Ephemera Newsletter Iss Nov.2
(Creativity and Motivation Weekly)
“Forget we now our state and lofty birth;
Not titles here, but works, must prove our worth.
To labour is the lot of man below;
And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe.”
—Homer, Iliad.
Welcome to the Ephemera Newsletter, Uo! (Samoan for “friends”).
Dear Readers,
Please see our section below highlighting the work of the Institute for Regenerative Design and Innovation. We thank you for lending a few moments.
Connecting our awareness to the practical work of uplifting society, of ensuring those in our communities have the basics, is important for creatives. We shouldn’t entirely cede the territory of civic interaction to designees. Let’s contribute to our collective wellness—with participation here or local to each and every one of you!
___________________________________
Housekeeping: this letter may get cut off by email providers. Please make sure to click through for the full experience and or white-list us.
As a note, this week’s letter is mostly free per our sponsor.
As an enticement, remember, yearly subscribers will be able to submit to our Write-In Residency for free 2x per year.
Merci. Danke. Kiitos. 고마워 Go-ma-wo, Xiè xiè.
Ephemera
Art with stand-out voice, with a perspective that feels novel and does the work to connect the viewer or reader to the core of the piece becomes memorable, known. Part of our inspiration to connect artists and musicians with writers more regularly is to help expose their processes, techniques, and thinking that we often don’t endeavor to apply to our practices as writers—maybe we’re shy, maybe we’re too humble to believe we deserve the artist moniker, maybe writing requires the consideration and input of the reader and critic so we are at the mercy of a process outside of ourselves. Our work, however, will improve and grow (says we!) by this type of deliberation. Per last week’s opening, reading widely, reading deeply will aid us, reading cross-genre (prose if you’re a poet, poetry if you’re a prose writer) too. Keep this practice going. Keep investigating the art you see around you and transfer that deliberation to your own work, the process of analysis and the techniques! Read to see and then write with the idea of homage in mind. Differentiating styles will yield the ability to see ones own voice distilled. That’s an awfully important part of our growth akin to the process of socialization, and then of individuation as a social actor in a cultural milieu locally and then again societally and maybe, now, again globally (much pressure throngs upon the heads and necks of people). Writers & poets self-impose another layer of this force. Tip: reading ephemera has been known to strengthen posture.
The intoxicating scent of mulching leaves and temperatures dipping (oh yes, pressure, air, and energy interact with olfaction)…. We offer three avenues to enhance your practice: 3 zines, 3 opportunities, 3 jobs. A plating of artist Marie-Claude Marquis. A live recording of Kimbra and an a cappella cover. An article on the science of sleep and creativity (Dalí used it, Edison too). Enjoy the process and the forces beating down. Creativity is a type of game. We get to play many iterations. By Jove, we’ll grow.
Crucibles and kilns, force multipliers knowingly engaged, aid in the transformative process. Reading does the above. The craft of note-taking, too. Evaluations of other writers and poets, artists, their craft and voices. Compare. Note what you observe, using all of your perceptive faculties. We are nothing without strong relationships with self, with the self via the other, with the self having incorporated other and synthesized a new space. The plight of creativity is that process. Back to the kiln for another glaze! Into the pot, more spice! By Jupiter, by the old and new G…come to think of it, we call upon outward forces as a trigger of psychological mechanisms. We must channel into the future or the ether to learn and garner from those frontiers an inkling of how we might improve, create uniquely in the now. Or maybe there’s a quiet, subatomic, quantum interaction yet to be discovered with actual pathways of learning from the galactic medium….(New age!) However you conceive of being creative, of growing writing skill, voiciness, a strong individuation of writing flare and aptitude is our endpoint. Read and see, create and destroy, grow and refine; be that life. Yield to yield.
“And now the work is done, that Jove’s anger, fire or sword
cannot erase, nor the gnawing tooth of time.”
―Ovid, Metamorphoses.
Call upon us by subscription or soft prayer of appreciation!
Fa’afetai!
(Gratitude)
~We’re so happy you’re here!~
Featured Music: Kimbra
New Zealander Kimbra has a lush, brassy, easily-a-cappella’ed voice with enviable range, bass to alto (to falsetto?) and back, who spits notes like a virtuoso in consistently lovely pitch. Her albums aim to feel like pop, something contemporary, familiar, and, frankly, salable, but they’re chock full of R&B, Blues, synth-pop, avant garde, semi-complex ideas on relationships and, in her first eponymous album, concepts such as vows. We find her to be refreshing and comforting at once, gobs of vocal intrigue infusing each song; her voice starring and side-showing, stayed and true as any well-known diva or up, down and jaunty as perhaps more poppy, acrobatic vocalists. Her influences are familiar, fantastic, and myriad, folks such as Buckley, Nina Simone, and Bjork after whose individualism she seemingly tends.
Our song of choice “Cameo Lover”—with a candy-colored, intoxicating, and fairly novel for when it was released music video (not pictured as we opted for a live recording)—features a contemporary synth arrangement with jazzy upbeat tempos and turns, a quirky lyrical vibe, and fully illustrates her voiciness. We’re on about that voiciness, which is identifiable and unique if also, musically speaking, eccentric to a fault for pop-stardom; something critics lamented but to which we keep returning. Creative, contemporary music artists delivering interesting pop are all the rage, but we think Kimbra distinguishes herself, stands as tall as or taller than the field. And chanciness with voice, distinctness, will ultimately yield applause, we reckon, longevity and a following. Let’s consider how we might link up with current trends publishing while yet delivering a healthy dose of our unique style. Kimbra-fy our lines.
Connecting…. We encourage finding cutting-edge contemporaries and homaging them. Knowing the voices of now should aid in developing ourselves for later—we need to know where to aim. Apropos, we seek out covers and to be covered by contemporaries (and “the” youth) is a good sign. Check out The Harvard Opportunes cover of “Cameo Lover.”
Writers Submit: Three Magazines
Founded by Queen’s College MFA, this all genre magazine has published sporadically since 2018, but has featured some well known writers, alongside new writers. They like artfully crossed boundaries. Translations, too. Just Opened. Closes December 15.
A yearly journal that publishes in all genres, including dance & art. Founded in 2015, Apricity looks to fill voids in publishing by creating cross-disciplinary space. They write, “Incredible work deserves to be seen.” Just Opened. Closes January 1.
A long standing online magazine, they have a number of programs, readings, & other events each year & publish all genres. They look for obscure, & established writers, w/ a focus on cultural paradigms. Just Opened. Closes January 1.
Nonprofit Sponsor: IRDI
With 2 weeks left in their campaign, we hope you’ll take a moment to review the ideas of the IRDI and their innovative approach to tackling development, food insecurity, unequal health outcomes, and education. Everything is tied in together. Now that the election is over, let’s focus on good organizations outside of government who are working to strengthen communities, as they say, from the soil up!
HEALING OUR NATION FROM THE SOIL-UP
Launched on Sept. 21st as a part of a National Day of Dialogue, communities from across North Carolina have begun a #NCSOLUTIONSTOUR to spark a “National Resiliency Movement.”
Winston Salem, the City of Arts & Innovation is unveiling a systemic Health & Wellness model that holds the potential to #HEALOURNATION from the soil-up. We welcome you to come and be a part of co-creating solutions to some of our world's most perplexing problems including Climate Change, Mass Incarceration and Childhood Hunger.
Please CLICK HERE to support our efforts and become a part of the growing movement!
Please review their video campaign and thank you again for your attention!
Weekly Artist: Marie-Claude Marquis
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Ephemera to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.