writing, of a more satisfying kind

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I got great news this week (after a few rejections too), on the (so estranged these past 2.5 quarters) writing front. I’ve been accepted to the Political Content workshop, taught by Elmaz Abinader, at VONA, or Voices, being held a week in June at University of San Francisco. I can’t even tell you how exciting that is, for all these different reasons. A return to writing! The writers of color community! San Francisco, and all the people and places and food I love there!

I have to turn in a manuscript to be workshopped by May 15th, and though I have old-ish stuff I was thinking of returning to and working out, I would really like to push myself to create the beginnings of a new poetry collection by then. I want to put together a really tight set of poems and essays or such by the end of this year, so I can make a chapbook or zine. I also want to finish the postcard poems I didn’t complete in January (how is it May now?)

It is taking some time to ease back into the writing mode, but some ideas I am trying to do something with include: this week’s occupation of ‘Iolani Palace by Kanaka Maolis (which I just can’t give a real academic response, cause every time I have tried, I’m not satisfied with myself), what (and who) we (or I) mean when we say violence and rights, on apologies that don’t care about your forgiveness, and the everyday fears of a life turning into history. How I gotta learn Hawaiian, too.

I’ve been getting inspiration from YouTube, so far: Junot Diaz at Google, and as many Suheir Hammad clips as I can find (both are associated with VONA, along with a crazy impressive list of others). Though I know a lot of you must have seen this, I love this one of hers so much:

We Spent the Fourth of July in Bed:

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Filed under literary, my writing, race politics