In the years I’ve hosted this series in its various forms & the question Do you listen to music while you write? has come up, responses have been consistently mixed. Some people are ritualistic (Alyssa described listening to a Mitski record on constant repeat while writing Little Rabbit); others use music as background noise, or an energizer (thinking of Devin’s running playlists; the running itself a part of his writing process); some require silence; at least one person, I forget who, said they could do it only if the music had no lyrics.
Thinking of this now because I told myself to sit & write this email—already, the May event is next Tuesday (!) (a bit closer to the prior month’s than usual)—& I keep getting sucked into the record I’m listening to, Interior Live Oak by Cass McCombs, & texting my dear friend Rachel about how we’re seeing him play it on Thursday, so both my attention & spirit are floating off a bit even though, really, I’m excited to tell you some great news. Like, I don’t know what others might say about what constitutes an amazing life, but my view is there’s almost nothing better, at any age, than going to a show with a friend.
Anyway, great news: Track Changes is moving venues! To the beautiful Solar Myth, where I’ve seen Marshall Allen, Fred Moten, Kim Gordon (not together, though that’d be sick if they formed a supergroup), & many others. See you there on May 12, where we’ll be joined by the fantastic writers Kirwyn Sutherland (Philly) and Steffan Triplett (Pittsburgh)!!!
✧ ✦ Tickets & more info ✦ ✧
Steffan Triplett is a Black, queer writer born and raised in southwest Missouri. He is the author of the hybrid memoir Bad Forecast (Essay Press) and the essay chapbook Constraints (New Michigan Press). His recent essays, poems, and criticism appear in Vulture, Obsidian, Foglifter, Poetry Daily, and It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (Feminist Press). He is the Managing Director of the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics at the University of Pittsburgh where he is a Teaching Associate Professor. Triplett has received fellowships and support from Cave Canem, Outpost, Lambda Literary, Callaloo, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Blue Mountain Center, and Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh.
Kirwyn Sutherland is a Ciinical Research Professional and poet who makes poems centering the black experience in America. He was one of 5 poets to represent the Philadelphia Pigeon Poetry Slam Team at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland California in 2015. Kirwyn’s work has been published in American Poetry Review, Cosmonauts Ave., Blueshift Journal, Voicemail Poems, APIARY Magazine, FOLDER, The Wanderer and elsewhere. Kirwyn has served as Editor of Lists/Book Reviewer for WusGood magazine,poetry editor for APIARY Magazine and is a Watering Hole fellow. Kirwyn has a chapbook, Jump Ship, on Thread Makes Blanket Press.
Until then, here’s the playlist from April’s super lovely Track Changes event!
♫ Track Changes 006: Raena Shirali + Candice Wuehle ♫
♡ Alina