Hearing Dana VanderLugt

Last night, I attended an event featuring author/educator Dana VanderLugt and poet/retired professor Jack Ridl at Hope College.  The two engaged in an on-stage conversation about VanderLugt's new book, Enemies in the Orchard.

Bookin' It in 2023

The year 2023 was the most difficult year of my life, for a number of reasons.  I found it nearly impossible to focus on reading for pleasure, but I was able to finish the following four books.

1. The Apology by Eve Ensler
   
2. The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel  
3. Look Again: A Memoir by Elizabeth A. Trembley
4. Practicing to Walk Like a Heron: Poems by Jack Ridl 

Bookin' It in 2022

I finished 20 books in 2022.  The titles in bold were particularly influential, inspiring or intriguing.

1. Cack-Handed: A Memoir by Gina Yashere 
2. Can Black People Grow Hair? by Andrea Krystal 
3.  Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman
4. Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color by Gilbert Baker
5. Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
6. High School by Sara Quin & Tegan Quin
7. Femme in Public by ALOK
8. Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Extremism by Megan Phelps-Roper
9. Unprotected: A Memoir by Billy Porter
10. Your Wound / My Garden by ALOK
11. If You Give a Pig the White House by Faye Kanouse
12. Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity Edited by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane
13. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 40x40: Bad Reputation / I Love Rock-n-Roll
14. Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson
15. Bearing My Seoul by Taryn Blake
16. The Little Book of Pride: Love Is Love by Joanna Gray
17. Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family by Amanda Jetté Knox
18. Enter the Blue by Dave Chisholm
19. Wolfpack: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game by Abby Wambach
20. Saint Peter and the Goldfinch: Poems by Jack Ridl

Hearing Joy Harjo

On Oct. 25, I was pleased to watch Hope College professor emeritus and poet Jack Ridl host a conversation with the 23rd poet laureate of the United States, Joy Harjo, as a part of this year's NEA Big Read Lakeshore lineup.  I am currently reading the related book selection, Harjo's An American Sunrise: Poems.

Jazz, Jokes and Jack

Last night, I was thrilled to attend the book release party for my poetry professor Jack Ridl's brand new book, Saint Peter and the Goldfinch, at the Douglas United Church of Christ.  It was an evening of jazz, jokes, and, of course, poetic journeys with Jack.