Your hold is ready! (8. 28. 23)

August 28, 2023

Hi all –– can you believe it’s almost the end of August? I’m a mere 3 days away from flying back to Davis from my current spot, my childhood home in rural Connecticut. Here, I’ve been relaxing and acquiring things for my apartment, while also getting to see my parents, which I only do twice a year. While I’m looking forward to going back to Davis (and moving into my new apartment) things are pretty stressful at the moment: I’ve had to replace my computer, get paperwork in order and begin teaching in my new remote adjunct position, publish the first issue of manywor(l)ds, get acquainted with my new editorial role at Frontier, complete the next round of edits for my novel (add it on Goodreads at the link, and read an excerpt at Travesties magazine!), ….and, like, pack suitcases and boxes and other irritating stuff.

That being said, I’ve also had a lot of gratifying, exciting experiences in the last month or so, including an overwhelmingly positive response to our first issue of manywor(l)ds! All my gratitude to Joyce, my collaborator, friend, and managing editor, for all of their support in selecting submissions, as well as their tech brilliance. And, of course, limitless love and gratitude to our contributors and readers. If you’d like to contribute to manywor(l)ds, you’re in luck –– we reopen Sept. 1 for general submissions through Oct. 31. If you are a translator/multilingual writer, reviewer, interviewer, or multimedia creative, you can submit to us year-round; see further guidelines here.

I’m also (tentatively) excited about teaching both remotely and asynchronously this semester, and striking a balance between this adjunct position at the University of Maine, as well as my required TAship through UC Davis. Having had such an intimate and meaningful experience adjuncting in-person this past summer, I’m wondering how asynch will, and will not, allow me to connect with my students –– especially cross-temporally. I’m open to it, for sure, and have just posted my first lectures and slides (today is actually the first day of UMA’s semester!). I’ll have to wait and see how/if students interact meaningfully with me and each other, and will, I’m sure, be offering updates on that process. If nothing else, it’s nice not to have to worry about keeping up a very early EST schedule while in CA!

Okay, I think that’s it for now. I’m off to finish the last of my library books (very apropos) and frontload as much work as possible so that I can “free up” some time for all of this traveling and moving. Wish me luck.

On to the recommendations!

Today’s Recs:

Books:

Manga/Graphic Novels

Music and Podcasts

Poetry & Prose & In-Between:

Essays and Articles:

My Recent Work: