But First, Writing
This month, I published a review of Sarah Bridgins’ poetry collection “Death and Exes” in the Northwest Review. I had the best time writing the review and the author’s reception to the review really warmed my heart.
Sometimes it feels like writing unpaid reviews is another unnecessary thing on my plate, but one of my mentors once told me that writing reviews changed their writing practice. I (stupidly) did not take the time to ask them how so? but I think I’m starting to wrap my mind around the unquantifiable and indelible value of this practice. The more I reflect on it, the more I find to unpack. Ask me to write on this topic again next year and I am sure I will have more to say.
I read differently when I am going to write on the text. I read not just more closely, but thematically. I spend more time highlighting and bookmarking quotes that not only spoke to me, but capture the spirit of the book. In doing so, I am able to draw connections between parts of the text I might not have normally made if I was just reading for pleasure. I read on a deeper soul level, connecting the text to my own life, always looking for how to explain why this book matters. Because of this, the text seeps into my life and as a part of me.
There is also a deep value in learning to write about art in artist’s terms, especially when I am trying to be an artist myself. Developing my vernacular for art is not only useful when it comes to describing other people’s art, but it’s given me the language to talk about my own - what’s exciting about it, what’s the heart of it, why someone should read it, and what I am trying to do with it. This is an important skill when I consider that I live in a world that to make art sustainably, I need to be able to sell art. And to sell art, I need to talk about it in a way that moves people towards it.
Lastly, taking the time to write a review is a way to enter the larger cultural conversations happening in the literary scene. Call it being a socialite. A debutante. A scene girl. It’s a way engage with the pulse of the current literary climate. To write a review you have to read reviews, but also the news. The culture and arts section. Random articles being shared by Roxane Gay. What do people care about right now? And how will that make them care about the art you’re talking about?
Recently Read
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
I plowed through this on audiobook, and I usually do audiobooks while running. This book made me cry on several runs, which was an intense bodily experience. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is smart and emotional, and I weirdly most felt connected to the essays which responded to letters from people I had the least in common with.
Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo
I lived in Baltimore for three years in my early twenties, doing grad school, falling in love, and working my first full time job. I always felt the in-between-ness of the city. Old and modern. North and South. Artistic and Scientific. It makes perfect sense why this novel, about the quest for romance amidst a modern day Civil War, would take place in Baltimore. I read it slowly, and almost felt like giving up several times when the novel felt too exhausting. But I do think the concept is fresh and the voice is funny. Maybe I’m just not a romance girlie, even with all the amazing plot going on. This copy was gifted to me by FSG Books.
Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami -
Murakami’s craft books are important to me, because he seems to prioritize certain aspects of publishing and craft that very few authors prioritize these days, or at least vocalize caring about. In these essays, Murakami covers his personal writing practice, his goals as a writer, his journey to becoming a novelist, and how to navigate the publishing world when his goals have always been at odds with the priorities of book publishing as an industry. He is eccentric but earnest, and I really wish to meet him someday (or maybe run his annual marathon with him?). What a dream.
Link Roulette:
This month, an internet jambalaya of the intersections of wellness and aesthetics in our culture:
On succubus chic aesthetic and the problem with glamorizing illness in Nylon
If you’re looking for an extra reason to go sober, learn more about how alcohol affects the skin in The Cut
When did people eating people get so hot? Carmen Maria Machado in Bon Appetit
On personality tests and identity crises in Vox
Does therapy-speak make us more selfish? In Bustle
Why mixed emotions are so draining in The Atlantic
Random things that made me smile:
Cat Food Flavors Made by Cats in McSweeney’s
On Kendall Roy and the allure of a pathetic man? in Buzzfeed News
An interview with Ottessa Moshfegh on why we do weird things in Electric Lit
I feel this way too about reviewing/reflecting on books and “reading as a writer.” It forces me to pay attention and notice themes, how every sentence has been constructed, how everything is working and falling into place to create something complete.