[The above photo is of a pair of Mallard ducks resting on a tree trunk which is stuck at the edge of the Sixth Street Bridge dam just north of downtown Grand Rapids.]
This past Sunday, my good friend Christine Stephens-Krieger became the new Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids. Christine and I go way back. We worked together at Schuler Books and Music. We read poetry at several events. When I was part of Caffeinated Press we published Christine in our literary magazine The 3288 Review. I had the honor to be part of Christine’s project An Oral History of Poetry in Grand Rapids. And now I am part of the Grand River Poetry Collective, a local company which Christine created at the end of 2023.
For many years, Christine coordinated the Dyer-Ives Poetry Competition.
All of which is to say, I look forward to what she has planned for the next three years.
Reading
Still working my way through All that is Evident is Suspect. I love this book so much! I also started The Reactionary Mind by Corey Robin, based on its mention in the Cory Doctorow link at the bottom of this post.
Writing
Not much to show this week, though I finally got into the groove of writing at least five story ideas for each of the weekly writing prompts. Those ideas are now scattered across two journals, and when I have the time I will transcribe them into a Google doc.
Subject: Dreams, Cryptids
Setting: Lost City
Genre: Lovecraftian
Listening
This is the kind of music that is getting me through long sessions of writing code for ServiceNow.
Interesting Links
- “The Wars Come Home” (Conor Gallagher, Naked Capitalism)
- “The tax sharks are back and they’re coming for your home” (Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic)