In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”
[…] The bicentennial
crocheted the nation with the masts of tall ships and twelve-foot
Uncle Sams but at year’s end my innocence dislodged
like a powdered wig as I witnessed the first installment
of Roots. […]
Source: “Philadelphia, Negro,” in Gregory Pardlo’s Digest.
“’Divided by politics, Israelis and Palestinians are united by a love for the same land with its rich indivisible history, and now even shared saints,’ the Pope could have declared, addressing Abbas and Rivlin in Rome, in a speech broadest simultaneously on Israeli and Palestinian television. He could have gone on to challenge members of both nations to consider what else unites them, and to suggest that shared saints is just one manifestation of how the Church could be a constructive bridge to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Pope could have deployed his moral authority in recent days to bring Palestinians and Israelis together, and send out a very real call for conciliation between them. Instead, he lent out this moral authority, and even the solemn rite of canonization, for diplomatic point-scoring.”
Source: Nathan Jeffay, “Pope No Saint On Palestinian Saints? Missed opportunity to stress unity on both sides of the Green Line.” (The Jewish Week)
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend. (more…)
Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.
Shabbat shalom, and have a joyous Shavuot.
New Essay Online
New publication alert: Last Friday my essay titled “Five Ways for Writers to Avoid Oversharing” went live on The Missouri Review‘s blog. I’m grateful to TMR for giving the piece a home, and grateful that the responses I’ve received so far on Twitter and Facebook have been so encouraging.
As you’ll note if you read the piece, I was prompted to write the essay when another writer directed a casual comment my way on Twitter. The essay thus illustrates another instance in which a remark I couldn’t have anticipated or predicted has produced an entirely new piece of writing. (Another example: My online-poetry-course-instructor’s comment via email alluding to how promptly—”nay, early!”–I tended to submit my assignments produced this poem, which, as of now, has been published three times.) So, please, talk/write to me! 😉 (more…)