Friends -- I'm trying to read more self-proclaimed magical realist novels this year, so that I can be a more educated writer AND reader. I'm also interested in the debates as to what is and what is not magical realism. As you know, I made it through 100 Years of Solitude, and just finished Joanne … Continue reading Does the ending have to work? Thinking about Joanne Harris’ Lollipop Shoes
Tag: Stephanie Barbe Hammer
June 6th, 2016, Wrestling with Mr. Robot — will the revolution be televised?
There's a great rant near the end of the season finale of Mr. Robot featuring wonderful Christian Slater. This rant about the uncertain nature of reality reminds those of us who remember of a much younger Christian Slater ranting in another film as another seductive bad guy who blows things up. So it's a deeply … Continue reading June 6th, 2016, Wrestling with Mr. Robot — will the revolution be televised?
May 16th, 2016- 100 years of solitude: the futures-past of the novel
Well, Friends, I did it. I just finished 100 Years of Solitude. Um. *shrugs shoulders, looks into the evening sky* It's a beautifully written novel, certainly, and I'm grateful to Kathleen Alcala for her observation that she was struck by how much the narrator sounded like members of her family telling fantastical tales from a … Continue reading May 16th, 2016- 100 years of solitude: the futures-past of the novel
03/26/16 — repeating names, everything but the kitchen sink, and the point of 100 Years of Solitude (maybe)
Dear Friends -- Huzzah! I'm about halfway through Gabriel García Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude. As I started the book, I queried some folks over at the Magical Realism Facebook group about the novel, and while most comments were positive, one brave person said the book was just about unreadable. I have to admit that … Continue reading 03/26/16 — repeating names, everything but the kitchen sink, and the point of 100 Years of Solitude (maybe)
Before I read Marquez– Kate Durbin, Anna Nicole Smith and the unreal heal
Dear friends -- I have not yet read 100 years of solitude. I know. It's a schande, as we say in Yiddish. How can a writer who works in MR, NOT have read this novel? I own it now, and I keep looking at it. I keep trying to start. But I can't start, because … Continue reading Before I read Marquez– Kate Durbin, Anna Nicole Smith and the unreal heal
Magical Realism, personal trauma, and the wound in the world in CEREMONY by Leslie Marmon Silko
“He had to keep busy; he had to keep moving so that the sinews connected behind his eyes did not slip loose and spin his eyes to the interior of his skull where the scenes waited for him.” CEREMONY Leslie Marmon Silko’s first novel written in the 1970’s, is a book I’ve continually heard … Continue reading Magical Realism, personal trauma, and the wound in the world in CEREMONY by Leslie Marmon Silko
01/01/16 — coloring books 2015 finale
Friends -- This post ends this iteration of the coloring books project -- which was my concerted attempt to read, watch, listen to, and learn about artists and intellectuals of color and post about those artistic efforts and those cultural spaces during the year of 2015. That concerted attempt will not end, because if I've … Continue reading 01/01/16 — coloring books 2015 finale
Beautiful translators — China trip, 2 — coloring books 2015
We want to be in charge of our speech. Those of us who work with words for a living -- we want to control the message, the input and output of words, dancing themselves out in lines that kickstep from left to right, even when spoken. The lexography of the Roman alphabet. Caesar writing "veni, … Continue reading Beautiful translators — China trip, 2 — coloring books 2015
visit to china 1 — ghost steps — November 21 2015 coloring books project
"Oh," he said, when I told him I'd fallen on the stairs of the creative writing center at The College of Mobile Telecommunications Chonqing. "I forgot to tell you about the ghost steps." "Is that why I kept on tripping and slipping?" I asked him. "Is this why there were thresholds on top of thresholds … Continue reading visit to china 1 — ghost steps — November 21 2015 coloring books project
Wyl Villacres, “Dear White People in my MFA Program” and commentary — coloring books project 2015
Friends -- I was just about to post a piece on satire, where I talk about the ways in which satiric writing has become a problematic mode of address for white writers trying to be "edgy" -- when lo and behold, here appears a great example of a satiric essay, written from a POC perspective. … Continue reading Wyl Villacres, “Dear White People in my MFA Program” and commentary — coloring books project 2015
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 