I would like to see more work in the genre of literary essays written with care and as creative works in their own right, by contemporary working writers (including critics but also novelists &c.) about how they read books through other books and their own lives. - ThreadSky

vajra.me • 176 days ago

I would like to see more work in the genre of literary essays written with care and as creative works in their own right, by contemporary working writers (including critics but also novelists &c.) about how they read books through other books and their own lives.

Reposted from Molly Templeton

some conversations this morning have me wondering: book folks, what do you wish there were more of in how books are covered? and by that I mean: lists? reviews? columns? themed essays? straight-up recommendations? something else I've never thought of?

Comments

morselya.bsky.social•176 days ago

This might spark something in me - starting with the assertion of parents (not just mine, to be sure) accusing an enthusiastic reading child, especially while reading *fiction*, of using said choices to "hide from reality".

natskibb.bsky.social•175 days ago

If you havent already checked it out @speculativeinsight.bsky.social has been putting out some really great essays. As someone who doesnt read much non-fiction, Ive found them accessible while really digging into themes and ideas I hadnt really considered about the scifi/fantasy I read.

vajra.me•175 days ago

Yes! I've enjoyed the essays I've read there, and probably should subscribe

speculativeinsight.bsky.social•175 days ago

There are some excellent essays coming in the next few months... 😁

speculativeinsight.bsky.social•175 days ago

Glad you've enjoyed them! That's exactly the response I'm aiming for!

rowanzeoli.bsky.social•176 days ago

These are my favorite kinds of pieces to write

theravenof.bsky.social•176 days ago

assuming you read brandon taylor already but just in case not
https://brandonlgtaylor.com/

vajra.me•176 days ago

oh yes! High culture literary fiction is where this sort of writing is still quite common I think.

dmartincampbell.bsky.social•176 days ago

It’s a really weird time for reflective writing on contemporary literature. Indie lit English language writers seem really paranoid about critical writing and I don’t know what it means.

vajra.me•176 days ago

imo it's that "review" came to mean Amazon-type consumer product reviews, so a negative review became a personal attack on someone's small business and/or labour of love, and social media helpfully amplified every resulting interpersonal conflict into a social problem

dmartincampbell.bsky.social•176 days ago

lol I agree 100% but this also sounds like at least three different text threads I’m in where writers (correctly?) complain that critical analysis is punching down for writers who might not sell 200 hundred books. But I feel like many of their books deserve deep reading.

vajra.me•176 days ago

yeah lol. a lot of writers, especially those with little exposure to literary criticism, seem to automatically think "critical analysis" means "someone is criticizing you" and that is itself a result of this criticism-starved culture

percypropa.bsky.social•176 days ago

As someone who has been going into literary and critical analysis of works, part of it is because depending on the outlet you are expected to pitch as an expert, removed from one’s personal biases

percypropa.bsky.social•176 days ago

That being said, I am trying to work much more of this into the nonfiction that I have coming out in the next year, because the contextual texture makes readings of things so interesting!

vajra.me•176 days ago

When it's the personal biases that make it interesting!! (and looking forward to seeing this!)

percypropa.bsky.social•176 days ago

I have a number of pitches i’m very fond of waiting for publication, though for now i think this is what i’ve written that is closest to what you’re describing https://magazine.interstellarflightpress.com/welhamin-thomas-has-short-story-grotmatta-52b680a2337e

vajra.me•176 days ago

Oh cool, will check it out. In case you haven't already read it, you might also enjoy Cat Aquino's "Bitter Soil" in Strange Horizons a few years ago!

percypropa.bsky.social•176 days ago

Thank you for the recc! A good read for my journey homewards

jstmalicious.bsky.social•176 days ago

I yearn for this especially in SFFH circles.

vajra.me•176 days ago

yeah it's mostly genre circles I'm thinking of too. apart from like six other unhealthy dynamics there's also the It's Not That Deep It's Just Entertainment school of defensive self-abuse

anarchicaesthete.bsky.social•176 days ago

Which can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy when authors who come out of fannish circles write to that because that's the only standard for SFF they've encountered.

jstmalicious.bsky.social•176 days ago

Ah this is my main issue with it I think.

jstmalicious.bsky.social•176 days ago

YES!!

vajra.me•176 days ago

As distinct from consumer-type reviews, recommendations, roundups, lists, craft or productivity tips, industry or career advice, &c. All of which exists plentifully on the literary internet.

evavroslin.bsky.social•176 days ago

Yes!! I like this idea more of what you suggested above

vajra.me•176 days ago

Obviously essays of this kind are a lot more work to write and probably have few options to actually sell, so I can understand why they're scarce lol.

jennaroutenberg.bsky.social•176 days ago

This is the magazine I want to start and — yeah, the spreadsheeting is challenging

vajra.me•176 days ago

When I write essays I just publish them on my blog without even submitting them for publication. Partly it's because I didn't want to try to keep track of nonfiction the way I was doing for fiction, but also because I wanted to write that kind of essay more loosely and impressionistically

vajra.me•176 days ago

🤔 Maybe I'm just making a case for more bookblogging

yazanbaker.bsky.social•176 days ago

Please help me and my family 💔🙏🥺 @vajra.me

dawnxianamoon.bsky.social•176 days ago

The essays I publish tend to be in this vein, though they usually focus on movies/TV.

I've been thinking about writing a newsletter that's more or less what you're describing for a long time. Maybe this is the push I needed to actually do it, haha.

vajra.me•176 days ago

Definitely!!

dreddieclark.bsky.social•176 days ago

One of the pieces of genre essay writing I've valued most in recent years was this by Kai Ashante Wilson last year. Which funnily enough is a mix of exactly what you mentioned with a basic ass rec list. The former element gives the latter so much more resonance & heft than its usual form.

vajra.me•176 days ago

Yes, I really liked this one!

vajra.me•176 days ago

My go-tos for this sort of thing are basically SH and ARB I think.

mollytempleton.com•176 days ago

that "and their own lives" part is something I want so much more of—I get tired of authoritative distance and pronouncements; I want feelings and mess and the way every book is different for every reader! all the analysis is great too but more book-connected personal essays would make me so happy

bryancamp.bsky.social•176 days ago

The author's not dead! I'm right here!

bpladek.bsky.social•176 days ago

Me & two colleagues are editing a collection that does just this for pre-20th c texts! it's no pay because academia 🙃, but we've had the proposal accepted by Tangent & we'd love more essays from global south, Muslim, Palestinian, & indigenous writers.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15qAkU9zVbCmT_eXa-maoExtcwsj8A2fzQeSIJZHIbok/edit?tab=t.0

vajra.me•175 days ago

This sounds wonderful!

bpladek.bsky.social•175 days ago

Thank you so much for boosting, we are really hoping to get more essays!

bpladek.bsky.social•176 days ago

I contributed my "Dante made me trans" piece that otherwise lives on my blog, it's an example of the sort of thing we're looking for & the kind of thing I really love reading (others already in the collection do it MUCH better than me). https://www.bpladek.net/2022/05/05/virgil-opts-out-or-how-dante-made-me-trans/

its-its.bsky.social•175 days ago

This may be my mantra from 2025 – 2029: "Barred from hope, / we live on in desire." I wonder if I should reread Dante.

cxorlando.bsky.social•176 days ago

vajra you have my email

vajra.me•175 days ago

hahahaha yess if I ever write one of these that is more put together than a blog post

cxorlando.bsky.social•175 days ago

you send to me i help make it more put together

rosactrl.bsky.social•176 days ago

Do you have in mind a pice similar to what you’re describing here?

vajra.me•176 days ago

I didn't have any particular thing in mind when I said it but Eddie has a great example here. I feel like this sort of writing used to be more common but gets neoliberalized out of the culture as an inefficiency https://bsky.app/profile/dreddieclark.bsky.social/post/3lck2ebqxa225

dreddieclark.bsky.social•176 days ago

Anything that suggests Wilson might perhaps want to write more is also a real plus heh.

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