Tag: list

Books I Am Currently In The Middle Of Reading

A byproduct of going through Lesley’s MFA program is that for that two years, I was limited in what I could read by available time and required reading.

In the past, my book buying habit has been to buy one book at a time and get through it and/or abandon in, then go book shopping. I love to book shop (actually, let’s face facts: I love to shop, period) so I was hardly ever without a book to read; I just never had a backlog. Two years of prescribed reading has changed that in a big way. I now have a TBR (to-be-read) pile that is somewhere around fifty books.

I’m also finding that I will read part of a book, then set it down in favor of something else, with the full intention of going back to it. At this moment, there are 8 books I’m somewhere in the middle of.

  • The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee
  • The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
  • The Best American Essays: 2016, Robert Atwan, series ed.: Jonathan Franzen, ed.
  • E. B. White: Writings From The New Yorker 1927-1976, Rebecca M. Dale, ed.
  • Brand New Ancients: a Poem by Kate Tempest
  • Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Little, Big by John Crowley
  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E., Schwab

So, three adult fantasies, three books of essays, one epic poem, and a craft book. The book that’s in my bag right now is the Schwab. The one that’s been on this list the longest is the Crowley.

The two single-author essay books are made up of very short pieces. To my mind, they’re not one-sitting books, because neither has anything in them that’s longer than 7 or 8 pages, and in the case of the E. B. White, there could be as many as three short pieces on a single page. The Le Guin’s shortest pieces are around a page to a page and a half. Both seem to me to be the sort of book you pick up and thumb through when you have a free moment. The White, especially, excites me because the prose is so tight and the pieces so poignant.

On the other hand, the epic poem feels like something I should sit down with and read through, possibly aloud, in one sitting. I will have to make a hole in my schedule to do this. I made it a few pages in, and then decided that I needed to start over with the above conditions met.

The craft book — The Kovach & Rosenstiel — feels like work. It’s essentially a text book for journalism students, and as a nonfiction writer, I want to have some of the finer points of objective journalism in mind. I’ve read the introduction and have in mind a strategy for getting through it. I’ve identified what feels like 4 sections of two or three chapters each, and I should sit down with each section and get through each in one session. This is where it is handy to me to know that I read approximately 30 pages an hour. Each section should take me about 3 hours. Sorry: not all reading is for pleasure.

The Best American is also required reading. I have the 2017 in my TBR pile, and as soon as I finish this anthology, that one should be added to this list immediately. This is both work reading and pleasure. I’ve found some of my favorite writing in the pages of these anthologies, including a recent piece by Franzen himself in the 2015 anthology.

The Lee is something I picked up based on a short story of hers (“Bite-Me-Not or Fleur de Fur”) I’d read for an interdisciplinary studies course in fantasy writing taught by Mark Edwards. The Birthgrave her first published book in a long and prolific career.

The Crowley is on my list for the same reason. At the time, I felt like it was a “nutritious” enough read for a budding nonfiction author, but at the moment, I seem to be drifting more towards fantasy again, so it may get picked up sooner rather than later, though probably not next after the Schwab.

Wicked Queer: The Boston LGBTQ Film Festival, Trans Program #2 and Sundry Addenda

By Saturday night I was screaming in pain…

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Spring has sprung, I think, in the last couple of days. We had the fizzle Nor’Easter, a few crappy cold days, and then, all of a sudden yesterday, things warmed up and the feeling of this place changed. When New England decides the next season needs to begin, it can be quite definite about it, sometimes spectacularly so. This time, it was like flipping a switch. No production, no fuss, just, “OK, it’s Spring now.”

I saw snowdrops today. They made me so happy. There was a big-ass pile of snow over them last week, and I thought we’d lost them for this year. But today, I saw them in the gloaming as I was walking home from the bus. The pile of white crap (well, black crap, really: this being Eastern Mass) had melted back some to reveal a small patch of them near the tree they grow under.

They’re so lovely.

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So, the thing. The thing with the dentist and the wrestling. Where to begin?

On Thursday, a tooth I had been neglecting started smarting a bit. So I called the oral surgeon I had been avoiding, and made an appointment for the following Monday.

About the middle of the day on Friday, with the pain beginning to crescendo, I remembered that this was an infection, and that having an infection when going for oral surgery was not the best notion. I called my regular dentist and asked him to prescribe me an antibiotic. The last time he had done so, he had given me these Penicillin horse pills, like 875mg or something. They knocked down my infection to nothing in a matter of hours. This time, he prescribed me 250mg. I looked at them a bit askance, but I took them, figuring they would work, since my dentist had prescribed them.

By Saturday morning, the infection seemed to be going down, but it was still raging. By Saturday night I was screaming in pain. I went to the emergency room. They prescribed me a different antibiotic in capsules the size of the horse pill penicillin and a pain reliever, and sent me home.

I took my pills, and slipped into blissful sleep. I slept for eight solid hours. Thank you painkillers. The next morning the pain was less and the swelling was going down. By Monday morning it was still bad, but not nearly as bad. I had no appetite: I really don’t like painkillers that much, lucky me, but I was taking them. I showed up to the appointment, was greeted cheerfully and without judgment, and a half an hour later, after the alluded-to wrestling, I emerged sans #19 molar.

From Friday until Monday, while I was waiting for my appointment, I was on my couch in the living room. I didn’t do much of anything but watch TV and look at Facebook.

I’m feeling better now, thanks, but I’ve got some healing to do.
And that’s why this week’s blog post is two days late.

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Suggested activity: Go back and read my first post on this blog. I’ll wait.

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So as you can see, I have some issues with executive function. No sense denying it. In fact, one of the main purposes of this blog is to help me develop a structured approach to writing:, with an assignment to meet every week. I set the posts in advance and the challenge is to never put up a late or empty post.

Oops.

But it won’t happen again.

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Enough of my dithering: let’s literally get on with the show.

Trans Program #2: Untitled

Pink Tiffany (44 min) (US) Nepali with Subtitles, English with Subtitles

I don’t know if this is an obvious thing to say or not, but the thing that makes a documentary work for me is a beating heart. This movie has one. Her name is Laxsmi, and she is principal subject Meghna Lama’s mother. Her inner beauty and love for her daughter come through so clearly on screen. I love Meghna too. She is this movie’s second beating heart. She is beautiful (Miss Trans Nepal), a committed trans activist (runs a trans activist organization called Pink Tiffany), and rides her scooter around Merrakech, She’s funny, and direct, and such a queen. Wicked Queer is the first US festival to show this film, and I am so excited that we are doing so

I Am They (58 min) (UK) English, Icelandic with subtitles.

I have been a Fox Fisher fan for a long time and seeing their film show up in WQ’s submissions was very exciting for me. I was not as familiar with Owl Fisher (so I probably need to catch up on a few videos, heh.) They are Fox’s partner in this film, as in life. Fox and Owl run one of my very favorite Youtube channels, My Genderation, and they are crack documentarians.

Fox is nonbinary transmasculine, and Owl is nonbinary transfeminine, and as the title suggests, this movie is about their experiences as nonbinary and as a couple. They both talk to the camera in an adapted vloggish style, but they are in control of their message top to bottom and this doc is very fast-paced, though not rushed. They cover a surprising amount of territory in less than an hour. The film shows a very strong documentary voice!

This program runs at 2 PM on Sunday the 8th of April at the Brattle.

Wicked Queer: The Boston LGBTQ Film Festival, Trans Program #1

As a programmer for Wicked Queer: The Boston LGBTQ Film Festival, it’s my great pleasure to curate short film programs of trans-themed movies. This year I put together 2. This week, I will blog about the first of them. I’ll follow up with comments about the second program next week.

Here are the films I’ve included, in program sequence:

Different: (2 min) narrative short, in French w/ subtitles.
A brief, narrated pace-setter, this film serves the purpose of a thematic overture for the whole program, encapsulating the issues that will come up throughout the set of films.

She: (14 min) Documentary, in English.
Often what attracts me to a documentary is the hit of personality I get from the film’s subjects. Tanesh Nutall, whom I grew to admire more and more over the course of the film, is an activist working in San Francisco. The first section of the film presents a view of her life there — her work, her relationships. In the second half of the film, we go with Tanesh to her family reunion in Rahway, NJ, a home she fled decades before to be able to transition her gender away from her conservative religious family. What kind of reception should she expect to receive?

In My Mother’s Closet: (13 min) narrative short, in English.
It’s a musical! There are a number of musicals in the festival this year, and I am proud to be presenting one as part of this sequence. A young woman invokes her mother’s strong presence in a phone conversation with a friend, whom she is trying to convince to come support a performance she is preparing to give.

Calamity: (23 min) narrative short, in French with subtitles.
Awkward, nearly to the point of horrifyingly so, but with a deft, light touch, this Belgian comedy caught my eye because of all of the strange visual juxtapositions and gags. It’s edgy stuff, but manages to give and preserve each of its characters’ dignity throughout. Note the role of Cléo/Calamity is played by François Maquet, a cis man. Generally, I avoid booking such films, but this one is so well done, I had to book it.

¿FAMILIA?: (15 min) narrative short, Spanish with subtitles.
A woman bears the burden of family in many different ways. Where Calamity has an almost sitcom-like feel, ¿FAMILIA? is gritty and carries notes of desperation. This familia is not on any picnic.

The Real Thing: (7 min) narrative short, in English
This film presents a nice twist on a very familiar current pop culture trope. Simple, sweet, and direct, I got the same heart warming feeling that the soldier’s homecoming trope has ceased to provide for me otherwise.

Umbrella: (16 min) documentary short, in English
Tells the story of four trans community activists/leaders. I found the inclusion of Mara Keisling, director of NCTE (National Center for Transgender Equality) exciting, as I’m familiar with her work. I hadn’t known the other three subjects of the film, but they are all compelling figures: inspiring and strong.

Pre-Drink (23 min) narrative short, French with subtitles
I’m so impressed with this film. Funny, sexy, emotional and intimate — it’s a stellar addition to our festival. The two actors give nuanced, engaging performances. Alex Trahan especially takes us to a place we haven’t seen before in filmed stories about trans folk. All through this film, we feel that underneath the snarky banter there is a world of feeling that never quite makes it to the surface.

This first program, which is entitled Family? will screen at the MFA on Saturday, March 31st at 1 PM. I hope to see you there!

My Ten Favorite Book-Length Memoirs

I’ve only been reading memoirs with any sense of purpose for the last couple of years. I applied to the Lesley MFA program hoping to get into the fiction genre, but I also applied to their nonfiction genre track, “as a backup,” I thought at the time. It turns out that I am much better at nonfiction, which was pointed out to me at the time of my acceptance into that genre at Lesley. Looking over the two writing samples I sent in after the fact, I have to agree.

That doesn’t come out of nowhere. I learned much about writing from reading top-tier rock journalism, with the staff of the long-defunct Creem Magazine being my most essential teachers-by-example. Through a longstanding fascination with Native American history, I have also come to love the writing of Peter Matheisson, Mari Sandoz, and Dee Brown.

As a student of nonfiction, I have been given a number of great books to read by people who know the genre much better than I do. The majority of the titles on this list came from my teachers: one is by a teacher of mine. There are a few things here that I’ve found on my own. Every one of these books has taught me something about the craft of writing.

This list is not in any particular order.

  • All the Strange Hours by Loren Eisely
    A surprisingly lyrical, if dark, recounting of his life by the pre-eminent popular science writer of the 1960s.
  • Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
    Perceptive and harrowing, this coming of age story by a woman who lost half of her lower jaw to cancer while in her early teens offers no easy answers or pat endings.
  • Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
    Elegantly written recounting of a woman’s complex relationship with her mother. It’s a model for anyone’s work in the area of memoir.
  • Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures by Kyoko Mori
    Blunt and controversial story about the author’s conflicted relationship with her home country, her father, and her stepmother, and also tells of her self-discovery and new life in America.
  • She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
    Important to me on many levels, I read it as I was beginning the process of my own transition. I recognized many things about myself in its pages. It gave me courage.
  • Violence Girl by Alice Bag
    This book thrives for me through Alice’s eye and fierce honesty, on its lens into the earliest days of the LA punk scene, and her upbringing in an East LA barrio. Uncompromising and powerful.
  • The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
    Memoir as queer theory tract. Iconoclastic and deeply felt excavation of a relationship, a life, and our culture.
  • Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
    One of the greatest voices of the twentieth century brings you into the trenches with him when he fought for the Anarchists (and against the Fascists) in the Spanish Civil War. Gorgeous and heartbreaking.
  • Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR’s Polio Haven by Susan Richards Shreve
    Written with vulnerability and honesty, this book captures the discomfort and self-destructive awkwardness of adolescence.
  • The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper
    Account of a privileged childhood lived in a land about to be plunged into a disastrous civil war that would change everything the author knew of the world.