A brief hello, and then i talk about literary citizenship
As promised, hello!
Previously, the link on my page led to an older blog of mine, titled "looking up." But I wasn't happy with the direction of that project, so, naturally, I killed it. This is my official, grown-up blog. I sincerely hope you enjoy the things I say here.
I've just started my second summer semester at Ball State, and I'm in a Literary Citizenship course. I've taken Digital Citizen classes before, and surprisingly, these have prepared me for this class. In this post, I'm going to discuss what literary citizenship is, and how it applies to me personally.
I'd define digital citizenship as one's role in a digital society--that is, how we interact with each other through digital means. Similarly, literary citizenship is how we interact with each other in the context of our writing. It doesn't mean emailing your poetry to Billy Collins and begging him to read it. It means attending one of his readings, introducing yourself, and telling him what his work means to you. It also means writing about his work online, buying his books, and listening to any recommendations he writes. Of course, you'll want to reach out further than just one writer. Interact with people, be friendly, be kind, and talk people up. If you want people to show an interest in your work, it only makes sense that you take an interest in theirs.
Admittedly, I haven't done a good job of maintaining literary citizenship. I've sent my work out, but I haven't tried hard enough to network. My social media accounts also tend to be a little disorganized, and I think I'm more often politically-minded, rather than getting involved in literature. So, over the next few months, I'll be immersing myself in the literary world, both online and in person. I'll visit the library, buy a new book every month, and most importantly, talk to writers that inspire me. My goal for this month is to reach out to Sydney Padua, Ross Gay, and Billy Collins. If you don't know who those folks are, follow those links and enrich your literary citizenship with me!
www.rossgay.net
www.billycollinspoetry.com
www.sydneypadua.com
Until next time,
Matt
Previously, the link on my page led to an older blog of mine, titled "looking up." But I wasn't happy with the direction of that project, so, naturally, I killed it. This is my official, grown-up blog. I sincerely hope you enjoy the things I say here.
I've just started my second summer semester at Ball State, and I'm in a Literary Citizenship course. I've taken Digital Citizen classes before, and surprisingly, these have prepared me for this class. In this post, I'm going to discuss what literary citizenship is, and how it applies to me personally.
I'd define digital citizenship as one's role in a digital society--that is, how we interact with each other through digital means. Similarly, literary citizenship is how we interact with each other in the context of our writing. It doesn't mean emailing your poetry to Billy Collins and begging him to read it. It means attending one of his readings, introducing yourself, and telling him what his work means to you. It also means writing about his work online, buying his books, and listening to any recommendations he writes. Of course, you'll want to reach out further than just one writer. Interact with people, be friendly, be kind, and talk people up. If you want people to show an interest in your work, it only makes sense that you take an interest in theirs.
Admittedly, I haven't done a good job of maintaining literary citizenship. I've sent my work out, but I haven't tried hard enough to network. My social media accounts also tend to be a little disorganized, and I think I'm more often politically-minded, rather than getting involved in literature. So, over the next few months, I'll be immersing myself in the literary world, both online and in person. I'll visit the library, buy a new book every month, and most importantly, talk to writers that inspire me. My goal for this month is to reach out to Sydney Padua, Ross Gay, and Billy Collins. If you don't know who those folks are, follow those links and enrich your literary citizenship with me!
www.rossgay.net
www.billycollinspoetry.com
www.sydneypadua.com
Until next time,
Matt