The poem I've selected for this week is Francisco X. Alarcón's "To Those Who Have Lost Everything" and I'm pairing it with the article below.
"Artists React to Mexico's Drug War With Music and Poetry" by Betty Arcos in NPR. Growing up and now again living in a border city, I feel the issues discussed in this article touch upon a familiar reality: violence on the border remains a mute point in today's media. I'm with Lili Downs in hoping "No evil can last a hundred years."
I posted Perpetual Follies' 2012 Pushcart Prize Rankings last week. Here is an article in Luna Park from Travis Kurowski that offers a different perspective: "Is Something Missing from the Pushcart Prize?" What are your thoughts?
Diane Lockward guides us in deciphering when a poem is ready to send out into the world. When do you feel your writing is ready to submit?
If you read anything this week, please read this touching story about stories "passing back through the heart" by Natalia Sylvester on her blog: "The Difference Between Recording and Remembering."
Come across any good reading this past week? What's on your desk for this week?
Wishing you a week full of wonder, Andrea
It's helpful for me to read my work out loud to know when it's ready to submit. It has to read really smooth and flow just right, out loud, to my ear. It's a test I put my work through and works pretty well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Joanne. I agree that sound is very important! Hope your week is going great so far!
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