Books Acquired Recently

I’ve been doing a bunch of retail therapy book buying as the result of the U.S.’s current political situation. This is a list of what’s come in over the past few days.

Agyei-Baah, Adjei. Afriku: Haiku & Senryu from Ghana. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2016.

I’m always interested in reading work by other haiku writers of color. I recently read an article about this collection and decided to buy it.

Beary, Roberta. Carousel. Ormskirk, UK: Snapshot Press, 2024.

Beary has been one of my favorite haiku writers since I began exploring the genre, so when I heard they had a new collection out I ordered it immediately.

Dorlin, Elsa. Self-Defense: A Philosophy of Violence. 2017. Translated by Kieran Aarons. London: Verso, 2022.

I read about this book by a queer philosopher in Maxwell Kennel’s Ontologies of Violence earlier this year, and decided that now might be a good time to read it.

Goldberg, Ariel. The Estrangement Principle. New York: Nightboat Books, 2020.

I recently heard about this book inspired by the phrase “queer art,” and put it on my list to buy immediately. Now felt like the time.

Guibert, Hervé. The Mausoleum of Lovers: Journals 1976-1991. 2001. Translated by Nathanaël. New York: Nightboat Books, 2014.

I read about this volume of journals in one of Sofia Samatar’s books and it sounded interesting, so I decided to buy it.

Kacian, Jim, et al., eds. Upside Down: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2023. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2024.

This is an annual anthology of poems from the year in the title (unlike The Best American Essays and other such anthologies that name themselves after the year they are published, with work from the preceding year). It’s the first time I’ve bought it; I feel like I’m serious enough about haiku now that I should begin reading it each year.

Newman, Sandra. Julia. 2023. New York: Mariner Books, 2024.

This novel tells the story of Julia from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (a novel I have long loved) from her perspective. I began reading it on Wednesday after the election results came in and finished it last night. It’s a fantastic book, true to the spirit of Orwell’s (including by staying true to the details of Orwell’s narrative and even reproducing some text word-for-word), but also fresh and original with some twists that feel earned rather than gimmicky.

Smallwood, Christine. The Life of the Mind. 2021. New York: Hogarth, 2022.

I forget where I first heard about this novel, but a line from its blurb–“a book about endings–of youth, of ambition, of possibility”–is what got me interested because I feel like I am experiencing these endings myself.

van den Heuvel, Cor. At the Top of the Ferris Wheel: Selected Haiku. Winchester, VA: The Haiku Foundation, 2017.

van den Heuvel, who is one of the most important figures in North American haiku history, died earlier this year. I heard about this book from an obituary published in this month’s issue of the Haiku Society of America’s newsletter and ordered it immediately.

Writing Activity, October 2024

Since January 2021, I’ve been keeping a list of my writing activity for each month (here’s last month’s). 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 our times, and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I 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 genderqueer bisexual disabled Latinx writer 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 an oppressed group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.

The list is basically in chronological order. It was a very successful month! I had five poems and two essays published and three more poems accepted for future publication. It’s lovely to have times like this every once in a while when all of the hard work of writing pays off in tangible form.

1. Wrote a haiku or senryu on most mornings.

2. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies.

3. Had three of the eight poems I submitted to #FemkuMag last month accepted.

4. Had my memoir rejected by a publisher.

5. Submitted commentaries about the poetry of three of my fellow confluence fellows and had the first one, on Rowan Beckett Minor, published.

6. Had two poems published in Modern Haiku 55, no. 3, including my first published haibun.

7. Had a positive review of my co-written book It Breaks Your Heart published in Modern Haiku.

8. Had a poem published in Acorn 53.

9. Had an essay on Diane di Prima’s haiku published in Frogpond 47, no. 3.

10. Began working on putting together a book manuscript of my haiku/senryu.

11. Submitted my memoir to another publisher.

12. Had two poems published in Kingfisher 10.

Books Acquired Recently

Pupello, Tony, ed. street beat: Haiku and Senryū from the Pages of “tsuri-dōrō”. New York: tsuri-dōrō Press, 2024.

I recently read a review of this anthology and decided to buy it because of my interest in city haiku.

Stiazhkina, Olena. Ukraine, War, Love: A Donetsk Diary. Translated by Anne O. Fisher. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2024.

I am attending a talk by Stiazhkina next week, so I wanted to read some of her work beforehand. This book looks like it fits nicely into my recent interest in reading others’ published diaries.

Books Acquired Recently: AAMD Edition

I just returned home from the annual Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) conference in Denver, where I acquired the following three books.

Hundley, Jessica. Tarot. Köln; Taschen, 2021.

I bought this lovely illustrated volume at the Denver Art Museum’s shop. Part of the conference took place at the museum.

Jackson, Maggie. Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure. Lanham, MD: Prometheus Books, 2023.

Jackson was one of the conference’s featured speakers, so they handed out free copies of this book.

Patrello, Christopher. Northwest Coast and Alaska Native Art. Denver: Denver Art Museum, 2020.

This exhibit catalog came in my conference swag bag.

Books Acquired Recently

Higginson, William J. The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996.

I recently began reading Higginson’s Haiku World, the companion volume to The Haiku Seasons, and quickly realized that to get the most out of Haiku World I also needed The Haiku Seasons, so I ordered a copy that came earlier this week.

Tea, Michelle. Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches. New York: HarperOne, 2024.

Tea’s Modern Tarot has been life-changing for me, and she’s one of my favorite writers in general, so when Modern Magic was released earlier this week I ordered it immediately.

Writing Activity, September 2024

Since January 2021, I’ve been keeping a list of my writing activity for each month (here’s last month’s). 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 our times, and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I 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 genderqueer bisexual disabled Latinx writer 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 an oppressed group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.

The list is basically in chronological order.

1. Wrote a haiku or senryu on most mornings.

2. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies.

3. Submitted ten poems to Blithe Spirit and had two accepted.

4. Had one of the poems I submitted to Haiku Canada Review last month accepted.

5. Had a microchapbook I submitted to a press rejected.

6. Submitted my novella manuscript to a contest.

7. Worked on commentaries about the poetry of some of my fellow confluence fellows.

8. Had three poems published in #FemkuMag 36 (Summer 2024): 16, 24.

9. Submitted eight poems for consideration for the next issue of #FemkuMag.

Books Acquired Recently

Costa, Emily. Until It Feels Right. Orlando: Autofocus Books, 2022.

I recently heard about this set of diary entries about having OCD during the early part of the pandemic (something I also experienced), and ordered it right away because of its subject matter and my new interest in reading diaries.

Moore, Carley. Heart Less: Poems. Brooklyn: Indolent Books, 2024. Two copies.

Moore is one of my favorite writers, and this is her first full-length poetry collection. Indolent Books did a crowd-funding campaign for this book, which I contributed to as soon as I heard about it. They decided to produce the book with two different covers, so I bought both. They arrived yesterday. I was wondering how I would choose which copy to read, and it turns out that Moore inscribed them both but that the inscriptions are not the same (it is nice that she personalized them rather than just sending the same inscription to each backer), so I’m going to read the copy with the inscription that means the most to me.

vermette, katherena. Real Ones. Toronto: Hamish Hamilton, 2024.

I’ve loved the work by vermette that I’ve read previously, so when I heard she had a new novel out I bought it immediately.

Books Acquired Recently

Higginson, William J. Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996.

I’ve had my eye on this haiku classic for a long time, and recently found a used copy online for a good price, so I decided to buy it.

Kaufmann, Britt. Midlife Calculus. Winston-Salem, NC: Press 53, 2024.

I blurbed this poetry collection, and my blurber’s copy came in the mail earlier this week.

Writing Activity, August 2024

Since January 2021, I’ve been keeping a list of my writing activity for each month (here’s last month’s). 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 our times, and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I 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 genderqueer bisexual disabled Latinx writer 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 an oppressed group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.

The list is basically in chronological order.

1. Wrote a haiku or senryu on most mornings.

2. Submitted ten poems to Kingfisher and had two accepted.

3. Submitted ten poems to Haiku Canada Review.

4. Had a negative review of Ethics for Apocalyptic Times published in Mennonite Life.

5. Had the eight poems I submitted to Frogpond in July rejected.

6. Had two poems published in Blithe Spirit 34, no. 3 (August 2024): “trekking north ant crawling on my cast” and “day moon the drone of a lawnmower.”

7. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies.

8. Had my fellowship application to confluence accepted. They will published an issue of twenty-five of my poems alongside commentary on the poems by two or three other fellows. The issue is scheduled for February 2025.

9. Was asked for and granted my permission to have my 2017 essay, “On Postcolonial Mennonite Writing,” included in a forthcoming anthology of Mennonite literary criticism.

10. Found out that my novella manuscript was not accepted by a contest I submitted it to several months ago.

Books Acquired Recently: Octavia Butler Edition

Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower. 1993. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2016.

—. Parable of the Talents. 1998. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2016.

I’ve loved all of the Octavia Butler books that I have read, and I’ve been thinking about reading her novel Parable of the Sower for a while now. I was reading a book of interviews by her earlier this week, and some things she said about the novel made me decide that now is the time to read it. I was able to find a discounted hardcover box set of it and its sequel, Parable of the Talents, online.