All Lovers In The Night-Meiko Kawakami's Book-a Recent Read And Instant Favourite.

"...in pronouncing the name, I had secured a sort of power over it, by the mere act of drawing it up out of my dreams and giving it an objective existence in the world of spoken things."

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time vol 1: Swann's Way, "Combray"

Epiphanies at Parties:

the asian american writers’ workshop just published 16 love poems by poets of palestinian heritage that were featured in the anthology we call to the eye & the night edited by hala alyan & zeina hashem beck

Fady Joudah, from the poetry collection [...], excerpt pub. The Yale Review [ID']

— Lorde, Sober II (Melodrama)

“The lights are out on all of us. We go on in our dark fogs. Unless someone else turns to look your way & lights the light.”

— Molly Brodak, from Bandit

I 💗 oil pastel

han kang, winner of the nobel prize for literature, refused to celebrate because of the wars: 'With the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?'

toshiyuki mimaki, co-chair of Hidankyo, the A-bomb survivors’ group that won nobel peace prize, said: 'Gaza right now is like Japan 80 years ago' and had thought the prize would go to those working hard in Gaza, not to Hidankyo.

arundhati roy, winning the PEN pinter prize, in her speech at the british library: "Not all the power and money, not all the weapons and propaganda on earth can any longer hide the wound that is Palestine."

alaa abdel fattah, who was named PEN Writer of Courage by Roy, is in egyptian prison. but in 2021 his mother brought his letters from prison on gaza: Free Jerusalem; tranquil Alexandria, Bride of the Sea; Beirut, the Sheltering Tent — the symbols seem more real than the cities. But Gaza and Cairo are both cities that resist romanticization and so elude song. No one sings to Cairo, but it is the capital of the Arabs. No one sings to Gaza either, but it remains the indisputable capital of Palestine. Both are always present in a crisis. [...]

Do I have the right to dream of escaping to Gaza? Do I have the right to dream of a road to Cairo that passes through Gaza? Does a captive have the right to ask for help from the besieged? I know that these questions show how ancient I am, but I’m an Arab and Palestine’s always on my mind. And, in my defense, I’ll say that I refused to be humiliated in my country, and I never lowered my banners, and it should count that I stood in the face of my oppressors: an orphan, naked and barefoot, and my solace is that the tragedy I’m living is but my share of yours. I call out to you: you are always on my mind."

these are the things the brave and intellectual people of our time are saying. it is possible to be principled. it is always possible to be principled. it is also possible to be less than that—look around and you'll see it in all the writers and artists of our time who are abdicating their roles within humanity. we're living in a time of perfect clarity.

Rest In Peace Neil Perry. It’s such a shame you never got to watch Perks of Being a Wallflower. You would have loved Perks of Being a Wallflower

Some of my playlists ;)

funky songs- for when you feel like dancing with your friends after quarantine :)

melancholy - for lying on your bed and staring at the candlelight, with night slowly creeping its way into the sky

classical - classical music for your sad self

vivid - when you want to feel like you’re in a coming-of-age movie that’s slightly indie and slightly pop

surrealism- when you feel like you’re in an empty, nostalgic hotel sitting by the drained pool and wondering where you’re going next

suburban gothic - for when you want to drive to the desolate towns as an escape but take yourself into a dark underworld, attempting to unravel the knots of your past life. 

d/l academia - a mix of dark and light academia songs for when you want to feel like someone from a Donna Tartt novel yet more lighthearted and whimsical. 

songs I could listen to on repeat/my favorites- a mix of nostalgic songs from childhood and current songs

abstract- my take on Possibly in Michigan with a slight twist; more indie, rock

lofi- lofi songs

june bug- my take on cottagecore aesthetic; when you feel like you want to run away to the country and sit by the meadows

Gothic- songs that fit Victorian Era Gothic aesthetic; blood red curtains, splitting moonlight, ivory ballrooms, distant shadows

Vintage- old songs I really like