“Thought is more important than art. To revere art and have no understanding of the process that forces it into existence, is finally not even to understand what art is.” Continue reading
Tag Archives: Literature
Am I A Real Writer Now?
Although I went to school for writing, ran a literary magazine at my college, and graduated with a BFA and a collection of short stories under my belt, I have always been hesitant to call myself a “writer.” If I ever did mention that I write, it was along with many qualifications… “I’m an executive … Continue reading
Get Heated: Sex, Fantasy & Horror Reads
Now that the festivities have come to end and the year has just begun it’s time to get our reading caps on. Winter is a good time to build upon our literary arsenal. With the right books we can provide our own warmth and generate heat to move us forward, take us into new realms, … Continue reading
[LIT] Nostalgia And Validation: A Review of Sari Botton’s Goodbye To All That
A very smart friend gifted me this book for Christmas. It was the perfect gift, because I am a writer and I loved and left New York, and also, unbeknownst to my friend, I had read about the book in an upstate magazine months earlier and put it on my mental “to-read” list. The basics: … Continue reading
Why We Have To Be Our Own VIDA
It’s like a box of broken crayons where nearly every crayon is the same color and being used to draw a picture of a box of broken crayons in all the same color. Continue reading
Holiday Poetry Picks for Those Special Times You Need to be Alone With a Book
Happy holidays! Everyone’s doing lists and talking of shopping and getting together with family, they brave the crowds and wait in sweaty lines. I myself avoid it like the plague (and flu shots). For the past few years since the divorce, I’ve spent Christmas alone. My daughter goes to her dad’s since he’s Catholic and … Continue reading
Poet Conversation: Laura Madeline Wiseman and Margaret Bashaar – Part 2
To me, the huge fall from grace, the knowledge revealed is not sexuality or nudity or shame, among other things, as it is for Adam and Eve, but is the fall from trust. Lilith’s lost innocence is that she learns she can no longer trust Adam, trust men, trust the (male) creator. Continue reading
Poet Conversation: Laura Madeline Wiseman And Margaret Bashaar – Part 1
This week I’ll be posting a 2-part conversation I had with poet/editor Laura Madeline Wiseman about poetry, feminism, art, inspiration, her new chapbook, First Wife, and what we’re both at work on!
Continue reading
Loose Woman – How Sandra Cisneros Opened Me Up
Half way through her tenth grade year, my daughter brought home House on Mango Street. “Hey Mom, you ever read this book? We’re reading it in class, I wanted to finish it this weekend ‘cause I hate the class discussions. They just talk about the themes (she made a disgusted face) like language and empowerment … Continue reading
An Intimate Look Into The Boudoir Of An Amateur Gypsy Witch: A Voyeur’s View
LUNA LUNA loves: playing voyeur. Come inside, darlings. Continue reading
LIT: The Friend
This piece is one part of a collection of stories called Amelia. See another section here. — It was the summer that the water was rising. Everyone had a different explanation: Lily thought it had something to do with the moon, that the moon was getting closer and closer to earth, and eventually it was going to smash right … Continue reading
LIT: The Nurse
This piece is one part of a collection of stories called Amelia. — I was very young then and my hands still trembled when I poured ice water into cups by the beds of sleeping old men and even worse when I had to take a temperature or insert an IV. All of my memories of … Continue reading
Words of Encouragement: It’s Okay, You Can’t “Do It All”
Last night, I hung out with my sister in our Brooklyn apartment. We made dinner, finally caught up, and did our nails. Despite the fact that we live together, I see her the least. It may seem impossible–how can I live with someone and barely see them? Quite frankly, we’re hardly home. Between our work … Continue reading
Rebellious Women in Poetry: Danielle Pafunda
The Dead Girls Speak in Unison We all understand the way some people will bend over backwards to make others happy. Rebellious women do that a little differently. The girls in this poem by Danielle Pafunda are not exactly bending over backwards but one might heed their warnings to “hush” and “keep quiet” lest ye … Continue reading