when tongues & failures manifest [saythat! 04]
hi,
one of my favorite living poets manuel arturo abreu opens their latest collection, “Trans is a failure of language. Poetry is a failure of the body”.
this week has been a consideration of failures, some foreseen: the failures of government & cis people to see Trans/GenderNonConforming people as human; some unseen the waves of personal depression & inability to process joy. but today, today, i am here, you are here. you reading this & i’m grateful. also today, MY DEBUT FULL LENGTH COLLECTION OF POEMS IS BEING PUBLISHED. i feel like i have to write it so intense to continually convince myself of it’s greatness. or that i’m worth it or somewhere in-between. anyway, i’ve collected some background sources & influences to my work. if you haven’t ordered Mannish Tongues get on it, pls! (also I have an announcement @ the middle)
thank you for being here with me, in this time.
-- jayy
who did you read while writing #MannishTongues?
Essex Hemphill, so read American Wedding
Ai, read Interview With a Policeman
Danez Smith, peep a classic bop: alternate names for black boys
Morgan Parker, the gawd, with: "I Feel Most Colored When I Am Thrown Against A Sharp White Background: An Elegy"
& my one dead white poetry bae, John Keats’ letters to his brothers.
what did you visual art spoke to you?
Contemporary Fiber Artist Nick Cave’s Soundsuits
Installation / Graphic artist Glenn Ligon’s Neon texts.
honestly like half of the 30 Americans exhibition.
what were you listening to?
LA horrorcore rapper Tyler, The Creator’s third album Cherry Bomb
Genderqueer songbird Shamir’s debut Rachet got me so tender.
also from LA / Odd Future, Earl Sweatshirt’s Grief was heavy.
Kwabs is my UK bae. his Wrong or Right EP was LIT.
this random dope Black girl has this track with this electo-euro dudes but it bops: listen to “Terrible Love” ft. Denai Moore
where can i hear more about #MannishTongues?
talked a bit about it in this dope podcast for TGNC writers called Waves Breaking, hosted by Avern Keating
did a really fun in-depth interview over on Entropy with Devin Kelly.
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TONIGHT I’M DOING A LIVE READING ON FACEBOOK
// 9PM EST
Writing Prompts:
finish this: "every poem is a ______", read "ars poetica" from Dreginald.
write an ode to your least favorite body part, read "Ode to Junk, My Own" from WT.
tell a story a hard conversation you had with some at night, remove all the pronouns, add articles: read "Knowing Good & Well" from Wildness
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gif of the week:
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