Isak

Why The Huffington Post Makes Me Angry

2013-05-22T21:49:33-04:00

Let me first make the disclaimer that I know great people who work with HuffPo, who have done really good work there. I've even celebrated some of that work in print over at the Columbia Journalism Review. Nonetheless, let me break down the reasons behind my five-years-plus boycott of the site as both a reader and writer.

They make an enormous profit off of unpaid writers, as was revealed when AOL bought them in 2011. (Yes, some people at HuffPo are paid, but the bulk of their content doesn't come from them.) For a profitable company to standardize this system raises my ire. The utter disrespect they have for writers was revealed when one of their unpaid writers broke the story when President Obama, during the 2008 campaign, made a comment about rural people "clinging to guns and religion." HuffPo thought enough of that story to nominate it for a Pulitzer Prize. They didn't get it, but the blogger reasonably took this as an opportunity to ask to be paid for her work: she steadily covered electoral politics in a consistent and ethical way for them--real reporting, not commentary. They gave her the run-around for at least a year or so on that question, during which the writer continued to give them free stories, before she got frustrated and quit, with a public letter about why. Later, when asked for comment, The Huffington Post's spokesman said coldly: "Mayhill Fowler says that she is 'resigning' from the Huffington Post. How do you resign from a job you never had?"

I compare that with seriously shoestring publications I've written for, especially early on, that managed to cough up $30, or $75 or $100 for a story I wrote. (I'm looking at you, you blessed Bitch Magazine: the kickass publication that happened to be the first place with a national audience to publish me). Those small checks where nowhere near compensation that matched the time I put into the piece, but they were a gesture of respect that I really valued. They made me feel taken seriously as a writer, working in partnership with editors that I, in turn, respected. It made me want to up my game for them.

At times, The Huffington Post tiptoed into the possibility of investing in writing in a serious way -- they an investigative fund for in-depth reporting in 2009. But it was wrapped up rather quickly. Not much more than a year after its launch, the investigative fund was given over to the Center for Public Integrity. It wasn't, apparently, worth it.

Not paying writers, while profiting from their work, isn't just insulting, it produces -- surprise! -- worse content. It underscores that good journalism, or good commentary, is not the purpose of the site. (The opportunism of the site is echoed in Arianna Huffington's own trajectory: she was, not long ago, a staunch and popular conservative before founding this supposedly progressive site.)

Hence, Huffington Post's famous role in aggregating the stories that paid writers produce at newspapers and magazines -- all the while mocking those "old media" outlets for being out of touch with the internet. The site takes advantage of the work of these "old-school reporters" -- also known as "reporters" -- in a manner that amounts to another way of profiting from work it won't pay for. As this good editorial in The New Republic notes, aggregation isn't inherently evil, and can be a lot of fun. (Hell, I do it here at Isak with the Literary & Media Indulgences.) But when it comes with relatively small investment in original work, and a decidedly un-generous attitude towards the publications it depends upon, it reveals a skewed sense of priorities at HuffPo.

Hence, those sleazy gossipy stories that make up so much of the site, serving as nothing but linkbait, thickened with more search engine optimization than facts.

Hence, all those articles by people who aren't paid by HuffPo, but are paid by someone else -- and are basically just promoting their product, or nonprofit, or business. A lot of press releases are in the stew over there.

Hence, the wealth of well-meaning but un-edited stories that just aren't that good.

Notably, even if a free blogger is very good, they usually don't even get the "exposure" that HuffPo promises them, presuming it is valuable enough that it will pay the blogger's rent. Stories that aren't featured on the homepage are rarely seen, as HuffPo readers don't read particularly deep into the site (a trend directly related to the site's thin content). Those stories by free bloggers are typically viewed by direct links that the blogger herself shares around.

All this, and then the site's leaders have the nerve to talk about themselves as if they are the wave of the future, some innovative new media phenomenon that is leaving others in the dust! Sorry, but profiting off of free labor is as old as the hills. And sorry again, but this model is, largely, not producing consistently good work -- and what's more, I don't believe they even care that it's not very good.

For what it's worth, I'm not anti-internet journalism, or even anti-writing-for-free. I do both of those myself everyday, though on the latter, I am very selective. I write for free on Isak, of course (though, ahem, donations are welcome!), and it's been a saving grace for me for seven years. I occasionally freely write for outlets that I admire, that treat writers well, are non-profit, and will allow me to do a story I can't do anywhere else. I wrote, for example, my long story on the African Writers' Series for the Los Angeles Review of Books for free, and my piece on Muriel Rukeyser and the re-discovery of literature by women writers for free. I really wanted to do these stories, I like these magazines, and so I went for it.

But these are thoughtfully-chosen exceptions.

I can't respect a publication that doesn't respect its own writers, and by extension, its readers. If we want to live in a culture that embraces facts, good storytelling, informed commentary and public debate (as well as labor rights!), we've got to realize that those things don't just emerge accidentally.

Publications, writers, and yes, readers too, have got to prioritize them in the choices we make. Invest our time, attention, and money toward a media that makes our world better, substantively, on the ground. Besides, I think, being the moral thing to do, it is simply more fun -- truth is interesting!

This gorgeous and strange and hard world deserves good media shedding light upon it in an ethical way. My little personal boycott of the HuffPo is because it does not.

Book Review: Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

2013-05-14T09:55:39-04:00

If you asked me what my daily writing routine was, I'd be hard pressed to tell you. There are patterns, familiar loops I run through, but hardly an everyday schedule. Sometimes I'm writing first thing in the morning; other times I'm running off to teach or interview. Sometimes I drink coffee; other times tea. Sometimes I set up shop at a cafe, other times on my little porch, or desk, or at a self-manufactured standing table, or corner of a couch, or the floor. I like the variation, adapting to my moods and what presses on my workday. And yet, there are times when I think that tightening the daily routine some would be good for me: by ridding myself of the choices about how to do what I do each day, I can put forth more energy into creative choices.

For The Christian Science Monitor, I reviewed Mason Currey's collection of the working habits of 161 creative people, including novelists, composers, scientists, poets, psychologists, filmmakers, and philosophers. I might take insperation from their stories, though one can't help but notice how many of them have servants, wives, sisters, mothers, cooks, mistresses, girlfriends, and other women in their life who are dedicated to facilitating their work. Memorably, even Gertrude Stein has Alice B. Toklas out in the field, positioning a cow in such a way that Stein can look upon an idyllic and symmetrial rural landscape as she writes.

Here's an excerpt of my review:

Ernest Hemingway rose by 6 o’clock in the morning, no matter what escapades had taken place the night before, and he wrote his first drafts in pencil on onionskin typewriter paper. He tracked his daily word count on a chart – so as not to fool himself, he said.

Nikola Tesla the inventor and scientist, arrived at his office at noon and lowered the blinds; he worked best in the dark.

Maya Angelou can’t concentrate on her writing at home, so she leaves each day by 7 in the morning to work in hotel or motel rooms – “a tiny, mean room with just a bed, and sometimes, if I can find it, a face basin.”

... Collected here are patterns that are both idiosyncratic and predictable: Coffee, unsurprisingly, was an essential part of the day for everyone from Ludwig van Beethoven to Thomas Mann to Flannery O'Connor.

{...}

(One) surprising disparity: the number of women versus men. Of the 161 creators featured in “Daily Rituals,” a mere 26 are women. That’s about 16 percent. Some of this, of course, may be because female creators have had less opportunity to do their work throughout much of history. And even if that hadn’t been the case, few observers might have thought female artists important enough to bother to record their work habits for posterity. Even so, there are many 20th- and 21st-century women Currey could have included but did not.

“We Changed the Way Reporting is Done.” Still, NPR Exits Ambitious Project

2013-05-11T19:40:44-04:00

My new story at the Columbia Journalism Review had a bit of breaking news:

Two years ago, with statehouse bureaus taking huge cuts in a contracting media landscape, National Public Radio designed the StateImpact project to fill the reporting void while experimenting with a new model of local-national public media collaboration.

It works like this: NPR member stations joined forces to report on a significant policy issue in their state. Florida, Indiana, and Ohio cover education; Pennsylvania and Texas took on energy and the environment; and Idaho, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma each report on the economy. There are at least two full-time StateImpact reporters in each state; 17 overall. A seven-member NPR team in Washington, DC supports them with training and resources as they produce top-notch radio broadcasts and online reporting. Stories are aired throughout the states, and some are featured on national NPR broadcasts.

NPR intended to expand StateImpact to additional states—a July 2011 press release announced plans to “invite applications from additional stations and states” that fall—eventually setting up shop in all 50.

But that second round of applications never opened up, and the expansion plan has been scuttled. NPR will cease its relationship with StateImpact after the eight pilot projects each reach the end of their contracts between June and October of this year. NPR will not invest in StateImpact in additional states, and it will have no formal role in providing training or resources to support the reporting of the stations already on the ground.

{...}

NPR’s decision not to continue with StateImpact comes despite the acclaimed reporting the project has produced—reporting that moved the needle in how energy, education, and economics are understood both locally and nationally. In a short time, its teams have won a shelf of awards, including seven Edward R. Murrow honors this year, and five more the year before. StateImpact Pennsylvania also won a duPont award for reporting on the impact of fracking on local residents. ...

More significantly, reporters on the project have become authorities in their states, influencing policy and public opinion. “It’s interesting to watch not just other media but politicians reaching out and referencing StateImpact,” said Lynette Clemetson, NPR’s StateImpact director.

In Pennsylvania, “it’s pretty clear [lawmakers] scrutinize our stories,” said Susan Phillips, the StateImpact reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia. “The energy secretary for Pennsylvania, who refuses to speak to us, loves to comment about us.” ...

StateImpact Pennsylvania is also reaching listeners who aren’t accustomed to in-depth coverage of their communities. “What we had—what we have—that is unique is access to airwaves across the state, through all the different public radio stations in state,” Phillips said. “Erie, Lehigh Valley—they don’t have newsrooms. They don’t have reporters. … I know we’re closely watched by people in small towns. There are not enough journalists to cover everything.”

Things, for example, like Act 13, which overhauled Pennsylvania’s drilling law in 2012. Phillips and (her StateImpact partnet Scott) Detrow combed through the measure and noticed a provision that required doctors to sign a confidentiality agreement if they are treating a patient harmed by chemicals used in fracking, resulting in a gag order on information about the chemical’s identity and concentration level. “This wasn’t reported or well known even by healthcare providers,” Phillips said. “I did a story, and suddenly, people I was interviewing started referring me to what I reported—‘did you know about these doctor disclosure forms?’—not realizing we were the source.”

{...}

So, with this strong track record to date, why is NPR cutting ties with, rather than expanding, StateImpact? Partly, it comes down to a familiar problem: lack of money. “There were clear-cut funding issues,” Clemetson said. “Sustaining these teams that produced great journalism required a funding model at a level that is just not here.”

NPR funded the project from its launch with foundation grants; as of March 13, 2013, it had raised $4.8 million in direct support for the eight StateImpact efforts. ... The collaborative heart of StateImpact was conceived as extending to fundraising: as its original press release put it, “NPR is working collaboratively with partner stations to seek additional funding for the overall initiative, and local and regional matching funds.”

But that didn’t work out as expected. While “NPR hoped to generate additional grants to fund expanding the project into additional states, ultimately not enough was raised to move forward with expansion,” said NPR media relations associate Caitlin Sanders in an email.

StateImpact also appears to be victim of the upheaval at NPR two years ago. Just as the project was being organized in 2011, those I’m told were its champions—former CEO Vivian Schiller and former vice president for news Ellen Weiss—were compelled to resign within six months of each other after a set-up filmed by activist James O’Keefe and the controversial firing of Juan Williams.

Speaking: Norman Mailer

2013-05-06T15:11:00-04:00

"A really good style comes only when a man has become as good as he can be. Style is character. A good style cannot come from a bad, undisciplined character. Now a man may be evil, but I believe that people can be evil in their essential natures and still have good characters. Good in the sense of being well-tuned. They can have characters that are flexible, supple, adaptable, principled in relation to their own good or their own evil—even an evil man can have principles—he can be true to his own evil, which is not always so easy, either. I think good style is a matter of rendering out of oneself all the cupidities, all the cripplings, all the velleities. And then I think one has to develop one's physical grace. Writers who are possessed of some physical grace may tend to write better than writers who are physically clumsy. It's my impression this is so. I don't know that I'd care to attempt to prove it.

{...}

"Well, at best you affect the consciousness of your time, and so indirectly you affect the history of the time which succeeds you. Of course, you need patience. It takes a long time for sentiments to collect into an action and often they never do. Which is why I was once so ready to conceive of running for mayor of New York. I wanted to make actions rather than effect sentiments. But I've come to the middle-aged conclusion that I'm probably better as a writer than a man of action. Too bad. Still it's no little matter to be a writer. There's that god-awful Time magazine world out there, and one can make raids on it. There are palaces and prisons to attack. One can even succeed now and again in blowing holes in the line of the world's communications. Sometimes I feel as if there's a vast guerrilla war going on for the mind of man, communist against communist, capitalist against capitalist, artist against artist. And the stakes are huge. Will we spoil the best secrets of life or will we help to free a new kind of man? It's intoxicating to think of that. There's something rich waiting, if one of us is brave enough and good enough to get there."

-- Norman Mailer, interviewed by The Paris Review's "Art of Fiction" series in 1963. The magazine spoke with him again in 2007.

Image Credit: The New Yorker

Literary & Media Indulgences: 5/5/2013

2013-05-05T13:14:41-04:00

-- George Packer writes about Depression literature and journalism, comparing the 1930s to our era now. Above, an unemployment line in Kansas City -- the kind of jarring manifestation of hard times that is less present in our public space these days, despite similar economic hardship; Packer discusses how this influences the different ways we're telling stories now. Appalachia, Detroit, Edmund Wilson, James Agee, and Occupy all discussed in the piece. The article is behind a New Yorker subscription wall, but if you can access it, it's a must read. Locals, ask me if you want to borrow my print copy.

-- Not a joke: "NASA seeks poets."

-- The exhumation of Pablo Neruda: The Boston Review on the investigation into whether or not the great poet was assassinated in Chile by Pinochet's gang. Early tests confirm that Neruda had advanced cancer when he died.

-- "The Interestings," indeed. Two great writers in conversation at Bookforum: Roxane Gay and Meg Wolitzer.

-- "In praise of Janet Malcolm's prickly career."

-- Spare Rib, the radical British feminist magazine, is relaunching this month.

-- 164 years later, the error on Anne Bronte's gravestone is corrected.

-- "Beautiful, natural, free." Haruki Murakimi -- the writer who is also a marathoner -- writes in the New Yorker about what happened in Boston.

-- In central Michigan, bikers become advocates for children's literature.

-- Library of America has updated its all-time bestselling titles. I'm surprised by #1, pleased by #4 and #14, delighted by #10, and chagrined that only one female writer is in the top fifteen. LoA says that the bestsellers stay pretty consistent, though they did see a surge on Ulysses S. Grant's writing. It also posts its top-selling backlist titles -- a more literary list, and an eclectic one. Still only one female writer though. The same one.

-- Navajo Nation names its first poet laureate.

-- Caroline Kennedy on the fun of memorizing poetry.

-- transcript is "Europe's online review of international writing." This month's theme? Armenia. "Ask any Armenian to tell you about his or her country's literature, and nine times out of ten you'll get the very beginning of the story, the creation of the Armenian alphabet in the 5th century..."

-- Writer Aminatta Forna's books "reflect a fascination with 'joining the dots to see how a country implodes,'" according to The Guardian.

-- Come create in Detroit this summer. Part of what you'll get in return? "Bicycles" and "occasional eggs from our chickens."

-- There is a single surviving letter written by Willa Cather to Edith Lewis. And it's full of mysteries.

-- Literally.

-- What's going on at Granta?

-- The House of Orwell falls.

-- World Without Borders focuses on North Korean Defectors this month. "In compiling our September 2003 issue, we discovered North Korean writers can publish only propaganda, and are restricted to official outlets. As this opaque nation becomes more visible, and threatening, on the international stage, we turn for insight to the only writers free to tell the truth: defectors."

-- Old and new media in Cairo: The death of Egypt Independent. Via Chris M.

-- The United States is ranked 26th in the world for press freedom. Politics and corruption are the most dangerous beats for journalists worldwide.

-- "Marx after Marxism."

-- "That introduction is better than the book." James Salter, interviewed in Guernica.

-- The tragedy of Cooper Union: a radical education model is succumbing.

-- See also: how humanities don't fit into the "elite universities" model -- forcing a choice.

-- "When the Earth Moved." Fascinating article on how the environmental movement (de)volved since 1970.

-- Writer Etgar Keret lives in the world's thinnest house in Warsaw (1.52m at its widest).

-- "Nice Poem: I'll Take It." Sandra Beasley, on the feeling of being a plagiarized poet.

-- Interesting backstory in the New York Review of Books on how Wikipedia took all the female novelists out of the "American novelists" category.

-- Kurt Vonnegut writes to John F. Kennedy, offering to volunteer for his campaign.

-- Where is the fight for high-speed and affordable, or free, internet?

-- "How not to report on a transgender victim."

-- As late as 1978, Aaron Copeland posited that there might be something innate to women that made them incapable of writing ambituous classical music. Alex Ross writes about "evening the score."

-- The alternative Mama's Day card.

-- Out of the Critical Mass movement comes bike parties. "The secret? More joy."

--Actually, Jason Collins isn't the first openly gay man in a major sport. The one who was -- true story -- also invented the high-five.

-- See also: Brittney Griner and the quiet queering of sports. I wish I'd written the article on this.

-- "The Silence of Science."

Mary Thom, Feminist Editor & Magic-Maker, Dies

2013-04-28T11:51:51-04:00

At Ms. Magazine, via Daily Mail. Mary Thom is at far right.

I am so sad to hear that Mary Thom died unexpectedly last night in a motorcycle accident. She was 68.

At once fierce and gracious, a smart and true-hearted light, Thom was a founding editor of Ms. Magazine and was with the publication through 1991; she also wrote the book about that revolutionary magazine, and co-authored a book about Bella Abzug. More recently, she was editor-in-chief of the Women's Media Center, which is where I had the privilege of working with her on a few stories on, for example, women in Motown and the Midwest Teen Sex Show. I was still pretty much a newbie at the time, figuring my way through the unsteady field of journalism, and didn't realize that Thom had such an amazing legacy. She honored me by making me feel that I was taken seriously. As I've learned more and more about her work, and heard from her colleagues and friends who knew her intimately, my feeling for Thom has come aglow: she was one of the good ones, and we are all better for the world she helped make -- and narrate.

More of the stories about, and by, Mary Thom:

"An Oral History of Ms. Magazine" - New York Magazine

Mary Thom (co-editor, 1972–91): It was like a political camp. It really was. People wandered in and took jobs.

Voices of Feminism Oral History Project - Smith College

Mary Thom, on readers of Ms. "But mostly they were just individual women who felt that all these issues that they had with their own family life, with their work life, were things that were problems to them individually and no one else, you know... And they were incredibly relieved that there were other people that there were other people who had similar issues and there were people who would take them seriously."

Associated Press

"The important thing to know about Mary is that she was a major leader of the 70's Feminist movement, but never desired the limelight," (her nephew Thom) Loubet said in an email. "She stayed behind the scenes tirelessly crafting the message and simply making it better."

Robin Morgan, author, co-founder of the Women's Media Center

“In Mary Thom’s accidental death, Ms., the Women's Media Center and U.S. journalism suffer a huge loss,” Morgan said. “And I grieve for a wry, ethical friend."

Gloria Steinem, writer, co-founder of Ms. Magazine

"She had a gift for helping people tell their own story, not for helping them sound like others, but helping them find their own voice," Steinem said.

Many, many more thoughts, feelings, celebrations, and exulting gratitudes are pouring in on the Women's Media Center's Facebook page.

"All the World's Eyes on the Globe's Stage"

2013-04-21T14:44:14-04:00

Capping an extraordinary week in Boston, I wrote a piece for The American Prospect that walked through the extraordinary coverage of The Boston Globe, whose team pivoted in seconds from reporting on a celebratory local event to reporting on a terrible and ambiguous crisis. It was a portentious time for the Globe's worth to emerge: the newspaper is up for sale and last week, initial bids were due.

An excerpt from my story:

The Globe’s journalism this week is a reminder, as we talk about the evolution of media, that the best resources in local media are good reporters who know their city and know how to work together. It’s hard not to hear the echo of the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, which, working on another scale entirely, contributed heroic coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. But despite being a celebrated regional paper with unusually strong penetration in its community, the owner of the 176-year-old Times-Picayune, Advance Publications, laid off half the staff last year and halted daily publication, citing the urgency of turning to digital platforms. While community partnerships rose up to save the paper by buying it from Advance and investing in it, Advance refused offers. Ryan Chittum’s scathing portrayal in the Columbia Journalism Review of exactly how the digital-first method is working our for New Orleans should give all of us pause. The diminishing of the Times-Picayune is a loss for its city. As the Globe faces its own moment of transformation, the debacle in New Orleans stands as a warning story.

This isn’t a turning point that establishes the Globe as a great local paper; it is a moment that reveals that quality journalists are doing vital work. The paper they put out on Tuesday is as good as the Globe’s ever done in its 141 years of publishing. Despite the uncertainty of its future and the limited resources of any regional newspaper these days, the Globe’s structure and its long tradition as trusted source of media proved to be able to function at the highest level when the explosions hit.

“Everyone here knows their role. There was a lot of noise at various points of the day in the newsroom but everybody got done what needed to be done,” (managing editor Caleb) Solomon said. Limited resources or no, “people here are committed to the mission, and they’re pros.”

Journalists, it seems, are hardy and resilient creatures. They thrive in crisis, whether rooted in financial balance sheets or acts of terror.

Literary Archeology with Muriel Rukeyser

2013-04-18T09:02:48-04:00

In Guernica, I have an essay about Muriel Rukeyser's lost novel and the recovery of work by women writers.

I also spend some time with the fascinating story of the People's Olympiad, set up in Barcelona in 1936 as a protest to the Berlin Olympics hosted by Adolf Hitler. Six thousand athletes from twenty-two nations, including the United States and United Kingdom, signed on. But two days before it was set to begin, Spain's civil war broke out. And that brings us back to Rukeyser: she was there. She wrote a novel about it called Savage Coast. But that book was left in an unmarked and undated Library of Congress folder. That is, it was lost.

While interest bloomed in how other major twentieth-century writers approached the Spanish Civil War—Hemingway, Orwell—Rukeyser’s perspective was not part of the narrative.

That might be the end of the story, as it were. But her novel, Savage Coast, was uncovered by researchers with Lost & Found Elsewhere, a project at the City University of New York (CUNY) that is dedicated to releasing twentieth century books that have been overlooked or long unavailable. For the first time, and in celebration of Rukeyser’s centennial this year, Savage Coast will be published in May through Feminist Press, which is heralding it as “the major literary event of 2013.” Publisher’s Weekly, for its part, agrees, calling it “both an absorbing read and an important contribution to twentieth-century history.”

The recovery of the lost novel has historical and literary significance, but as Rowena Kennedy-Epstein, who edited Savage Coast for publication, describes in the introduction, it is also a reminder of the patchy legacies of women writers—even those who, like Rukeyser, were relatively successful in their lifetimes.

Zora Neale Hurston makes a cameo in this story, as I talk about the most famous story of literary recovery: Alice Walker's role in reviving the out-of-print and nearly forgotten author who had died penniless and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Alice Walker wrote in her 1979 essay, which revisted her recovery of Zora Neale Hurston as “a cautionary tale”:

We are a people. A people do not throw their geniuses away. And if they are thrown away, it is our duty as artists and as witnesses for the future to collect them again for the sake of our children, and, if necessary, bone by bone.

Boston Love Letter

2013-04-15T18:31:45-04:00

On the steps of the Boston Public Library looking out at Copley Square. Half-a-mile from my old home, and right around the corner of the Boston Marathon finish line.

When I lived in Boston, I spent every Marathon Monday hanging around Copley, struck by the crackling emotion, power, and vulnerability alive at the finish line. A rare and gorgeous community emerged each year, so real you could practically put your hand upon it. That it has been split open today makes my knees week in sorrow. The familiarity of this ground, as this brutal story unspools in even international papers, makes me feel sick. I know this place. I lived there. People I love live there. I hung out on this very stretch of Boylston just last month and got all nostalgic about it. Now, it's rendered as a setpiece for harm.

What is heartening: tremendous first responders, including journalists at, for example, The Boston Globe, who have done an amazing job reporting the story. Information matters, and journalists too are among those who move into the risk in times like these. Certainly they have our attention: they also need our support.

As I type, visiting the paper's website directs you automatically to its full and complete ongoing live coverage. It is the Globe that also set up the Google Docs where people are requesting help and offering their homes to displaced runners and others. Thousands are coming through, their hands offered in help. This is what is real.

Copley Station, the entrance outside the Boston Public Library. Now closed until further notice.

Hospitality, both a simple and radical thing, in practice:

"I don't live in the city--but can come get anyone who needs a place to stay"

"I will come pick up anyone who needs a place to stay. I have a spare bedroom with a queen sized bed. I am located about 15 minutes from the Franklin MBTA stop and 20 minutes from the Providence airport. I will do whatever I can."

"Can pick someone up. Have extra bedroom and private bathroom. I'm a good cook."

"We have food, water, blankets"

"Ashland is pretty far out of Boston -- very close to the starting line -- but if by chance anyone is out this way and needs a place to stay, I have several extra bedrooms. I can also drive to pick people up."

"I have a couch, love seat, and could probably offer my roommates bed if necessary."

"Mit fraternity house (zeta psi) in cambridge with plenty of couches to crash on and hot showers"

"I live in an MIT dormitory. Not much space, but am happy to offer what I can."

"Take the commuter rail to walpole and we can pick you up at the station"

"We are less than a half mile from the Marathon finish line in a South End brownstone. We have a spare bedroom that could sleep two people in a queen bed for the night."

"On corner of Harvard and Commonwealth Ave. If you know where you are, I'm happy to direct you/meet you. Have room to sleep multiple people, or just feed you until you get your bearings."

"I work late but can be home quickly, so call, email or text and I will head right home."

"Call me and come stay."

"Will drive in to bring anyone who needs a place about an hour north of the city"

"I am a student with a comfortable couch. We have plenty of food, showers, etc."

"Anything you need: food, comfy couch to sleep on, and even some wine and a cat to hang out with for as long as you need"

"I live in an apartment on Mass Ave about three blocks away from the Boston Medical Center. There are three people staying here (me, my girlfriend, and my roommate) and I have a large living room with couches and an air mattress. Praying for all those hurt by this tragedy."

"Apartment at BC, living room open to whoever needs a place to sleep!"

"iphone chargers, cupcakes, blankets, pillows & 2 couches!!"

"Random Hall dorm, MIT Campus. Please email first."

"I live in an MIT undergraduate dorm, but I'm always willing to give up my bed for them to sleep in."

"plenty of room"

"We have a little baby at home, so the house is kid friendly. There's ample parking on the street and the neighborhood is safe and easy to get to."

"Full-sized bed, shower, free food!"

"(we are at) Instead Feminist co-op on Wellesley College campus"

"We are on the commuter rail line (Middleboro-Lakeville). We speak Spanish and Portuguese."

"I work in hotel sales for the Northeast... Happy to feed any runners and help find and transport to hotels outside of Boston if need be due to evacuations in the city. Thinking of everyone."

"Gay couple. Kid and dog friendly. 2 rooms with double beds available."

"food, pull out couch, love and support."

"You can come here!"

"Have a guest bedroom and happy to host whoever needs!"

"We have one double bed, a couch, and an air mattress. Can reasonably fit 5 people. Food, water, beer, and moral support also available."

All of you in Boston: I love you.

Seven Years Writing: Isak's Birthday

2013-04-14T14:52:00-04:00

A rainy summer day at the office

One of the very first freelance article assignments I got was to write a short piece about literary blogs for Poets & Writers magazine. This was in the winter of 2004, and I'd only just discovered lit blogs: those smart and incisive spaces that brought forth a passionate new way of engaging with books. I read them while drinking tea, and with that curling kind of excitement in my belly. Pitching the article was an excuse to dig deeper. The editor gave me a yes, on spec. As I was a newbie journalist and did not know that "on spec" meant "write it, and we'll see if we like it," I happily reached out to my favorite book bloggers to ask about their work. As I scribbled down the words of Jessa Crispin at Bookslut, Ron Hogan at Beatrice, and a host of others, I knew that I wasn't simply writing an article: I was investigating how I might fit into this world.

I submitted the article and never heard from Poets & Writers again. I learned a couple things from this experience: first, don't write on spec. Second: I was bound for this world of online literary writing. In April 2006, in a workshop at the Women, Action & the Media conference in Boston, I made Isak.

Seven years later, I can scarcely articulate how revolutionary Isak has been in my life. It is an act of love: both what is given and what is received. This is my practice, the way yoga and meditation are practices -- at once verbs and nouns. This public space for reflection has propelled me to be a better writer and a more honest person. It has made my life happier, in a deep and textured way. I feel like I'm able to make meaningful contributions to the language of literary criticism. And, more and more, this has been a space where I've let myself move into the unsteady ground of vulnerability, experimenting with the literature of emotions, translating what is felt into what is written. Taking up this space with my personal life does, I think, cohere with the original mission of Isak -- to "celebrate tales and truth." And not just when it is easy.

You, gentle reader, are a huge part of my life. Thank you for being with me on this journey, for sharing with me your own stories. I love being in an act of co-creation with you.

The Story: What Happened On Isak This Year

I wrote less. And you've noticed! I've gotten poked by some of you looking for a more consistent stream in this space. But while there has been some long pauses here, what I have written has been more substantive. (My list of favorite posts, below, grew this year.) I've come to trust the natural silences that texture this space, as opposed to the staccato nature of the super-short posts that punctuated Isak in its very early days. (For example.) I do want to be more attentive to bringing you more consistency, but I am not sorry for leaving behind the weird aggregating impulse that inflated the early days. Now, I'm more intent on saying something worthwhile.
Salon. More-than-usual reverb came to Isak, with Salon picking up some of my stories on, for example, Georgia O'Keeffe and The Caine Prize for African Writing.
Live Action Isak. Literary Detroit was created this winter, and while clearly that is separate from Isak, it comes from a common well. There is a reciprocity between these two projects that I'm excited to explore.
My e-newsletter celebrated its second year and, really, it's been a joy to have this way of connecting with you. I send about one newsletter every 6-8 weeks, highlighting writing I've done for Isak and magazines, as well as original content: an opening letter to you and a "source of joy." There has been a steady rise in subscribers: I get an average of eight new subscribers per month, and, in the entire life of the newsletter, only two have opted out. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
"Choose Books: A Gift Guide for People Who Care About Stories" emerged in its fourth edition: expanded, updated, revised, and available for free download. It bulked up to 82 pages, thirteen more than the previous edition, and it features many hundreds of thoughtful and eclectic book recommendations. It's broken down so that you can browse for books tailored for history buffs, activists, people going through hard times, mystery-lovers, politicos, children, wannabe cooks, and the like. Book profiles have a new "of an ilk" feature, in case what you see is close, but not quite, to what you're looking for. I also updated the top magazine gift subscriptions, and added a new feature on the best places to subscribe to books -- yes, book subscriptions! There is also a much-expanded feature on the best books to pair with the appropriate film adaptations, and a spotlight on great places for your literary donations. (To which I'd now add, ahem, Literary Detroit.) As always, I presented Choose Books to you freely, as my gift to you.
I offered a book giveaway to respondents of my annual reader survey. The winners are, in order, Jim Leckband, Irene Svete, and Peter Jameson. I'll be in touch with you three about getting your books to you. Also, a high-five to whoever it was (I have my suspicions) that entered using the very embarrassing address that served as my very first AOL account. The moniker was inspired by David Bowie. Seriously, you made me laugh out loud.
Wonderful partners and friends have continued to support Isak, especially Amy H., who saves me from my most egregious copyediting errors, and Chris M., who supplies so many tips on things strange and surprising in the book world. I am buoyed most of all by the connection with readers, some of whom I had the opportunity to meet in person this year, and many of you who send me comments, stories, rebuttals, and other fascinating things.

You honor me, each one of you.

Sitting at the millstone at the home of this site's namesake

And now for my annual data geek-out. All this information pertains to the period between April 11, 2012 and April 10, 2013. Most percentages are rounded.

Content:

Total unique posts, including this one: 3540
Number of unique posts in the past year: 179 (compared to 333 in 2011-2012 and 432 in 2010-2011)
Yearly average of unique posts: 506
Daily average of unique posts: 1.4
Average time viewing a page: 2.5 minutes
Total number of videos: 30
Number of new videos in the last year: 3
Most common post categories: Book Reviews, Culture, Detroit Stories, Literary Life, Media, Poetry, Politics
More occasional post categories: Africa, Creative Nonviolence, Ecological, Health, Interviews, Isak, Poverty & Economic Justice, Prisons & People, Science, Spirituality. No new categories were added in the last year.

Visitors:

Origin of visitors: 182 nations and territories (seven more than in 2011-2012).
Nation of origin of visitors: The top six positions are identical to what they were in the previous year. Then things get riotous...

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

India

Australia

Japan

France (up six slots this year)

The Philippines (up three slots this year)

Germany (up a lot; did not make the Top 20 last year)

Brazil (up four slots)

Turkey (up seven slots)

Italy (up a lot; did not make Top 22 last year)

The Netherlands (up two slots)

Mexico (up eight slots)

Pakistan (up a lot; returning to Top 20 after it did not make the Top 20 last year)

Spain (up three slots)

South Africa (down one slot this year)

Sweden (up three slots, returning to Top 20 after falling out of the Top 22 last year)

New Zealand (down two slots)

Ireland (returning to Top 20)

Indonesia (did not make the Top 22 last year)

Poland (did not make the Top 22 last year)

Russia (down three slots)

South Korea

China (down eighteen slots)

I'm interested in the rise of France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Pakistan this year, as well as the plummeting of China. Kenya dropped out of the listing -- it came in at #27 -- which is understandable because the Kenya-related content has diminished here. But I'm not sure how to account for the other changes.

Nations that had exactly one resident visit Isak in the past year: Bermuda, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Cuba, French Guiana, Laos, Marshall Islands, Burma/Myanmar, New Caledonia, Somalia, Tajikistan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

City of origin of visitors: The top three have been amazingly consistent.

New York City

Detroit

Chicago

Los Angeles (up one slot from last year)

Washington, D.C. (down one slot)

London

Ann Arbor

Bethesda, Maryland (did not crack Top 22 last year)

Houston (up nine slots from last year)

San Francisco (down three slots)

Seattle (up three slots)

Philadelphia (up nine slots)

Naha

Sydney (up two slots)

Boston (up seven slots)

Toronto (down four slots)

Wayne (area outside Detroit) (up two slots)

Minneapolis (returning to Top 20; did not crack Top 22 last year)

Portland, Oregon (up one from last year)

Melbourne (did not crack Top 22 last year)

Dallas (did not crack Top 22 last year)

Atlanta (returning to Top 20; did not crack Top 22 last year)

Austin (down eight slots)

San Diego

Denver

In total, Isak visitors came from 7,037 cities in the last year, 393 fewer than the year before. Nairobi dropped out of the top twenty, as did Putian (China), Bethlehem, and Austin. While I'm casting a bigger net here by listing the top twenty-five cities, I'm intrigued to see the sharp rise of Bethesda, Houston, Dallas, Melbourne, and Philadelphia. I also noticed that the penetration of Detroit has gone much deeper, while Chicago readers have lessened their hold. Of the twenty-five cities with Isak readers, five are international and twenty are American.

Cities with exactly one Isak visitor (selected): Wabash, Cave City, Hazard, Opelousas, East Longmeadow, Cabin Johns, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Halethorpe, Sabattus, Nashik, Ciudad Guzman, Kaohsiun City

Languages: Isak was read in 124 different languages over the last year, one more than in 2011-2012. The top three were national variations on English, followed by, in descending order, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Turkish, and Russian. The high number of people who read this site in Chinese in the previous year don't visit the site so much anymore. Either that, or they learned Russian.

Traffic:

Links: 175 sites link to Isak (19 fewer than in 2011-2012)
Average pages viewed per visit: 1.23 (slightly higher than last year)
Most common traffic sources: Search traffic (64%, up about 11% compared to last year); referring sites (22%, down about 8%), direct traffic (15%, down about 3%), and campaigns (.15%, a new source of visitors this year)
Specifically, the most common traffic sources are: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Bing, Typepad, The Huffington Post, Salon, Ask.com, my e-newsletter

Top queries used in search browsers that find Isak: It appears that I am quite popular with those who have English papers to write, especially when the subject is William Styron's first book. I noticed the radical spike on the Styron post earlier in the year, when it was announced that it will be adapted into a film.

lie down in darkness

lie down in darkness summary

"lucille clifton"

the color purple book review

isak

hurricane katrina

let the great world spin review

rodney king today

on the subway poem

let the great world spin characters

isak blog anna clark

jean michel basquiet

lie down in darkness book

lie down in darkness synopsis

lie down in darkness william styron

frida kahlo paintings

modigliani

no country for old men book review

poems on trees

basquiet

william styron lie down in darkness

apartheid

lie down in darkness styron

lie down in darkness plot

isak blog book

Most popular posts: Setting aside the homepage, here are the most popular posts for Isak readers:

Book Review: William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness (This is not a surprise, given the search queries. However, this post did rank #4 last year.)

Review: The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Frida Kahlo, Resting in Peace

So You Want to Apply for a Fulbright

Review: All God's Children by Fox Butterfield

Book Review: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Only Four Years Ago?

Book Review: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Poem: "On the Subway"

Jean-Michel Basquiat: Catharsis (1983)

Seven readers: In the spirit of Isak's 7th birthday, here are a few posts that received exactly seven visitors in 2011-2012:

My 2006 review of Janna Levin's A Madmen Dreams of Turing Machines
"James Baldwin Reports From Occupied Territory"
A poem by Maurice Manning called "Blasphemy."
A 2011 post called "Taking Space: A Risk."
A bouquet of brief book reviews.
Jane Kenyon's poem, "Not Writing."

Most popular day to visit Isak in the last year: Thursday, August 2, 2012
What did I post that day?: Actually, nothing. But I did publish a nice long "literary and media indulgences" the day before, which people seemed to like, and the site was riding the wave of traffic that came from my Grantland article, timed to the Olympics, on the startling story of the global sports boycott of South Africa.
The least popular day to visit Isak in 2010-2011: Saturday, December 23, 2012. Guess you all had stuff to do that day, or something.

Selected Feedback from This Year's Reader Survey:

How long have we been blog friends? Most of you (42%) have read Isak for 1-3 years. Newcomers come in second place (27%) and long-timers (4-6 years) in third (24%). A handful of you -- 6% -- have been with me since the beginning.

More than half of you first found your way here through a link in a blog or news source, but a healthy 27% were referred by a friend, and about 11% connected through social media. I met 8% of you through a live event, like a workshop. One of you found me through the bio of my old job. Among the other referrals you cited:

I know you.
This one Anna Clark broad
Laura Thomas-- Tutorial professor at U of M RC
Review on Goodreads
Coworker sent me the Ty Cobb article in Grantland

What are your reading habits? Among the other sites you read regularly are...

Other blogs linked to at A Commonplace Blog
EmilyBooks, NYT, Washington Post, New Yorker, bookslut, pigtailsflying
FiveBooks, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Rod Dreher (The American Conservative),Noahpinion, The Shin Guardian, Dirty Tackle, The Browser, The Urbanophile, Marginal Revolution, The Billfold, Lexington's Notebook (The Economist), Asymmetrical Information (Megan McArdle), Front Porch Republic
Arts&Letters; The Millions; Page-Turner
Salon, NYT, LAT, Guardian, LA Review of Books, Arts & Letters Daily, local news outlets
I read a variety of sites: Longreads, as well as several children's lit and illustration blogs.
Feministing, MotherJones, Slate, Colorlines, NPR, NYTimes, Bitch, The Nation
Deadspin, The Big Lead, McCovey Chronicles, Biblioklept
Rebels at Work
Almost exclusively vegan food blogs
a shameful number of food blogs, the gawker conglomerate, and anything with pretty pictures or good feminist content.
The Dish, Ta Nehisi Coates, Sweet Juniper, other Detroit blogs
too many
none really

Top reasons you visit Isak: (respondents could choose multiple reasons)

I discover interesting things -- a magazine, website, or writer I didn't know about before (76%, compared to 52.8% last year)
I like reading about books and literary culture (73%, compared to 72.2% last year)
I like the "voice" or point-of-view (58%, compared to 50% last year)
I'm just curious what Anna is up to (42%, compared to 63.9% last year)
I like the eclectic mix of news and original analysis (43%, compared to 47.4% last year)
I'm interested in Detroit and Detroiters (43.%, compared to being one of the least common reasons to visit last year)

Least common reasons to visit Isak: "I like the bent towards translated literature" and "I like reading about journalism and media."

Among other reasons for visiting Isak:

"I'm glad you use the word 'eclectic' because that's why I like Isak the most."
"It's the most consistently intelligent, entertaining blog I follow. I stumbled on it in a serendipitous moment."
"I like the format! It is both digestible and pithy"
"I like to see what a freelance writer/journalist can accomplish."

Feedback on Isak's book reviews: (respondents could choose multiple reasons)

Because of the reviews, I've picked up books I wouldn't have read otherwise. (46%, compared to 55.3% last year)
I like getting a distinct and interesting perspective on the review books (43%, compared to 47.4% last year)
I don't read many of the reviews. (27%, compared to 7.9% last year)
I read the reviews regularly (21%)
The review are fine, but there should be more of them (12%)
I only read the reviews if it's about a book I've read myself (9%)
I wish the reviews covered more classic and older books (9%)

Other opinions about Isak's book reviews:

"Anna—I live vicariously through you because I'm aging rapidly and not up to date on ANYTHING literary and interesting these days. So I like all the book reviews because, through them, I can recall my younger self and remember how great it felt reading and loving to read new stuff. {Now back to work at my crummy 9-5 job}"

Posts you like best: (respondents could choose multiple options)

The more personal essays (73%, compared to 66.7% last year)
Literary & Media Indulgences, the round-up of links (73%, compared to 52.8% last year)
Book Reviews (52%)
Short posts that highlight interesting articles from around the web (46%)
Speaking, featuring a quote or excerpt from a writer (40%)

Other opinions on your favorite Isak content:

"Detroit-related posts Sports-related posts"
"You have an AWESOME taste in poetry. I always love the poems you choose. So in that way I would add "Spiritual Posts"...?"
"I truly love Literary & Media Indulgences"
"I first saw Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's TED talk, "The Danger of Having a Single Story" on ISAK. I showed it to my English Lit class to address stereotypes. Terrific response!"
"Detroit-related"
"I gotta say: I love the poetry entries the best, but I also LOVE the eclectic mix of things. And that's the only reason I read Isak. It's unpredictable...it's curious...and it takes chances, hoping the reader follows. And I follow with glee and joy."

What you think about "Choose Books": Most of you said you "loved it" and that you really valued that it is available for free. (Notably, far more of you value it being free than said that you "loved it" -- which I find very funny.) The downloadable PDF seems to work for most of you. 17% of you said that you used "Choose Books" to pick out a book for someone else, or for yourself. So: I guess this is going all right, though it leads me to think about how, as I work on the fifth edition later this year, I may hit the point of diminishing returns. There may be more to do with "Choose Books" than simply expand and update it. I'll incubate some ideas.

What else you had to say about "Choose Books":

"I marked a number of books for my own reading later."
"I saw it but didn't get around to using it."
"It might be more accessible to people when they're actually in a store choosing a gift if they could access it on a smartphone, so having it link to a page on your site might be helpful."
"I only saw the third edition. Did not peruse the fourth."

What needs to change on Isak:

"More frequent posts!"
"More baseball"
"You are doing a great job. Keep it up."
"More poetry! More resources for English/History teachers! Perhaps some guest posts?"
"I'd like to see more reviews and not just on contemporary fiction but reviews on old classics. And more link roundups please."
"Do you have a list somewhere of independent book stores? I would love to find one in the Washington DC area but never know where to start!"
"More coverage of social (in)justice in Detroit. And more coverage of the general modern literary scene. Perhaps some interviews with up-and-coming authors (if possible!) or Detroit authors."
"ISAK is so good I cannot think of anything I would change."
"Is there a way to subscribe to certain segments? If so, I'd do that."
"The site itself can be a bit hard to navigate and there are times I want to go back and read something again but it is difficult to find."
"Design"
"by the way, the mailto html function on your blog is garbage ... I had to view the source code just to get your email. because my browser doesnt have a default email client (because nobody's does, because its not 1995). I bet you don't get many emails that way do you? I mean business looks like its good for you these days so no worries. But If you used php or even just listed your email behind a captcha to catch non-humans, you might drum up some more contacts. ... if you have a lot of old friends who don't have facebook or twitter but might want to get in touch with you it might be a lot more convenient for you. or them... I like to look out for those people. Nobody else does."
"Wish the website design was more dynamic, more Detroit-centric, perhaps. Christ, you live in the New Center area. Take some pics in that area and use it as your wallpaper. Right now, the site's design looks like someone's old apartment, and I'm sitting on the sofa, drinking my Diet Coke, wishing she would change the wallpaper." (Editor's note: the last part of this comment made me laugh and laugh ... love it!)

Additional Selected Narrative Feedback:

"hello. i love your site. it's intelligent and often touching. thank you."
"(Wave hello) Also, I'm feeling good about the Tigers this year"
"I'm surprise to not found more comments on your posts. Why?"
":) I forward your blog to a lot of my friends who are "social media" people. They really appreciate how well written it is."
"Wishing you a joyous spring!"
"Reading this site makes me miss Detroit even more. All of your stuff is interesting, but the sports writing (Ty Cobb, Brandon Inge) is really excellent. A friend and I took a pilgrimage to Ty Cobb's house when I was in town last summer, had a little chat with Willie Horton's friend, then had dinner at Woodbridge Pub before the Tigers game."
"I am a senior creative writing student in the RC and U of M. ... I have really enjoyed reading your blog, anonymously, for the past few months. I hope to have the sustained dedication and curiosity to keep up such a blog after entering the post-grad world as a writer! All best, and keep blogging!!
"I love your work!"
"Keep rolling."
"I love you!"
"Hello and thank you for sharing your love of books and writing as well as your insightful observations. I appreciate the work you put into Isak."
"If my answer to #8 seemed harsh, I hope you don't get the wrong idea. I love your website. It's my only honest connection to the literary world these days...of which you are a bright voice inside."
"(Hi, Anna!) Isak is a great stopping point for me. That is, I tend to save up posts until I have some time to sit with them and not rush through - a testament to your thoughtfulness and to a mind I enjoy keeping company with."
"I really appreciated the thank you note for my contribution. I am keeping it; it's that special."

Personal favorite posts of the last year:

"You Are a Home to Me" (4.7.13)
"A Boston Story" (3.5.13)
"It's Hard To Be A Writer If You Love The World" (2.27.13)
"Public Libraries and the Conscience of Community Living" (2.19.13)
"The Only Powerhouse Football Program That Quit it All" (1.17.12)

"What It Takes to Mentor Rainer Maria Rilke" (1.7.13)
"'Indeterminable'" (12.15.12)
"Book Review: A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge" (11.23.12)
"This Just Seen: 'Searching for Sugar Man" (11.11.12)
"Voting Day, 2012" (11.6.12)

"'like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes'" (10.30.12)
Virginia Woolf's Rules for Biography (10.27.12)
Ralph Waldo Emerson on John Brown's Holy War to End Slavery (9.16.12)
Vermeer and Balance (9.2.12)
Beginning Again: James Baldwin in Istanbul (8.27.12)

Why Writers Are Not Philosophers (8.23.12)
Nazik al-Malaika Writes Freely (8.23.12)
"Let my heart's clear-struck keys sing": The Elegy of Rainer Maria Rilke (8.12.12)
Isak Interview #16: Nora Mandray (7.23.12)
The Urban Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe (7.20.12)

Taking Student Journalism Seriously: Univ. of Michigan Newspaper Sued for Defamation (7.11.12)
The Scottish Language Controversy (7.2.12)
A Strange Thing in a Sealed Envelope (7.1.12)
Practicing My Byline (6.29.12)
Untranslatable Words (6.28.12)

Book Review: Finder: Voice by Carla Speed McNeil (6.26.12)
Poem for Maria Rose (6.20.12)
Alice Walker Refuses Hebrew Translation of The Color Purple (6.19.12)
On UVA and the Risk of Humanities at Public Universities (6.19.12)
Rodney King, Rodney King, Rodney King (6.17.12)

A Reading List for When Summer Breaks Open (6.16.12)
"Seated Figure, 13th Century" (6.9.12)
And Then There Was This One Kid... (5.24.12)
Book Review: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. (4.23.11)
How Not To Write a Column on Environmentalism. (4.14.12)

My Ask:

I love making Isak. I believe in it. I believe in creating space for "tales and truth." There is purpose in tangling with stories with ferocity and humor and constancy -- and without larding ideas with irony and snark. While giving the site a great deal of time and my own money, I've kept my commitment to keep Isak ad-free.

If you find Isak at all worthwhile, please consider donating to support it. Even a small amount goes a long way, believe me. And to earn your trust and support heartens me beyond words.

My Other Ask:

What's Next:

Design. I get it: the design on this site is in desperate need of an overhaul. The last time I did anything to it was back in 2009, and the base functionality leaves lots of things to be desired. You, and I, can look forward to a transformation later this year that will, besides pretty-ing things up, will also improve the navigability and flow of the site.
Collected. I want to cull from Isak writing that can be collected into ebook. I'm still simmering with this about what direction feels right -- should it be thematic, based on, say, my commentary on translation? a collection of book reviews? -- but one way or another, this is going to happen. It will keep alive the writing here that still resonates, and vivify it with a new context and thoughtful juxtapositions. It will also give me a new way of preserving the writing I do on Isak; a fear of mine is that something will happen beyond my control, and the past seven years will vanish with a click.
Writing. Even though I am joyfully giving more attention to other creative projects, and I'm not particularly bothered by the flow of writing on Isak mirroring my own instincts to be articulate and to be silent, I do want to make a commitment to amp up the content here. Expect more consistent posting: not daily, necessarily, but regularly -- for example, a weekly rhythm to the "literary & media indulgences."

Related:

Literary Detroit Has a Newfangled Website..

2013-04-10T22:26:47-04:00

... and it's making us all kind of new friends. Come on over and welcome us to the digital neighborhood! Check out "Reading Detroit," our semi-comprehensive list of books from and about this fascinating city. Look for on-the-ground ways to connect at our calendar of literary events. Maybe you are so enthused by our work to elevate the literary culture of Detroit, you will want to join us or throw a few dollars our way: we encourage both kinds of support!

And don't forget to come by our debut event: a ridiculously fun book swap that will be the first of a seasonal series. It's coming up on April 26 and April 27. Can't wait to see you around the way.