But First, Writing:
My piece on reclaiming ancestorhood as a diaspora baby is out! Thank you New Delta Review for giving it a home!! Read it here.
I wrote my first collab piece with my friend Eleanor. We have been on many scientific papers together, but this is our first creative endeavor. By the way, this is her debut in the humor world! *round of applause*
2022 Wrapped
December is the time of year that apps crunch their data on us and output it into a pretty little “wrapped” - Spotify, Strava, Google Maps, Goodreads, you name it - is happy to tell you who you are in numbers. I won’t lie - I like looking at the stats. The science brain in me finds it soothing, in an ASMR way. I even use certain apps just for the stats/wrapped (hello Strava).
I also started seeing a trend on Twitter of people creating threads describing their accomplishments for the year. I basically only follow writers on Twitter, so they were all related to publications. I liked reading everyone’s, and even encouraged others to share what they did this year. However, when I tried to create a thread of my own, I failed. I failed at formatting it correctly, first of all, but I also felt a deep sense of unease. I didn’t like describing my writing life in this way.
In reality, my accomplishments as a writer this year feel far more vast than a list of publications, or workshops attended, or pieces edited. What I felt this year was a seismic shift within myself. An appreciation and newfound confidence in my ideas. An ability to approach risky story-telling methods with sangfroid (self-possession and composure). A breeziness in stepping into long-term projects with acceptance that I might fail. That I might need to try again and again. But also the realization that it is worth it, because there’s something uniquely mine that I believe is worth sharing.
Describing this shift has been hard. It is precious, irreducible, and profound. Which is not to say that I don’t like sharing when I put things out on paper. This year I published 16 piece of art, which you can find here. I was able to write continuously while also working full time. I found a writing community to remain accountable to. I started editing at Moot Point Magazine and published a lot of talented, boundary-pushing authors. I attended two dream workshops - Kenyon Review and Tin House. I started working on a long term thing and dealt with the enormous ups and downs of it. Also, 90% of my written creative work this year is still unpublished in Google Docs - which means 2023 is going to be a banger.
All this is to say: the world encourages us to think in stats. To “wrap” ourselves in our accomplishments, to define ourselves in easily explicable ways. Sometimes, this is a comfort. I encourage you to revel in it when it is. Maybe the sheer number of books read, miles you ran, or poems you published blew you away. But also I hope you find ways to acknowledge the growth you underwent this year. Water carves rock over centuries, but in just one year, you might have done something formerly impossible. I hope that between the high highs and the low lows of anything worth doing, you let yourself relish in the liminal space of definable accomplishment. I hope you let the interior shifts liquify your perception of your success. And of course, I hope you let it energize you for the next big thing.
Books Where Women Fall In Love (or are otherwise affected by) Non-Human Things
Perhaps disturbing, or perhaps the perfect list to binge over holiday break.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth - When Abby’s cruel mother-in-law takes her own life, she comes back to haunt her with vengeance
The Pisces by Melissa Broder - freshly broken-hearted while writing a dissertation on Sappho, Lucy meets a local swimmer who seems too good to be human
Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls - Dorothy lives a quiet suburban life until she hears on a news broadcast that a monster has escaped the local Institute for Oceanographic Research
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen - Four star-crossed lesbians on a reality dating show in the Pacific North West
One note of good news: all of these books are available for purchase in paperback!
Readings on My Mind
Speaking of unhinged things - this Grey’s Anatomy writer scandal is absolutely vile. To steal the stories of survivors for sympathy, clout, storytelling?? Monstrous. Read all about it here. (btw, there’s a part 2)
A fantastic story to match the trying-ness of weather, sanity, and ‘the times’ in general
The title of this article got me - “My boyfriend, a writer, broke up with me because I’m a writer”
Anything by Andrea Long Chu will be scathing - this article on the anxiety we have around half-Asian, half-white protagonists is no different
It’s residency application season. Here is a handy guide for people of color by my friend Hannah
On the sustainability of my favorite food - sushi
It’s tough having kids during flu season during a pandemic as new pathogens are circulating. Lydia Kiesling was a mentor at Tin House this year and she is just. so. funny! While also being completely real. Read the piece here.