Kelly Perry

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

LAST tweet for #ENGL3220 - THANK YOU to @_JoyCastro for a rich semester of fruitful discussion & examining the “connective tissue” of narrative. An uplifting reminder to use our writing as a vessel for sociopolitical intervention, advocacy. It has been a joy to be your student.

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Smith's "Flores Woman" - a reminder of life’s music reverberating thru our nature, if only we take a second to observe, pause. This ephemeral life commands us to use our voice to advocate for our human family & our planet. #ENGL3220 #EarthDay @PoetryFound https://t.co/9qOQzRAwIv

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

In "Dispatch from Flyover Country," @megogieblyn exhibits ephemerality of the Midwest thru diction - "slippery," "gateway funneling travelers." Passage of time & change captured thru a “rash of artisanal shops” & “hinterland becoming conscious.” #ENGL3220
https://t.co/f9p7JF0bCg

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

A fav poet @kaysarahsera shares a poem by @NifMuhammad about rejections from a publisher - a topic that #ENGL3220 discussed recently. Rejection - the “writer’s version of acquiring scrapes and bruises.” Not a reflection of WHO the writer is. @parisreview https://t.co/RG6N9VHXDQ

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Still in awe of @GhoshAmitav’s talk yesterday - weaved personal reflection into the history of the Indian Ocean. A call to approach climate change w/ urgency & hope. Much like writing personal (political) essays - the art of writing that wrestles w/ nature/the world. #ENGL3220

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

In “10 Best American Essays,” @lsjamison declares the personal essay as political. @salesses' urgent, painful piece does exactly that - he viscerally details the racially-marked flaws of US healthcare & his wife’s “too sick, too Asian” body. #ENGL3220
https://t.co/EAybDV7VGO

[sam sax @samsax1]

The first time I heard this poem by @gumbo_amando I was laid flat out.

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Thank you @Karen_Palmer for a stirring portrayal of books as companions - healers willing us to be the protagonist in our own story. A raw gesture to the spine & heartbeat of books, their steadiness - whispering to us to love & have courage. #ENGL3220 @VQR https://t.co/IUrLeK93wV

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Body-centered details in “Turn, Bend, & Spread” evoke visceral feelings in the reader. Reveals the unseen aftermath of family visits & prison ordinances threatening to strip away dignity. Thank you, Michael Fischer for your bravery. #ENGL3220 @brevitymag https://t.co/UuntkmDYYh

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

This semester, I have felt more emboldened than ever to experiment w/ psychic permission, not for myself, but for the reader, to explore my work w/out holding their hand. As our professor @_JoyCastro advises, “Trust that the reader is even smarter than you are.” #ENGL3220

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Brenda Miller’s “The Shape of Emptiness” weaves delicacy into the heart of creative nonfiction - her students as teachers to one another, quilt, soap, washing essays, play-dough - love & loss depicted thru creation from white space.
#ENGL3220 @brevitymag https://t.co/ejaKHbE78h

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

In “Swamp Boy,” @rickbass27 begins w/ “There was a kid…” & ends w/ “I was that boy.” Psychic distance decreases as Bass brings the reader face-to-face w/ Swamp Boy thru use of “I" - a searing moment, then zooms out again, describing rain falling & swamp life. #ENGL3220

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

“How do you want the movie of your essay to open?” @_JoyCastro prompts our workshop. Psychic distance. I wish to unveil my next piece w/ measured balance - inviting readers to understand from outside in. #ENGL3220 @parisreview Gardner, "The Art of Fiction" https://t.co/PNDWILpwz9

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

"Up the Mountain Slowly, Very Slowly" - Bissell nuances his experience climbing Kilimanjaro w/ a keen eye toward race, class, gender, & his own body - his “brain mining...zircons of nonsense"...body doing "violence" to the mountain. #ENGL3220 @nytimes https://t.co/V39AsvSduU

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

In “The Book of the Dead,” Catherine Moore captures the power of naming what was lost to the families of Hawk's Nest, of coal mines. Poetry (Rukeyser’s poems) “fills the gaps” & paves ground for healing - for all.
@oxfordamerican @PoetryFound #ENGL3220
https://t.co/r8X3B1bbKQ

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

Language informs our thoughts, shapes our worldview & identity. I constantly think about my Thai & American identity & how it translates to my writing - am reminded this morning of a Gloria Anzaldúa poem - a mélange of culture, love, navigating the space in-between. #ENGL3220

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

I'm exploring ways to write INTO conflict as @_JoyCastro advised. In “Sparrow Needy," McClane depicts conflict via BODY: “his spine...infected w/ a deadly virus,” “body in its oscillations was his language,” “body...yawing between anticipation & dread." #ENGL3220 @kenyonreview

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

I wish to be a public health servant & share stories that empower others. @kwamedawes does exactly that as he begins his essay w/ "There are two Jamaicas," depicting the nuances & truth behind Jamaicans living with HIV/AIDS.

@VQR #ENGL3220
https://t.co/h8GCDn5n7E

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

In #ENGL3220, Professor @_JoyCastro prompts students to deeply explore the story behind our names.

"Kelly" - a vessel containing multiple identities/cultures/meanings & more - what else will I uncover as I delve deeper into my name, a primer to who I am?
https://t.co/K484vkLINP

[Kelly Perry @kellyellenperry]

I wrote my 1st piece for #ENGL3220, “Alive in the Land of Smiles,” on people living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand & their empowering stories of hope. Reminded me of @lsjamison’s words - the essay as made of “proximate lives & bodies.” Love, pain, #community - what makes us human.