Profile avatar
garr.bsky.social
poet, translator, lit ed lesbian avenger-at-large, butch dad đź“ŤAmsterdam, NL
75 posts 285 followers 496 following
Prolific Poster
Conversation Starter
comment in response to post
Anyway, not looking for a fight or for encouragement. Just putting some of this here in case others sometimes feel similarly. Also, editing a lit mag is hard work. Be kind to editors, they’re usually doing it for nothing more than pure love of the form.
comment in response to post
It’s been a few years now and I’m starting to write again, but definitely struggling with the “who cares” part. What in god’s name can I say that hasn’t been said, or said better, or said worse but is now a meme.
comment in response to post
There’s a lot of poetry out there. A lot of it, even the stuff that gets shared and reshared or published in the New Yorker, is not good. I don’t think my own poetry is good half the time. And I haven’t wanted to add to the noise.
comment in response to post
My response to that, aside from trying to publish works that were excellent, was to get very quiet and basically stop writing poetry myself. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing.
comment in response to post
Versal was a small, unfunded project, so I read most of what we got, and gradually became overwhelmed by a feeling of a kind of poetic surplus.
comment in response to post
👋🏼
comment in response to post
anyway I'm reading poems tomorrow at Burley Fisher in Dalston (London), 6:30 pm xx
comment in response to post
I mean, don't cede the evidence of your eyes/ears/nervous system; don't make a fuss where disdain is deserved; no need to expend energy on pettiness; refuse, in as many microscopic ways possible, to use the rules we're being given
comment in response to post
So much here to resonate with. Thank you for putting it in words.
comment in response to post
Same.
comment in response to post
Yessss, look forward to digging into this with you soon over drinks in Paris
comment in response to post
The marketplace ruins translation. As it ruins translators. And world literature. I wish this was more evident. I guess I have to write about it. But I already sort of am.
comment in response to post
Oef. As a Tennessean this stings. Can we not ban together to fight for all of us?
comment in response to post
Also full disclosure I first read “dorm-room” as “dom-com”