Daniel Shank Cruz

Books Acquired Recently

Bechdel, Alison. The Secret to Superhuman Strength. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021.

I love Bechdel’s memoir Fun Home and her old comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. I look forward to reading her latest!

Hotham, Gary. Rightsizing the Universe: Haiku Theory. Scaggsville, MD: Yiqralo Press, 2019.

I was intrigued by the inclusion of “theory” in this collection’s title, so decided to acquire it.

Laymon, Kiese. Long Division. 2013. New York: Scribner, 2021.

Laymon’s two books of nonfiction are excellent, thus I am quite excited to read this new printing of his novel.

One of my 2021 goals is to keep a list of my writing activity for each month. I do so partly as a form of encouragement for myself–to show that I am still able to do some writing despite the energy-sucking terrors of the pandemic (Which is still going on! Keep wearing masks!)–and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I will include negative happenings (e.g., receiving rejections), not just positive ones.

I think that it is important for me to share my list publicly as a queer disabled writer of color because mainstream discourse tries to either pretend voices such as mine do not exist or actively tries to suppress them. Whether one is part of a marginalized group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.

Here is the list for May (here’s April’s), which is basically in chronological order. I got very little writing done this month because

1. I got into Hunter College’s MFA program in Creative Nonfiction (I got accepted a few months ago, but can now make it public), and spent the month making moving arrangements and moving. My writing has been evolving more and more toward the personal during the past five years, and I feel the need to get some more training for how to embrace this shift.

2. I had a publisher follow up on a book proposal about a volume of literary criticism on Mennonite literature by asking for the full manuscript, which I then submitted.

3. I had a senryu published in the April issue of Kingfisher (which arrived in May): “pandemic / my manic Mondays / on hold”

Books Acquired Recently

Hernández, Bernadine M., and Karen R. Roybal, eds. Transnational Chicanx Perspectives on Ana Castillo. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021.

I have a chapter in this book, “Queering Space in Ana Castillo’s Give It to Me.” My author’s copy arrived today.

Rod, Dena. Scattered Arils. Hamilton, OH: Milk & Cake Press, 2021.

I saw a presentation by Rod at AWP this spring and pre-ordered this poetry collection, which came today.

Warfield, Liam, Walter Crasshole, and Yony Leyser. Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution; An Oral History. Oakland: PM Press, 2021.

I don’t know much about the queer music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, so I’m excited to read this book as a way to fill in this knowledge gap.

Writing Activity, April 2021

One of my 2021 goals is to keep a list of my writing activity for each month. I do so partly as a form of encouragement for myself–to show that I am still able to do some writing despite the energy-sucking terrors of the pandemic–and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I will include negative happenings (e.g., receiving rejections), not just positive ones.

Here is the list for April (here’s March’s), which is basically in chronological order:

1. Wrote at least one senryu or haiku in my journal most days, although I really slacked off on this during the last week of the month.

2. Finished revising (for now) a book manuscript on Mennonite literature and submitted a proposal about it to a publisher.

3. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies website.

4. Found out which of the five poems I had submitted to the 2021 Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology last month got accepted (everyone who submits has one chosen).

5. Attended a meeting with my haiku mentor and workshopped my first ever haibun.

6. Attended a workshop run by Carley Moore about how to write about current political events.

Books Acquired Recently: Poetry Edition

Harjo, Joy. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton, 2020.

I read a review of this recent anthology in the April issue of Poetry and decided to acquire it right away.

Orr, Gregory. Poetry as Survival. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002.

I just received this book as a belated birthday gift. I’ve been thinking about the societal role of poetry specifically and literature in general a lot during the pandemic, and the book looks like it will be excellent accompaniment for these thoughts.

Books Acquired Recently

Coval, Kevin, Quraysh Ali Lansana, and Nate Marshall, eds. The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2015.

I bought this book and Perdomo’s when I was recently browsing Haymarket’s April poetry sale (April is National Poetry Month). I have one of the other BreakBeat anthologies (there are currently four) and love it, so I decided to buy the original.

Minor, Lori A. Recycled Virgin. Wilmington, DE: Human/Kind Press, 2020.

I enjoy Minor’s sexually open haiku and senryu, and was excited to hear about this new collection via a glowing review in the recent issue of Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America. I bought it immediately.

Perdomo, Willie. Smoking Lovely: The Remix. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021.

I am interested in Perdomo’s work because he is a Nuyorican like me, and was convinced to buy this book because of the beginning of its blurb, which calls it “an exploration of poetry and the neoliberal city at the intersection of community and commodity.” I love cities and worry about their future in the U.S., so I am excited to see what these poems have to say about them.

Ueda, Makoto, ed. Light Verse from the Floating World: An Anthology of Premodern Japanese Senryu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

I write senryu and recently had this book recommended to me by another poet. Senryu anthologies are fairly rare, so I was happy to hear about the volume.

Books Acquired Recently

Delany, Samuel R. Shoat Rumblin: His Sensations and Ideas. N.p.: Samuel R. Delany, 2020.

I just found out about this weighty (539 pages) self-published novel that came out last year, and bought it right away. Delany has had so many difficulties with keeping his books in print throughout his career that it makes sense to publish himself because he already has a large, devoted readership to draw on as a market.

Koestenbaum, Wayne. Figure It Out: Essays. New York: Soft Skull Press, 2020.

I love Koestenbaum’s work and am excited to read this recent collection.

Rekdal, Paisley. Appropriate: A Provocation. New York: W.W. Norton, 2021.

I recently attended a Zoom reading where Rekdal read from this new book on cultural appropriation. This is an issue I have written about and continue to find important, so I look forward to reading her book.

Shapland, Jenn. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir. 2020. Portland: Tin House, 2021.

I enjoy McCullers’s fiction, and I am also interested in writing that blends memoir and literary history/criticism. I’m therefore looking forward to reading Shapland’s lauded volume on her experiences with McCullers’s work.

Books Acquired Recently: AWP Edition

All of the books I ordered at the AWP virtual bookfair last month have finally arrived! They are books that are either by authors who I saw speak and enjoyed, or that various speakers recommended, or that I saw discussed or advertised on Twitter via the conference’s hashtag. All but Corral’s are somewhere along the memoir/creative nonfiction spectrum.

Ali, Kazim. Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2021.

Bossiere, Zoë, and Dinty W. Moore, eds. The Best of “Brevity”: Twenty Groundbreaking Years of Flash Nonfiction. Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020.

Corral, Eduardo C. Guillotine: Poems. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2020.

Cronin, Eileen. Mermaid: A Memoir of Resilience. 2014. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015.

Didion, Joan. Salvador. 1983. New York: Vintage International, 1994.

Febos, Melissa. Girlhood: Essays. New York: Bloomsbury, 2021.

Gonsalez, Marcos. Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land. Brooklyn: Melville House, 2021.

Khakpour, Porochista. Sick: A Memoir. New York: Harper Perennial, 2018.

Lisicky, Paul. The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

McClanahan, Rebecca. In the Key of New York City: A Memoir in Essays. Pasadena, CA: Red Hen Press, 2020.

Miller, E. Ethelbert. The 5th Inning. Oakland: PM Press, 2009.

Mockett, Marie Mutsuki. American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming the Heartland. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2020.

van Eerden, Jessie. The Long Weeping: Portrait Essays. Asheville, NC: Orison Books, 2017.

Wang, Esmé Weijun. The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2019.

Writing Activity, March 2021

One of my 2021 goals is to keep a list of my writing activity for each month. I do so partly as a form of encouragement for myself–to show that I am still able to do some writing despite the energy-sucking terrors of the pandemic–and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I will include negative happenings (e.g., receiving rejections), not just positive ones.

Here is the list for March (here’s February’s), which is basically in chronological order:

1. Wrote at least one senryu or haiku in my journal most days.

2. Typed up a bunch of miscellaneous notes and writing ideas from my journal.

3. Attended the virtual Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference.

4. Had three baseball haiku rejected by Hobart.

5. Submitted five poems to the 2021 Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology for consideration.

6. Had an article on Mennonite speculative fiction accepted by Political Theology. It’s already been published online.

7. Wrote and submitted a book review I was asked to write for Religion & Literature.

8. Had two workshop meetings with a new haiku mentor.

9. Had a poem published in Frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America, for the first time. “pandemic / no tan lines / where I wear my watch”

10. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies website.

Books Acquired Recently

Delany, Samuel R. Big Joe. N.p.: Inpatient Press, 2021.

Delany’s latest book, a novella, just came out, and my pre-ordered copy arrived yesterday. It includes some illustrations, but not enough that I would consider it to be a “graphic novel.” It’s exciting that Delany continues to publish new work even though he’s in his late seventies. A writing model for all of us!

Feminist Book Society, ed. This Is How We Come Back Stronger: Feminist Writers on Turning Crisis Into Change. New York: Feminist Press, 2021.

This is a multi-genre anthology of responses to the pandemic by writers from the U.S. and U.K. I haven’t heard of most of them, so I am looking forward to reading some new writers.