Content Tagged ‘making a list’

This spring, University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Department of Creative Writing hosted visiting writer Nikky Finney, distinguished South Carolinian writer and teacher, whose fourth collection, Head Off & Split, was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for poetry. Before coming to UNCW I didn’t seek out poetry, but since beginning my MFA here last fall, and working as a TA for the Pub Lab, I’ve been inundated with poems. As a fiction writer, one prone to writing concise vignettes and flash fiction, I’m fascinated by the distinction between poetry and prose. I attended Nikky Finney’s public reading on Thursday, April 21, eager to hear her experience with words and form. The Kenan Hall room was packed with faculty, students, and Wilmingtonians, and I found a seat on the floor in the back, where I could only see the poet when a sea of shoulders in front of me shifted just so. But I could hear her speak, and between poems Nikky Finney offered habits that improve her writing, told anecdotes about her family and how they’ve influenced her work, and shared her deep connection to the beach. She spoke with such authority, intimacy, and openness I couldn’t resist scrawling down quotes in my notebook. I left the reading, perhaps just as muddled about the distinction of prose and poems, but armed with two of her books, the desire to get home to my writing desk as quickly as possible, and the intention to connect more deeply with the quiet places Wilmington offers writers. I’m excited to share her words and ideas that have already begun to nourish me, with our readers.
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1) “You have to go to the word, go to the root, go to the definition.”

2) “That’s your job: you have to pay attention. Poems are walking by every day. You gotta pay attention.”

3) “If you do what you’ve already done, you’re gonna get what you’ve already gotten.” (advice Nikky Finney shared from her grandmother)

4) Keep an epigraph journal.

5) Talk about hard things in a loving way.

6) “Take the opportunity, so you don’t live with the regret.”

7) “You know, we live in a really noisy world.” Do something for yourself that is aware of how noisy the world is. “You have to figure out the noise in your life and then shut it down, it’s not helpful to you.”

8) “I listen to what makes my heart flutter.”

9) Face the thing you really need to be looking at.

10) “Reporting is the reporter’s job, but my job, my student’s job, your job, is to make something of what you know about humanity. Because that is why we’ve had art for thousands of years. To make us better…to have the kind of conversations we are having.”

–F. Morgan Davis, MFA Candidate in fiction, Pub Lab TA

As you may know already, Ecotone features authors and artists who explore the transition zones between landscapes, literary genres, scientific and artistic disciplines, and modes of thought all in the name of reimagining place. We’ve published traditional nature writers since our founding in 2005, and in our Anniversary Issue featured an emerging brand of expansive new nature writers such as Claire Vaye Watkins and Ana Maria Spagna.

To celebrate Ecotone’s love of place and environment, this edition of Making a List highlights other place-based literary journals around the country and the web.

1.    The Common
Published biannually out of Amherst, Massachusetts, The Common seeks to “find the extraordinary in the common…literature and art powerful enough to reach from there to here.” The stories, poems, essays, and art in each issue invoke a “modern sense of place”, whether it’s a kudzu-creeped Mississippi apartment in Issue 10’s “Crescent City” by Maurice Emerson Decaul, or a warm Bombay kitchen in Amit Chaudhuri’s recipe for pomfret chutney masala from Issue 9.

2.    Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment
An online journal open to “all interpretations of environment,” Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment explores the “social and political implications” of environmental complexities. From its home base at Iowa State University, the journal publishes place-based fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art on a rolling basis, and runs a yearly short fiction and poetry contest where the prize is both publication online and a box of organic Iowa sweet corn.

3.    The Fourth River
Students at Chatham University’s “groundbreaking MFA focusing on nature, travel writing, and social outreach” produce The Fourth River, a print-and-online journal for innovative and unique place-based fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In the most recent online issue “Queering Nature,” guest editors Dakota Garilli and Michael Walsh stress the inversion of “the accepted definition of what is artificial versus what is natural.”

4.    Orion  
With over thirty years publishing environmental and social writing, Orion “lies at the nexus of ecology and the human experience.” Based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Orion describes itself as “America’s finest environmental magazine,” but also features a strong online presence, an annual book award, and involvement in grassroots organizations across the country.

5.    Terrain.org
Each piece in Terrain.org celebrates the “symbiosis between the built and natural environments” otherwise known as the “soul of place.” With both journalistic and literary works, Terrain.org makes place-based and environmental writing accessible to a wide audience interested in the intersection of humanity and ecology.

–Megan Ellis, Ecotone designer

It is holiday feast season so I thought I would rummage through Ecotone’s Sustenance Issue to get some ideas for avoiding that same dried-out poultry and canned cranberry sauce. The bounty therein was plentiful, and I couldn’t stop with the traditional five-item list. So give your Aunt Henrietta an extra glass of white zinfandel and let your tastebuds celebrate alongside you in this collection of fantastic recipes.

Appetizer:

1. Reading Camille T. Dungy’s essay “Differentiation” I found myself wandering the snowy planes of an Alaskan town discovering a food culture I had no knowledge of. Since I am not in the habit of catching and processing my seafood by hand, I decided on the next-best thing: to start our feast with a salmon fish cake courtesy of BBCGoodFood.com. I’m not suggesting that you go crazy and make your own mayonnaise tarter sauce but I am alsohttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/braised-mustard-greens-recipe not not suggesting that.

Main Course:

2. It is a challenge to read Randall Kenan’s essay “Greens: A Mess of Memories About Taste” and not imagine the tangy savory flavor of mustard greens filling you up and making you feel at home. You don’t have to be a Southerner to appreciate the mastery of imagery and sensuous textures Kenan weaves into his essay. Being a firm believer in the power of bacon to make anything better, I found a recipe, courtesy of Rachel Ray, that combined the two. If Aunt Henrietta is huffing and puffing about not having those mashed potatoes, just give her a taste of these greens and ask her, “Ain’t it good? Ain’t it good?”

3. I am particularly excited about this next one. Sarah Becan’s comic “Les Curds du Mal” is both savory and enraging. After spending time learning about the politics of importing French cheese, you’ll want to jet off to Paris directly for a bit of Brie. Although we now know that our imported cheese is subpar, we’ll take what we can get and, after finding this recipe, courtesy of Saveur, we want it. And this recipe for a Tartiflette might make it taste even better.

4. Many of us here at Ecotone and Lookout have holiday histories that are steeped in tradition. But after reading “Breaking the Jemima Code: The Legacy of African American Cookbooks,” an excerpt from the book The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cooks, we’ve learned that many of our tried-and-true traditions have origins we’re unaware of. In the spirit of acknowledging that Toni Tipton-Martin gives us, let’s get rid of that salty swine and savor something new. I’m sure by this point Aunt Henrietta is on board and ready for whatever the table delivers—just make sure no one starts talking politics! Here’s a recipe for Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb offered up by Toni Tipton-Martin herself via the JemimaCode.com

Dessert:

5. The Sustenance Issue of Ecotone is a trip not only through physical sustenance, but also the emotional and historical kind. Here at Ecotone we celebrate the knowledge and healing the comes through the sharing of stories. This next recipe is inspired by Matthew Gavin Frank’s essay “Spoon Bread.” Frank’s candid examination of his own family and cultural history in Nebraska is awe inspiring. And mouth watering. This recipe for spoon bread is courtesy of Martha Stewart.

6. Emily Hillard’s essay “Heavenly Work: The Fleeting Legacy of the Shakers” asks us to imagine how a community interacts with its history. I couldn’t imagine a sweeter way to end a foray into new traditions. So, we perused Emily’s blog, Nothing in The House, and found a recipe for Red Wine-Poached Seckel Pear Tarlets that will have Aunt Henrietta dreaming about next year (and after all that white zinfindel we doubt she’ll turn down anything poached in red wine). If this particular tartlet is not your style, check out Emily’s blog for a plethora of options.

From all of us here at Ecotone and Lookout, we wish you a season filled with good sustenance of all kinds: good friends, fiesty family (wink wink, Aunt Henrietta), tasty food, and robust literature.

–Reneé LaBonté, Lookout intern

Honey from the Lion, Lookout’s debut novel, takes places in the West Virginia Alleghenies at the turn of the century, and tells the story of how the logging boom changed the landscape—and the lives of a group of people there—forever. In honor of the book, this edition of Making a List details some facts you might not know about West Virginia from one of its own, Lookout Intern Isabelle Shepherd.

#1: Origin of the term “redneck”

The first use of “redneck” appears in the seventeenth century, springing from the Scottish Covenanters, a Presbyterian independence movement. At the time, King Charles I attempted to bring Scotland’s Presbyterian church under his control; in response, the Scottish Presbyterians signed the National Covenant in 1638. The document, signed in blood, declared their allegiance to their religion over the King of England. To symbolize this oath, the Covenanters wore blood-red bandannas around their necks. Eventually, these “rednecks” immigrated to the American colonies and spread down to the Southern states.

Later, wealthy Southern plantation owners may have used the term to distinguish themselves from the poor, and so bestowed the name upon those white field laborers whose necks were turned red with sunburn.

And finally, the coal mining unions appropriated the term. Between 1912 and 1936, strikers in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and western Pennsylvania between 1912 and 1936 wore red bandannas to distinguish themselves as union men. The informal garment was a symbol of unity meant to cross racial divisions between white, black, and immigrant miners.

#2: Pepperoni rolls are a legacy of Italian immigrants

Those who are raised in West Virginia become quite puzzled once they venture out of the state’s boundaries. Where is the staple food—delicious dough wrapped around pepperoni and mozzarella? They can be dipped in marinara, but West Virginians love them just as well plain. And they can be found everywhere—high school bake sales, roadside convenience stores, donut shops, grocers, and even bars.

Books like to dress up for Halloween too. Check out these five classics that came to the costume party disguised as different genres.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird. In this Polish edition of Harper Lee’s classic, Boo Radley holds Scout and Jem hostage in the Radley House of Horrors. He gives them twenty-four hours to escape, using only chewing gum, twine, Indian-head pennies, and miniature soap sculptures.