Literary Clusterfucks 2013

not sure if this will spill out of social media, but the Philadelphia literary world is in turmoil after a prominent poet/activist (and former Philadelphia Poet Laureate) revealed that as a teenager he was part of a Nazi Hardcore band.

Maybe he should have stayed a Nazi, that way we wouldn't have to deal with the problem of changing identities.

Here's their album btw. lol at 4 stars on RYM.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/new_glory/backlash/

if you can't trust goatlipss and Turkey_Beard who can you trust?

Normally, I find that white power bands suck mightily. Somehow, New Glory escapes this generalization. Backlash is a surprisingly melodic Oi! record from this nationalist U.S. band of skins. The lyrics never seem to go down the path of name calling and hate. Rather, you'll hear a lot of praise for the white power skinhead movement and patriotism.

Hmmm…

I must admit I have even less patience for punk fash than I do for metal fash because with the latter there's always the excuse of exploring the darkest, least avowable recesses of humanity, whereas the former just brings to mind the banal idiocy of evil. I'm not saying this is a convincing argument at all, but…

Anyway, lol @ no 'name calling hate'; just 'a lot of praise for the white power skinhead movement'.

I think 31 years is probably long enough for an uncancellation

what if pozpunk but oi!

I think 31 years is probably long enough for an uncancellation

― imago

i think i have no idea what this situation is and that it's not up to me

Did he add a 'k' to his name and hope no-one would find out?

not sure if this will spill out of social media

Oh I have the idea it probably will...

So many of the comments I've seen on this are critical of "profiting off of white supremacy" as if the number of copies this record sold is really the issue.

guitarist from this band appears to have gone on to play with Starkweather who are pretty respected in 90s hardcore/metal circles. never heard anyone mention fash connections although whether that's attributable to disinterest, forgiveness or successful track-covering I have no idea

if he's now a sincere activist for progressive causes then it is to be celebrated. throw a banquet for the prodigal son imo.

Yes, but what if nazism is in his blood?

I assume someone has checked the shape of his head by now.

if he's now a sincere activist for progressive causes then it is to be celebrated. throw a banquet for the prodigal son imo.

― imago

he's not my son, he's someone who's apparently important in the philadelphia literary world? and all i know is that and the he used to be in a white nationalist oi band that twelve people on rym really like.

i'm sick of the outrage train, i'm sick of people needing to have opinions on controversial stuff that they never heard of before and that doesn't affect them in any meaningful way, and the best i can do is try not to contribute to the problem myself

^

it *is* exhausting

So it did spill out of FB:

https://www.philly.com/news/nationalist-punk-skinhead-cancel-race-poetry-20190501.html

pace rushomancy i very much like to have opinions on things that don't affect me in any meaningful way so i will say while i am v much against cancellation culture i would find it very hard to get past someone's nazi past

it's truly very little to ask of someone to never have been a Nazi, almost everyone manages it no matter the circumstances they grew up in

Defenders have said Sherlock’s redemption, his work with young poets over the last two decades, is being unfairly canceled.

Others say Sherlock’s redemption story reeks of privilege.

“As a white person, you get to say it’s a youthful indiscretion,” Rasheedah Phillips, a lawyer, artist, and “AfroFuturist,” told The Inquirer. “As a black person, the consequence for youthful indiscretion is lifelong poverty and jail.”

True enough, but two wrongs don't make a right?

yeah i pretty much hate that sentiment.

the logical conclusion is that tweet about not caring about the baby getting eaten by the crocodile because of white male entitlement

I guess it's tempting to think of justice as a zero-sum game. Tempting and extremely dangerous.

pom otm

Another poetry shitstorm abrewin'

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You can read testimonials on Barrett Watten’s abusive behavior here: <a href="https://t.co/oNbpd2z0JI";>https://t.co/oNbpd2z0JI<;/a> Every retweet, especially a tweet quote with the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpokenOutLoud?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpokenOutLoud</a> helps. We cannot tolerate any instances of grooming, bullying, harassing, or continual abuses of power in academia <a href="https://t.co/gYeiS3tXZh";>https://t.co/gYeiS3tXZh<;/a></p>— Believe Grad Students (@problems_phd) <a href="

You can read testimonials on Barrett Watten’s abusive behavior here: https://t.co/oNbpd2z0JI Every retweet, especially a tweet quote with the hashtag #SpokenOutLoud helps. We cannot tolerate any instances of grooming, bullying, harassing, or continual abuses of power in academia https://t.co/gYeiS3tXZh

— Believe Grad Students (@problems_phd) April 28, 2019

(CW: Suicide) It is important to say, that verbal abuse is not immaterial, it has real, violent consequences. The account below noted how Barrett Watten bragged about all his enemies being dead, after the suicide of his colleague Kathryne Lindberg, who he verbally attacked. pic.twitter.com/RUfJPAylf3

— Cassandra Troyan (@cass_of_troy_) April 29, 2019

What are your thoughts on this situation president keyes?

Heh, in light of those allegations, this is quite rich:

https://jacket2.org/commentary/entry-9

I mean, it doesn’t make him hypocritical. He is against call out culture. Now he is being called out. Based on my careful skimming of 11 or 12 words of that article.

Someone with a serious anger problem shouldn’t be around students. And if these kinds of social media campaigns are the way to get someone fired, they’re needed. But something about it makes me a little uncomfortable—like for instance the implication that he was to blame for a colleague’s suicide, maybe that’s true, but it’s such a serious charge to make via tweet.

I agree. The richness comes from his bragging about having outlived his literary enemies, one of whom committed suicide, behaviour that strikes me as psychopathically obsessed with proper names and their weight on the scene of poetic 'fame'.

yeah but like, i have no idea what the context of that comment was. he is 70 years old. he might not have been thinking of her when he said that.

he could have easily said that, though--i'm not necessarily extending him the benefit of the doubt. he seems like a fucked up person. but the sanctimony of all of this just doesn't sit well with me.

i guess if the university took the complaints more seriously, they could get an official hearing and not this kind of public show.

Maybe I'm misreading this but

Watten had taken to bragging that, after Lindberg's suicide, all his major adversaries in the department had either left or were dead

implies a) recurrent behaviour and b) that he was indeed thinking of Lindberg when he (repeatedly) said that. Of course, these are mere allegations at this stage.

I don't really have many thoughts, just came across this this morning. I saw Watten read a long time ago, and I know he was one of the 4 or 5 important LANGUAGE poets but he really didn't seem poetically at the level of others. I see he had a debate on social media with Nathaniel Mackey (whose work I love) about Robert Duncan and "mythical" poetry vs. "materialist" writing.

I don't recall him making much of an impression when I first started delving into LANGUAGE but I haven't explored his poetry enough to say. He's had decades to hone his craft since the movement's heyday in the 70s/80s.

Call-in culture > Call-out culture, but in this specific case Watten seems to have retaliated against anyone who has tried to do anything about him, and this specific case is about complaints he has brought against two other students. It seems mostly to be a big systemic failure, and I don't know how you deal with that without raising a stink. There need to be some sort of trust before call-ins can work.

i agree

Not exactly pertinent to the controversy with the students but this is a fascinating read, if extremely long:

https://www.dispatchespoetrywars.com/commentary/an-encounter-between-nathaniel-mackey-and-barrett-watten/

https://slate.com/culture/2019/05/blood-heir-amelie-wen-zhao-controversy-publication.html

god ya is such a dumpster fire of all the worst people

Never understood adults who exclusively read YA books, but if it keeps them from fucking around with the stuff I read I guess it serves its purpose.

This guy deserves to be dragged hard imo: https://www.scifiandscary.com/this-is-not-a-review-of-hells-shadows/

(The review included isn't well written, but I assume that's because they're amateur reviewers, which makes his screed even more pointless and shitty... and he wasn't even responding to the review itself, but just any hypothetical bad review.)

omg that is amazing. Too many favourite quotes to list but:

"Another reviewer stated she liked the story 'a lot' better than J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books"

More a 'kinda lol but mostly sad' story imo.

To the best of my knowledge, The Amulet's platform is absolutely unique. No one has ever read a faith-based tale like this one. Indeed, the prologue alone will make you think you're reading an Indiana Jones novel. Please note this: part one is the supremely eerie launch of the story. Will glue your fingers to the pages. Part two, nothing like part one, is the most intellectual part, the most provocative, that may cause a great many people to pause and consider what they've just read for certain passages are no less than startling. Part three is the mountainous dessert of the novel. Fasten your seat belt. The action never ends.

Given the intensely stirring premise that underpins this novel (as revealed by the conclusion of part one), you'll find out why the Hollywood executive wanted to speak with me if you choose to read the book. I will tell you that many of the story's scenes, beginning with the prologue, will almost jump off the page, their movie character so clearly obvious. And as you go, they only increase in scale and grandeur. Please enjoy The Amulet with my very best wishes.

the "mountainous dessert" is a technical term first used by northrop frye iirc

i myself am underpinned by an intensely stirring premise