A world without borders. | Nguyen joined two contributors to this anthology (Thi Bui and Joseph Azam) at BookCon to discuss the importance of the Refugee Narrative in today‘s political climate.
pick“After the official memos and speeches are forgotten, the history books ignored, and the powerful are dust, art remains.” | Viet Thanh Nguyen pens a powerful and poignant critique of how we remember war.
heck heck heck. This is so surreal! I‘m the only English major on this list and I can‘t even begin to explain how excited I am for this opportunity!
#poetry #HonorsThesis
“This seemed to me to be what a poem was for, to speak for us in a language we can understand.”
#WorldBookDay #poetry
In poetry, you must love the words, the ideas and the images and rhythms with all your capacity to love anything at all.
#WorldPoetryDay #poetry
It‘s always a treat when I stumble onto little quirks about the poets I study. This time it‘s the strange epistolary discourse between sometimes friends-sometimes rivals Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. “Assen Poop” and “WM/ th WalRuss” in their own—somewhat childish—words.
pickI purchased this book for one poem, then read the rest just for the heck of it. There isn‘t a single poem in this book that I wasn‘t in love with. I kept waiting for the weaker poems tucked into the center of the chapbook and they never came. Cover to cover this is phenomenal. These poems talk about love without being cliche, human experience without being extravagant, and race without being angry.
#poetry #rudyfrancisco
I have no blasted clue when I‘m going to get the time to read this. But, I‘ve got a standing ban on TV and Movies while at school so, the “next best”—scratch that—the “first best” thing is to read the book.
Spring break? Try “university mandated research time.”
#academic #research #honorsthesis
When it‘s not academic, it‘s nautical. (I‘m sorely missing the moments when I can pick up a book for fun!)
#leisurereading #guiltypleasurebooks #nautical
Pardon the backlog, any number of things have kept me away from social media this past year, but nothing has kept me away from reading.
#shelfie
Nothing quite compares to the feeling of love and support one gets when sharing a poem about mothers between three generations of women. #throwback to when my mum insisted on reading “B.” to my gran after I read it to her.
#poetry #sarahkay
pickThis novel was assigned for my disability studies lecture, and frankly, I was wary of it. But in a few short pages I was hooked into Nussbaum‘s artfully crafted examination of disability in the 21st century. Told through a series of character narrations, this book will challenged how you conceptualize the world around you. It is a book that badly needs to be a permanent part of public discourse.
#susannussbaum #disabilitylit
pickI rarely find an instance where a book of poems exceeds my expectations. This book, though, cuts through my expectations and builds itself a home in my mind. As Frank Bidart aptly sums the collection; “Surface and depth consistently turn into each other,” creating a collection that stands out in both nuanced intricacy and striking consciousness.
#poetry #kavehakbar
pickIn only 45 pages Akbar left me gasping at the emotional intensity of this short collection and in utter awe of the chapbook‘s final two lines; “The boat I am building / will never be done.”
#poetry #kavehakbar
In honor of something that‘s been over a year in the making.
“In the summer of 1952, while vacationing in upstate New York, Williams suffered a second stroke that left his speech severely curtailed and the right side and arm paralyzed.” (H. Leibowitz)
“I‘m a poet who not only admits the defective body into literature—I think the imagination is starving for what that damned body knows.” (S. Kuusisto)
#poetry #williamcarloswilliams #honorsthesis
pick“A poem cannot live in hate, a poem cannot live in anger.”
Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate of the United States, gave the Emily Dickinson Poetry Lecture at my university yesterday. She shared old poems and new poems and a moment wherein we (she and those of us in attendance) existed in the same small fraction of the history of eternity—together. #poetry #poetlaureate #poem
There is a very thin line between concentration and distraction. I still haven't found it. #IndieBookstore #Websters #WilliamCarlosWilliams #Poetry #ThesisSunday #ItsNotSunday
Update: Shakespeare's a no-go, too. I guess Inara doesn't want me to do ANY homework today. Anyone else find it hard to read with cats? #NotMyCat #CatsOfLitsy
"In Williams the death of language before the death of the man seems to me--but I have no prose to express it" --Hayden Carruth on Williams's aphasia.
I'm excited to be plunging head first into this topic with the Disability Studies director as my guide.
#ThesisSunday #Poetry
"No defeat is made up entirely of defeat--since / the world it opens is always a place / formerly / unsuspected." - w.c.w. "The Descent" (or: unsettling motivation)
...
super excited to (un)officially announce my thesis topic. the gist is this: w.c.w., walt whitman, hayden carruth, and the poetry of stroke. #poetry #thesis | follow #ThesisSunday for updates on my shenanigans.
1. Posing in front of poet Phillis Wheatley, part of the Boston Women's Memorial, today.
2. Looking forward to visiting Mystic Seaport later this week!
3. Strawberries!!
4. Early bird, although I wish I wasn't.
5. Wonder Woman, I think.
@jess.how #friYAYintro
I noticed this in the back office today at lunch. I opened it up and, to my surprise, John Oates signed it-- to his hometown library-- the very same library I work at!! I had no idea he grew up in the area! (I may have freaked out just a little bit, Hall & Oates is a favorite of mine and this is just too good to be true!) #SignedCopy
1. Home is Pennsylvania, but in two different places, this is just one of them. The other is school.
2. I've lived at this particular location for 20 years.
3. Pancakes and coffee.
4. Mostly late in the evening, like 10pm or later. (Currently "The Tsar and Love and Techno")
5. Three. Cat - Trouble; Dog - Ryder; Rabbit - Steamer.
@jess.how #friYAYintro
pickRounding out Author Day at #NWAL, Matt Phelan! Sorry I couldn't get a picture with Matt or of the program, I was out at the Circ desk during the event. But, our kiddos had a BLAST learning about how to write and plan a graphic novel and Matt was absolutely amazing to meet and talk to. I can't wait to see what he does next!! If you haven't already, check out his newest book "Snow White," it's fantastic! #AuthorVisit #GraphicNovel
pickPerks of working at the library: getting to meet the authors and their furry friends!! 🐿 These books are adorable! Worth a read for any nature lover, young and old! #LitsyKidsBooks #KidsBooks
This is kind of a welcome-back for me. I've been away for a while, but no better way to get back into it than to post about this incredible book only seven hours after I was standing on top of a mountain in Arizona. Anyway, Harbach's book is such a compelling read. I find I can't put it down even when I'm dog tired. #DogsofLitsy #baseball #travel
"Tract" by William Carlos Williams is probably my favorite poem. I just love the line "My god-glass, my townspeople! For what purpose?" #LitsyPoetry365 #poetry
I return to find there's the hashtag #LitsyPoetry365 ! I'm so excited! Anyway, here's a blurb from my list of favorites on the Poetry Foundation app. "Several Altitudes of Not Talking" by Wendy Xu.
so-soI really enjoyed the attention to detail in this novel. I've visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston more times than I can count and I love that the soul of both Belle and the museum are wonderfully conveyed. That said, I found the plot a bit contrived, but overall a wonderful light read for anyone who loves art or art history.
so-so25 years of Christmas memories. Since my brother was a baby we've read a Christmas picture book every Christmas Eve. This year's story was The Reindeer Wish, which was decidedly not on par with past stories, but the time with family was the important part. Happy Holidays from my family to yours!!
It's good to be home! So proud of my little library! We were awarded another star on our American Star Libraries rating! I'm so thankful for all the amazing ladies (and a few men) that work to make this place feel like home for every person who passes through our doors. #LibraryLove #NWALibrary
No better way to spend a chilly day in the Philly suburbs than with a book of #poetry and a reading buddy. #dogsoflitsy
"In poetry, you must love the the words, the ideas and the images and rhymes with all your capacity to love anything at all." - Wallace Stevens. I love poetry so much that I decided to get a college degree in it. #poetry #seasonsreadings2016
pickAs an introduction to Faulkner, this was an absolute treat! It was equal parts witty and poignant. So glad I've finally gotten my feet wet with this amazing classic. #marginalia
Two months and countless hours pouring over source text later, my labor of love has paid off!! I'm so excited about getting the opportunity to present this paper! Wilfred Owen is one of my favorite poets, so this is honestly a dream come true. I'm also excited to be back in the land of the living (at least until next semester)!
#seasonsreadings2016 Fun fact, I'm fluent in French. 🇫🇷 I've got a pretty sizable collection of French classics which are all, sadly, about 300 miles east of my present location. My favorite, though, is a really old, really nice edition of Cyrano de Bergerac that my parents gave me when I was accepted into my high school's French Honor society. #NotInEnglish
Ladies and gentlemen, William Faulkner: celebrated American novelist and literary icon.
