Ephemera Newsletter Iss. July.2
(Creativity and Motivation Weekly)
July 14,
Welcome to the Ephemera Newsletter, dostar / достар (Kazakh for “friends”).
Securely on the mind at moment is dynamism, or dynamos and their ways and means, the means to being dynamic, diverse in thought and interests. Multi-talent, too. Can we strive toward a range of talents and depth of experiences such that we become forces unto ourselves, unto others? Always be improving, is a vibe, a lesson taken from studying this week’s musician and artist, both of whom envelope art and music more than they can be distinguished by the terms. Kate Bush (so so resurgent) and her music career offer a near divine type of inspiration. Richard Butler a band front-man turned collected painter offers us, impressively, two discrete creative styles. We’re also re-upping on “why” vis-a-vis an essay in The Paris Review on why writers write, and, too, our walloping three zines, three opportunities, and jobs. Gotta keep the creative juice squeezing, the business wheels greased: grease our paws if you deign by trying our wine sponsor and applying for the final residency spot!
Perhaps through acts of unbridled self-expression, through creative chanciness, mastery of old with space for the new, elegant mimicry and exquisite borrowing, through practice & refinement—iterations upon…—we can know of self and of why, we can approach the creative asymptotes of our heroes, those pillars and near-fathomless others who sustain us still, their oeuvres stable and shining yet unreachable—nor should they be. Diverge, diverge, swerve away and aim to be our own megaliths, our true selves despite homage, despite how we might owe. Oh to be indebted! For upon realization of self, of a creative success, we come to know and honor that owing. Ode to our creative stars and asterism clusters! Ode to you, dear readers, for deigning, for your presence and participation. Please share and discuss and leave comments if you like. Find a righteous beacon and aim, and miss, and aim anew!
We fan by your grace: Tea or Books!
Alğıs / Aлғыс! (Gratitude)
Take The Wine Quiz:
~We’re so happy you’re here!~
Featured Music: Kate Bush
Catherine (Kate) Bush, by now ubiquitously known due to the featuring of her talismanic track “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” in season 4 of Stranger Things, is a wunderkind and a genius. The more we read into her life and career, the more clear that becomes, but we don’t mean to imply simply for her music, though that much is clear. In her early 20s, she shirked the label system, built her own studio with a state of the art computer synth called a Fairlight (learned to use the computer), and recorded and thus owns rights to all her music. True art entrepreneurial brilliance. So, lesson there on being self governing. She’s basically a renaissance mind. We thought about falling over ourselves to point out the prescient use of synth, her avant garde approach to the Fairlight and to lyrics, and her fierce individualism in her music-making, but we’re so enamored of her success and status as one of those music artist’s artists, it seems droll to go into sounds (hers are complex, dynamic, innovative) so we’ll stay with her invention and continue to marvel at her mastery of not only the creative self, but the business of creativity. We can hear Author’s gasping at the thought of returning from their cabin deep in a thick woods having to also master book business. We’re cowering too…because there’s so much more to Kate Bush.
Writers Submit: Three Magazines
A Mid-Atlantic magazine that is “...committed to the quirky, the dark, the artistic…,” and publishes all genres, often requesting a theme. The current theme is Anticipation. Deadline August 1.
Published each year in print and online by the Santa Fe Community College, the magazine looks for new and established writers in all genres, and has featured many new writers who became notable early in their careers. Deadline November 2.
Founded in 2005, they’re known for simple editions featuring themed stories. This year, their open call is Tales from the Club. They want stories about nightclubs, discos, cabarets, and pubs. Free to send. Submissions rolling until December 31.
Please Visit Our Friend: Good Contrivance Farm.
Additional Reading From: Paris Review
We came across a musing, little piece by Elisa Gabbert at The Paris Review’s website on writing inspiration entitled, “Why Write?” which integrates the author’s thinking along side myriad quotes from many of the greats where also the author essays their words and circles, enjoyably, around her posited question of why. It’s a quick read or a deep one depending on the reader’s want. We suggest both strategies. Read Here.
Weekly Artist: Richard Butler
Richard Butler, best known as the lead singer of The Psychedelic Furs, was a post-punk 1980’s icon whose hit song, “Pretty in Pink,” inspired the film Pretty in Pink. While the band made some good tunes, we consider Butler’s visual work, which centers around figurative portraiture laden with dark tones and notably abstracted strokes that muddle the subject—closely reminiscent of Francis Bacon’s figurative portrait work and maybe even Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro. The painting stands in sharp contrast with the musicians' hopeful, yet moody post-punk ballads. Although, maybe there is something punk about smearing a countenance to the point of disguise, slurring notes akin to gobbed strokes that otherwise reproduce the subject of the painting with characterizing accuracy. Punks still made recognizable, engenred (en+genre+’d = coinage!) music. But there’s a message in the mess, or messiness, or re-organized order cum partial disorder; the dissonance is affecting. Butler turns his subject’s emotion into figurative color and brooding erasure, or else his own feelings projected thusly. In either case, the unexpected mussing of the face yields fertile thought-ground, and begs of us to try something similar with our words.
Prizes/Awards/Stipends Summer ‘22
(NF Full Length Book Prize, Poetry Publication Prize, & The Residency)
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