May 21, 2012

On Being a Student

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Lauren thinks about the work of the artist as both student and teacher: “At some point after graduation, I had to step out of my post-college haze and pull myself up by my bootstraps in order to get back into the groove of creating work and following through with it. At some point, I had to learn to assume both the teacher and the student role.”

Posted Under: The Writer's Life

Twenty-One Lessons from A Writerʼs Life

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The Writer’s Life is excited to welcome writer Amy Wright as a regular contributor and look forward to her “Twenty-One Lessons from A Writer’s Life”: ideas and thoughts “gleaned from my various attempts to publish, promote, structure, and prompt my work.”

Posted Under: The Writer's Life

Weekly Writing Prompt

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We’re thinking about the unexpected for this week’s writing prompt—join us!

Posted Under: The Writer's Life

Habibi by Craig Thompson

Habibi by Craig Thompson

Yes, the world is a mess. Yet, do we need another story, even one gorgeously told through highly artistic images, to remind us of this? The world at large seems a scary place for women so often. Do we need another tale of abuse or rape? Do we need reminders of the horrors women suffer now and have suffered in real and also in imagined histories like those of religious texts? Apparently, Craig Thompson thinks so in his most recent and highly lauded graphic novel, Habibi.

Posted Under: InContext

Anti-Feminist Ideals in Fifty Shades of Grey

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Marina DelVecchio analyzes the dangers supported by author E.L. James in her debut trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey." In comparing this book to the Twilight series, Marina argues that “These books tell women that they want not only to be objectified, their bodies ravaged by objects and men for whom they will attach themselves to the rack to please, but also that they want to be dominated—in the bedroom and outside of it. It’s pornography in its purest form, and pornography thrives because men demand it. In this case, Both Meyer and James are helping to the contribution of it, enabling the industry, patriarchy, and indoctrinating the idea that women want to be subjugated for the sake of love.”

Posted Under: InContext

Outlawing ecocide for global peace—why we must all stand with Polly Higgins, the ‘lawyer for the earth’

Polly Higgins and indigenous activist Raven Courtney 2012

Eco Arts Notebook examines Polly Higgins, author of Eradicating Ecocide—exposing the corporate and political practices destroying the planet and proposing the laws needed to eradicate ecocide, and her work with exposing the world to the idea and concerns about Ecocide.

Posted Under: Eco Art Notebook

But The People Are Green

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Jyl talks about finding your unique voice and, when you do, not censoring it: “Writing is extremely personal, whether it’s fiction, memoir, or script. Sometimes it’s hard to hold on to your imagination and give yourself permission to go where you need to go. But you have to. Your life depends on it.”

Posted Under: The Writer's Life

7 Ways to Pick Yourself Up After a Painful, God-Awful Review

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Terri shares some tips and tactics for surviving a painful book review: “…take five, let the hurt sink in, and then cast it aside. I’ve heard people, other writers even, say we need to ‘grow a thicker skin.’ I might take heed if they’d ever walked in our shoes. They don’t understand the feeling, like a punch to the gut. No, we don’t have to ‘grow a thicker skin.’ It’s fine to feel bad. But we do have to move on.”

Posted Under: The Writer's Life

La Perdida —a comic by Jessica Abel

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In La Perdida, we see what it is to be in a liminal place, between cultures, not fitting into any particular location.

Posted Under: InContext

Helene Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa”

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Marina DelVecchio writes about Helene Cixous’ famous essay "The Laugh of the Medusa," wherein Cixous urges women to write their voices and bodies in the history and society that has condemned them to silence. A French Feminist and writer, Cixous says, "Woman must write her self: must write about women and bring women to writing." We all do this in Her Circle.

Posted Under: InContext
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