partly responsible for this. I’ve been reading and re-reading […]

  Do not get stuck on terms, labels or definitions Terms, labels + definitions cannot be trusted Know that the term “experiment” is dangerous Know that everything is an experiment Make it new Stop saying make it new Regard the term “experiment” with doubt Do not regard the term “experiment” with doubt Remember: 150 years […]

This week’s reading came at the perfect time because I am working on a documentary project with a friend. We are collecting stories from people (residents, former residents, stakeholders, city leaders, professionals) throughout five different neighborhoods in order to gain their perspective on a big city project. I’m not really sure how to respond to […]

I am new to Anne Carson and her book, Autobiography of Red. I am also new to the Greek character, Geryon. I was immediately struck by the book’s form. The short and fragmented lines throughout Autobiography of Red reminded me of David Shield’s Reality Hunger and of course, I thought of Gertrude Stein. There were […]

  Oh god. Norman Mailer’s Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republic and Democratic Conventions of 1968 just reminded me of how nervous I am about the weak and horrible writings that will likely rise from Cleveland journalists once they attempt to cover the 2016 Republic Convention this July. But […]

Poet’s note: WordPress kept jacking up my line breaks and white space.  Click the link below to read my poetic response to Shelia Hetit’s How Should a Person Be? Week8_sheliahetishelia      

This week I called at least five local bookstores in a rare last minute search of David Markson’s This Is Not a Novel. I’m defining the search as rare because I consider myself to be a responsible and committed student. In other words, it isn’t like me to misread a syllabus and realize my mistake […]

I feel a little crazy. Here’s what’s happening: Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad is now an American literature hit and I feel torn about the book’s success. Egan won the Pulitzer. I’m not hatin’, but… Her book scares me. Maybe I’m too traditional. I’m the woman who felt bad about buying a […]

I have to give you a poem.  I just read Bernard Marie Koltès’ In the Solitude of Cotton Fields. “After Bernard Marie Koltès” one thing we know: language is power. us men are always hiding in the curves of words. we get worried about how we feel because someone said we were born beasts and chickens. us […]

I once had a job where my co-workers and I would describe and compare our work setting to an episode of Three’s Company. The office was always filled with confusion. Someone lost a contract. Someone forgot to send an email. No one could explain the acronym that described our new and “groundbreaking” program. The supervisors […]