More Stuff I Forgot to Talk About ...
I'm trying to get back into the habit of using this blog. I'd drifted away from it, in favor of Facebook and Twitter, but this is still a far better medium to collect one's thoughts and share information in a way that you can find it again. Ever go looking for an old Facebook post? It's not as easy as you'd think it would be.
Anyway, in all the hullabaloo, I forgot to mention the other day that two pieces that appeared in Radius were finalists for the Best of the Net awards: Tatyana Brown, for her essay, "Your Invitation to the Wake: For Alexandra Petri, After Her Article, ‘Is Poetry Dead?’," and Jean Macpherson for her essay, "Crying, my little one, footsore and weary." What makes me happy about these two pieces being recognized is that they're both about the relevance of poetry, Tatyana's in a more extroverted, activist way and Jean's in a more interior way, about channeling emotion through a beloved poem. We talk about poetry's "relevance'" as though that were an easy thing to discuss, as if being relevant were a binary state. Tatyana and Jean here reveal that "relevance" is a lot more multilayered than that, but that the personal and communal significance of poetry is as prevalent as ever. Even if someone's always popping up to declare it dead.
Also, while I'm at it, I want to thank everyone who donated to Radius through our new "donate" button. Even a dollar or two goes a long way toward keeping us being able to present amazing work like Tatyana and Jean's, as well as amazing poems like these from Hieu Minh Nguyen. And again, thank you. Your support is immensely appreciated.
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In my music column today, I listen to Luke MacNeil's "These Are Good Songs."
Anyway, in all the hullabaloo, I forgot to mention the other day that two pieces that appeared in Radius were finalists for the Best of the Net awards: Tatyana Brown, for her essay, "Your Invitation to the Wake: For Alexandra Petri, After Her Article, ‘Is Poetry Dead?’," and Jean Macpherson for her essay, "Crying, my little one, footsore and weary." What makes me happy about these two pieces being recognized is that they're both about the relevance of poetry, Tatyana's in a more extroverted, activist way and Jean's in a more interior way, about channeling emotion through a beloved poem. We talk about poetry's "relevance'" as though that were an easy thing to discuss, as if being relevant were a binary state. Tatyana and Jean here reveal that "relevance" is a lot more multilayered than that, but that the personal and communal significance of poetry is as prevalent as ever. Even if someone's always popping up to declare it dead.
Also, while I'm at it, I want to thank everyone who donated to Radius through our new "donate" button. Even a dollar or two goes a long way toward keeping us being able to present amazing work like Tatyana and Jean's, as well as amazing poems like these from Hieu Minh Nguyen. And again, thank you. Your support is immensely appreciated.
***
In my music column today, I listen to Luke MacNeil's "These Are Good Songs."
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