Friday Links: Being A Writer in 2022 Edition

"The snow and snow. / This evening would have / The great moon of December." - Matsuo Basho

Winter Holidays are important. This time of year is the most stark reminder that the Earth does not care if we die. Hold your loved ones close and let them know that they are loved. Then, when all that warmth and family gets insufferably suffocating, sneak off to the bathroom and read these links on your phone.

What I’ve Been Reading This Week:

Picked up New Poets of Native Nations, edited by Heid E. Erdrich, at the same time I was going to the library for Kenneth Koch’s long poems, and folks? This book’s way better. I am ashamed to admit Native poetry is something I am unfamiliar with, even historically. Mark Turcotte was nice enough to come to the reading series I co-ran in college, but beyond him and some Natalie Diaz here and there? Not much. Time to rectify that.

So far, I am especially enjoying Tacey M. Atsitty, Margaret Noodin, and Laura Da’. Obviously I have more to get to. Strongly recommend this book.

LINKS!

• THE LINE BREAK IS BACK! This month, Bob and I ended up kinda accidentally talking about legacy and future, heavier topics than we usually get into. That said, this didn’t feel like a heavy episode. Bob read Diane Seuss, I read Anaïs Duplan (regular readers may be familiar), and we had a good ol’ time. Check it out: Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud

• Kathy Fish,

  The Art of Flash Fiction
  here on Substack, on what literary “success” looks like.

• Taco Bell Quarterly,

  Taco Bell Quarterly
  here on Substack, with a genuine and inspiring discussion of what year-end lists are, how the TBQ Voice developed, and how to be a writer when you don’t feel like a writer. The TBQ Twitter has been an uplifting place for me as a writer. Their “live más” ethos inspired the somewhat clumsier mission of this blog: “elegizing all the stuff I think is rad in the face of capitalism’s apocalypse.”

• My dear friend Chloe N. Clark on strange places to find inspiration for writing.

• This has nothing to do with writing but there are no more Friday links for the year and this Defector article on how glass frogs hide their blood is super rad.

• Finally, perhaps most importantly: THE GARDEN PARTY COLLECTIVE! My dearest Bob has joined forces with the wonderful and talented Christopher Morgan, Laura Villareal, Lyd Havens, and Stephen J. Furlong in a new publishing enterprise. They are launching a chapbook contest to start, and they have the most adorable masthead page in the game.

I’ll post a year-end roundup on Wednesday, but no links on Friday. Back in 2023. Thanks for reading these last few months. Love and warmth to you and yourn. Back in 2023.

Sorry you got an email,

Chris