Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!
On Tomatoes, Zombies, and Other Tales
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29 Sept 2024 I've spent much of this last week recording the audiobook for Unwoven, and now I'm learning about the very different process for publishing/releasing such a thing: contracts, studio requisites, alignment with existing print offerings, and options/rights for a variety of markets. Partly, it seems a business that has quickly hobbled itself together 20 years ago and never quite recovered. On the other hand, I could not be happier so far with my publishing partner. And now I'm opening up the Teachers Guide project for Unwoven, expanding the existing supplements (some 300 pages of material) with even more in the way of implementation strategies and connections to other language arts areas. Goal: End of October. Have you gotten your first round of supplements, yet? They are currently available from Waywords, and they remain a free download with a subscription to this newsletter! (You seem to have one.) If you want them--or know a student or teacher who might benefit from extra resources on poetic structure--go get them and share! Once the Teachers Guide is released, the educational portion of Unwoven will be sold (still cheaply) rather than free.
Launch Party Winners!More Poetic FormsThe shadorma 6-line short poem came from Spain, but research has not been able to tell us much of its origin or purpose. Even so, a beautiful tight form reminiscent of tanka or cinquain. Here's an excerpt from a sequence shadorma before September escapes: Books to FilmSome initial 13 Days of Halloween thoughtsMy initial premise around 13 Days this year is also related to structure---that is, how the medium conditions the narrative. So many "purists" out there become dismayed when a film does not match the written material, but one reason (among several less artistic ones) is that visual media tells story differently. Of course. So does epic poetry. And campfire stories. I'm imagining a "journal-like" incremental essay for the 13 films and stories chosen, examining each and teasing out the external and internal conditioning factors. Not what is different, but why. (And expect another October original horror story, as well!) I can imagine this a terrific exercise for a number of genre beyond horror, of course. In my own classroom, I had students write film vs. nonfiction with "historical films." But we could also trace the shifts of fairy tales, filmic remakes, and the like. I saw the controversial stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird recently, too: but seeing Richard Thomas's version of Atticus and Mary Badham herself as Mrs. Dubose was--as experience both apart from and connected to the original film--completely worth the ticket price. Early Recommendation from My Reading:Have you heard of Jerusalem by Alan Moore? Or have you been put off by its size (1200 dense pages)? Can I recommend it in place of five other novels you might have on your TBR List? I do! I'll have much more on this at the end of the month, but as I approach the end of my reading of this work, I can only call it transformational, not just in its ambition to rival the likes of Milton and Blake but in my approach to reading. Heady, holy-molasses-deep, and yet still a romping satire/reverie of philosophy and human history. Add it to your list. Then move it up a few places . . . to the top. Yeah, there ya go. (Full review in a couple of weeks on social media and the website's review page.) "1200 Pages? Not on your life!" You're not alone.If you haven't found the Biblonia Substack by Cristian Ispir, here's a recent post of his on the literary-historical framing of attention spans, beginning with the infinite 1001 Nights. He's probably worth a follow! (And don't worry: it's a short read!)
(P.S. For new subscribers, I never accept compensation for recommendations.) Thanks for subscribing! See you in two weeks! Steve What's Ahead?
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Waywords Studio
Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!