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Former United States Poet Laureate Robert Hass writes of his experience confronting police at Occupy protests on Berkeley's campus; Granta has animated an imaginary zombie movie mentioned in a Roberto Bolaño story; the harshest author rejection letters of all time; and other news.
Novelist Keith Gessen was arrested yesterday at Occupy Wall Street; critic James Wood adds his voice to the Jonathan Lethem kerfluffle; Henri Cole speaks about his new book of poems; and other news.
The end of Moammar Kadafi's rule in Libya also marked an end to censorship; Occupy Wall Street library's newly-donated books were seized by the NYPD (again); novelist Neil Gaiman has forever secured his place in the cultural firmament—this Sunday, he'll appear on The Simpsons; and other news.
Bookstore sales rose 7 percent in September; novelist Paul Auster to speak at historic Green-Wood cemetery; a glimpse at the personal libraries of several authors, including Claire Messud, Gary Shteyngart, and Junot Díaz; and other news.
This morning, Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD evicted Occupy Wall Street protestors encamped at Zuccotti Park, reportedly destroying the 5,554-book library; Walter Isaacson's biography details the relationship between Steve Jobs and novelist Jennifer Egan; diary of a Paris Review editor; and other news.
Police at University of California in Berkeley reportedly injured protesting students and professors, including poet Geoffrey O'Brien and former poet laureate Robert Hass; Leora Skolkin-Smith details what kept her inspired in the thirty years it took to publish her novel, Hystera; Q. R. Markham, whose plagiarized novel was yanked from shelves, offers an apology; and other news.
P&W-supported poet Ann Lynn, author of the chapbook In the Butterfly House, published by Finishing Line Press, blogs about facilitating writing workshops with women veterans in Atlanta, GA.
In October 2005, I began a series of writing workshops with women veterans in Atlanta. The women in the group had served in war zones during the Vietnam and the Gulf Wars. One woman drove a truck and was trained to work with hazardous materials. Another worked with the wounded. Some experienced scud missile attacks. All witnessed firsthand the atrocities of war and suffered personal traumas themselves. For the participants, the workshops weren't just an exercise in learning to write better... the workshops served as a lifeline. I was blown away by what these women were writing and sharing, and realized how hungry they were for the healing power of writing.
One of the first assignments I gave was to write about a place where they felt safe and comfortable, an exercise that could be appropriate for anyone, but especially so for people who have experienced trauma. I will never forget what one woman wrote:
My truck is a safe place. In it there is no sound, no music, no talking, just listening to the wind as it hits my windows. My mind can be free there, and I can drive away all the tears, fears, as long as I got gas.
Another time I asked them to pick an object from a bunch I set out on the floor and describe that object with concrete and sensory details. I then told them to write about one of their parents in terms of that object. One woman wrote:
Mother is like a rock,not a mother,
except in its true instinctual self of how it became,
beginning as loose powder then pressed together,
hardened and roughed-up (tossed, turned, hurt).
I was stunned by the beauty and power of this poem. And, for the writer, it seemed as though the metaphorical language with which she'd chosen to describe her mother had somehow turned on a light in her head, as she began to talk about her life in a deeper way.
For these women, writing, sharing, and the group itself formed a safe space. The group met for three and a half years, and for me it was a life-changing experience. I wrote when they wrote, read when they read, and sometimes cried when they cried. I am so grateful that Poets & Writers believes that art is important for all people, and is willing and eager to fund programs that can make such a difference in people's lives.
Photo: Ann Lynn. Photo Credit: Roby Lynn.
Support for Readings/Workshops events in Atlanta is provided by an endowment established with generous contributions from the Poets & Writers Board of Directors and others. Additional support comes from the Friends of Poets & Writers.
Glyn Maxwell explains how World War I "turned British poetry from Keatsian lyricism to raw, aghast reportage"; Jonathan Lethem laments a review of his novel by critic James Wood; how to legally use one of Jim Henson's Muppets in a book trailer; and other news.
Japanese company Rakuten will purchase Canadian e-book vendor Kobo; a free public reading of Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener in support of Occupy Wall Street; a self-published author has sued an Amazon reviewer for libel; and other news.
A novel, Assassin of Secrets, has been pulled from the shelves by Little, Brown after passages in the book were discovered to have been plagiarized; poet Brendan Lorber reports from the front lines of Occupy Wall Street; interactive book covers; and other news.
