last night we heard katha pollitt speak in clinton. the hamilton college english department brought her to talk about the process of writing memoirs, as she is currently working on her own. she read two sections from this work: one about her experiences in a marxist study group in greenwich village, and another about her time working as an editor for a publishing house that churned out pornographic books. both were funny, provocative and sharp reavealing pollitt's gift for effortlessly weaving the personal and the political in her prose.

i have long read katha pollitt's writings in the nation and elsewhere. i haven't always agreed with her observations on politics and culture, but more often than not, i do share her progressive stance on most issues. i'm thankful that she is out there writing, saying things that most journalists and media "pundits" can't or don't say in today's conservative climate. as she said in so many words last night, there are virtually no leftist voices in politics and culture today. she pointed out that paul krugman (the former clinton admirer who writes for the new york times) is considered a left-leaning liberal when, at best, his politics are truly moderate. as we were leaving her lecture we tried to think of current, progressive voices in the media, and could only come up with Pollitt, even though i know there must be 2 or 3 more :)

i found her advice about the craft and process of writing to be beneficial. she writes 1000 word essays for the nation every two weeks, and described her imposed writing deadline as "liberating." she also stressed the importance of form and shape to all writing pieces regardless of intent or size. during the q and a, i wanted to ask about her own revision process, and if she had complete freedom to write about whatever topic she chose in the nation. but, i was too damn nervous. i have never been able to ask speakers questions during the q and a even though i always have a strong desire to do so.

one last thing that struck me about pollitt is that she appeared so shy, barely able to make eye contact with her audience. she answered questions graciously during the q and a, and there wasn't an ounce of ego to her demeanor or anything she said. but, i was struck by her shyness in front of an audience. perhaps she doesn't address audiences regularly and spends most of her time behind a keyboard in the solitary space of her office spinning out those incisive, thoughtful writings on economics, politics and culture that so many of us enjoy and admire.

jb

Falling Leaves and Home Ownership

here I am living my life as a property-owning, middle-class, middle-aged woman. I have a mortgage, home owner's insurance, title insurance, home repairs and lots of leaves in my 1+ acre-sized backyard. how the hell did i get here? how did an appalachian born and bred-coal-miner's daughter-last of 6 children-never earned more than 15 grand a year- become part of the landed gentry with all the comforts and burdens of owning and maintaining property? one simple answer: marriage. not legally, of course, for obvious reasons, but i sometimes tease a. by reminding her that i, unlike her, married up.

so today, i'm standing in my back yard raking leaves and leaves and leaves accompanied by the sound of my neighbor's leaf-blowing machine. feeling a mixture of disgust and envy, i cursed him all afternoon. disgust because i'm sickened by all the home-owning gadgets out there (ostensibly designed to lessen the work involved in home maintenence) targeting property-owning middle-class people like myself. it's a materialism spinning out of control. you buy a house and suddenly you need extension ladders, landscaping tools, riding lawnmowers, snow-blowers, and yes, leaf-blowers. life was so much more simple when i rented shitty apartments. but i was also envious of my neighbor because my arms and back were aching with only a small amount of the leaf-removal process completed. i wanted that damn leaf-blower, and wondered how much the fuckers cost and if they were powered by electricity or gas. And i hated myself, feeling lazy and materialistic, for even entertaining the thought of getting one. so, i'm conflicted about my status in life. i love owning a home, being able to do what the hell i want to it, and having lots of space to tumble around in. but i hate feeling like the middle-class person i've become who wants leaf and snow blowers, and riding lawnmowers. oy vey.

jb

Performance Art/Spoken Word

this week we attended a performance by the spoken word artist, stacey ann chin. she's a chinese/jamaican lesbian feminist poet who rocked the house. she's worked for russell simons on broadyway, and her work has been acclaimed by various publications, such as the village voice. she read poems (haikus and longer poems) about various subjects linked to her identity and experience: a very funny poem about lesbian women desiring straight women; another about the personal conflicts about wanting to be in jamaica, but basing herself in new york city because of the difficulties of being queer in jamaica, and about white racism etc etc. she was hip, urban, energetic and her politics were very politically saavy. in addition to performing her poetry, she also had regular conversations with members of the audience, and fielded questions about anything and everything. anyway, check out her site: www.staceyannchin.com/

here is one of my favorites - a haiku

you white liberal
how long will you wear double
x hooded sweatshirts.


hahahahahaha. pretty funny, huh?

joyce

p.s. poetry thrives in urban, spoken word artists like chin and sarah jones. really. it's not dead.