Lit Chat

Inspiration for being human.

Parallel Reading, Speaking Up for Ourselves, and Finding Poetry Everywhere 

Thursday April 16, 2026

Happy Thursday humans! Here is this week's literary inspiration for being human...

Let's consider parallel reading...

I read many books at once, and I used to think this was a problem—an inability to focus on one thing at a time or see things through. But in learning to be kinder to myself—more accepting, more understanding—I see my multiplicitous approach to reading as a way to carry on a prolonged conversation with multiple brilliant people at once. Not only do the authors I am reading say the most fascinating things, but their works inspire so many new ideas when juxtaposed. I can't help but have new insights when I look through my journal writing and see them chattering together. 

This week I have been reading But Beautiful by Geoff Dyer, The Book of Alchemy by Souleika Jaouad, and The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath—and I am in various stages of dozens of other titles that I revisit when the feeling strikes me. I am also reading the paperback proof of Woman Outside the City, and it's interesting to read my own book in print, juxtaposed with literary works that I admire. It requires a shift in mindframe to bring my own work into a lively conversation inspired by literature, and the challenge of doing this is making me think even more deeply about how I interact with other writers and thinkers in person, and how we might inspire one another.

What author(s) would you love to speak with? What would you discuss with them?  What questions would you ask?

Let's discuss speaking up for ourselves...

“An ancient poet from my tradition said, "I have something to say.
I will say it before death comes. And if I don't say it, let no one
say it for me. I will be the one who will say it.”

—Kofi Awoonor, Ghanaian poet
(epigraph to  Woman Outside the City)

What do you really need to say? How will you find words to express it? Would writing poetry or journal writing help? How can we speak up and find our voices when it matters most? How can we speak for ourselves? How can poetry help us speak for ourselves? 

Let's find poetry everywhere...

"Sonnet Overheard at Phone Booth" by poet Elane Kim opens with a sone-word natch of dialogue and an interpretation of intent: "Goodbye, but said without really meaning it." This starts off a list of vivid fragments of memory that capture the tenderness of speaking on the phone with a loved one who is far away. The title implies that the speaker of the poem is listening in on one side of this conversation, yet the speaker also addresses their own loved one in lines such as "The way / the light touches you like something scared." Overhearing a conversation activates the speaker's own memory and imagination, which then makes the moment poetic. 

Poetry reinvigorates our language, "thereby drawing us into a different form of attention and awareness," as Matthew Zapruder shares in Why Poetry. Thus, poetry is not limited to those literary works that are intentionally crafted—we can find poetry all around us, even in everyday moments and interactions. Anything that makes us keenly aware of our world and ourselves is a poetic occasion.

Where can you find poetry today? 

Let's listen to Pink Floyd...

I'm on a Pink Floyd kick this week, and Dark Side of the Moon is inspiring my creative flow. Reading several essays about the album is also giving me an even greater appreciation for the artistry and inspires me to keep going with my own creative work. In his Firebird essay, Peter Cross describes how the album evolved from a purely psychedelic project to one that captures complex human emotions and incorporates more political and philosophical concerns. Woman Outside the City explores several of the same themes, issues, and imagery that are present in Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and I am looking forward to studying the lyrics and instrumentals even more as I deepen my understanding of the album's profound impact. 

Bricolage Lit Adventures