Last month, I started writing every day, the way I used to as a kid. Not just journal entries, but proper writing sessions of poetry and fiction. At the end of August, I finished a flash piece and started drafting three more stories. It’s a heavenly feeling. I felt the purity of writing for fun, of solving the mystery for myself. And that’s all that matters.
This week on cruznotes, I committed to preparing a chapbook submission by the 30th of September. It will be about my family. I have a notebook filled with ideas so I will start there, then I will proceed to pull all of my hair out because I must narrow my life down to 30 poems. The melodrama helps me get through the writing.
I also submitted a handful of poems. It was a glorious feeling. I’m writing poems almost daily, and I notice a shift now: The poems at the beginning of the year are ghastly in comparison. These new ones feel more true than previous attempts. It is so invigorating. Sometimes, to write is to undo my favorite disguises in the open.
This summer, I began reading collected works of Louis Zukofsky. I dug up that root and now I am following it further into the ground for more avant-garde and objectivist perspectives in poetry. There’s so much to unearth. I am taking my time.
This weekend, I am wrapping up the summer issue of coalitionworks by recording original score for the audio version readings. I’m running out of time, but I won’t rush it. It’s too much fun. It should go live next week. Brilliant contributors in this issue.
Thanks to my amazing guest Marisa Ewing (Arts Calling 116), I finally watched Nope recently and thoroughly loved it. What a beautiful and captivating dissection of spectacle and its many forms! Should have watched that massive, phenomenal movie in theaters. I am a fool.
This summer, I started listening to a band named Hoi Ann. They are from Wyoming! Really awesome stuff. Check them out here: linktr.ee/hoiann
That’s it for now. Much love,
j