Download or read book Poetry Los Angeles written by Laurence Goldstein and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at the poetry of one of America’s most populous and fascinating cities, with poems spanning from 1942 to 2012
Download or read book Mr West written by Sarah Blake and published by Wesleyan University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-09 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mr. West covers the main events in superstar Kanye West's life while also following the poet on her year spent researching, writing, and pregnant. The book explores how we are drawn to celebrities—to their portrayal in the media—and how we sometimes find great private meaning in another person's public story, even across lines of gender and race. Blake's aesthetics take her work from prose poems to lineated free verse to tightly wound lyrics to improbably successful sestinas. The poems fully engage pop culture as a strange, complicated presence that is revealing of America itself. This is a daring debut collection and a groundbreaking work. An online reader's companion will be available at http://sarahblake.site.wesleyan.edu.
Download or read book Voyage of the Sable Venus written by Robin Coste Lewis and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This National Book Award-winning debut poetry collection is a "powerfully evocative" (The New York Review of Books) meditation on the black female figure through time. Robin Coste Lewis's electrifying collection is a triptych that begins and ends with lyric poems meditating on the roles desire and race play in the construction of the self. In the center of the collection is the title poem, "Voyage of the Sable Venus," an amazing narrative made up entirely of titles of artworks from ancient times to the present—titles that feature or in some way comment on the black female figure in Western art. Bracketed by Lewis's own autobiographical poems, "Voyage" is a tender and shocking meditation on the fragmentary mysteries of stereotype, juxtaposing our names for things with what we actually see and know. A new understanding of biography and the self, this collection questions just where, historically, do ideas about the black female figure truly begin—five hundred years ago, five thousand, or even longer? And what role did art play in this ancient, often heinous story? Here we meet a poet who adores her culture and the beauty to be found within it. Yet she is also a cultural critic alert to the nuances of race and desire—how they define us all, including her own sometimes painful history. Lewis's book is a thrilling aesthetic anthem to the complexity of race—a full embrace of its pleasure and horror, in equal parts.
Download or read book Wide Awake written by Suzanne Lummis and published by Pacific Coast Poetry. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named one of Los Angeles Times Book Critic David Ulin's "Top 10 Books of 2015", Wide Awake draws together nationally acclaimed poets and gifted newer writers-one hundred twelve poets of Los Angeles and its surrounding territories-whose work speaks to the humanity, pathos and comedy, of what may be the most romanticized and scorned, disparaged and exalted, of the world's great cities. With respect to style, the selections range from the narrative to the more open-ended or non-sequential, classic formal verse to robust vernacular, and in this way speak to the lively state of North American poetry in our age. Poets include David St. John, Wanda Coleman, Cecilia Woloch, Lynne Thompson, Timothy Steele, Kate Gale, Gail Wronsky, Terry Wolverton, Luis J. Rodriguez, Tony Barnstone, Robin Coste Lewis, William Archila and Melissa Roxas.
Download or read book Histories of Violence written by Brad Evans and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-15 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While there is a tacit appreciation that freedom from violence will lead to more prosperous relations among peoples, violence continues to be deployed for various political and social ends. Yet the problem of violence still defies neat description, subject to many competing interpretations. Histories of Violence offers an accessible yet compelling examination of the problem of violence as it appears in the corpus of canonical figures – from Hannah Arendt to Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault to Slavoj Žižek – who continue to influence and inform contemporary political, philosophical, sociological, cultural, and anthropological study. Written by a team of internationally renowned experts, this is an essential interrogation of post-war critical thought as it relates to violence.
Download or read book Hold Outs written by Bill Mohr and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2011-11-14 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the evolution of contemporary American poetry in Los Angeles, California.
Download or read book Urban Tumbleweed written by Harryette Mullen and published by Graywolf Press. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Harryette Mullen is a magician of words, phrases, and songs . . . No voice in contemporary poetry is quite as original, cosmopolitan, witty, and tragic." —Susan Stewart, citation for the Academy of American Poets Fellowship Urban tumbleweed, some people call it, discarded plastic bag we see in every city blown down the street with vagrant wind. —from Urban Tumbleweed Urban Tumbleweed is the poet Harryette Mullen's exploration of spaces where the city and the natural world collide. Written out of a daily practice of walking, Mullen's stanzas adapt the traditional Japanese tanka, a poetic form suited for recording fleeting impressions, describing environmental transitions, and contemplating the human being's place in the natural world. But, as she writes in her preface, "What is natural about being human? What to make of a city dweller taking a ‘nature walk' in a public park while listening to a podcast with ear-bud headphones?"
Download or read book I Am Alive in Los Angeles written by Mike the PoeT and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2006-05 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Being alive in Los Angeles means driving It means having friends in a hundred neighborhoods. Everyday I figure 8 my way through the blood & bones of the city. These journeys invigorate me. Connecting the dots is what I like to do, from the hilltop parties to the Watts Towers, North Long Beach to Frogtown, there's o much flavor-landscape & characters. I love it all. I Am ALIVE IN LOS ANGELES! In this progressive collection of poems. Essays & notes, Mike the PoeT digs into the real Los Angeles. Passages of charged prose & poetic snapshots capture the panorama of the city of angels. Pieces cover the mythical afterhour parties, unique architecture, socioeconomics, graffiti, gangs Hollywood & more. Poet Journalist Historian, Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT has performed at the L.A. Times Book Prizes, Divine Forces Radio, Music Plus TV & published hundreds of poems & articles in the LA. Citybeat, O,C. Weekly, Jointz, Kotori & so on. "It's easy to target Los Angeles' deficits: flashiness, venality, gross disparity of wealth. But is takes rare understanding and eloquence to see this fair city in all its lights, both good and bad. Mike Sonksen, aka Mike the Poet, achieves that unusual feat with his debut spoken-word release, "I Am Alive in Los Angeles!" A third-generation L.A. native Sonksen has special insight into the multi-textured realities that comprise the city."-L.A. Alternative Press "Mike the Poet the most cool, positive guy in poetry, future LA legend you read it here first." -TEKA LARK LO
Download or read book From Our Land to Our Land written by Luis J. Rodriguez and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Luis J. Rodriguez writes about race, culture, identity, and belonging and what these all mean and should mean (but often fail to) in the volatile climate of our nation. His passion and wisdom inspire us with the message that we must come together if we are to move forward. As he writes in the preface, “Like millions of Americans, I’m demanding a new vision, a qualitatively different direction, for this country. One for the shared well-being of everyone. One with beauty, healing, poetry, imagination, and truth.” The pieces in From Our Land to Our Land capture that same fantastic energy and wisdom and will spark conversation and inspiration.
Download or read book Rose written by Li-Young Lee and published by BOA Editions, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-12-20 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Table of Contents I. Epistle The Gift Persimmons The Weight Of Sweetness From Blossoms Dreaming Of Hair Early In The Morning Water Falling: The Code Nocturne My Indigo Irises Eating Alone II. Always A Rose III. Eating Together I Ask My Mother To Sing Ash, Snow, Or Moonlight The Life The Weepers Braiding Rain Diary My Sleeping Loved Ones Mnemonic Between Seasons Visions And Interpretations
Download or read book Get Lit Rising written by Diane Luby Lane and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Get to know the Get Lit Players--a group of teens who use poetry to take on the world--with this common-core aligned book that sheds light on teen issues through their own poetry and slam poetry performances. The Get Lit Players include teens who are homeless, autistic, have parents in jail, battle with weightand body issues, depression, and more. But they use the power of poetry to pursue lives of promise and to reach out to friends, families, and communities ... Each chapter offers questions, writing prompts, and how-tos for readers to set their own inner poet free. Ending with a section for parents and educators featuring the curriculum that ... shows how to get teens excited about poetry and how to create poetry groups and slams in their own communities"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book A Boy s Will and North of Boston written by Robert Frost and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-02 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two early volumes of poetry (1913–1914) contain many of the poet's finest, best-known works: "Mending Wall," "After Apple-Picking," "The Death of the Hired Man," many more.
Download or read book The American Poet at the Movies written by Laurence Goldstein and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timely and engaging exploration of cinema's influence on verse--a treat for poetry lovers and film buffs alike
Download or read book Punk Rock Is Cool for the End of the World written by Ed Smith and published by . This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The irreverent, tweetable, ludicrous, painful, wondrous work of the L.A. punk poet--widely available for the first time. In Punk Rock Is Cool for the End of the World, David Trinidad brings together a comprehensive selection of Ed Smith's work: his published books; unpublished poems; excerpts from his extensive notebooks; photos and ephemera; and his timely "cry for civilization," "Return to Lesbos" put down that gun / stop electing Presidents. Ed Smith blazed onto the Los Angeles poetry scene in the early 1980s from out of the hardcore punk scene. The charismatic, nerdy young man hit home with his funny/scary off-the-cuff-sounding poems, like "Fishing" This is a good line. / This is a bad line. This is a fishing line. Ed's vibrant "gang" of writer and artist friends--among them Amy Gerstler, Dennis Cooper, Bob Flanagan, Mike Kelley, and David Trinidad--congregated at Beyond Baroque in Venice, on LA's west side. They read and partied and performed together, and shared and published each others' work. Ed was more than bright and versatile: he worked as a math tutor, an animator, and a typesetter. In the mid-1990s, he fell in love with Japanese artist Mio Shirai; they married and moved to New York City. Despite productive years and joyful times, Ed was plagued by mood disorders and drug problems, and at the age of forty-eight, he took his own life. Ed Smith's poems speak to living in an increasingly dehumanizing consumer society and corrupt political system. This "punk Dorothy Parker" is more relevant than ever for our ADD, technology-distracted times.
Download or read book You Sound Like a White Girl written by Julissa Arce and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: AN INDIE BESTSELLER Most Anticipated by ELLE • Bustle • Bloomberg • Kirkus • HipLatina • SheReads • BookPage • The Millions • The Mujerista • Ms. Magazine • and more “Unflinching” —Ms. Magazine • “Phenomenal” —BookRiot • "An essential read" —Kirkus, starred review • "Necessary" —Library Journal • "Powerful" —Joaquin Castro • "Illuminating" —Reyna Grande • "A love letter to our people" —José Olivarez • "I have been waiting for this book all my life" —Paul Ortiz Bestselling author Julissa Arce calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that make us Americans in this powerful polemic against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants. “You sound like a white girl.” These were the words spoken to Julissa by a high school crush as she struggled to find her place in America. As a brown immigrant from Mexico, assimilation had been demanded of her since the moment she set foot in San Antonio, Texas, in 1994. She’d spent so much time getting rid of her accent so no one could tell English was her second language that in that moment she felt those words—you sound like a white girl?—were a compliment. As a child, she didn’t yet understand that assimilating to “American” culture really meant imitating “white” America—that sounding like a white girl was a racist idea meant to tame her, change her, and make her small. She ran the race, completing each stage, but never quite fit in, until she stopped running altogether. In this dual polemic and manifesto, Julissa dives into and tears apart the lie that assimilation leads to belonging. She combs through history and her own story to break down this myth, arguing that assimilation is a moving finish line designed to keep Black and brown Americans and immigrants chasing racist American ideals. She talks about the Lie of Success, the Lie of Legality, the Lie of Whiteness, and the Lie of English—each promising that if you obtain these things, you will reach acceptance and won’t be an outsider anymore. Julissa deftly argues that these demands leave her and those like her in a purgatory—neither able to secure the power and belonging within whiteness nor find it in the community and cultures whiteness demands immigrants and people of color leave behind. In You Sound Like a White Girl, Julissa offers a bold new promise: Belonging only comes through celebrating yourself, your history, your culture, and everything that makes you uniquely you. Only in turning away from the white gaze can we truly make America beautiful. An America where difference is celebrated, heritage is shared and embraced, and belonging is for everyone. Through unearthing veiled history and reclaiming her own identity, Julissa shows us how to do this.
Download or read book Slick Like Dark written by Meg Wade and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poetry. Fueled by questions of faith and desire, and steeped in the Southern Gothic, Meg Wade's SLICK LIKE DARK is a haunting examination of the Southern body and one woman's survival in it. These poems take us to the dark corners of honky-tonks and spin us wide around the room. With a menacing wink, they trace a hard line through trauma's wreckage and demand to know where God belongs in all of this.
Download or read book Bright Dead Things written by Ada Limón and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2019-02-07 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Bright Dead Things buoyed me in this dismal year. I'm thankful for this collection, for its wisdom and generosity, for its insistence on holding tight to beauty even as we face disintegration and destruction.' Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You A book of bravado and introspection, of feminist swagger and harrowing loss, Bright Dead Things considers how we build our identities out of place and human contact - tracing in intimate detail the ways the speaker's sense of self both shifts and perseveres as she moves from New York City to rural Kentucky, loses a dear parent, ages past the capriciousness of youth and falls in love. In these extraordinary poems Ada Limón's heart becomes a 'huge beating genius machine' striving to embrace and understand the fullness of the present moment. 'I am beautiful. I am full of love. I am dying,' the poet writes. Building on the legacies of forebears such as Frank O'Hara, Sharon Olds and Mark Doty, Limón's work is consistently generous, accessible, and 'effortlessly lyrical' (New York Times) - though every observed moment feels complexly thought, felt and lived.
