Action in the face of collective violence and injustice is a complicated affair for those of us with unruly bodies for whom the world makes few accommodations. (See: Johanna Hedva’s “Sick Woman Theory”) Until very recently, I felt paralyzed. Over the past month and a half, I have left my home about five times, and that’s not counting trips in cars to my partners’ homes, which I also did not leave until it was time to return to my little pink lair. (I have hot pink walls, and am kind of obsessed with them.) The plunging temperatures, windchill, and early darkness can all have considerable impact on patients with POTS, CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia, and EDS, not to mention clinical depression, seasonal affective disorder, and generalized anxiety. During this period of bodily limitation, the most nourishing and galvanizing experiences have been Zoom-based community gatherings around texts, poems, prompts, and big questions about solidarity, purpose, hope, and futurity.
Zaina Alsous, in an episode of my upcoming poetry podcast mini-series co-hosted with Divya Victor called The Source (see what I did there?), reminds us of the critical value of deep study and how fundamental it is to any genuine solidarity.
In the past, I drew purpose, inspiration, and vital energy from sharing texts I love and discussing them with my students. As a queer and disabled poet, seasoned educator, editor, and enthusiastic collector of texts, I realize that I am able to offer structure and curation to a self-selected group of people interesting in reading texts that inform, inspire, galvanize, and illuminate in the service of our collective freedom and creativity. (This idea was inspired, among other things, by my attendance of the excellent first session of Diaspora Reads: A Book Club session hosted by Sahaj Kaur Kohli’s Culturally Enough on Hijab Butch Blues by Samya H—a book that is still in the process of rewiring my brain days out from finishing it. If you’re a diasporic desi, I strongly suggest getting into Culturally Enough and Sahaj’s work more broadly.)
I envision Pain Baby Book Club as monthly space around a wide range of books that center the experiences and insights of figures like Malcolm X and Audre Lorde, novels that shed light on regions and issues of the day, poetry that fortifies in the face of our hostile moment in history, and more, in hopes of creating community around our shared questions and desire to edify ourselves as resistance. A cozy space. Proverbial tea and snacks. Kitchen vibes, if you will. Free for paid subscribers, sliding scale suggested donation for everyone else. Friends and acquaintances who have taken poetry workshops or been in reading groups with me in the past have, so far, generously encouraged me when I pitched this to them, so it’s time to present the question to a wider little public. Please indicate whether this idea might appeal to you in the poll below:
I’m very excited to see your responses.
Announcing The Source:
The Source, an Asian American Writers Workshop Poetry Podcast Mini-Series co-hosted by Ashna Ali and Divya Victor
In 2020, I complained on X (formerly Twitter) about how poetry podcasts close-read poems without the artist present, whereas music podcasts like Song Exploder engage with the poets themselves in a deep reading of a single work. Divya Victor, now my personal glamour icon, author of Curb and Kith, and the Director of the Creative Writing Program at University of Michigan, responded by asking if I would create said podcast if she could make it happen.
Though we had never met in person at the time, we engaged in a four-year-long labor of love and created The Source, the first episode of which will be released by Asian American Writers Workshop next month. Each episode features one poet discussing one poem and the questions it brings up for them at this time. The poets are *drumroll* Rajiv Mohabir, Zaina Alsous, Hala Alyan, Douglas Kearney, and José Olivarez.
Needless to say, I’m positively sizzling with excitement.
Upcoming Readings and Other Endeavors
Will you be at AWP in Los Angeles later this month? Catch me at the following:
Thursday, March 28: Epiphany Magazine x The New School x No, Dear Magazine Off-Site Reading, Cole’s French Dip, 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm PT
Friday, March 28: Unruly Bodies Off-Site Reading, Pieter Performance Space, 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. PT. Look at this lineup! Purchase tickets.
Saturday, March 29 AWP Panel: Queer Crip Worlds: Poetry as Portal for Transnational Solidarity with Tala Khanmalek and heidi andrea restrepo rhodes
Location: Room 407, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Time: 3:20 pm PT - 4:35 pm PTSession Code: S229
Other Upcoming Readings:
Global Literature Festival
Queer Rage
Matwaaala
Pain Baby Podcast: I know I got all excited and announced this in a post weeks ago, and I promise it’s coming. Keep your pants on (actually, don’t), ya girl’s trying to learn some software. Also, the release of the episode will be paired with another two (two!) exciting releases. Lots of news and hot goss from Hunter Hodkinson coming up.
Celebrating and Uplifting:
we the soil is a free monthly newsletter that offers a curated list of workshops and other opportunities to create in community. The intention for this project is to celebrate and prioritize the role of community in our creative lives while doing something tangible to support teaching artists and help them spread the word about their offerings. The newsletter sometimes hosts brief features with writers and teaching artists. When possible, we also offer a microscholarship intended to go toward a workshop listed in the newsletter.
My dear witch friend The Hocus Pocus Pvssy is taking appointments for tarot readings! Move into the new season with some guidance and clarity:
IMGE DANCE: If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know how obsessed and proud I am of IMGE Dance, my dear friend Ishita Milli’s dance company, that’s now taking the world by storm. I had the pleasure of seeing their first evening-length show “(No)Man” which I hope will return so that more folks can experience these dancers’ brilliance and stories (my review for Asian American Arts Alliance’s The Amp is forthcoming). Meanwhile, enjoy their latest short dance film shot to one of my favorite Joy Crookes songs, “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now.”
Save the Date for No, Dear Magazine’s first fundraiser! Sunday, April 6th. Two DJs, a jazz ensemble, and a silent auction! (Psst, one of the auction items is a copy of The Relativity of Living Well, and another is an editorial session or project with me!)
Recommended:
Poems:
“Half-Life in Exile” by Hala Alyan
“To A Young Poet” by Zaina Alsous
“Ways to Measure Trees” by MaKshya Tolbert
“Reflections” by Danez Smith
“Rebuke/ /Spell” by Kinsale Drake
Until next time!
idk about everyone else but book club has never sounded so fulfilling, exciting, nor inspiring!!! Looking forward!!
I love Sahaj Kaur Kohli's work! That's it, all I have to write.