Creativity is non-acceptance, wonder, rebellion
I admit I have a longstanding fear of being boring. Or I'm convinced that my writing (and my conversation) is artless and unoriginal. The reality though, is far from that, and in life and in writing, I seem to break most of the rules. I guess in this sense, I'm most sensitive about something that... Continue Reading →
Since the lying, incompetent orange man became the Republican candidate in the US, then president, fact checking websites and other content have been trending. Fact checking has become a buzzword. Part of that comes down to US-centrism: after all, lying rich people are running most countries, as well as most of the transnationals that are... Continue Reading →
Many believe that academics are the neutral gods above us, who look down at the world and see things clearly. Academics are the “experts” of society that are quoted and interviewed in the media, despite having minimal participation in that society. They hog the intellectual limelight, while others on the ground do the hard yakka... Continue Reading →
What speed does history travel at? What is the rhythm of humanity? What sort of chapters best capture the pace of life? What types of stories are most suited to a world where a quarter of the world seems to live on the Internet, and three-quarters are struggling with food and shelter? We're told it's... Continue Reading →
Writers don't usually the see the impact they have. On Saturday, some friends who were visiting Mexico wanted to see the Frida Kahlo museum. It has gotten pretty intense since I visited it in 2009: now you either have to pay for your tickets online first, or wait in a very long queue. There are... Continue Reading →
So we know that more men get published, reviewed, and read, than female writers. And we know that few books from poor countries are published or translated. We also know most writers are not paid for the work they do, and that many books aren't written because some people are too busy trying to stay... Continue Reading →
Lately, many of us have come to see read and share numbers as an efficient way to quantify a hierarchy of writers, journalists, opinions, artists, video producers and so on. We've adopted the market mentality that more article and post reads means more consumption, which is a good thing, no matter what. Validation is numerical,... Continue Reading →
I painted (in Spanish) "Poetry is like bread, for everyone" on my wall above my desk. It's a quote from Dalton - and its something I passionately believe in. Poetry, literature, art, stories, journalism, should be by everyone, for everyone. But what if you just can't get into poetry, either reading it or writing it?... Continue Reading →
With 60% of Mexicans working informally, often selling all sorts of cheap goods in the streets and on public transport, and neoliberalism tightly gripping the country, culture can play an important role in countering the overwhelming consumerism. I took these photos at Mexico's annual alebrije parade yesterday: 200 unique and wonderful monster-things wove their way... Continue Reading →
I write in a ball. Stuck half way between solid ground and dreamland. Half asleep. So many people say they do their best writing when they are angry or sad and there are huge raging monsters to rip out and beat up. I have moments like that too, and I love the slick oil hard... Continue Reading →
Fun characters, an intriguing plot, the excitement of a murder and an affair... is it okay to write a novel, story, or article, purely in order to entertain the reader? To distract them? In a world of rife and normalised injustice, I confess I often feel like distraction is out of order and those with... Continue Reading →
These days, people generally expect to go online and get news and analysis for free. Hell, a lot of us even expect to get movies, music, and books for free. Perhaps it's a materialistic mindset that sees people paying for beer or expensive lunches or new shoes without an argument, while refusing to do so... Continue Reading →
You've all seen them and most of you have shared them, because social media virility is based on people sharing stuff that boosts their identity. And these articles, the "messy people are more creative" and "people who wake up late are nicer" are aimed at boosting ego for doing very elementary and extremely common things.... Continue Reading →
In the world of struggle, as with the rest of the world, academic texts and nonfiction books and texts are often seen as the main tools to understand the world and the issues and power dynamics we deal with. In struggle world, writers of such texts are taken seriously, are interviewed in our alternative media,... Continue Reading →
Changing the world, revolution, struggle, organisation: they are among the hardest things we will ever do or try. Not just because we do this stuff on top of work and other commitments, not just because sometimes we are attacked by police, arrested, or bullied by rightwing people, but because of the emotional stamina it takes... Continue Reading →
The title of this post comes from the dedication in newly released book Revolutionary Mothering: a book which "places marginalized mothers of color at the center of a world of necessary transformation...Revolutionary Mothering is a movement-shifting anthology committed to birthing new worlds, full of faith and hope for what we can raise up together." Here... Continue Reading →
What if Shakespeare had been a woman, or it was his sister who wrote, Virginia Woolf asked. What conditions would have had to have been different for her to even think she had a right to have ideas back then, then a right to write and to be read? Would her plays be known today?... Continue Reading →
My aim is to read these books this year. What a magical wealth of stories, thoughts, strong characters, complex life views, and places to journey to. Its a collection of awesome authors and regions, including indigenous people from different countries, sexually diverse people, hardcore women, industrial workers, migrants, revolutionaries, Black activists, and people who have faced... Continue Reading →
I've set a goal to read 40 novels or fiction/prose works (eg poetry, memoirs) by oppressed people by the end of this year (1 a week). This includes books by authors in thirdworld countries, women, sexually diverse authors, workers, indigenous peoples, people who face systemic racism, poor people, refugees and more. These people are, in... Continue Reading →
In Venezuela, for the last two years or more it has been hard, off and on, to find toilet paper. When I was there, sometimes a supermarket had it, but then the line up was two hours and who has that to spare. Especially because after a while of going without it, we realised we... Continue Reading →
resistance words 