Month: February 2014

“Real Gypsy Looks” photo shoot in Quail Bell Magazine!

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I got to do a photo shoot for Quail Bell Magazine! http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/3/post/2014/02/fashion-romanipen.html

It’s the accompanying piece to my essay, “Gypsy Soul: Romani Fashion and the Politics of Dressing Gypsy.” http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/3/post/2013/12/folkways-gypsy-soul.html

And it was so ridiculously fun. My husband, Len Reidy, took all the photos and I got to prance around in Orlando and put together outfits from thrift finds, family heirlooms, and Modcloth to create more genuine Romani ensembles. The link has all of the photos put I thought I’d post one here for some color too.

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First appeared in Quail Bell Magazine.

My friend, fantastic fiction writer Richard Garn, says I look like Bonnie Parker in that photo and that absolutely tickled me. He says all I need is a cigar and a gun. Word.

Thanks Quail Bell for being so great to me!

The VIDA Count is out! Some highlights

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First, the count itself with an incredible intro by Amy King: http://www.vidaweb.org/the-count-2013/

Then, some extraordinary pieces about race and *Trans issues and what the count is missing by Stephen Burt and Alyss Dixson: 

http://www.vidaweb.org/thirty-one-questions-and-twelve-apologies-by-way-of-a-thank-you-note-for-the-2014-vida-count-by-stephen-burt/

http://www.vidaweb.org/this-is-not-about-your-understanding-by-alyss-dixson/

Then a great piece on VIDA and the PEN Prison Writing initiative from Idra Novey: 

http://www.vidaweb.org/update-from-idra-novey/

A fascinating article from Diane Mehta on what makes a canon:

http://www.vidaweb.org/what-is-a-classic/

And some fantastic press from Soraya Chemaly from The Guardian, Julie Bossman from The New York Times, Amanda Hess from Slate, and others as well as NPR, Huff Po, etc, etc!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/24/vida-count-men-outnumber-women-literary-journals

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/02/24/_vida_count_2013_why_is_it_so_hard_for_literary_magazines_to_publish_women.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/vida-2012-count-finds-dep_n_2805928.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

http://jezebel.com/editor-of-prestigious-almost-all-male-review-says-were-1193363088

For more, become a member and join the discussion on our newly launched forums. Your support is what keeps us going and we deeply appreciate it. http://www.vidaweb.org/donate-now/

Follow VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts on Twitter and Facebook too! 

https://www.facebook.com/VIDAlit

Don’t forget to #VIDACount

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Share your #VIDACount memes and photos with VIDA on Twitter and Facebook and join the campaign!

“Once The Signing Starts”–my new bizarre space poem in Quail Bell Magazine

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I wrote a weird poem about outer space and space-madness and Quail Bell Magazine gave it a home. Thanks, Quail Bell! And thanks for making women writers count, #VIDACount! Btw, the VIDA Count is coming out soon! http://www.vidaweb.org/

You can read it here if you fancy: http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/2/post/2014/02/poem-once-the-singing-starts.html

I #VIDACount!

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Hey all you supporters of women in the literary arts, here’s a project. Make yourself a homemade “I Count” sign, get someone to take a picture of you holding it up (or take it yourself like I did and NEVER NEED ANYONE) and post it to your blog, your Facebook page, my Facebook page, VIDA’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/VIDAlit, your Twitter account, VIDA’s Twitter account @vida_lit…. We want to let everyone know the Vida Count is coming soon. Don’t forget to put#VIDACount on it!

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Check out http://www.vidaweb.org/ for more information.  

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Science Magazine: Black Death Left a Mark on Human Genome

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Thanks to my best chickadee Sarah Sullivan for sending this to me. She’s studying to be a nurse, like a boss. Usually I post cultural or activist pieces about Roma but this is pure genetics and Black Plague and it’s fascinating!

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Science Magazine: Black Death Left a Mark on Human Genome

A fascinating article about the Black Plague and its effect on European & Romani genetics 

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