#evie shockley

[thelibraryiscool]

from "where you are planted" by Evie Shockley

#evie shockley #poetry #quote #allie reads #trees

[mehetibel]

#Evie Shockley #Suddenly we #poetry #covid

[banji-effect]

i gave mine away— not all, but the greater portion, some would say. i gave away the ready claim to goodness, to purpose. i gave away mary, sarai, and isis. i gave away necessity and invention. i gave away a whole holiday, but i kept billie. i gave away the chance to try and fail to have it all. i gave away the one thing that makes some men pay. i gave away the pedestal, the bouquet. i gave away nel wright, but i kept sula peace. i gave away the fine-tooth comb, but kept the oyster knife. i gave away the first word the new mouth forms, the easiest to parlay across so many languages. escaping the maw, i gave away the power to hold—and be held in—sway, but i kept cho, parton, finney, chapman, and tomei. i gave away the eve who left the garden that day, but kept the cool, green, shady, fruitless, fruitful stay, the evening that did not fall away.

Evie Shockley, “the blessings”

#evie shockley #:') #you shouldn't let poets lie to you

[deadpanwalking]

The cancellation of the 2024 World Voices festival reminded me that I meant to make a post about this last week, when PEN America announced that it could not hold its annual literary award ceremony because so many authors and translators had withdrawn their submissions.  I don’t doubt that there's another post of this sort making the rounds, but since the ceremony was going to be tomorrow, I wanted to celebrate the literary achievements of every Finalist with a demonstrable backbone.

This is a list of writers who acted with integrity by withdrawing their work from the American subset of PEN International, an organization which has served as a bridge between literature and human rights for over a century.  PEN America has largely built its reputation by supporting persecuted writers, and has let down the entire international literary community by failing to take a meaningful public stance against the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. 

The following titles have been withdrawn from consideration at the request of the authors and translators:

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

To a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence.

Hangman by Maya Binyam 

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

Poem Bitten by a Man by Brian Teare

Blackouts by Justin Torres

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

To an author whose debut collection of short stories represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise for future work.

The Sorrow of Others by Ada Zhang

PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

To a debut novel of exceptional literary merit.

Promise by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection

To a poet whose distinguished collection of poetry represents a notable and accomplished literary presence.

Couplets by Maggie Millner

suddenly we by Evie Shockley

PEN Translation Prize

From From by Monica Youn

For a book-length translation of poetry from any language into English.

Owlish by Dorothy Tse translated from the Chinese by Natascha Bruce

Trash by Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny translated from the Spanish by J.D. Pluecker

#there's a lot more to it. i can't go into detail but it's been a fucking shitshow these past 4 months. it did NOT have to be this way. #so many people reached out to them with patience and grace but they just kept on keeping on. #the nerve of thinking writers would still show up to collect their cereal box prizes. the NERVE of trying to go ahead with World Voices. #naturally their big gala is still on so do please show up for the cocktail reception at 6PM at the natural history museum on thursday 5/16 #resources #gaza

[llovelymoonn]

on beauty

snehal vadher beauty is brief and violent \\ evie shockley senzo

kofi

#on beauty #on violence #mine #my webweaving #webweaving #web weaving #webweave #web weave #webs #web #ww #parallel #parallels #parallelism #compilation #compilations #intertextuality #comparative #comparatives #snehal vadher #on self #on identity #evie shockley

[wildereader]

My current favorite place to go read is this cemetery near where I live, and it was finally nice enough on a day I had off from work to spend an afternoon there! Aside from the flies and caterpillars that would NOT leave me alone, it was lovely. Amidst the headstones and forget-me-nots, I spent my time reading two books: a few poems in the recently-published collection This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, which I am adoring so far, and the biography Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Cemeteries have always been a favorite spot of mine. They’re in nature, they’re peaceful, and they’re beautiful. I always enjoy spending time in them.

The poem I took photos of is one of my favorites so far in the anthology— “Fruitful” by Evie Shockley. Full text under the cut (and in photo ids):

"Fruitful" by Evie Shockley you grow my garden. no, you are                     the whole of it: the beds of zinnias,         tiger lilies, begonias, petunias, in all                               their taken-for-granted variety :: irises waving purple flags from the tops                     of long stalks :: daffodils and violets by         the bushel, rhododendrons and azaleas                               by the bush. you are the greenhouse in the western quadrant, the rainforest                     inside, and the delicate herd of orchids,         strange by stranger, each out-thriving                               the other. not just lovely, you’re the courtyard, central, complete                     with benches for contemplating         the round, still pool, an eye gazing                               back at the ones looking down. you’re the meadow of tall grasses that hide                     everything but the sound of the stream ::         the arched boughs of the peach orchard,                               the rows of beans, corn, greens, gourds, the root vegetables, the parsley, sage,                     rosemary, and chives, oregano, basil,         and, yes, all the thyme in the world.                               you’re the stand of aspens waving me on :: the grove of willows that arc                     and cascade, but never weep :: the oaks,         maples, and birches encircling the verge.                               here, i become my best self, i exist at peace with birds and bees, no knowledge                     is denied me: i eat the apple, speak         with the snake, and nothing as obnoxious                               as an angel could oust me from this soil, the plot where the best of my stories                     has its genesis, and finds its end.

#bookblr #booklr #bookworm #bibliophile #book lover #bookish #readers of tumblr #mckay reads #poetry #this is the honey: an anthology of contemporary black poets #kwame alexander #chasing beauty: the life of isabella stewart gardner #natalie dykstra #nonfiction books #biography

[itsastansberrythang]

BLOG 5 Music & Rhythm

Sheesh! What would the world be without music? I cannot imagine life without the sultry sounds of jazz piercing my ears with joy. Most poems I have created were born to the climax of Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet. Our textbook reminds us the sound of music and rhythm are useful guiding principles in a poem. The rhythm creates music in a poem. For instance, Suddenly We, authored by Evie Shockley, is filled with the delightful sounds of rhythm throughout her book. The theme of the poem is based on how the poet controls the speed of the poem. Whether it is stage poetry or formal poetry these two elements are important to the meaning or interpretation.

Recently, I wrote a personal poem to my brother in my journal. Days later I read its content aloud...boy was I mad. This is an example of how sound was a useful guiding principle.

Ultimately, it is important for poets to read their work aloud and more than once. The rhythm of the poem determines what message we want to convey to our audience.

[wellesleybooks]

The National Book Award finalists have been announced.

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction:

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars Pantheon Books / Penguin Random House

Aaliyah Bilal, Temple Folk Simon & Schuster

Eliot Duncan, Ponyboy W. W. Norton & Company

Paul Harding, This Other Eden W. W. Norton & Company

Tania James, Loot Knopf / Penguin Random House

Jayne Anne Phillips, Night Watch Knopf / Penguin Random House

Mona Susan Power, A Council of Dolls Mariner Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers

Justin Torres, Blackouts Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

LaToya Watkins, Holler, Child Tiny Reparations Books / Penguin Random House

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction:

Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History Yale University Press

Jonathan Eig, King: A Life Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Viet Thanh Nguyen, A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Grove Press / Grove Atlantic

Prudence Peiffer, The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever Harper / HarperCollins Publishers

Donovan X. Ramsey, When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era One World / Penguin Random House

Cristina Rivera Garza, Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice Hogarth / Penguin Random House

Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Raja Shehadeh, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir Other Press

John Vaillant, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World Knopf / Penguin Random House

Kidada E. Williams, I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction Bloomsbury Publishing

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry:

John Lee Clark, How to Communicate W. W. Norton & Company

Oliver de la Paz, The Diaspora Sonnets Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company

Annelyse Gelman, Vexations University of Chicago Press

José Olivarez, Promises of Gold Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers

Craig Santos Perez, from unincorporated territory [åmot] Omnidawn Publishing

Paisley Rekdal, West: A Translation Copper Canyon Press

Brandon Som, Tripas Georgia Review Books / University of Georgia Press

Charif Shanahan, Trace Evidence Tin House Books

Evie Shockley, suddenly we Wesleyan University Press Monica Youn, From From Graywolf Press

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature:

Juan Cárdenas, The Devil of the Provinces Translated from the Spanish by Lizzie Davis Coffee House Press

Bora Chung, Cursed Bunny Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur Algonquin Books / Hachette Book Group

David Diop, Beyond the Door of No Return Translated from the French by Sam Taylor Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann New Directions Publishing

Stênio Gardel, The Words That Remain Translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato New Vessel Press

Khaled Khalifa, No One Prayed Over Their Graves Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Fernanda Melchor, This Is Not Miami Translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes New Directions Publishing

Pilar Quintana, Abyss Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman World Editions

Astrid Roemer, On a Woman’s Madness Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott Two Lines Press

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, The Most Secret Memory of Men Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud Other Press

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature:

Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says Disney-Hyperion Books / Disney Publishing Worldwide

Kenneth M. Cadow, Gather Candlewick Press

Alyson Derrick, Forget Me Not Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster

Huda Fahmy, Huda F Cares? Dial Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

Vashti Harrison, Big Little, Brown Books for Young Readers / Hachette Book Group

Katherine Marsh, The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan Publishers

Dan Nott, Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day Random House Graphic / Penguin Random House

Dan Santat, A First Time for Everything First Second / Macmillan Publishers

Betty C. Tang, Parachute Kids Graphix / Scholastic, Inc.

Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers / Macmillan Publishers

#national book awards #national book foundation #wellesley book #book awards

[poeticque]

“why are we still you?”

-ex patria, by Evie Shockley.

#quotes #lit #words #poetry #ex patria #mythology

[dogstarblues]

had the unfortunate and utterly dismaying realization today that some academic texts, unless they are on kindle, are wholly barred from me because the fonts literally hurt my brain. i got 7 pages into the introduction of Evie Shockley's Renegade Poetics and got a horrifying migraine

#dogstar speaking

[danaescave]

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry:

John Lee Clark, How to Communicate W. W. Norton & Company

Oliver de la Paz, The Diaspora Sonnets Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company

Annelyse Gelman, Vexations University of Chicago Press

José Olivarez, Promises of Gold Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers

Craig Santos Perez, from unincorporated territory [åmot] Omnidawn Publishing

Paisley Rekdal, West: A Translation Copper Canyon Press

Brandon Som, Tripas Georgia Review Books / University of Georgia Press

Charif Shanahan, Trace Evidence Tin House Books

Evie Shockley, suddenly we Wesleyan University Press

Monica Youn, From From Graywolf Press

#2023 #national book awards #poetry

[mae-we-post-poems]

black love

Evie Shockley

my love is black though my love is not black ::

think the darkness cradling the milky way ::

imagine quick light flowing down the back

of my throat, glowing—i swallow the day ::

my love is black, an absorbing array

of colors :: gold yolk escaping the cracked

shell :: a shiny silver moon-coin to play ::

a juicy peach, plump plums, cup of cognac ::

my love is black, the only way i know

to live :: now fierce and demanding, now free

and unpossessed :: so for my magnet, my

love becomes steel, then, for my butterfly,

will not a flower but a whole field be ::

my love and my blackness together go—

#poems #poem #writing #literature #poem post

[gothprentiss]

so like:

laura gilpin, two-headed calf

elizabeth bishop, a cold spring

hồ xuân hương, new year couplet (trans. natalie linh bolderston)

evie shockley, on new year's eve

#just a progression. little more

[sistahscifi]

Join us for the first Brioxy | Sistah Scifi Book Club of 2023 as we continue through our nine month journey into the works of Dark Matter edited by @shereereneethomas ✨THESE EVENTS ARE ONLY FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO IDENTIFY AS BIPOC✨ Jan 18th starting at 6pm PST we will be discussing "separation anxiety" by Evie Shockley. Jan 25th starting at 6pm PST we will be discussing @leone.ross "Tasting Songs". @sistahscifi | @brioxy Register now for this FREE event to join in on the discussion. Register by clicking the link in bio > LIT EVENTS: @sistahschifi | www.sistahscifi.com | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brioxy-sistah-scifi-book-club-dark-matter-tickets-398736420367 @hachetteus #SistahScifi #virtualbookclub #bookclub #EvieShockley #LeoneRoss #sistahscifibookclub #brioxy #sistahscifisiblings #bipoc #blackauthorsmatter #blackreadersmatter #blackfiction #blackauthorfiction #sistahscifibookclub #BlackScifi #darkmatter #blackspeculativefiction #darkmatter #darkmatteranthology (at Sistah Scifi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnktUy-PNBm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#sistahscifi #virtualbookclub #bookclub #evieshockley #leoneross #sistahscifibookclub #brioxy #sistahscifisiblings #bipoc #blackauthorsmatter #blackreadersmatter #blackfiction #blackauthorfiction #blackscifi #darkmatter #blackspeculativefiction #darkmatteranthology

[truthlovestogonaked]

i just have so many thoughts

so, so many thoughts. and people keep telling me i am talented. so maybe i should write here, instead of my random google docs. 

“truth loves to go naked“ -fka twigs

“i wanted to give readers a way to bear the truth” - evie shockley

i’ve spent so much time these past four months (four months! today is january 3rd, wow. it’s been a third of a year since my life has changed so much). what does it look like to let go of the truth? it will go naked on its own time. 

[haikupunk]

Some Poems I Like

Let’s start this off with a piece that isn’t a poem. Or is it? > A tragedy is a haunted house with the prison-like spatial constraint removed. You are free to move yet not to escape the event. An equivalent definition is that a tragedy is a haunted cosmos, which is another species of house. > … > A hero dispelling a haunting is the intersection of two tragedies. Most often this isn’t a battle but a hallway between slightly separate rooms.

from a throwaway note on haunted houses… by marcelo rinesi

One reason I love the (Poem-A-Day)[https://poets.org/poem-a-day] series is because the “About This Poem” section can be as rich / interesting as the poem itself. And sometimes more so. saying of il haboul by adelaide crapsey is as interesting to me for its form as its content. > My tent > A vapour that > The wind dispels and but > As dust before the wind am I > Myself.

Tommy Pico is great to read, but even better to listen to. Do both with an excerpt from his book poem Junk.

What can you do with a mythology? Let’s ask ex patria by evie shockley > a person who knows all the answers can only borrow a mythology like i’m king midas or i’m god. a painter can take a mythology and remake it so that it answers a new question > … > autumn is answering the question about gorgeous rotting. just magenta, green, brown, pink, yellow, red, violet flying off the mythological canvas.

Assessment as poem from poetry trapper keeper > I’m always opening parentheses I forget to close > > Never Seldom Sometimes Rarely Often Always

A haiku by Chris Gordon > talking about talking about clay

The sun also rises, as they say, but what else does? > one day > the neon > will burn out > > and then what > * > sun rises > like rent > * > sun rises > like a flag > * > sun rises > like the ocean

from insomniami by ariel francisco.

I have a thing for crow poems. > and why? The crow long gone now, and what marked the line between winter and spring?

from dear— by donika kelly