1 This is my final essay as the Editor-in-Chief of Writer’s Block Magazine. Being a member of the editorial board for the last 18 months has been incredibly enriching. I’m moving on because I feel it’s time to pursue other creative projects—but Sona (who is also leaving) and I are both so excited to followContinue reading “On Community”
Author Archives: brendonboothjones
Ambiguous Hush: An Ecocritical Reading of John Clare’s ‘The Nightingale’s Nest’
I recently stumbled onto a short YouTube clip of the philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, in which he said that although we humans emerged from nature and are a part of the biological phenomenon of the natural world, this fact does not mean that how we conceive of nature is necessarily accurate or objective. The way weContinue reading “Ambiguous Hush: An Ecocritical Reading of John Clare’s ‘The Nightingale’s Nest’”
But What Does the Poem Mean?
With all that is going on in the world right now, I believe that poetry is more important than ever, and I have been lucky enough to read some incredibly powerful and necessary poems in the last few weeks. And yet poetry seems to be as misunderstood as it ever was. The first question thatContinue reading “But What Does the Poem Mean?”
Turning Touch into Art: Laura A Dima’s Finger Rub Rug
On an overcast Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by sleepy ambiguous warehouses and faded factories, I enter Laura A Dima’s studio, named ISO Amsterdam, on the outskirts of the city. Isolatorweg: the last stop on Metro Line 51. Here she shares a former factory floor with an array of creative professionals doing everything from product design, sculptureContinue reading “Turning Touch into Art: Laura A Dima’s Finger Rub Rug”
A Strange Day in Bali
— For Uncle Pat We had neighboring rooms in the same sandy, humble homestay at Bingin Beach in Bali. The homestay was wedged alongside several other small guesthouses on the lower rung of a steep hill overlooking the bay. I met him one morning over breakfast. There was only one plastic table in the smallContinue reading “A Strange Day in Bali”
Fragrant Stillness
Because of things not even rememberedwe are herelistening to the water W. S. Merwin Portugal is a popular holiday destination for people living in Europe. The cobbled, historic cities of Lisbon and Porto, the adrenaline-soaked surf destinations of Peniche and Nazaré, the idyllic beaches of the Algarve, the fresh sardines and pastel de nata, theContinue reading “Fragrant Stillness”
The Short Book as Lifejacket in a Sea of Words
Go down any road far enough and you’ll come to a slaughterhouse, but keep going and you’ll reach the sea. Dean Young — For Curtis Mumford I read fervently for a few years when I was a kid. Between the ages of about 6 and 14 I lost myself in the spell-binding worlds of EnidContinue reading “The Short Book as Lifejacket in a Sea of Words”
Diary Fragments III: A Lincoln Lullaby
Friends, oh my friends, I hope you’re somewhere, smiling. Just know I think about you… —Father John Misty —For J-Wow & Polly
Diary Fragments II
—For Julz Booth-Jones Truman Capote, author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, described his diary as a ‘hieroglyphic shambles’. He said that when looking back over his old journals he was frequently baffled by entries of which he had no recollection. ‘God knows what “Thunder on Cobra Street” refers to,’ he pondered. I,Continue reading “Diary Fragments II”
(W)here: Diary Fragments I
For Mom & Dad Oscar Wilde famously said, “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read [on] the train.” Well, rereading my diaries recently was about as sensational as a trip to the supermarket for eggs. But, needing to fill my new monthly column with words written mostly byContinue reading “(W)here: Diary Fragments I”
Writer's Block Magazine 