When 2015 started, I was a little unsure of where my writing was going, but my devotion to finding that out never ended. Constantly saying to myself, write more, submit more, put yourself out there as much as you can, keep doing what you do, put your all into it and do it well.
My published works of 2015 are some of my proudest moments to date, and with outlets like Al Dia News and Broad Street Review featuring my work for the first time, reached more readers than ever before.
In 2015, I also saw a lot of rejection, because that is the way writing goes. Embracing all of these things brings balance to a person’s life. As I reflect upon the good and the bad I think of a poem by Yves Bonnefoy:
Love perfection because it is the threshold
But deny it once known, once dead forget it,
- from L’imperfection est la cime (Imperfection is the summit)
Please enjoy with me, or bear with me, whichever applies, as I show love to what I feel was my best published works in 2015, before they are dead and forgotten.
# 5
‘Disgruntled’ and ‘The Star Side of Bird Hill’ The complexities of coming-of-age
August 9, 2015
“Both novels are set in the 1980s, and both have strong female protagonists with a dense web of relationships. Most importantly, both are cross-cultural coming-of-age stories that address not just the feminine coming-of-age, but the complex dynamics within cultures that have often been portrayed simplistically, if at all. Both books have universal themes, such as struggles with religion and social relationships.”
http://www.broadstreetreview.com/books/disgruntled-and-the-star-side-of-bird-hill
Vaseline on their hands and wearing Degree deodorant on their smooth armpits — juxtaposed with articles about women’s bodies, including photos of blow-up dolls and advice on how to love your own vagina. (Because it is just assumed that all women don’t?)
#4
Despite growth of women’s news sites, a void in women’s news
August 28, 2015
“The advertising itself is not the problem; content co-created by sponsors is. And which content is co-created is not exactly clear. Broadly supposedly wants to remain above advertising influence, while the site shows countless images of women rubbing Vaseline on their hands and wearing Degree deodorant on their smooth armpits — juxtaposed with articles about women’s bodies, including photos of blow-up dolls and advice on how to love your own vagina. (Because it is just assumed that all women don’t?) Nearly every other article is about some kind of eroticism that women need to know about — relationship advice with burritos (because, how funny — burritos), holding séances and how identifying as witches is helping trans people.”
#3
OuterSpace: From the streets of Philadelphia, a lifelong brotherhood
March 30, 2015
“That night, in the studio, they were in a competitive mood. Around 8pm, I walked into Stallone’s studio, a place Philadelphia rappers like Beanie Segal have walked into, and saw Albaladejo and Collazo sitting next to each other listening to the music on a new track, both of them writing. They hardly looked up from their pages. We pushed the interview back a few hours, so that they could get right to laying down the words they furiously wrote with such inspiration.
Albaladejo and Collazo met years ago, when they were young teenagers in Philadelphia. They formed OuterSpace in the early 1990s as a trio…”
http://aldianews.com/articles/culture/outerspace-streets-philadelphia-lifelong-brotherhood/38379
65 percent of those in prison in Philadelphia … have not been convicted of any crime.
#2
Bail an injustice for Philadelphia’s poor
August 11, 2015
“It is estimated that up to 65 percent of those in prison in Philadelphia are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crime. Many of them simply cannot afford to pay their bail.”
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/essayworks/85093-bail-an-injustice-for-philadelphias-poor
#1
SNOW OVER KABUL: THE BAGRAM AIRBASE BOMBING
February 23, 2015
“I’ve only seen pictures
of snow in Kabul
and in those pictures the sky
is bright with a radiant sun
with clouds so large and white
you can feel the chill.”
https://poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/2015/02/aja-beech.html
Process Press 