#Emily Pettit

[librarycards]

3, 4, 12, 19 for the book ask game!

What were your top five books of the year?

You'll have to wait a few more days for the list as I make my final quarterly book recs post for this year :3

In the meantime, check my list below for some that I loved from new-to-me authors.

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Yes! Here are a few:

Atef Abu Saif, via The Drone Eats With Me (crucial reading in your Palestine education, too)

Zeyn Joukhadar, via The Thirty Names of Night

Poupeh Missaghi, via trans(re)lating house one

Shelley Parker-Chan, via She Who Became the Sun

Joe Hill, via NOS4ATU

Mairead Case, via See You in the Morning and Tiny, both published by featherproof books (the press publishing my novel next year!)

Micha Frazer-Carroll, via Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health

Sofia Samatar, via A Stranger in Olondria

Gloria Susana Esquivel, via Animals at the End of the World

Emily Pettit, via Blue Flame

Cindy Crabb, via Doris: An Anthology

Kwon Yeo-Sun, via Lemon

Robin Coste-Lewis, via Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems

ooooops that's more than a few. hope you find something there that interests you!

Any books that disappointed you?

Answered already, but another that disappointed me was The Dissolving Classroom by Junji Ito. I'm a huge fan of most of his work, and was excited to engage with a work influenced by Kazuo Umezz, a mangaka Ito admires and whose series, The Drifting Classroom, I love.

Alas, this Ito manga was thin on plot and character development and generally Not Good.

Did you use your library?

Of course! I use my university library/ILL, as well as my current local + hometown local library via Overdrive/Libby/Kanopy :)

[doubleattitude]

BTF 1st Place Solo Winners 2022/23

NUVO

NUbie:

Kylie Acosta (Meadowlands, Yolanda’s Academy of Music and Dance)

Penelope Chu (Meadowlands, Boston Community Dance Project)

Bradley Kawa (Omaha, The Collective PHX)

Hazel Mackey (Anchorage, Studio 49)

Cheslee Oxner (Memphis, Elite Stars Academy of the Arts)

Paisley Matteson (Tulsa, The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

Greyson Carmichael (Vancouver, PULSE Dance Centre)

Kendall Khamphengphet (Indianapolis, Legacy Dance Studio)

Ariya Belle (Pittsburgh, Albright Dance Stars)

Madison Wadsworth (Dallas, Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre)

Alyssa Horta (Orlando, Dance Town)

Stella Fisk (Anaheim, Pave School of the Arts)

Abbey Scott (Detroit, Club Dance Studio)

Khylie Wilkerson (Atlanta, Studio Powers)

Mariah Leblanc (Atlanta, Renner Dance Company)

(Bellevue)

(Santa Clara)

(Baltimore)

(Minneapolis)

(Boston)

(Cleveland)

(Chicago)

(Houston)

(Kansas City)

(Atlantic City)

(Westminster)

(Sandy)

(Glendale)

(Niagara Falls)

(Miami)

Mini:

Chloey Saint Surin (Meadowlands, Mossa Dance Academy)

Elsie Sandall (Omaha, Club Dance Studio)

Harper Anderson (Omaha, Larkin Dance Studio)

Mogilny Gover (Anchorage, DC Dance Factory)

Ella Smith (Calgary, Edge Studios)

Danica Hill (Calgary, Diverse Dance Company)

Harlowe Johnson (Calgary, Diverse Dance Company)

Reese Braga (Memphis, New Level Dance Company)

Macey Strickland (Memphis, New Level Dance Company)

Kendall Brown (Tulsa, South Tulsa Dance Co)

Olivia Butler (Vancouver, Deas Island Dance)

Mila Simunic (Indianapolis, Legacy Dance Studio)

Morgan Stahl (Pittsburgh, Evolve Dance Complex)

Anita Rodriguez (Dallas, Stars Dance Studio)

Riley Borden (Orlando, Dance Unlimited)

Melina Blitz (Anaheim, The Rock Center for Dance)

Ayla Mohtashami (Anaheim, West Coast School of the Arts)

Kennedy Marble (Anaheim, Club Dance Studio)

Lex Vancura (Anaheim, Motion State Studios)

Scarlett Adlam (Detroit, Powerdance Company)

Kyle Young (Detroit, Club Dance Studio)

Calleigh Eaton (Atlanta, SpotLite Dance Studio)

Camryn Marks (Atlanta, SpotLite Dance Studio)

(Bellevue)

(Santa Clara)

(Baltimore)

(Minneapolis)

(Boston)

(Cleveland)

(Chicago)

(Houston)

(Kansas City)

(Atlantic City)

(Westminster)

(Sandy)

(Glendale)

(Niagara Falls)

(Miami)

Junior:

Esme Chou (Meadowlands, Project 21)

Emily Polis (Meadowlands, The Vision Dance Alliance)

Jordan Coates (Meadowlands, Seven Star School of Performing Arts)

Savannah Manzel (Omaha, Larkin Dance Studio)

Kaylee Randeniya (Anchorage, Lux 5.0)

Kinsley Oykhman (Calgary, The Academy)

Allie Plott (Memphis, The Dance Centre)

Maddie Morton (Memphis, Center Stage Dance Academy)

Emory Pettit (Memphis, The Dance Company)

Braylynn Grizzaffi (Tulsa, The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

Olivia Toneguzzo (Vancouver, PULSE Dance Centre)

Madeleine Shen (Indianapolis, NorthPointe Dance Academy)

Lexus Natalie (Pittsburgh, Evolve Dance Complex)

Faith Crain (Dallas, Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre)

Savy Luechtefeld (Orlando, Carolina Collective Dance)

Kiera Sun (Anaheim, WESTSIDE Dance Project)

Mars Maiden (Detroit, Imprint Dance Co)

Sophia Cialkowski (Detroit, Noretta Dunworth School of Dance)

Eleanor Nadeau (Detroit, Artflux Dance Lab)

Morgan Gilbert (Detroit, Viva Dance Co)

Kaylee Schwamb (Atlanta, Kane & Company Dance Productions)

(Bellevue)

(Santa Clara)

(Baltimore)

(Minneapolis)

(Boston)

(Cleveland)

(Chicago)

(Houston)

(Kansas City)

(Atlantic City)

(Westminster)

(Sandy)

(Glendale)

(Niagara Falls)

(Miami)

Teen:

Caroline Quiner (Meadowlands, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Claire Monge (Omaha, Larkin Dance Studio)

Siobhan Witty-Daugherty (Anchorage, Alaska Dance Theatre)

Falyn Jones (Anchorage, Alaska Dance Theatre)

Alasaya Spann (Anchorage, Diamond Dance Project)

Juliet O’Connor (Anchorage, Alaska Dance Theatre)

Isabella Bogh (Anchorage, Alaska Dance Theatre)

Dakota Frederick (Anchorage, The Company Space)

Amelia Brackman (Calgary, YYC Dance Project)

Vienna Van Mill (Calgary, Starbound Dance Center)

Ryan Newman (Calgary, The Dance Factory)

Leila Winker (Memphis, Millennium Dance Complex-Nashville)

Lilly Allen (Tulsa, Kim Massay Dance Productions)

Kessa Yee (Vancouver, PULSE Dance Centre)

Lindi Denkema (Vancouver, YYC Dance Project)

Ainsley Grey (Indianapolis, Expressenz Dance Center)

Cami Voorhees (Pittsburgh, Evolve Dance Complex)

Kylie Kaminsky (Dallas, Danceology)

Skyler Jarman (Orlando, Xtreme Dance Studio)

Isabella Lynch (Anaheim, Danceology)

Crystal Huang (Anaheim, The Rock Center for Dance)

Izzy Howard (Anaheim, WESTSIDE Dance Project)

Riley Zeitler (Detroit, Westlake Dance Center)

Lydia Smith (Atlanta, The Dance Centre)

Wells McEntyre (Atlanta, The Dance Centre)

(Bellevue)

(Santa Clara)

(Baltimore)

(Minneapolis)

(Boston)

(Cleveland)

(Chicago)

(Houston)

(Kansas City)

(Atlantic City)

(Westminster)

(Sandy)

(Glendale)

(Niagara Falls)

(Miami)

Senior:

Rachel Quiner (Meadowlands, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Amanda Magee (Meadowlands, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Avery Lau (Omaha, South Tulsa Dance Co)

Garris Munoz (Omaha, South Tulsa Dance Co)

Alli Fusaro (Anchorage, First Class)

Kaylie McCarthy (Anchorage, Tri-City Dance Centre)

Harlee Crisp (Calgary, Prestige Dance Academy)

Melanie Johnson (Calgary, Marquis Dance Academy)

Hannah Webb (Memphis, Imperium House of Dance)

Brielle McCoy (Tulsa, Kim Massay Dance Productions)

Phoebe Campbell (Vancouver, The Company Space)

Jenna Kryder (Indianapolis, Expressenz Dance Center)

Danielle Jewell-Wolf (Pittsburgh, Little Red Dance Studio)

Reagan Stafford (Dallas, Next Step Dance)

Kaitlyn Santos (Orlando, Dance Town)

Emma Donnelly (Anaheim, Danceology)

Marissa Brunner (Detroit, Haja Dance Company)

Ying Lei Pham (Detroit, Movement Emporium)

Gianna Vermiglio (Detroit, Spotlight Dance Works)

Bella Mills (Atlanta, Rhythm Dance Center)

Savannah Manning (Atlanta, CCJ Conservatory)

(Bellevue)

(Santa Clara)

(Baltimore)

(Minneapolis)

(Boston)

(Cleveland)

(Chicago)

(Houston)

(Kansas City)

(Atlantic City)

(Westminster)

(Sandy)

(Glendale)

(Niagara Falls)

(Miami)

Open

Marcos Reyes (Anchorage, Diamond Dance Project)

JUMP

JUMPstart:

Alyssa Horta (Ft Lauderdale, Dance Town)

Norah Hurley (Portland, Elite Feet Artists Company)

Evie Lacoste (New Orleans, Modern Conceptions of Dance)

Shale Herrera (Las Vegas, Danceplex)

Annsley Huff (Greenville, The Southern Strutt)

Eva Heimpel (Mexico City, Class Jazz)

Hallee Anderson (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Marian Chavez (Monterrey, NorthSide Dance Project)

Ryleigh Diaz (Long Island, Oceanside Dance Center)

Hazel Silverman (St Louis, Club Dance Studio)

Sophia Mestan (Kansas City, Starstruck Performing Arts Center)

Stacy Yong (Washington, Weina Dance Studio)

Grayson Ashton (Chicago, Artistry Dance and Company)

Yaneli Ruiz (Houston, Paloma Limas & Company)

(Dallas)

(Pittsburgh)

(Philadelphia)

(Glendale)

(Westminster)

(New York)

(Orlando)

(Detroit)

(Portland)

(Atlanta)

(Provo)

(Santa Clara)

(Buffalo)

(Anaheim)

(Providence)

(Honolulu)

(San Jose)

Mini:

Belle Marie Arauz (Ft Lauderdale, Spotlight Dance Academy)

Anita Rodriguez (Ft Lauderdale, Stars Dance Studio)

Tyler Seymour (Portland, Studio for the Living Arts Dance Complex)

Kayleigh Stoler (Portland, Dance Enthusiasm)

Lainey Hess (New Orleans, New Level Dance Company)

Brooklyn Ward (Las Vegas, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Tinsley Wallace (Greenville, Renner Dance Company)

Maria José Rangel (Mexico City, The Dance Project)

Lilly Anderson (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Malia Scott (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Vera Escamilla (Monterrey, Maries Dance Studio)

Regina Lozano (Monterrey, NorthSide Dance Project)

Abby Rodriguez (Long Island, Fusion Dance Force)

Sophia Bianco (Long Island, Fusion Dance Force)

Mikayla Isler (St Louis, Club Dance Studio)

Bella Linman (Kansas City, Club Dance Studio)

Penelope Thomas (Washington, The Collaborative at Encore Studio)

Ruby Baneck (Chicago, Artistic Edge Dance Centre)

June McLean (Houston, Vdanse Studios)

(Dallas)

(Pittsburgh)

(Philadelphia)

(Glendale)

(Westminster)

(New York)

(Orlando)

(Detroit)

(Portland)

(Atlanta)

(Provo)

(Santa Clara)

(Buffalo)

(Anaheim)

(Providence)

(Honolulu)

(San Jose)

Junior:

Kya Massimino (Ft Lauderdale, Stars Dance Studio)

Sophia Lestage (Portland, Studio for the Living Arts Dance Complex)

Desa Jankes (New Orleans, New Level Dance Company)

Kinsley Oykhman (Las Vegas, The Academy)

Sasha Milstein (Las Vegas, The Rock Center for Dance)

Elizabeth Scott Lanier (Greenville, The Southern Strutt)

Paola Carreon (Mexico City, The Project)

Savannah Manzel (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Jimena Sarahí Garza (Monterrey, NorthSide Dance Project)

Esme Chou (Long Island, Project 21)

Sara von Rotz (St Louis, Project 21)

Channing Embry (Kansas City, Next Step Dance)

Lexus Natalie (Washington, Evolve Dance Complex)

Sophia Freeman (Chicago, Artistic Edge Dance Centre)

Faith Crain (Houston, Prodigy Dance And Performing Arts Centre)

(Dallas)

(Pittsburgh)

(Philadelphia)

(Glendale)

(Westminster)

(New York)

(Orlando)

(Detroit)

(Portland)

(Atlanta)

(Provo)

(Santa Clara)

(Buffalo)

(Anaheim)

(Providence)

(Honolulu)

(San Jose)

Teen:

Sophie Garcia (Ft Lauderdale, Stars Dance Studio)

Nicholas Bustos (Ft Lauderdale, Stars Dance Studio)

Kaia Masenior (Portland, Hackworth School of Performing Arts)

Kynadi Crain (New Orleans, Jean Leigh Academy of Dance)

Crystal Huang (Las Vegas, The Rock Center for Dance)

Miyah LaGrant (Greenville, CCJ Conservatory)

Patricio López (Mexico City, Flashdance Studio)

Keira Redpath (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Katinka Peña (Monterrey, Dance Academy Monterrey)

Victoria Silva (Long Island, Rhythm Dance Company)

Brooke Toro (St Louis, Danceology)

Brooklyn Simpson (Kansas City, Williams Center Rhythm Factory)

Ellen Grace Olansen (Washington, Denise Wall’s Dance Energy)

Scout Moore (Chicago, Move Out Loud)

Kieran Holmes (Houston, The Dance Kollective)

(Dallas)

(Pittsburgh)

(Philadelphia)

(Glendale)

(Westminster)

(New York)

(Orlando)

(Detroit)

(Portland)

(Atlanta)

(Provo)

(Santa Clara)

(Buffalo)

(Anaheim)

(Providence)

(Honolulu)

(San Jose)

Senior:

Kaitlyn Santos (Ft Lauderdale, Dance Town)

Annabel Phinney (Portland, Studio for the Living Arts Dance Complex)

Elise Mungovan (Portland, Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center)

Aiden Fortier (Portland, Studio for the Living Arts Dance Complex)

Ally Tyrna (New Orleans, Dancezone)

Mia Ibach (Las Vegas, The Rock Center for Dance)

Jalen Scriven (Greenville, CCJ Conservatory)

Kenz Robertson (Greenville, CCJ Conservatory)

Isabel Ulloa (Mexico City, Rios Dance)

Sofia Ulloa (Mexico City, Rios Dance)

Ava Wagner (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Mini Preston (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Ana Maria Zertuche (Monterrey, Maries Dance Studio)

Katie Tapalaga (Long Island, Jump Dance Studio)

Avery Lau (St Louis, South Tulsa Dance Co)

Clara Gough (Kansas City, South Tulsa Dance Co)

Ying Lei Pham (Washington, Movement Emporium)

Sophie Tosh (Chicago, Artistic Edge Dance Centre)

Gianna Garwacki (Houston, Prodigy Dance And Performing Arts Centre)

Allie Keiner (Houston, North Austin Dance Artists)

(Dallas)

(Pittsburgh)

(Philadelphia)

(Glendale)

(Westminster)

(New York)

(Orlando)

(Detroit)

(Portland)

(Atlanta)

(Provo)

(Santa Clara)

(Buffalo)

(Anaheim)

(Providence)

(Honolulu)

(San Jose)

Open

Leslie Guerrero (Mexico City, Danzarela Estudio)

Maria Ximena Garcia (Monterrey, CDL)

24/7

Sidekick:

Jeffrry Funez (Reno, Vertical Dance)

Grayson Ashton (Chicago, Artistry Dance and Company)

Kingston Baker (Knoxville, SpotLite Dance Studio)

Sylvie Win Szyndlar (San Diego, Club Dance Studio)

Gianna Marquez (San Antonio, Danzforce Academy)

Annalise May (San Antonio, Insight Dance Ensemble)

Kendall Khamphengphet (Birmingham, Legacy Dance Studio)

Grace Nunez (Daytona Beach, Dance Unlimited)

Italy Glover (Rochester, Dominique’s Dance Creations)

Aspen Brandt (Provo, Club Dance Studio)

Harper Rosenbaugh (Provo, Club Dance Studio)

Danielle Brotherton (Denver, Artistic Fusion)

Giada Spivak (Meadowlands, Jump Dance Studio)

Jamisyn Doan (Billings, DanceWorX Studio)

(Boston)

(Anaheim)

(Detroit)

(New Orleans)

(Pittsburgh)

(Des Moines)

(Atlanta)

(Washington)

(Glendale)

(Bellevue)

(Dallas)

(Orlando)

(Houston)

(Santa Clara)

(Myrtle Beach)

Mini:

Ruby Taylor (Reno, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Lilly Anderson (Chicago, Larkin Dance Studio)

Dakota Casteel (Knoxville, SpotLite Dance Studio)

Ellary Day Szyndlar (San Diego, Club Dance Studio)

Kendyl Miller (San Diego, Club Dance Studio)

Anna Holley (San Antonio, The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

Mila Simunic (Birmingham, Legacy Dance Studio)

Anita Rodriguez (Daytona Beach, Stars Dance Studio)

Cydnee Abbott (Rochester, Canadian Dance Company)

Brooklyn Ward (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Kate Baker (Denver, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Ava Suarez (Meadowlands, Dynamic Dance Academy)

Lyriq Stajcar (Billings, The Dynamic Dance Academy)

(Boston)

(Anaheim)

(Detroit)

(New Orleans)

(Pittsburgh)

(Des Moines)

(Atlanta)

(Washington)

(Glendale)

(Bellevue)

(Dallas)

(Orlando)

(Houston)

(Santa Clara)

(Myrtle Beach)

Junior:

Aria Du (Reno, Yoko’s Dance and Performing Arts Academy)

Savannah Manzel (Chicago, Larkin Dance Studio)

Mila Manoni (Knoxville, Scenic City Dance)

Esme Chou (San Diego, Project 21)

Braylynn Grizzaffi (San Antonio, The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

Ella Dobler (Birmingham, New Level Dance Company)

Santiago Sosa (Daytona Beach, Stars Dance Studio)

Kennedy Anderson (Rochester, The Vision Dance Alliance)

Kylie Lawrence (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Anistyn Larsen (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Tessa Ohran (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Kinsley Oykhman (Denver, The Academy)

Emily Polis (Meadowlands, The Vision Dance Alliance)

Lyric Okrusch (Billings, The Dynamic Dance Academy)

(Boston)

(Anaheim)

(Detroit)

(New Orleans)

(Pittsburgh)

(Des Moines)

(Atlanta)

(Washington)

(Glendale)

(Bellevue)

(Dallas)

(Orlando)

(Houston)

(Santa Clara)

(Myrtle Beach)

Teen:

Mya Tuaileva (Reno, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Keira Redpath (Chicago, Larkin Dance Studio)

Leila Winker (Knoxville, Millennium Dance Complex-Nashville)

Kalli Ramet (Knoxville, JBP Entertainment)

Isabella Lynch (San Diego, Danceology)

Makaia Roux (San Antonio, Danceology)

Kameron Couch (San Antonio, Project 21)

Cameron Kennedy (Birmingham, Linda Dobbins Dance)

Nicholas Bustos (Daytona Beach, Stars Dance Studio)

Sophie Garcia (Daytona Beach, Stars Dance Studio)

Charlotte Park (Rochester, Timothy M Draper Center for Dance Education)

Stella Condie (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Crystal Huang (Denver, The Rock Center for Dance)

Caroline Quiner (Meadowlands, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Sedalyn Martinez (Meadowlands, Prestige Academy of Dance) 

Brea Wagner (Billings, The Dynamic Dance Academy)

(Boston)

(Anaheim)

(Detroit)

(New Orleans)

(Pittsburgh)

(Des Moines)

(Atlanta)

(Washington)

(Glendale)

(Bellevue)

(Dallas)

(Orlando)

(Houston)

(Santa Clara)

(Myrtle Beach)

Senior:

Kaitlyn Tom (Reno, Nor Cal Dance Arts)

Sophie Tosh (Chicago, Artistic Edge Dance Centre)

Olivia Taylor (Knoxville, Thrive Dance Company)

Caitlyn Knowles (Knoxville, The Artists Project)

Emma Donnelly (San Diego, Danceology)

Reagan Stafford (San Antonio, Next Step Dance)

Kaylin Motton (Birmingham, Heidi Knight School of Dance)

Edon Hartzy (Daytona Beach, Stars Dance Studio)

Victoria Rynkowski (Rochester, Timothy M Draper Center for Dance Education)

Amanda Taylor (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Bayli Ramey (Provo, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Zoe Ridge (Denver, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Skai Llorente (Meadowlands, Encore Performing Arts Center)

Renee Bergeron (Billings, Stars Dance Studio)

(Boston)

(Anaheim)

(Detroit)

(New Orleans)

(Pittsburgh)

(Des Moines)

(Atlanta)

(Washington)

(Glendale)

(Bellevue)

(Dallas)

(Orlando)

(Houston)

(Santa Clara)

(Myrtle Beach)

Open

Elena Navarrete (D’ansa Jazz Stage)

Radix

Rookie:

Lily Jin (Meadowlands, Kindlion Academy)

Nora Smith (Meadowlands, Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics)

Samantha Luffi (Tampa, Dance Unlimited)

Camila Ruiz-Mondragon (San Francisco, Pacific Arts Complex)

Evie Lacoste (Biloxi, Modern Conceptions of Dance)

Sylvie Win Szyndlar (Anaheim, Club Dance Studio)

Eden Tomes (Boston, Elite Feet Artists Company)

Maddie Smith (Minneapolis, The Dance Complex)

Tensley Morrill (Minneapolis, The Dance Complex)

Natalie Dockendorf (Minneapolis, The Dance Complex)

Shale Herrera (Glendale, Danceplex)

Kennedy Carver (Kansas City, Premier Dance)

(Chicago)

(Provo)

(Houston)

(Atlanta)

(Concord)

(Dallas)

(Westminster)

(Santa Clara)

(Pittsburgh)

(Orlando)

(Baltimore)

(Lansing)

(Indianapolis)

(Atlantic City)

(Portland)

Mini:

Ashley Otano (Meadowlands, New Era Athletic Dance Facility)

Anita Rodriguez (Tampa, Stars Dance Studio)

Madisyn Rose Amos (San Francisco, Club Dance Studio)

Brooklyn Ward (San Francisco, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio)

Reese Braga (Biloxi, New Level Dance Company)

Ellary Day Szyndlar (Anaheim, Club Dance Studio)

Isla Gardner (Boston, CanDance Studios)

Francesca DeMartinis (Boston, Loperfido Dance Academy)

Juliana Cherwinski (Boston, The Talent Factory)

Lilly Anderson (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Lucia Piedrahita (Glendale, Danceplex)

Kendall Brown (Kansas City, South Tulsa Dance Co)

(Chicago)

(Provo)

(Houston)

(Atlanta)

(Concord)

(Dallas)

(Westminster)

(Santa Clara)

(Pittsburgh)

(Orlando)

(Baltimore)

(Lansing)

(Indianapolis)

(Atlantic City)

(Portland)

Junior:

Emily Polis (Meadowlands, The Vision Dance Alliance)

Zoe Flores (Tampa, Stars Dance Studio)

Kya Massimino (Tampa, Stars Dance Studio)

Fiona Wu (San Francisco, Yoko’s Dance and Performing Arts Academy)

Emily Joy Core (Biloxi, New Level Dance Company)

Victoria Martinez (Anaheim, Evoke Dance Movement)

Sasha Milstein (Anaheim, The Rock Center for Dance)

Sophia McKenna (Boston, Hackworth School of Performing Arts)

Kelsie Jacobson (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Tayah Klimuck (Glendale, Evoke Dance Movement)

Ruby Arnold (Kansas City, True Dance and Company)

(Chicago)

(Provo)

(Houston)

(Atlanta)

(Concord)

(Dallas)

(Westminster)

(Santa Clara)

(Pittsburgh)

(Orlando)

(Baltimore)

(Lansing)

(Indianapolis)

(Atlantic City)

(Portland)

Teen:

Kenzie Jones (Meadowlands, Danceplex)

Kylee Casares (Tampa, Stars Dance Studio)

Addison Middleton (San Francisco, Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre)

Kynadi Crain (Biloxi, Jean Leigh Academy of Dance)

Angelika Edejer (Anaheim, Evoke Dance Movement)

Caroline Quiner (Boston, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Ian Stegeman (Minneapolis, Woodbury Dance Center)

Caleb Abea (Glendale, Larkin Dance Studio)

Maliah Howard (Glendale, Michelle Latimer Dance Academy)

Sloane Dawson (Glendale, Evoke Dance Movement)

Addison Hoffman (Kansas City, Columbia Performing Arts Centre)

(Chicago)

(Provo)

(Houston)

(Atlanta)

(Concord)

(Dallas)

(Westminster)

(Santa Clara)

(Pittsburgh)

(Orlando)

(Baltimore)

(Lansing)

(Indianapolis)

(Atlantic City)

(Portland)

Senior:

Rachel Quiner (Meadowlands, Hunterdon Hills Ballet)

Destanye Diaz (Tampa, Stars Dance Studio)

Kaitlyn Tom (San Francisco, Nor Cal Dance Arts)

Jenna Laurent (Biloxi, Modern Conceptions of Dance)

Hayden Folse (Biloxi, The Movement Dance Academy)

Tucker Gokey (Anaheim, The Colony)

Ally Pereira (Boston, Studio 61 Dance Company)

Isabella Jarvis (Minneapolis, Larkin Dance Studio)

Lola Iglesias (Glendale, Michelle Latimer Dance Academy)

Brianna Keingatti (Kansas City,Columbia Performing Arts Centre)

(Chicago)

(Provo)

(Houston)

(Atlanta)

(Concord)

(Dallas)

(Westminster)

(Santa Clara)

(Pittsburgh)

(Orlando)

(Baltimore)

(Lansing)

(Indianapolis)

(Atlantic City)

(Portland)

Open

Andrea Bardales (Meadowlands, Lidys Dance Studio)

Haley Doyle (Boston, Zello Dance Studios)

April Bartley (Minneapolis, Urban Dance Productions)

[vintagereject]

Emily Pettit

[nateglogan]

MY FAVORITE POETRY OF 2023 (Prologue) As I've written before, sometimes it's a book year and sometimes it's a music year. Happily, this year has been a book and music year. Despite living in the meme where the garbage can slides down a flooding street to a Vanessa Carlton tune, a lot of great poetry (and other literature) was released this year. As my to-read list suggests, I'll still be catching up on books released this year for some months to come.

Personally, this was another good year for me. My second full-length manuscript, Wrong Horse, was accepted for publication by Moria Books (read some blurbs here). My first broadside was published, as well as a collaborative cento composed via the USPS with Danika Stegeman LeMay. Finally, as part of their second folio on the prose poem, periodicities kindly published this essay, maybe my favorite piece of criticism I've written.

As always, these books are just my favorite, not a best-of list. I've also included some bonus links and additional information below.

FAVORITE FULL-LENGTH POETRY COLLECTIONS OF 2023 Hell, I Love Everybody: The Essential James Tate eds. Dara Barrois/Dixon, Emily Pettit, and Kate Lindroos (Ecco) Poèmes deep / Gravitas by Amy Berkowitz (Noroît)* Iggy Horse by Michael Earl Craig (Wave Books) Aisle 228 by Sandra Marchetti (Stephen F. Austin University Press) Toska by Alina Pleskova (Deep Vellum) The Book by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)

FAVORITE CHAPBOOKS OF 2023 Co-Pilot by Danika Stegeman LeMay (Self-Released)** dear Elsie / seltzer by Nicole Steinberg (Bloof Books)

FAVORITE POETRY COLLECTION OF LAST YEAR (2022) I DIDN’T READ UNTIL THIS YEAR (2023) Making Water by Laura Jaramillo (Futurepoem)

FAVORITE OLDER NOVEL READ IN 2023 Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (Random House, 1985)

BOOK I HAD A BEEF WITH IN 2023 Cujo by Stephen King (Viking, 1981)***

2023 TO-READ LIST (ALL GENRES) Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard (Liveright) Diary by Marisa Crawford (Spuyten Duyvil) Our Strangers by Lydia Davis (Bookshop Editions) The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman (Catapult) Ablation by Danika Stegeman LeMay (11:11 Press) A Year and a Day by Phillip Lopate (New York Review Books) The Ruins of Nostalgia by Donna Stonecipher (Wesleyan University Press) ---

*This book was published by Total Joy in the United States and includes bonus poems written by the Washtenaw County Women's Poetry Collective and Casserole Society. The bilingual edition I read includes a discussion with the translators.

**Second printing, first released in 2019.

***Cujo doesn't cast a long shadow over the novel: the primary story is domestic drama, so I don't think the title is fitting. There's a vague implication that there's something supernatural happening here, which is fine and dandy, EXCEPT we have a scene that explains, in a real world practical way, what happens to Cujo. The murking of the two explanations of what happens to Cujo doesn't work for this reader. [edited for time]

[celtfather]

Celtic Women Trip to Dingle #629

Are you in need of a trip to Dingle? Listen to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #629.

One Street Over, The Carroll Sisters, Spoil The Dance, Ellen Gibling, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Scottish Fish, Kinnfolk, Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira, Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland and Mike Freeman, The Breath, Clare Cunningham, The Haar, Logical Fleadh

GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX

The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Subscribe and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free.

VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2023

This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2023 episode.  Vote Now!

You can also follow our playlists on Spotify and YouTube. These feature the top songs two weeks after the polls open. It also makes it easier for you to add these artists to your own playlists.

THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC

0:02 - Intro: Rubie of Dryad Tea and the band Pandora Celtica

0:09 - One Street Over "Ocean Set" from Beyond the Gate Katie Enders: Fiddle

7:05 - WELCOME

9:15 - The Carroll Sisters "Sean Quinn's/Beeswing" from Daybreak Emilie and Nora Carroll: fiddle

12:56 - Spoil The Dance "The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow" from Returning Home Gaynor Brook: vocals

17:12 - Ellen Gibling "Wendel's Wedding / An Seanduine Dóite" from The Bend in the Light Ellen Gibling: harp

22:49 - Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh "A Single Thread" from Ar Uair Bhig An Lae  -  The Small Hours Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh: vocals, flute, whistle

26:13 - FEEDBACK

32:41 - Scottish Fish "Trip to Dingle" from Upscale Ava Montesi (fiddle), Caroline Dressler (fiddle), Giulia Haible (cello, piano), Julia Homa (fiddle, piano), and Maggie MacPhail (fiddle, piano)

37:26 - Kinnfolk "A Mhic Iain 'ic Sheumais" from The Knotted Circle Julie Kinn: vocals, bodhran Pronunciation A Mhic Iain 'ic Sheumais: a mickh kain ic scha - mus

41:36 - Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira "Across the Western Ocean" from All It Brings Jocelyn Pettit: fiddle; Ellen Gira: cello

45:26 - THANKS

47:14 - Anne McCaffrey, Tania Opland and Mike Freeman “Golden Egg of Faranth I" from The Masterharper of Pern Tania Opland: vocals

48:04 - The Breath "Let The Cards Fall (Acoustic)" from Only Stories (Let the Cards Fall Revisited) Ríoghnach Connolly: vocals,

52:58 - Clare Cunningham "Angel of the Emerald Isle" from Dear Ireland Clare Cunningham: vocals, guitar

56:09 - The Haar "The Emigrant's Farewell " from The Haar Molly Donnery: vocals

1:02:56 - CLOSING

1:04:11 - Logical Fleadh "Called Home" from Acoustic Mixes (10 - Track Acoustic Re - Mix) Emily Albright (fiddle, vocals) Dana Joras (flutes, whistles, vocals)

1:07:37 - Ashley Davis “The Blackest Crow” from Night Travels

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to subscribe to the show. You’ll find links to all of the artists played in this episode.

Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you’ll get 7 weekly news items about what’s happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage.

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Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/.

WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST

* Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I’m a Celtic musician and podcaster. This podcast is here to build our diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. Musicians rely on your support to keep making music.  If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.

You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com.

We are once again officially sponsoring IrishFest Atlanta this year. It takes place Nov 3 - 5, 2023 with headliners Ashley Davis Band and Dervish. Find out more at irishfestatlanta.org

And if you are a Celtic musician or in a Celtic band, then please submit your band to be played on the podcast. You don’t have to send in music or an EPK. Just complete the permission form at 4celts.com.

Miranda Nelson Designs does the graphics for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. In fact, you might notice that the design of our show graphics is newly updated. She is redesigning her website right now. The new layout goes live on October 1. You can buy a fun variety of Irish and Celtic inspired shirt designs in her store.

THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST!

Because of Your kind and generous support, this show comes out four times a month. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow.

As a patron, you get music - only episodes before regular listeners, vote in the Celtic Top 20, and you get a private feed to listen to the show.  All that for as little as $1 per episode.

A special thanks to our newest Patrons of the Podcast: Brian Byrne, Janet Wilson, David Komai, Alan MacKenzie, Cristy Ponce

HERE IS YOUR THREE STEP PLAN TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST

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Decide how much you want to pledge every week, $1, $5, $10. Make sure to cap how much you want to spend per month.

Keep listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to celebrate Celtic culture through music.

You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com.

TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS

Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening or a picture you took of a band that you saw.

Email me at celticpodcast@gmail or message me on Facebook.

Ethan Sellers of Logical Fleadh emailed: "Hey Marc -

Just wanted to send a belated thank - you for the Mother’s Day spin.  Such a nice thing to highlight the women in Celtic music.  The strong presence of women  -  especially instrumentalists  -  in traditional music is one of the things I really appreciate about the field. Cheers,"

Ann Peck McBride emailed: "I first heard the podcast about 13 years ago! And it's taken me all this time to become a Patreon member. Sorry, Marc!

I'm embarrassed to say I listen to your podcast while I'm doing housework. (It's a treat I give myself so that I'll actually do the housework) I am always surprised at the wonderful new Celtic artists you play.

I first listened to you because I needed to hear all the Celtic music I could. I listen now, partly for that reason, and partly because for the last few years, I have co - hosted a Celtic Music Hour program in Salem Oregon, on KMUZ. As my friend (and I think yours) Steve Behrens said, "We've fallen down the rabbit hole of Celtic music!" And here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a LOT of Celtic musicians... Thanks"

Debra Roche emailed a photo: "Hello, Mark, I recently played your St Patrick's Day 2023 podcast from SiriusXM and loved it!

Many years ago (1985 - 1991)I had opened The Celtic Cottage & Roche's of Ireland in Davenport, & Bettendorf, IA which brought me to do an Irish show at St Ambrose University for their college radio show.

How much fun that time in my life was! Whenever you give back to your community it is just the best when your family roots are connected! As my father's parents where from County Limerick Ireland. Glin & New Castle West.

Hope you're well and thank you for your music podcast!”

Melissa Helman emailed a photo of her dirty dishes: "So exciting, I know. Keep up the great work with the podcast."

Christopher Patrick of Salem, MA emailed a couple photos: "Hello Mark!

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have discovered the ‘Irish & Celtic Music Podcast!’ But I’m gonna try, all the same!

You see, in my childhood, my 5 siblings and I would get loaded up into our family station wagon every Saturday morning by our mother. She would then proceed to drive us all into Boston for our weekly Irish Step Dancing lessons. Our rides both in and back were spent listening to Boston’s AM’s radio show, ‘The Irish Hour,' and later, ‘The Irish Hit Parade,’ (still on the air to this day!)

So, those jigs and reels were ingrained in us in our step dancing, and the other traditional music was from our rides there and home. My mother soon landed us an agent, and we, the six kids, danced all around the Greater Boston area.

So, it is no real big surprise that these days, I play in an Irish Music Band with my family. Comprised of myself, my brother, two sisters, and brother - in - law, we perform under the name of ‘FitzBlarney,’ based in Salem, Massachusetts.

I’ve attached a coupla’ photos for you, too  -  one of the six of us in our 1970s step - dancing attire, and one from this past St. Patrick’s Day, where FitzBlarney played out at The Witches Brew pub in Salem.

The music you play means a lot to me, so, I recently became a patron. Just out of appreciation! Thanks again, and ‘Sláinte!’

P.S. I would love to one day get on your podcast! That’d be so cool!"

Check out this episode!

[bostonpoetryslam]

I am hiding in my poems. I am also not hiding. I am doing both.

Emily Pettit, interviewed by Jack Christian for BOMB Magazine

[librarybookquotes]

“I am the government on the moon and I mean to let you forgive me.”

[metagnosis]

Just because you know something doesn’t mean someone else does. When do we learn this? An awareness of another’s awareness. I think you think I think look at this! Faint sources of light! And water. Water may exist where you least expect it. There is water in the lava. The lava like a lion. Water in the lava. Hydrogen in the hills.

—Emily Pettit, from “After Calming Down You Have an Old Feeling,” 2011

[uwcairns]

Rounding out #PrideMonth with the Emily Dickinson tarot deck, inspired by the famously reclusive–and probably bisexual/biromantic–poet.

Tarot cards originated as playing cards in Europe (maybe Italy) in the 15th century. It wasn’t until the 18th century that they became associated with divination and the occult. (See @stuffmomnevertoldyou’s episode, “The Art of Tarot,” for more, & to learn about the queer artist who illustrated the famous “Rider-Waite” deck!) We’re not sure if Emily Dickinson ever came across a tarot deck, but she did live in New England at a time when Spiritualism and mediums were very popular, so, maybe? Dickinson scholars, please weigh in– would Emily Dickinson have been into tarot? I can definitely see Alena Smith's version of her (on Apple TV's Dickinson) doing a reading for Sue… 🌈🔮

Artwork by Halie Theoharides, Phoebe Harris, Bianca Stone, Emily Pettit (@goatinthesnow), and Haley Rene Thompson.

[Cairns PS 1541 Z5 E45 2014. The Emily Dickinson Tarot Deck. 2018.]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwQ8PLszzN/?utm_medium=tumblr

[adventuresinodysseypintrestboard]

Ok, here’s my take on Rydell Revalations part 3. So keep scrolling if you don’t want spoilers.

THE SOUND TRACKKKKKKK!!!! Wow! 🤯

Mrs Mado...

The shack at Forrest Mountain HAD to be the imagination station shed in Novacom.

TASHA!!!!!!!

Tasha knows Jason is alive. I mean, did we doubt she did?

Tasha should be the kids new guardian

She’s so sweet with the kids!

Morrie is a rascal (as if we didn’t know that already)

“Are there more agents in Odyssey?”

“I’m not allowed to say”

Jason!!!! I know I joke about it but I honestly believed you had retired this time!!!

The imagination station technology is getting scary good.

Their plan was genius!

Emily being handcuffed the whole time. Total Jason vibes.

I NEED JASON TO BE HER MENTOR

As much as Emily can’t trust the Rydells, I feel like she can’t trust Mr. Whittaker even more.

PETTITION FOR EMILY TO START HANGING OUT AT TRIPLE J’S ANTIQUES BECAUSE SHE WONT WANT TO GO TO WHIT’S END ANYMORE

Whit! Treating people according to their abilities does not mean not stepping in when A CHILD IS BEING TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!

I hated mr. Whittaker’s explanation. It lowkey destroyed the episode for me.

If I was Emily’s parents, I wouldn’t trust Whit with my child anymore.

But!

WHIT OFFERING TO BE THE RYDELL’S GARDIAN! OMG!

IF WE DONT GET “SIBLING” AND “COUSIN” MOMENTS WITH JASON AND MONTY WITH THE RYDELLS I WILL BE DISSAPOINTED!

PETTITION FOR MONTY AND JASON TO TAKE MORRIE AND SUZU FISHING!

Despite hating whit’s explanation, I did like the ending.

“Now, about those consequences”

It just felt like an Odyssey ending.

This episode felt like Odyssey.

THE SOUND TRACK OMG DID I MENTION IT!?

Jared depascal (that’s probably not how you spell his last name) you nailed the music.

I think I’d give this episode 4 out of 5 stars. Maybe 4.5.

[librarycards]

i live i see by vsevolod nekrasov

tiny pieces of skull by roz kaveney

valis by pkd

phaedra's love by sarah kane

time is a thing the body moves through by t. fleischmann

ooh some interesting ones here, love it!

Mairead Case, Tiny

Eileen Myles, Chelsea Girls

Lou Sullivan, We Both Laughed in Pleasure

Emily Pettit, Blue Flame

Jason Teal, We Were Called Specimens

[luthienne]

How does one let go? Of another, of one's self, of the life you thought you were living. Do you know any fitting poems or quotes describing the phenomenon of moving forward?

I’m not sure that I’ve ever let go of anything in my entire life. This Anne Carson quote always seems to sum up my thoughts in four succinct lines:

I find the phenomenon of letting go so inextricably tied with the idea of healing or recovery, perhaps because that’s what the desire to “let go” and move forward looks like for me. How do you let go of something that happened to you or within you, something that has altered your conception of the world from one day to the next, that has altered your own perception of yourself, of who you thought you were or could be, of what you thought your life would be? How to come to terms with the reality that there is no return to who you were before? 

For me it’s less a deliberate choice to brush my hands together and “let go”, but more simply putting one foot in front of the other every day until I find myself in a (perhaps even just slightly) different place than before. It’s allowing myself to grieve what I thought my life would be, and also allowing space to hold gratitude for what my life contains. It’s waiting for everything inside of me and around me to shatter, and meanwhile still moving forward. It’s allowing myself to realize that I’m still here and I’m still a whole person, even if the pieces of me have shattered and rearranged themselves into something I don’t necessarily always recognize. It’s sitting alone with myself, with the silence that sometimes makes a home of my throat, with the restlessness beneath my skin, with the fear that who I am becoming won’t be enough, and moving anyway in any direction but back. It’s sitting with grief and shame and bitterness and groundlessness, and understanding that these feelings are temporary, and not things be used to validate my fears or distortions.

I think the deliberate choice involved for me is the one to allow space for growth, to not cling so tightly to past hopes or ideas that there is no longer any room for anything else, anything new, anything different. It’s allowing myself the belief and compassionate understanding that I can be something other than I thought or hoped I would be, and it’s ok. I think sometimes we deny ourselves chances to grow or change because of the shame we feel that we have failed, and to deny ourselves those opportunities for growth would be the real shame. What others believe does not matter—that we have invested ourselves utterly in a relationship that failed is no shame on us, that we have invested ourselves utterly in a dream or a hope that just didn’t work out is no shame on us. I think the worst thing is to remain in a place that is no longer serving us for fear of appearing the failure to others. There is so much opportunity to be had in letting go of one thing, anything, to make room for something else.

I don’t know that this compilation of poetry, essays, literature, and letters will offer any insight, or comfort, or guidance. Letting go must surely be an intensely personal process, an intensely personal thing, a different kind of animal for everyone—but still there seem to be some universal experiences. So these are some of the words that came to mind for me—whether they touch on grappling with the impossibility of letting go and moving forward, the hope of it, the desire for it, the loneliness of it, or the frustration with it (bc of course it’s something that cannot be forced, only something that can be allowed):

“What could I have grown up to be? What kind of human woman, what kind of simple, happy thing? If I had never been broken on a bird’s wing. If I had never seen the world naked. I want to be myself again…I want to stop knowing everything I know.”

Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless

“On the surface, I was poised, cool, indifferent. […] The discrepancy between what I would show the world and the chaos I felt grew steadily more intense.”

Louise Glück, Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry

“There were glimpses, moments, breathing spaces of calm, but all the rest of the time it was like living in a house that couldn’t be cured of the habit of catching on fire, on a ship that got wrecked every day.” 

Katherine Mansfield, “At the Bay”

“Words can’t describe the wound. / Perhaps more importantly / words alone / can’t heal the wound.”

Emily Pettit, “Hands Like Lighters”

“But sometimes words are the only hands / we have to touch a bruised memory / or cleanse a wound that never healed / or lift a body we carried for years / at last to the pyre of shared grief.”

Fred Dings, Eulogy for a Private Man

“I sat on a gray stone bench / and placed my grief / in the mouth of language, / the only thing that would grieve with me.” 

Lisel Mueller, Alive Together: Poems

“I am not myself, and cannot ever be / again. I am my own emptiness, trying to fill my emptiness / with words.”

Robert Kroetsch, “Letters to Salonika”

“Now that I’m free to be myself, who am I? / Can’t fly, can’t run, and see how slowly I walk.”

Mary Oliver, from Blue Iris

“Can I never escape this interminable mourning for myself?”

Susan Sontag, from Reborn

“The light of the moon poured down; its beauty, / its radiance. / And I grieved and grieved. I grieved for so long.”

from Phoebus was gone, all gone, his journey over (tr. Eavan Boland)

“When will, when will, when will it be enough, / the saying and lamenting?” 

Rainer Maria Rilke, Uncollected Poems

“…she was only trying to smooth out something she had been given years ago folded up;”

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

“It seemed increasingly impossible to remember a time when I had been fully alive, impossible to imagine a future in which I would live that way again.” 

Louise Glück, Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry

“Everything is so fragile. I feel so lost. I live off secret, radiating, luminous rays that would smother me if I didn’t cover them with a heavy cloak of false certainties. God help me: I have no one to guide me and it’s dark again.”

Clarice Lispector, The Stream of Life

“Make a place for yourself in the darkness and wait there. Be there.”

Denise Levertov, To Stay Alive

“Losing is also ours; and even forgetting has its shape in the permanent realm of change. Things we’ve let go of circle; and though we’re rarely at the center of these circles: they trace around us the unbroken figure.” 

Rainer Maria Rilke, “For Hans Corossa” (tr. Edward Snow)

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. / It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.”

Mary Oliver, “The Uses of Sorrow”

“Things take us hard, no question. / How do you make it, all the way from here to morning?”

Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck

“Following a fearful night I do not quite / remember came a kind / of dawn, not light, / But something we could see by.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dream of Saba”

“Afterward, you go back to the old place—all that remains is char: blackness and emptiness. You think: how could I live here? But it was different then, even last summer. The earth behaved as though nothing could go wrong with it. One match was all it took. But at the right time—it had to be the right time. The field parched, dry—the deadness in place already so to speak.” 

Louise Glück, Averno

“…the longing, not for something distant or remote, but for what is lost forever, something that can never return.”

Henia Karmel, A Wall of Two

“When a thing’s gone, it’s gone. It’s over and done with. Let it go then! Ignore it, and comfort yourself, if you do want comforting, with the thought that you never do recover the same thing that you lose. It’s always a new thing. The moment it leaves you, it’s changed.”

Katherine Mansfield, “Je ne parle pas français”

“I cannot go back now. […] For me to go back is impossible, now or later.”

Marina Tsvetaeva, from a letter to Boris Pasternak

“There comes a day when the trees / refuse to let you pass / until you name them.”

Lisel Mueller, Second Language: Poems

“Anyway, it’s in grappling with things at the source that you can tell best whether a thing is worth continuing or not… In other words, everything is worth investigating, wasting time over, if it interests you. There is always a deep, unconcealed reason why it interests you.”

Henry Miller, from a letter to Anaïs Nin 

“We only live by somehow absorbing the past—changing it. I mean really examining it and dividing what is important from what is not (for there is waste) and transforming it so that it becomes a part of the life of the spirit and we are free of it. It’s no longer our personal past, it’s just in the highest possible sense, our servant. I mean that it is no longer our master.”

Katherine Mansfield, from a letter to J.M. Murry

“…only one thing is urgently needed: to attach oneself with unconditional purpose somewhere to nature, to what is strong, striving and bright, and to move forward without guile, even if ithat means in the least important, daily matters. Each time we tackle something with joy, each time we open our eyes toward a yet untouched distance we transform not only this and the next moment, but we also rearrange and gradually assimilate the past inside of us.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, from a letter to Adelheid von der Marwitz

“Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”

May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

“One must let life run its course. The human being destroys so many things on his own, and it is not in his power to restore anything. Nature, by contrast, has all the power to heal as long as one does not eavesdrop or interrupt it.” 

Rainer Maria Rilke, from a letter to Anita Forrer

“Do not try to be saved, but let redemption find you, as it certainly will. Love is its own rescue; for we, at our supremest, are but its trembling emblems.”

Emily Dickinson, from a letter to T.W. Higginson

“To take things easy, not to fight against the ebb and flow of life, but to give way to it—that was what was needed. It was the tension that was all wrong.”

Katherine Mansfield, “At the Bay”

“If you find yourself disappointing—drop self-expectations. What you are turning into you cannot expect to know, but you can trust it, and believe that if it is other than you planned, it will also be better than you planned—however different.”

Kahlil Gibran, from a letter to Mary Haskell

“To live in this world / you must be able / to do three things: / to love what is mortal; / to hold it / against your bones knowing / your own life depends on it; / and when the time comes to let it go, / to let it go.”

Mary Oliver, “At Blackwater Pond”

[wemultitudinous]

@hopewrought // bethany & varric // if i could write your story, i’d write more sunshine

fred dings // mary oliver // emily pettit // emily dickinson // madeline miller

[emilieideas]

Reading: Caryl Pagel and Emily Pettit, jubilat/Jones (September 17, 2017)

Emily Pettit

“there was among us a child”

“it strains the heart, the strange neck”

“I am that red thing going around”

“after passing the goat it was important to slow down”

Caryl Pagel

“I won’t say too much about them for fear of learning too much”

“hiding the woods, you lion”

“no wait, wild is wrong”

“a seawall underwater lens”

“dense prediction”

“mistaken violence”

“are you yourself well”

“that pitch / there is something in the way of the thought”

“earth’s peevish heat”

“what was the way you used to take”

“oh dumb child you once played orphanage”

“cropped shortages”

“and in those decades you thought to live / you were a careful person”

“here it halts in Chicago”

“silly civic fool”

“whales do have wombs too”

“soft fanned advantage”

“state systemic rules that locate themselves ahead of God”

“the fact-based lies—what whale?”

“to involve the thought”

“a lens with which to love”

“pay attention to what you are allowed to help”

“start with where you are”

“arboreal murmurs”

“the rainforest carwash”

“silent like there was no prayer”

[tinyghosthands]

Emily Pettit

[nv-rivera]

Words of Wisdom from Cathy Heller's Dreamtopia 2019

Last week Stop Writing Alone’s host, Nicole Rivera, had the opportunity to go to Cathy Heller’s workshop Dreamtopia 2019. In this week’s episodes she shares words of wisdom applicable to writers from Cathy Heller, Andy J. Pizza, Lili Pettit, Jennifer Cohen, Amber Rae, Delanie Fischer, Jeff Goins, Heidi Stevens, Saul Blinkoff, and Barney Waters! She also shares call ins from fellow attendees who share their big takeaways and passion projects with listeners.

  Mentioned in this episode:

  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone

Dreamtopia Workshop 2019: https://cathy-heller.teachable.com/p/live-event  

Cathy Heller Don’t Keep Your Day Job: https://www.dontkeepyourdayjob.com/

Andy J. Pizza: https://www.andyjpizza.com/

Lili Pettit Clutter Healing: https://clutterhealing.com/

Jennifer Cohen: https://jennifercohen.com/

Amber Rae: https://www.amberrae.com/

Delanie Fischer: https://www.delaniefischer.com/

Jeff Goins: https://goinswriter.com/

Heidi Stevens: https://heidistevens.co/

Saul Blinkoff: http://www.saulblinkoff.com/

Barney Waters: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barney-waters-a31636

  Dreamtopian Call-Ins:

Emily Harman

emilydh9@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/onwardpodcast/

https://www.facebook.com/Onward-Podcast-306155260100368/

Beth Goedelman

https://www.instagram.com/bethsbestielife/

https://www.bethsbestielife.com/

Jennifer Cho Salaff

http://jenniferchosalaff.com/

Lindsay

https://www.instagram.com/sensiblespiral/

https://www.sensispiral.com/

Jamie Feinberg

https://rossandjamieadventure.com/

https://insearchofascoop.com/

https://tinyvillagemusic.com/

Kelly Abanda

https://www.instagram.com/beautifullylostandfound/

https://www.facebook.com/kelly.abanda

https://www.facebook.com/DesignYourDetour/

https://www.instagram.com/designyourdetour/

Tisha Stroud

https://www.instagram.com/letterbliss/

https://www.instagram.com/redheadsaidproductions/

Rebecca Flott Arts

https://www.facebook.com/RebecaflottArts/

http://www.rebecaflottarts.com/

  Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself:

Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/

Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/

Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/

Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/fcbe414431f5/tawgiveaway

Nicole’s Instagram (be prepared for lots of #momlife exposure!): https://www.instagram.com/nv_rivera/

Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera

The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607

  The EVERYONE CAN PODCAST crew. Here’s a list of podcasts made by my classmates coming out of Cathy Heller’s ECP course. This is one inspiring, creative, and informative bunch:

The Soul Mammas Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soul-mammas-podcast/id1393133041?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1tjUxnEcrG1q_5m35ZzCduaS4fZJT2cYHl53CaWevMuRlcuvxBI6AFb3s

How in the HELL Did I Get Here? https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-in-the-hell-did-i-get-here-the-podcast/id1448137091?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR2GyOaw93q3IplQLaF3_GZyzbgwEoxZFzB-uNQAoThKKghAKKCrVKYYohQ

Creativity School https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-school/id1447571085?fbclid=IwAR28GwcZ9Tu81dH7aLtxFoX68-yYEisH3socPrcjmbN0Xk-YY3REgQ9L1Fc

The Ready Pause Go Career https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ready-pause-go-career/id1446761976?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0GXU0O9TjFUcpTTIx_qfypkV1oizQwE_nBjD8hAW4G7x6PXq9PYwgs5IY

Food Tribe https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/food-tribe/id1440417232?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0dADVs36_TgBDzSHIBmFB5JhY6wgag9RpnaX5B8NWjVvB1QTB7Cz5tkjU

The DaddyBe Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daddybe-podcast/id1447237794?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1wUDvNi9dl3vvWzuGPlGydgxiU7evJWKYJrjY-cgrfaWRPRF_xsralitU

I Have Dreams Dammit! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-have-dreams-dammit/id1449508412?fbclid=IwAR0hmiKzF2ABgaqGwQVskxF-OQTV14v9uj1kTlLydvqFvST3kySb76YrKVw

Lessons from a Quitter https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lessons-from-a-quitter/id1412305413?mt=2

Do the Damn Thing https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/do-the-damn-thing/id1437481006?mt=2

Creative Cravings https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-cravings/id1451813556?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR3pbdpDTUdZHiowOls8Ixf03l4XraMUaB4bS66F3b9LQYrBe-p3uA6XpMo

Elder & Wiser https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/elder-wiser/id1453289708?fbclid=IwAR34ZTDVUcdIcHtt9tA1b67Z-WhmDtzM2GnTC8x4huJaS-YOowi1ij1Od2o

Hustle Heartbreaks https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hustle-heartbreaks/id1453207903?fbclid=IwAR2NAhma5OpBfR7P-XjMymAvDJhWVcvnizb5TqjZ5IncJIH4e8U49ai9nh0

Find Your Glee With Dinah G https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-glee-with-dinah-g/id1451375805?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1_c5kV2wvsaFxwDe7zCMpyx047mtHl4eqskA0rc-FaPoIw-Hi8p84TYH0

  And our teacher…

Don’t Keep Your Day Job https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-keep-your-day-job/id1191831035?mt=2

Check out this episode!