From a Quiet Place
plus Fluxblog's playlist of 21st century shoegaze, Leslie Jamison on imposter syndrome, Lincoln Michel's "literary fairy tale" syllabus, the Enyacore revival, and more
I am writing this from a yurt in New Hampshire, where I am spending a couple of days visiting my partner’s family. The quiet is both comforting and disarming. Missing are the sirens, neighbors in the hallway, and traffic sounds that usually soundtrack my day.
When we were here this past summer, a caterwauling voice woke us up on the middle of the night. The yurt is in the middle of a field, set between woods and a cattle pasture. We listened to the voice that sounded like a young girl singing nonsense lyrics, followed it with our ears through the path in front of the house. My partner wondered if it was a ghost, I figured it was a wandering partying teen.
We left the next day and stopped by the yurt’s owner to say goodbye. She laughed when we recounted our ghost story, and told us it was a porcupine. She had even written a children’s book about the songs of porcupines. Mystery solved.
Largehearted Likes
Suntory Toki whiskey, pineapple-infused rum, and Cynar bring this “tropical Manhattan” to life. An added bonus: this glass is best raised to LD Beghtol, a magical musican, writer, and friend who sang this song on the Magnetic Fields’ epic 69 Love Songs album.
This small brewery in Troy, New Hampshire offers a variety of seating, including outdoor clear plastic heated “igloos” that can be reserved. The beers are all solid, especially the flagship Monadnock IPA (named after nearby Mt. Monadnock).
The country
I’m in New Hampshire for a couple of days, enjoying the quiet. Watching small red squirrels forage for food, making snowballs, and reading by the fireplace. Also visiting local breweries (see above). A welcome respite from New York City.
When I was in college I was late to a speech by the former president on campus. The auditorium seats were filled, but he motioned my friend and me to take a seat on the floor in front of his podium just before he was introduced. A gentleman. Not the greatest president, but probably the greatest man to ever be president.
My partner and I have differing musical tastes. Hers run more to traditional pop, smooth jazz, and mainstream hip hop, mine to experimental music, indie pop, and cacaphonic sounds. Bill Frisell’s music has been our common ground this trip, filling both our car and AirBnB with his jazz guitar.
The largest publisher of literature in translation in the US always impresses me. If you find yourself in Dallas, their bookstore is a worthy stop.
Michele Catalano on the promise of spring (training)
The arrival of pitchers and catchers sets off sonic, tactile memories — smells, sights, and sounds that are entwined with both spring and baseball.An excerpt from MariNaomi’s graphic memoir I Thought You Loved Me
One of my favorite comics last year (by one of our most talented storytellers) is being republished. Listen/read Mari’s playlist for the book at Largeheartd Boy.
Twitter Verse
Gabe Hudson’s podcastStay Brave’s interview with poet Ama Codjoe
How do you interpret the phrase, "Stay Brave?""Stay Brave" conjures movement and stillness. Depending on the context, either may be considered brave. Staying brave means staying with whatever feelings arise and honoring them with right action.
Largehearted Links
After viral TikTok posts, Montpelier author's Stone Maidens novel is a bestseller
Marguerite Richards had watched as the book her father had labored over for 14 years wasn’t going anywhere. “It broke my heart a little,” she told Vermont Edition. She decided to post on TikTok, thinking that highlighting her dad’s perseverance would convince a few people to read “Stone Maidens.”
The Story Prize Longlist for Story Collections Published in 2022
Leslie Jamison’s essay on imposter syndrome at the New Yorker
Hammer & Hope magazine
Hammer & Hope is a new magazine of Black politics and culture. It is a project rooted in the power of solidarity, the spirit of struggle and the generative power of debate, all of which are vital parts of our movement toward freedom.New music from Screaming Females
Enyacore: the 1990s revival absolutely no one saw coming
Is this another TikTok microtrend? I’m so tired: I just want to stare at a tree.
It isn’t, although #medievaltiktok is a tangentially relevant 4.6-billion-view juggernaut. Vice has reported on a “vibe shift” in interiors towards a pared-back modern medieval aesthetic, inspired by the audio and other stylings of the castle-dwelling Celtic icon Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (AKA Enya).
Lincoln Michel’s “Literary Fairy Tale” Syllabus
Last week, I published a newsletter titled “Fairy Tale as MFA Antidote” about the ways one of humanity’s oldest literary forms breaks all the supposed “rules” of creative writing. I was happy to see how much it resonated, and since some readers asked for fairy tale-inspired fiction recommendations I thought I’d create a little fabulist fiction syllabus here.
A Peek Into the World of Indonesian Indie Pop
Boy meets girl—so what? At the turn of the century, the city of Bandung in West Java became the center of a flourishing indie pop scene inspired by the ethos and sound of Sarah Records and similar labels.
8 Books About the Journey to Leave Russia
Including one of my favorite books, The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky.
The Millions interview with Daisy Alpert Florin
I didn’t really think of myself as a writer until I was in my forties. I was always a writer. But I was not an English major. I never took a creative writing course in college. I didn’t identify with writers, you know, people who wrote stories and wrote for the literary magazines. That was never me. A lot of what I’m imagining in the workshop scenes, for example, are things that I experienced in my mid to late forties.
An excerpt from Alejandro Zambra's new novel The Private Lives of Trees
Last Week’s LHB Feature Posts
Anne K. Yoder's Playlist for Her Novel The Enhancers
Curtis White's Playlist for His Book Transcendent
Emily Hilliard's Playlist for Her Book Making Our Future
Jesica Fields' Playlist for Her Poetry Collection When a Grasshopper Whispers