weekend links: poetry for mourning, Carl Sagan's Skate Shoes, Tinder for art
Danez Smith. Image courtesy of Buzzfeed/danezsmithpoet.com
We give Buzzfeed flak sometimes, but their lit game is pretty solid, and this list of 17 poems to read in light of this week’s tragedies is spot on. Every one of these poets is amazing, from Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni to Safia Elhillo and Danez Smith. Read these poems, and then read more from these poets—read all that you can. It doesn’t take away the pain, but it’s something. [Buzzfeed]
We also recommend revisiting this poem by Maggie Smith. [Tupelo Press]
And this essay by Roxane Gay. [The New York Times]
Congratulations to this year’s Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship finalists. We are excited to see a lot of poets we love on this list, including Austin’s own sam sax. [Poetry Foundation]
We’ve been enjoying the new Car Seat Headrest album, which was released today via Matador. Catch this interview with the shambolic rocker and then give it a listen—we promise it’s better than the name implies. [Noisey]
We are also digging the new single from local favorites Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes. We’re looking forward to the post-hardcore trio’s debut, which drops via Super Secret Records in August. [Noisey]
A Victorian questionnaire, one strikingly similar to our modern Buzzfeed quizzes, shows the inner thoughts and quintessentially Proust-ian attitude the famous author had back in 1886—when Marcel Proust was just a young teen. [The New Yorker]
Tinder revolutionized the love game, bringing a simplistic way to judge someone without ever meeting them. The same has now been done for art. With Wydr, you can swipe left or right through hundreds of original pieces of art that are on sale, making the journey to actually owning a piece of art strangely romantic. [Hyperallergic]
Finally, we leave you on a note of levity after a week of so much pain: was Beavis the “wokest bae”? Read this detailed defense of our favorite tow-headed headbanger and decide for yourself. [MEL]
—Samuel Hersh and Sean Redmond