The Yellow Issue of Vibrant Gray is up and running. We have brand new fiction and poetry that you should definitely take a look at.
Check back later this week for more information about our new project, One Percent: a collection of work by people inside our prison system.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The self-esteem movement should hate itself
Last week I stood in front of my 8:00 class for a solid three minutes in complete silence. Usually, after thirty seconds students in most classes get so uncomfortable somebody will utter something no matter how stupid. But not this class. They would sit for the entire hour and half if I let them. I finally asked, why is no one answering the question? One student blurted out fairly quickly: I don’t know the answer. This would be a fair enough response if the question hadn’t started with: What do you think . . . . It was a question completely based on opinion. Even when I ask this particular class, do you agree with A or B? They still won’t answer. The students want to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are giving the right answer before saying a word.
When I was working on the editorial staff of Harpur Palate, I remember receiving a letter complaining about a rejection. This isn’t uncommon when working on a literary magazine, but this letter stood out. One of the editors really liked this writer so they wrote him a quick note showing their admiration. The writer should have been thrilled. Anything beyond the form rejection is a definite thumbs-up. But the writer wasn’t so gracious. This person quickly sent in another submission, which is against protocol listed on the website, then became furious when this work was also rejected. The writer sent everything back to us. All the poems and the rejection letters. He claimed that we were just jerking a poor Southerner around and we needed to make up our minds if we liked the work or not.
Both instances should be an everyday occurrence that people can just brush off. Sure, when we first start sending out our writing, it’s hard to get back those rejection letters. So burn the rejection letter, tear it up, do something. To take the time to type up a letter is completely ridiculous. My students should have been told “no” throughout their education. But they haven’t. For the most part all of my students are freshman, a few are juniors in high school taking dual credit courses, and I’m the first teacher they’ve had tell them, flat out, no. And they don’t know how to handle it.
It’s not just the fault of the 80’s self-esteem movement that people can’t deal with the most basic rejections. It’s also the fault of standardized testing. And the fault of cultural intolerance that says if you don’t make the right life choices you will be punished. And the fault of abstinence-only education that says one mistake and your body is ruined. And the fault of politicians who never admit to mistakes. And the fault of the media that makes everything black and white, left and right, good and bad.
So purposely tell somebody the wrong answer today. Do it knowing and hoping they will tell you that you are wrong. Give out the wrong amount of change. Pick up the wrong umbrella. Send out a poem that is absolutely horrendous. Then apologize. Apologize because saying you’re sorry doesn’t make you weak or bad or pathetic. It makes you human. Apologize for the bad poem, the wrong change, the incorrect answer. Let’s stick it to the self-esteem movement and feel good about ourselves and be completely wrong at the same time.
When I was working on the editorial staff of Harpur Palate, I remember receiving a letter complaining about a rejection. This isn’t uncommon when working on a literary magazine, but this letter stood out. One of the editors really liked this writer so they wrote him a quick note showing their admiration. The writer should have been thrilled. Anything beyond the form rejection is a definite thumbs-up. But the writer wasn’t so gracious. This person quickly sent in another submission, which is against protocol listed on the website, then became furious when this work was also rejected. The writer sent everything back to us. All the poems and the rejection letters. He claimed that we were just jerking a poor Southerner around and we needed to make up our minds if we liked the work or not.
Both instances should be an everyday occurrence that people can just brush off. Sure, when we first start sending out our writing, it’s hard to get back those rejection letters. So burn the rejection letter, tear it up, do something. To take the time to type up a letter is completely ridiculous. My students should have been told “no” throughout their education. But they haven’t. For the most part all of my students are freshman, a few are juniors in high school taking dual credit courses, and I’m the first teacher they’ve had tell them, flat out, no. And they don’t know how to handle it.
It’s not just the fault of the 80’s self-esteem movement that people can’t deal with the most basic rejections. It’s also the fault of standardized testing. And the fault of cultural intolerance that says if you don’t make the right life choices you will be punished. And the fault of abstinence-only education that says one mistake and your body is ruined. And the fault of politicians who never admit to mistakes. And the fault of the media that makes everything black and white, left and right, good and bad.
So purposely tell somebody the wrong answer today. Do it knowing and hoping they will tell you that you are wrong. Give out the wrong amount of change. Pick up the wrong umbrella. Send out a poem that is absolutely horrendous. Then apologize. Apologize because saying you’re sorry doesn’t make you weak or bad or pathetic. It makes you human. Apologize for the bad poem, the wrong change, the incorrect answer. Let’s stick it to the self-esteem movement and feel good about ourselves and be completely wrong at the same time.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
And time continues to run away
Finally:
The new Purple issue is up! That is the big news at this point in time. We have a really strong issue that we hope you will all enjoy. With work by Chigozie John Obioma, Kat Meads, Scott T. Starbuck, Jana Russ, Cynthia Arrieu-King, Jodi Hollander, and Joseph Borja.
Let us know what you think.
The Editors
The new Purple issue is up! That is the big news at this point in time. We have a really strong issue that we hope you will all enjoy. With work by Chigozie John Obioma, Kat Meads, Scott T. Starbuck, Jana Russ, Cynthia Arrieu-King, Jodi Hollander, and Joseph Borja.
Let us know what you think.
The Editors
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Shameless Promotion
It seems as though the world of literary fiction was just too glamorous and renumerative for me, so as of late I've been immersed in the cooler waters of book reviewing. Thanks to the good people at Open Letters, you can view my ruminations, and those of more talented folks, here.
Next up: I take on two books that ask, more or less, whether all the political crap happenning is your fault. My eight ball says signs point to no, but we'll see.
Next up: I take on two books that ask, more or less, whether all the political crap happenning is your fault. My eight ball says signs point to no, but we'll see.
Friday, May 23, 2008
When did writing become easy and glamorous?
Let me start off by saying: it’s not. It’s lonely and tedious and frustrating and, after the one thousandth and one rejection letter, can lead to irrational plans of rejecting the editors and agents who rejected you in a way that will really make them pay (which, believe me, is impossible and just annoying). For example, just to write this blog, just to get started, I spent half an hour walking my dog around the neighborhood at one in the morning. No rational person does that. It was me and a couple drug riddled teenagers sharing the street. But, in some form or fashion, that’s what writing is.
I’ve noticed, ever since I started going to grad school and had to tell people I was getting a degree in creative writing, that not only does everyone think they can write, they’re pretty sure they can do it better than you. Or, at the very least, that you will be somewhat impressed by their work. And maybe artists and musicians and photographers have the same problem. I don’t know. But, after telling someone that I teach they never say, oh, I have this great lesson plan you should really look at.
The other thing that amazes me, and is really what led me to write this blog, (I was walking around thinking about my students at the prison) is that everyone assumes they can make money with their writing. And, usually, not just a little money. They think once they hand me a poem that I can (and will want to) pass on to someone who will pass it one to someone who will give them fifty million bucks. Dude, I’ve been studying and working for six years and haven’t seen a penny. I have friends who have been doing it for twice as long and are in the same boat. And, you’re going to solve all of your financial problems with this one poem. When was the last time you bought a book that wasn’t self-help or written by a Republican, let alone a book of poetry? Maybe I’m being whiny.
So, back to the actual issue of my creative writing students. Several have these plans of solving their family’s financial problems with their writing. I can’t blame them for the idea. These guys are stuck behind a fence, working sixty to seventy hours a week, and, after all living expenses are paid and a percentage pulled out for fines to the government, the guys get a nickel per hour. Maybe a dime or quarter if they’ve been in long enough, so they need some get rich quick plan. But the problem isn’t just with the incarcerated. Most people have a disconnect between the fact that they don’t spend money to buy books, yet they feel there must be easy money in writing books. There was a great moment during one of the talks at the Summer Literary Seminar in Russia a few years back. One of the participants went off about the unfairness of journals not paying their writers. Small literary journals like ours. She vowed not to allow her fiction to be published unless she was getting paid for her efforts. Eli Horowitz, one of the panel members and an editor for the McSweeney’s publishing company, asked the lady how many of these journals she actually bought. He asked her, quite bluntly, how she could demand payment from these journals while she was unwilling to spend money for these journals? The crowd broke out in applause.
Honestly, there’s an even greater problem than just the amateur writer not reading. Right now, I’m reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. I just finished the first section on corn production. This section discussing, among many things, how Americans don’t realize that the Twinke they’re putting in their mouth actually comes from a farm in Iowa, or how close to a barrel of oil went into producing that burger they are eating. We want clean air but won’t stop buying Hummers. We want to lose weight but won’t quit drinking cokes (I’m in Texas, so that’s a generic term for soft drinks). These disconnects occur all over our society. Our consumer culture has taught us not to fix problems, but apply band-aids which only cause other problems. So, I shouldn’t blame my hairdresser when she hands me twenty pages about her mother. Capitalist society has taught her that there is plenty of money for the taking, just not in hair dressing, otherwise she would already be rich. So, she looks to writing. Because of my personal experience and expertise, I know that she won’t be able to pay her bills with those twenty pages. I am obviously the enlightened one here and have started work on a screenplay.
I’ve noticed, ever since I started going to grad school and had to tell people I was getting a degree in creative writing, that not only does everyone think they can write, they’re pretty sure they can do it better than you. Or, at the very least, that you will be somewhat impressed by their work. And maybe artists and musicians and photographers have the same problem. I don’t know. But, after telling someone that I teach they never say, oh, I have this great lesson plan you should really look at.
The other thing that amazes me, and is really what led me to write this blog, (I was walking around thinking about my students at the prison) is that everyone assumes they can make money with their writing. And, usually, not just a little money. They think once they hand me a poem that I can (and will want to) pass on to someone who will pass it one to someone who will give them fifty million bucks. Dude, I’ve been studying and working for six years and haven’t seen a penny. I have friends who have been doing it for twice as long and are in the same boat. And, you’re going to solve all of your financial problems with this one poem. When was the last time you bought a book that wasn’t self-help or written by a Republican, let alone a book of poetry? Maybe I’m being whiny.
So, back to the actual issue of my creative writing students. Several have these plans of solving their family’s financial problems with their writing. I can’t blame them for the idea. These guys are stuck behind a fence, working sixty to seventy hours a week, and, after all living expenses are paid and a percentage pulled out for fines to the government, the guys get a nickel per hour. Maybe a dime or quarter if they’ve been in long enough, so they need some get rich quick plan. But the problem isn’t just with the incarcerated. Most people have a disconnect between the fact that they don’t spend money to buy books, yet they feel there must be easy money in writing books. There was a great moment during one of the talks at the Summer Literary Seminar in Russia a few years back. One of the participants went off about the unfairness of journals not paying their writers. Small literary journals like ours. She vowed not to allow her fiction to be published unless she was getting paid for her efforts. Eli Horowitz, one of the panel members and an editor for the McSweeney’s publishing company, asked the lady how many of these journals she actually bought. He asked her, quite bluntly, how she could demand payment from these journals while she was unwilling to spend money for these journals? The crowd broke out in applause.
Honestly, there’s an even greater problem than just the amateur writer not reading. Right now, I’m reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. I just finished the first section on corn production. This section discussing, among many things, how Americans don’t realize that the Twinke they’re putting in their mouth actually comes from a farm in Iowa, or how close to a barrel of oil went into producing that burger they are eating. We want clean air but won’t stop buying Hummers. We want to lose weight but won’t quit drinking cokes (I’m in Texas, so that’s a generic term for soft drinks). These disconnects occur all over our society. Our consumer culture has taught us not to fix problems, but apply band-aids which only cause other problems. So, I shouldn’t blame my hairdresser when she hands me twenty pages about her mother. Capitalist society has taught her that there is plenty of money for the taking, just not in hair dressing, otherwise she would already be rich. So, she looks to writing. Because of my personal experience and expertise, I know that she won’t be able to pay her bills with those twenty pages. I am obviously the enlightened one here and have started work on a screenplay.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Scary revisions and charming inmates
First, an update. We are trying our hardest to get the Purple Issue out as soon as possible. It should be up and running by the end of this month. Hopefully.
Second, why our revisions so scary? I have no problem sitting down and writing new stories, chapters, scenes, or maybe a naughty limerick or two. But, writing a second draft seems so much more daunting. Draft is probably a better term than revision. I can do revisions. I sit down write a story, then go back and add in all the missed words and correct awkward phrasing. When it comes to writing a second draft, something that will, most likely, look drastically different from the first, I’m terrified. I’ve been working on a novel for over two years now. This past January, I finished my first draft and handed a few copies out to trusted friends and mentors. I received some really good notes and know pretty well where I’m lacking and what needs to be changed. No big deal, right? Yet, it’s approaching mid-afternoon on Sunday and I have yet to turn my laptop on or look at the legal pad where I have accumulated all those notes. I was supposed to be working on the novel starting Friday afternoon. Is it becoming too real? Am I worried that after the second draft I will have to write a third, fourth, fifth to point where I have revised my novel to oblivion and have to scratch the entire thing and start over? Or am I just being lazy both in my revising, finding books to read and movies to watch instead of actually working, and in my blogging, asking a stream of rhetorical questions which I would never let my students get away with?
Anyway.
Finally in this random blog, my summer vacation lasted a total of two days and I am back at the prison teaching. I should have some pretty interesting posts about these classes. Last fall, I taught at the men’s unit. This summer, I have two classes with the men (One class is creative writing which I am really excited about.) and one class on the women’s unit. Walking into a class of twenty-four women, at least half older than myself, was quite an interesting experience. Honestly, it was the best first day of class I have ever had. All the women know each other and most have already taken classes together, so we didn’t have to go through that awkwardness of not wanting to look foolish in front of people we don’t know. They also have the excitement and desire of upper level English students. They can’t afford to fail. Most of them won’t even accept C’s or B’s because they feel the need to prove themselves much more acutely than my students in the community. And, they will actually work for the A’s, not just expect them. Again, different from my community classes. In the weeks to come, I should have plenty of interesting experiences and ruminations. I have much more freedom with my female students because it’s medium security, not maximum like the men. Meaning, I have access to a DVD player, CD player, TV's, and possible even projectors. So, we’ll see what happens.
Sorry for the month and half long hiatus in posts. We should be back on top of things within the month.
Second, why our revisions so scary? I have no problem sitting down and writing new stories, chapters, scenes, or maybe a naughty limerick or two. But, writing a second draft seems so much more daunting. Draft is probably a better term than revision. I can do revisions. I sit down write a story, then go back and add in all the missed words and correct awkward phrasing. When it comes to writing a second draft, something that will, most likely, look drastically different from the first, I’m terrified. I’ve been working on a novel for over two years now. This past January, I finished my first draft and handed a few copies out to trusted friends and mentors. I received some really good notes and know pretty well where I’m lacking and what needs to be changed. No big deal, right? Yet, it’s approaching mid-afternoon on Sunday and I have yet to turn my laptop on or look at the legal pad where I have accumulated all those notes. I was supposed to be working on the novel starting Friday afternoon. Is it becoming too real? Am I worried that after the second draft I will have to write a third, fourth, fifth to point where I have revised my novel to oblivion and have to scratch the entire thing and start over? Or am I just being lazy both in my revising, finding books to read and movies to watch instead of actually working, and in my blogging, asking a stream of rhetorical questions which I would never let my students get away with?
Anyway.
Finally in this random blog, my summer vacation lasted a total of two days and I am back at the prison teaching. I should have some pretty interesting posts about these classes. Last fall, I taught at the men’s unit. This summer, I have two classes with the men (One class is creative writing which I am really excited about.) and one class on the women’s unit. Walking into a class of twenty-four women, at least half older than myself, was quite an interesting experience. Honestly, it was the best first day of class I have ever had. All the women know each other and most have already taken classes together, so we didn’t have to go through that awkwardness of not wanting to look foolish in front of people we don’t know. They also have the excitement and desire of upper level English students. They can’t afford to fail. Most of them won’t even accept C’s or B’s because they feel the need to prove themselves much more acutely than my students in the community. And, they will actually work for the A’s, not just expect them. Again, different from my community classes. In the weeks to come, I should have plenty of interesting experiences and ruminations. I have much more freedom with my female students because it’s medium security, not maximum like the men. Meaning, I have access to a DVD player, CD player, TV's, and possible even projectors. So, we’ll see what happens.
Sorry for the month and half long hiatus in posts. We should be back on top of things within the month.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Nothing says I'm leader like acting like an ape
Don’t worry (or maybe you should) I’m not going to discuss the presidential campaign but am back to the classroom, ruminating about my students.
Last Friday I had the best discussions in my two freshman classes. (Best meaning, of this semester, not best as in, one of the best discussions of my life.) I had them read Paul Theroux’s “Being a Man”. I was hoping we could jump right in to talking about gender roles in the US and maybe even nurture verses nature when it comes to defining one’s sense of self in terms of sex. This didn’t happen. Instead, I had to start discussing sports. They perked right up and joined in, but through out class I showed my ignorance of the entire sports world. I kept saying linebacker, realized I was referring to the wrong position, and the only thing I could come up with was: the fat guys in front of the quarter back. Then I asked if any of them had seen the cover of Vogue which they thought was hilarious and the laughter only got worse when I called the basketball player Bronson James.
Anyway, during my second class’s discussion we started talking about leadership and the majority of the students were saying that men made better leaders. It was just in their nature. I pointed out that one of the soft-spoken female students who sits in the front of the class was the best leader in that room. Guys, when she speaks you listen, I said. You listen to her better than you do me. She waits her turn, speaks quietly, but speaks her mind and makes intelligent comments when she has them. Everyone stopped and chewed this idea over, but then one student argued furiously that I was wrong.
It was the female student I had pointed out. While all the other students could only agree with me, she was adamant that she was not a good leader. I really don’t like English at all, she said. That has nothing to do with being a good leader, I responded. No, I’ve been in college before and I’m coming back. I’ve already taken several speech courses so I can express myself. I’m married and have a kid, so I just have more experience than most of the other students in here. It’s not that I’m more intelligent, it’s just that I can form my ideas more quickly than most freshmen.
When I told a fellow professor about my student’s response he said, so she’s more articulate, more experienced and therefore more intelligent, and she finds it very easy to make people listen. What does she need to do go water board someone before she can become a leader?
Theroux makes a comment about how most little boys are encouraged to act like monkeys while most girls need to show off their pretty dress. I think we have a prime example of that here. Most of my male students tend to act more like monkeys than normal people. During that same discussion one of my male students announced he had to pee before getting up and leaving the classroom. As a society we are convinced that female leaders have to act tough and hard like our typical male leaders. But here I have a student who fits the stereotypical female personality and can command the classroom much more effectively than I can. Even so, it always tends to be the monkey in the front of the classroom who gets most of the attention.
Last Friday I had the best discussions in my two freshman classes. (Best meaning, of this semester, not best as in, one of the best discussions of my life.) I had them read Paul Theroux’s “Being a Man”. I was hoping we could jump right in to talking about gender roles in the US and maybe even nurture verses nature when it comes to defining one’s sense of self in terms of sex. This didn’t happen. Instead, I had to start discussing sports. They perked right up and joined in, but through out class I showed my ignorance of the entire sports world. I kept saying linebacker, realized I was referring to the wrong position, and the only thing I could come up with was: the fat guys in front of the quarter back. Then I asked if any of them had seen the cover of Vogue which they thought was hilarious and the laughter only got worse when I called the basketball player Bronson James.
Anyway, during my second class’s discussion we started talking about leadership and the majority of the students were saying that men made better leaders. It was just in their nature. I pointed out that one of the soft-spoken female students who sits in the front of the class was the best leader in that room. Guys, when she speaks you listen, I said. You listen to her better than you do me. She waits her turn, speaks quietly, but speaks her mind and makes intelligent comments when she has them. Everyone stopped and chewed this idea over, but then one student argued furiously that I was wrong.
It was the female student I had pointed out. While all the other students could only agree with me, she was adamant that she was not a good leader. I really don’t like English at all, she said. That has nothing to do with being a good leader, I responded. No, I’ve been in college before and I’m coming back. I’ve already taken several speech courses so I can express myself. I’m married and have a kid, so I just have more experience than most of the other students in here. It’s not that I’m more intelligent, it’s just that I can form my ideas more quickly than most freshmen.
When I told a fellow professor about my student’s response he said, so she’s more articulate, more experienced and therefore more intelligent, and she finds it very easy to make people listen. What does she need to do go water board someone before she can become a leader?
Theroux makes a comment about how most little boys are encouraged to act like monkeys while most girls need to show off their pretty dress. I think we have a prime example of that here. Most of my male students tend to act more like monkeys than normal people. During that same discussion one of my male students announced he had to pee before getting up and leaving the classroom. As a society we are convinced that female leaders have to act tough and hard like our typical male leaders. But here I have a student who fits the stereotypical female personality and can command the classroom much more effectively than I can. Even so, it always tends to be the monkey in the front of the classroom who gets most of the attention.
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