Notes & News: May 2020
It's a lifetime between each one of these newsletters. I am thinking of you all, and I hope that everything is as good as it can be right now. I keep thinking of the last lines of a poem I love by Max Ritvo:
And since I do absolutely nothing (my pride, like my fur,
all gone) nothing happens to me. And if a whole lot
of nothing happens to you, Maxes, that’s peace.
Which is what we want. Trust me.
I hope a whole lot of nothing is happening to you, because that means things are safe and stable and okay. Nothing is the best we can ask for right now.
Unfortunately, though, I know that isn't the case for many. A lot of terrible somethings keep happening, and the Wellesley community in particular suffered a horrible loss this week. Rana Zoe Mungin, Wellesley '11, 30 years old, died on Monday because of complications from coronavirus. Zoe was a phenomenal writer, a devoted teacher, a committed animal-lover, and an incredible friend, and her story is tragic because, as is the case with so many black women in America, her health concerns were not taken seriously for weeks while she was fighting COVID-19. Please consider honoring Zoe today by reading some of her gorgeous prose and fighting the systemic racism that killed her. I will let you know if I hear of any ways to help support Zoe's family as well.
And, the worst part, is Zoe is just one of thousands. I know many of you receiving this email are suffering your own losses, and I am thinking of you, and sending you all the love and support that I can. I hope the below updates on books and writing and classes bring you a small bit of comfort right now.
xoxo,
E.B.
Tortoise illustration by Miranda Sofroniou.
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Writing Notes & News:
Thanks to those of you who reached out about the delay in publication of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter (which, in case you missed it, will now be published in winter 2022). It's nice to know how many of you are excited about this book and are annoyed you have to wait even longer to read it! But the delay is definitely for the best. It's been hard for me to focus on making revisions to the manuscript during the pandemic, and a lot of the additional research I need to do can't happen until I can travel again, so I need all the time I can get. Plus, I've realized that having something to look forward to in 2022 feels hopeful, and so I am focusing on that. I've also applied to some grants to help fund future research trips which also feels like a hopeful move, so please keep your fingers crossed for those!
In terms of non-dead-pets writing, I guess I took the past month off??? My former student Céillie Clark-Keane interviewed Sinéad Gleeson for the April Non-Fiction by Non-Men, and that's all I have to report right now. Enjoy!
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Reading Notes & News:
If you want real time updates on what I am reading, find me on GoodReads!
I am burying myself in books right now, which is the way I best know how to cope with a crisis. First up, everyone has to read Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips. It is dark, yes, but I became so wrapped up in the story that I forgot about our current reality for a while. Plus, it is more hopeful than you'd expect for a book with such a dark premise. This month I also read Glitter Up the Dark by Sasha Geffen, music critic extraordinaire and fellow Nobles alum (shout out to the Nobles Theatre Collective!). Stay tuned for an upcoming Non-Fiction by Non-Men interview where Sasha and I discuss their book and the process of writing and researching a topic you love. I also read the forthcoming memoir Fairest by Meredith Talusan, who is featured in an upcoming Non-Fiction by Non-Men, too. I highly recommend all of these books!!!
Then, of course, because April was National Poetry Month, I read a lot of poetry: Blue Horses by Mary Oliver, Exit Pastoral by Aidan Forster, How the Water Holds Me by Tariq Luthun, Ghosts, Models, Visions by Ginger Ko, The Mystery of the Hidden Driveway by Jennifer L. Knox, Down Spooky by Shanna Compton, Trouble in Mind and A Hunger by Lucie Brock-Broido, A Falling Knife Has No Handle by Emily O'Neill, Original Fire by Louise Erdrich, and Milk by Dorothea Lasky.
I also read a bunch of comics and art books, which felt like a nice break from the heaviness of text in the midst of all this: Every Person in New York by Jason Polan, Look Back and Laugh by Liz Prince, Pleasant Street by Judith Black, and Four Seasons by Elizabeth Schmuhl.
Finally, I literally lol'd at Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby. Read it. And, just this week, I read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe for my People Who Read Darkness book club. While the book was super dark as any book about the Troubles is bound to be, I am finding comfort in reading about scary and sad historical events right now. Humans have survived a lot, and it's good to be reminded of that. We can survive this, too.
In terms of non-books, here are some links that have brought me joy in a time of overwhelmingly bad news: the book cover double challenge endorsed by the New York Public Library, these two hawks and their forbidden love, Aidy Bryant's SNL skit about her childhood journals (turtels!!!), the Kentucky Turtle Derby coming up tomorrow (thank you for enlightening me about this, Michele Ferrari), and these incredible Juilliard students.
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Teaching Notes & News:
All of my upcoming classes have been moved online, so you really don't have an excuse anymore not to sign up as you can take them from ANYWHERE. Here are the classes I have on deck for GrubStreet:
- Jumpstart Your Writing - REMOTE! (Tuesdays, 5/5 through 6/9, 6pm-9pm, via Zoom)
- FREE Brown Bag Lunch Session - REMOTE! (100% FREE CLASS, Wednesday 5/13, 12:30pm-1:15pm, via Zoom)
- Memoir Builder: Online (six weeks, starting 6/24, no set meeting times)
- Teen Writing Camp: Week of Creative Writing - REMOTE! (daily, 7/27 through 7/31, 10:30am-3:30pm, for writers 13-18 years old, via Zoom)
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Friend Notes & News:
Not to brag, but I know many badass people writing amazing things and making incredible art. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see my regular enthusiastic posts about what they are up to, but here are a few people in particular I'd like to highlight this month:
- My favorite local tenor Fran Rogers (pictured above) has been singing opera at 6pm EDT every Tuesday on his front stoop for his neighbors and was recently featured on the local news! Even if you don't live in Roslindale, you can stream his Tenor Tuesday concerts here.
- My amazing writer friend (also an opera singer!) Sebastian Deken wrote a book for Boss Fight Books about the soundtrack to Final Fantasy VI which will come out later this year. Support Boss Fight Books' Kickstarter campaign and pre-order your copy now!
- Another awesome Nobles alum writer Sara Farizan will be part of the new YA anthology FOOLS IN LOVE, to be published in December 2021.
- And yet another great Nobles alum writer Sam Dean wrote about sweatshop workers who are now making coronavirus masks.
- My former GrubStreet student Dawn McGrath published this essay about trying to get through the day in the midst of a global health crisis.
- And another former GrubStreet student Jocelyn Duff wrote about trying to protect her special needs daughter Talia from COVID-19.
- My unstoppable former teacher Sarah Dickenson Snyder published yet another poem!
- My Twitter pal Lynne Schmidt had poems published in Stentorian Bitch and in the first issue of Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art.
- The Massachusetts Center for the Book's Must Read (long lists) for the 20th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards featured several fantastic writers I know and love including: Mona Awad, Christopher Castellani, Calvin Hennick, Nina MacLaughlin, Whitney Scharer, Dariel Suarez, and Grace Talusan.
- And one of my favorite bookstores, Porter Square Books (totally counts as a friend), was named Bookstore of the Year by Publishers Weekly.
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Terrence Notes & News:
Terrence wants to remind you to be kind to yourself during all of this. It's okay if you're not being productive, if you can't stop crying, if you just want to sleep all the time. He understands, and he's here for you.
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