Literary Christmas

I hope the holiday season is filling you with joy and love.

Literary Jane

Writer Jane Smiley said almost all I wanted to say about Obama's pick of Rick Warren to provide the invocation at the Inauguration. Read here.

Jane said almost all. I'd like to add: Prop 8 really showed me that I should fight like heck. Because lawd knows Warren (and his ilk) will fight like heck against me. At the end of the day, however, I'll go ahead and offer water and cookies to anyone who wants to disagree with me. Really.

Literary Play

I had to look twice when I saw the headline: P.U.-Litzer Prize. This play on the Pulitzer Prize is designated for "stinky media coverage." Read here. I thought it was hilarious.

Literary Burial

You know what lifted my spirits? (And thanks to all of you for your kind comments on my last post. We can all wallow together.) Jeff Walsh sent me this website--and I love it! There's nothing like a writer turning lemons into lemonade.

It's a website about an author burying her book. It's hilarious. Check it out here.

Literary Depression

Is anyone else depressed? I feel depressed, so depressed, in fact, that I'm not writing creatively. I'm not writing my new novel or developing my collection of short stories. Why bother? The publishing industry is in the dumps. Houghton Mifflin stated that they're not going to acquire any new projects. Some really good writers I know haven't sold their book projects--it doesn't look like it's going to happen either.

I'm depressed over Prop 8, particularly because so much of the money to fuel it came from churches. I am a proponent of religion. I actually think it can do some good for many. I have pushed the importance of spirituality as a form of self-care, particularly for gay men. I participated in a research study that found that young gay men with spiritual/religious lives are less likely to hurt themselves. Indeed, I've always thought that young gay men who still manage to believe in God when they come from churches that demean them, have a kind of spiritual strength that no one can muster.

Anyone who has read both my novels, can see that my characters have spiritual lives. It becomes hard for me to push Faith when churches still use their influence to destroy lives.

Now, I said I haven't been writing creatively. However, I have been journaling, just getting some of my thoughts and emotions out is a great form of therapy, I believe.

Literary Smoke

I was supposed to run the Pasadena Marathon last Sunday. It was canceled due to poor air equality caused by the fires. I was disappointed. I'd trained for months, changing my lifestyle to eventually run the marathon.

I got an e-mail at 4am, saying the race wasn't going to happen. I was disappointed. Then I remembered the people who lost their homes. Their loss must be indescribable.

I remember when fires raged throughout Griffith Park, an area real close to me. I could smell the burning trees. What's burning now is different. What's in the air is not the scent of burning trees or brush. It's the odor of burning couches, clothes, photo albums, and toys.

The air is drenched with this.

Literary Props

Prop 8 had spurred a number of protests. The homosexuals (and quite a few of our straight allies) showed up in the thousands in various Los Angeles locales. I ended up hanging out with many homosexuals (and quite a few straight allies) protesting Prop 8 in other ways.

On Thursday, when protesters blocked Westwood, I went to the Madonna concert at Dodger Stadium. The Material Girl herself yelled into the audience, "If we can elect a black president, we can have gay marriage!" She got cheers (and some boos).

On Saturday, when protesters marched in Silverlake, I drove to Palm Springs to support a bastion of gay free speech, the Lambda Literary Foundation. They hada a fundraiser headed up by board president Chris Rice. It was held in the home of his mother Anne Rice. (She's got quite the doll collection!)

Comedian Bruce Vilanch spoke. He referred to the Rice home as "the house that sucking built." We laughed at the reference to the author's famous Vampire novels. What I wasn't prepared for was Mr. Vilanch's call for unity in our diverse gay community. He said gay outlaws shouldn't fight with mainstream queens. Even though he didn't mention it, we knew he meant the misdirected anger being targeted at African Americans who are being maligned with the passing of Prop 8.

As a man who helped coordinate town halls and press conferences to educate the Asian American community on gay marriage, I was surprised. I didn't think it would get to this! From the city to the desert, from big stadiums to private homes, from the voting booths to the streets, discussing gay marriage is all the rage.

For my part, I am angry! But I'm trying to focus on the good. There was a time when most Californians were overwhelmingly against gay marriage. There is still a majority, but the majority is shrinking. Prop 22, which made it impossible for California to recognize same sex marriage from another state, won by 22 points. Prop 8 passed by only a 5 point margin. We are making inroads!


Below is a picture of Charles Flowers, the Executive Director Lambda. He sits in front of some of Ms. Rice's dolls.

Literary Election

This is a new era in more ways than one. Trust me, this time in history will be written about and written about and written about over and over and over again. Whole books will be spawned from this momentous day!

Alice Walker writes a letter to our new president. Read here.

Literary "Working"

Author Studs Terkel died. Wow. His work in Oral History was amazing. I was first introduced to his seminal book "Working" on PBS. It was a dramatization of his interviews done with the country's working folk--from waitress to prostitute. In college, I worked on the stage crew of a musical based on "Working." Thanks, Mr. Terkel, for all of the work you did. Read more here.

Literary Remnant

Earlier this week, I attended the "Fifth Intentional Conversation at The Cathedral" sponsored by the Saving Remnant Society. It was a gathering of local actors, writers, visual artists to ponder the theme, Artist as Storyteller: Our Art as Personal, Cultural or Global Narrative.

It was invigorating to have this conversation, particularly at The Cathedral?!?!? It was refreshing that the Catholic Church would have an event for artists--of varying backgrounds, religions, and creeds--to talk about how our work fit into the global scheme of things.

Joe, Trey, and Jami were my lunch buddies above.

At this meeting, I also discovered that I won't melt when on hallowed ground.

Literary Collection of Shorts

I'm putting the novel away at this time. It's...it's...making my head hurt. I'm looking at my short story collection. Currently, I have five stories. Maybe another five to go? I'm turning to the short story because, well, I want to finish stories within a reasonable period of time.

My novel was depressing me. I couldn't see an end in sight. Ugh.

Literary Filipinotown

PANEL DISCUSSION ON
GROWING UP IN HISTORIC FILIPINOTOWN

Saturday, October 18, 2008
4:00pm - 7:00pm

Remy's Art Gallery
2126 West Temple Street near Alvarado
Los Angeles (Street parking only)

Free and Open to the public.
Due to limited space, RSVP is requested.
(310) 514-9139 or email

Remy's Gallery is the same venue of the traveling photo
exhibit, Singgalot: The Ties That Bind which is ongoing.
This Smithsonian-sponsored exhibit on Filipinos in
America ends on Sunday, October 26 and people who will
attend the panel discussions will also have a chance to
view the Exhibit.

Panelists include authors Noel Alumit, Carlene Sobrino Bonnivier
and Carina Monica Montoya, also known as Carina Forsythe, who
will autograph their books during the event. The panelists will share their memories of life in the area, their challenges growing up in an
enclave and their own visions of the future of Historic
Filipinotown.

Literary Sheparding

Wow. I can't believe it's been ten years since Matthew Shepard was killed. See more here. His death inspired some writing for me back in the day. I even allude to it in my last novel.

Peace to his spirit and his family. Bravo to Judy Shepard for doing remarkable work in hate crime legislation in memory of her son.

Literary Elitism

You see this woman on the left? Her name is Eleonor Clift. She was married to Brooks Clift, Montgomery Clifts brother. This woman was Montgomery Clift's sister in law!

BUT we probably best know her for her work in journalism. She wrote this aritlce here. The article talks about how the McCain camp might use the strategy of attacking Obama by calling him elite.

Though McCain comes from military royalty and married an heiress, Obama is the elite one. What a fine message to send to all of the men and women of color in America. God forbid you go to school and get an education, because you might be seen as uppity by white people.

I find this interesting. Republicans who aren't for Equal Opportunity Programs and believes that minorities need to work harder without relying on goverment programs. However, when someone like Obama comes along, they don't like it.

This whole things screams of racism. I'm surprised that no one isn't making more of a stink about this.

In the mean time, it's okay to have an idiot and a fake like Sarah Palin. Rachel Maddow hits the nail on the proverbial head.

Literary Insularity

According to Sweden, we're not worldly enough. American writers are too "insular," said a spokesperson for the Nobel Prize. Unfortunately, there is some truth to this. I mean, we are known to think only of ourselves and read ourselves. See articel here.

I'd been involved in conversations about our bad reading habits when it comes to foreign literature. Only 3 percent of books we get in America are translated--this leads us to reading works written only English. We don't get a lot of translations for books originally written in French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Japanese, etc.

What's worse is that translated works rarely get reviewed because critics don't know if they're reviewing a great book with a bad translation or vice versa.

For my part, I'm reading a book that was originally written in Burmese. Cool, huh?

Literary McCain

Lest you think I'm a left-wing liberal--which I am--I'd like to say that when it comes to books, I am truly bipartisan.

I found this article truly interesting. It's by the editor of McCain's books. He gives an idea of the kind of literary mind that this Republican possesses. Click here.

I truly think a President of the United States needs to be a published author. All of the presidents, except for Dubya, had written books. What writing a book can do is show focused attention and important critical thinking skills. Ur, something that our current president had been unable to do.

Oh, and if Ms. Palin still has her eye on the White House, I'd suggest she get out the paper and pen.

Literary Defaming

In keeping with my last post, I wanted to share this message that Liz Dwyer sent me. Liz is an amazing writer and she can be read here.

The dedication for Letters to Montgomery Clift says: This book is dedicated to those who have Disappeared.

Liz, via Facebook, told me this:

I was in the library on Santa Monica today and saw "Letters to Montgomery Clift" on the shelf. Interestingly enough, someone scribbled a little comment on your dedication page. There was an arrow after "Disappeared" and at the end of the arrow was written, "Due to the policies of right-wing dictators."

I don't believe in defaming books, but I had to smile.

Literary Dictatorhip

In my first novel Letterst to Montgomery Clift I wrote about how the Marcos dictatorship in The Philippines ruined the lives of many. In my research, I noted how the Marcos regime didn't take too well to journalists who wrote bad things about them. Those journalists, like the father in the novel, "disappeared."

So, then it bugged me to read reports of how the John and Sarah campaign refused to let the media interview Palin until the press is "deferential" to her. They won't even let the media talk to Sarah Palin, only take pretty pictures. (Of course, we know why they won't let them talk to Palin: she can't say anything she doesn't know anything about, like the economy, international affairs, the War.) Read here.

I kept thinking that what they're doing is restricting free speech! They're acting like...like...dictators.

Literary Skull

This is why I love indie publishers. This is from Soft Skull Press...

Tim Wise's latest opinion piece: This is Your Nation on White Privilege By Tim Wise 9/13/08 For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

--White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
--White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
--White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
--White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
--White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
--White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.
--White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.
--White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”
--White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
--White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.
--White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
--White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.
--And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain. White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008), and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull.

Literary Shock

What?!?!?!?! David Foster Wallace is dead? He hanged himself? Oh, what goes through the minds of writers....