In the later part of his life, the poet Langston Hughes made several trips to Africa, presenting and leading writing workshops all the way from Nigeria to Uganda. Some say he emerged as an official celebrity in Africa when, in Senegal, he delivered a pivotal speech entitled “Black Writers in a Troubled World,” declaring that [...]
This is a collaboration of the book Circe. One of the poems in Circe appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of Contrary: “Dear Odysseus.” Credits: Cheryl Gross, animator/illustrator, Nicelle Davis, writer/poet, Karl Preusser, sound/ music, and Alexis Vergalla, cover art, publisher Lowbrow Press.
It’s a life I can hardly fathom: being held captive from the age of 11 to 29 in a walled-off compound behind a modest house in the Bay Area. Giving birth to the children of your captor, a man almost 30 years your senior. Teaching yourself to read with old paperbacks, read over and over [...]
Lauren Berlant speaking on media sensationalism? I couldn’ t miss that. So I found my way to the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center to have a listen. Only to find out I’d overlooked the comma between media and sensationalism. Lauren Berlant is an English professor at the University of Chicago, but that title can’t contain [...]
So, David Shields’ manifesto Reality Hunger. Structure: 618 short sections grouped into 26 chapters. Subject: our hunger for the real as opposed to the invented. Shields makes some strong points and shares some controversial ideas, most of which, in the real world, would require a cite. But Shields does not believe that reality–words, music–belongs to anyone. [...]
Juliana Baggott wrote a smart and calm defense of the Osama bin Laden death celebration for NPR last week. Americans should be free to release their fear, she contends: their cheering shows they are paying attention, are emotionally invested, and are participating in an act of unity. She didn’t convince me, but she helped me [...]
I wrote something potentially (academically) dangerous earlier: “If a professor speaks and if nobody listens, did the professor speak?” I didn’t intend this as a condemnation of professors; quite the opposite, I hoped pull in the common adage, “If a tree falls in a forest …” to illustrate the disconnection between the so-called ivory tower [...]
Is it unpatriotic to say that Osama bin Laden had nice eyes? In the twenty-four rippling hours following reports of bin Laden’s death and burial at sea, I’m left scrolling through his public photo album online, staring at images of bin Laden as a young soldier in Afghanistan, a young revolutionary with hints of Che-spirit, [...]
Although I generally do not like to hear pop stars’ opinions on politics, or politicians’ opinions about pop culture—the operative principle being, “if you don’t have anything informed to say, don’t say anything at all”—I’m going to stretch (and/or violate, depending on your perspective of my perspective) that norm. That is, as a student of [...]
On Friday night I officially finished my PhD in English at Florida State University. I’ m entering into one of the worst acade mic job markets in recent history, with a slim chance of finding a position teaching in a university. Perhaps needless to say, it’s been hard to maintain hope that the degree I [...]
It’s safe to say that Moby is pretty damn famous. While his popul arity m ay have peaked in the late 1990s, with the release of Play, that album nevertheless secured Moby a spot in the pantheon of techno gods. He has made millions in album sales, licensing contracts, vegan cuisine, and bottled teas. His [...]
Swapping Swahili riddles in Zanzibar is like tying a literary bow around a friendship and pulling tight until the two of you are bound up together in giggles and amazement. Maybe riddles have lost their literary panache in America, but here, there’s something electric and utterly vivid about riddles. Calling out the word kitendawili (riddle) [...]
Of all the holidays, it seems that we revel in Easter’s confectionery bounty the most. Cadbury Creme Eggs, Peeps and jelly beans nestled atop lavender grass elicit far m ore unadulterated excitement than say candy corn or conversation hearts. One might make the case that the sweet fare of Halloween and Valentine’s Day finds nobler [...]
Growing up, I developed a prejudice against athletes. I saw them as arrogant, cliquey, boneheaded jerks. Not my kind of people. I preferred the kids who knew how to draw, who made bold, original points in class (even as 8th graders) and who had large vocabularies. I never felt as smart as my closest friends, [...]