{"id":7971,"date":"2019-06-11T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/?p=7971"},"modified":"2019-06-11T00:24:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T07:24:54","slug":"writing-into-history-all-year-round-summer-craft-inspiration-from-three-apa-literary-greats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/11\/writing-into-history-all-year-round-summer-craft-inspiration-from-three-apa-literary-greats\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing into History All Year Round: Summer Craft Inspiration from Three APA Literary Greats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Book
L to R: A PORTRAIT OF THE SELF AS NATION by Marilyn Chin, THE UNDRESSING by Li-Young Lee, NIGHTINGALE by Paisley Rekdal<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though APA Heritage Month officially concluded a couple of weeks ago, for so many of us, the necessity of engaging with lineage in our craft is a continual process that doesn\u2019t just end on May 31st. Summer is finally here\u2014a season that is often a time of great output, especially for writers who live on an academic calendar. Hence, this month\u2019s post looks to some of the \u201cgreats\u201d from within the APA literary community for inspiration on writing into history. Drawing from recent works by Marilyn Chin, Li-Young Lee, and Paisley Rekdal, we\u2019ve gathered three writing prompts to energize your own writing practice this summer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Write into a manifesto (Marilyn Chin, A Portrait of the Self as Nation<\/a><\/em>, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Marilyn Chin\u2019s most recent collection of poetry, A Portrait of the Self as Nation<\/em>, Chin\u2019s feminist manifestos serve as sharp reminders of how poetry is deeply intertwined with the body. In \u201cBrown Girl Manifesto (Too),\u201d for instance, Chin mocks and subverts the literary lineage of Orientalism:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am your parlor rug<\/span> your chamber bauble<\/span>
Love me<\/span> stone me<\/span> I am all yours<\/span>
Pound<\/span> Pound<\/span> my father\u2019s Ezra\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the use of wit and wordplay, \u201cBrown Girl Manifesto (Too)\u201d exposes how modernist poets like Pound chose to uphold their own fantasies and projections rather than engage seriously with existing Asian literary traditions. By summoning sense and sensation in her criticism, Chin evokes the body in all its glorious volatility, asserting fantasy on her own terms and in her own tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this exercise, reflect on the history, lineage, and intentions that guide your poetics. What events inform your poetic style and themes? What circumstances have made possible the lines you write? For, after, or against whom do you write? List these out, gathering them into a lyrical statement\u2014whether in paragraphs, as with \u201cPostcript: Brown Girl Manifesto, One of Many (2010),\u201d or in clusters of key words, as with \u201cBrown Girl Manifesto (Too)<\/a>.\u201d Write several versions of your manifesto\u2014what happens when you experiment with the tone and the form? Allow your manifesto(s) to guide your future writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Build shelter in the moment before (Li-Young Lee, The Undressing<\/a><\/em>, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second section of \u201cOur Secret Share,\u201d a poem from Li-Young Lee\u2019s most recent collection The Undressing,<\/em> takes Indonesia\u2019s social unrest of the 1950s and 60s as its backdrop\u2014but Lee\u2019s focus is not on \u201cthe killing,\u201d which \u201chas already started \/ and will go on into the night \/ and the next day, night and day, day and night\u201d (42). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, the speaker conjures the moment before the violence, recalling an image of his sister being ferried across the Solo River by a boatman\u2014she stands \u201cstill and straight beside her bicycle\u201d as the reflections \u201cslide along beneath them in the water\u201d (42). By centering a fleeting moment of stillness, Lee underscores the permanent and unspeakable loss that lies just beyond the poem\u2019s frame\u2014but he also creates a safe harbor from which the speaker can safely reflect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider a key moment of dramatic tension or revelation. Write about this conflict through the lens of the moment before, developing the image or scene over at least fifteen lines. What happens to the \u201cmoment after\u201d when the events that lead up to it have been slowed down and expanded upon through poetry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Stage a critical intervention (Paisley Rekdal, Nightingale<\/a><\/em>, Copper Canyon, 2019).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the center of Paisley Rekdal\u2019s most recent collection Nightingale<\/em> is a lyric essay, \u201cNightingale: A Gloss<\/a>,\u201d that begins with the Greek myth of Philomela. Questioning Ovid\u2019s retelling of the myth in Metamorphoses,<\/em> in which Philomela is raped and mutilated by her sister\u2019s husband, weaves a tapestry to communicate her assault, and is transformed into a nightingale, Rekdal asks, \u201cWhy should Philomela sing, when our presence only increases her suffering?\u201d (50). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By drawing from research on subsequent retellings of Philomela, Rekdal stages a critical intervention in the literary history of sexual violence. Bringing the speaker\u2019s experiences and Rekdal\u2019s own poetry into the conversation, \u201cNightingale: A Gloss\u201d ultimately engages with the decision to put language to trauma, returning voice to the survivor: \u201cI stand in the field. I whistle back\u201d (54).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider with your own relationship with a character from myth or legend. How have others engaged with this narrative in the past? How do your own experiences resonate or diverge? Write a poem in which you bring these different approaches and intentions into conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What works by APA literary greats or moments from history have affected or inspired your own craft? Share them with us in the comments or let us know on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram (@LanternReview).<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though APA Heritage Month officially concluded a couple of weeks ago, for so many of us, the necessity of engaging with lineage in our craft is a continual process that doesn\u2019t just end on May 31st. Summer is finally here\u2014a season that is often a time of great output, especially for writers who live on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1160,1218],"tags":[1219,1224,140,1220,1222,1223,360,1221,628],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7971"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7994,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7971\/revisions\/7994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lanternreview.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}