Showing posts with label Alexandria Petrassi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexandria Petrassi. Show all posts

WHAT IS RRR? Reading Resolution Round-Up.

WHAT IS RRR? It's a challenge to myself and to you. In 2017 and beyond, let's read more inclusively. Let's be better allies. 

BUT WHAT IS RRR? Each month I'll will be actively seeking out poets whose voices have been historically marginalized (EX: PoC, LGBTQIAP+, women, immigrants, Muslims, refugees, ETC.) and I will share a round-up of what I've been reading. Expect relatively little commentary from me. This series is about their voices, not mine. Read more about this project in January's Letter from the Editor.

 WHAT DID YOU READ LAST MONTH? Here's what I read in January.

 What a whirlwind month! I had the fortunate opportunity to follow up on January's RRR post by being able to hear Danez Smith and Oliver Baez Bendorf read at AWP events. (BOTH SO SO INCREDIBLE.) I also bought Samiya Bashir's book Field Studies from the NightBoat Books AWP booth....from Kazim Ali! (Who is incredibly nice, by the way.) I also had the opportunity to learn more about Sibling Rivalry Press (which published Christopher Soto, featured last month) and their current collections. Although I didn't get to hear Ocean Vuong read at AWP (sobs), I do have the comfort of knowing I was in the same gigantic conference center as him for three days. So there's that. 

****

FEBRUARY: Aracelis Girmay, Tim Seibles, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Sarah Kay, Nicole Homer, Claudia Rankine, Brenda Shaughnessy, T Fleischmann, Vievee Francis, and Jamaal May.

1. Aracelis Girmay
via BOA Editions

 I was able to hear Aracelis Girmay read the the Split this Rock/BOA Editions sponsored reading at AWP and I cannot even begin to describe the experience. It was intense, complex, painful, and so, so beautiful. I immediately bought two of her books: The Black Maria and Kingdom Animalia. I cannot recommend Girmay enough. Start with this excerpt from "The Black Maria" from Poetry.

The fight, first, to open, then to breathe,
& then to close. Each of us entering the world

& entering the world like this.
Soft. Unlikely.      Then — 

the idiosyncratic minds & verbs.
                 Beloveds, making your ways

to & away from us, always, across the centuries

**

2. Tim Seibles
via Etruscan Press

 I heard Tim Seibles read the Split this Rock/BOA Editions AWP reading as well. (This reading as fire, by the way. Danez Smith also read.) His work cuts to the heart of racial tension, violence, and inequality in America. He also has a wonderful reading voice that molds itself around the shifting tones in his work. Start with his poem "Mosaic" available from Poetry.
In America skin was
where you belonged,     a who

you were     with, a reason

someone might: how — at the

parties     of hands unknown — 

astonishing deaths
could meet you.

 **

3. Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
via Button Poetry

I heard Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP and....guys, I can't even describe how good it was. His book, The Crown Ain't Worth Much is out through Button Poetry, and I suggest you check it out. There's a lot of Youtube footage floating around of his performances, too. Here is a list of his published work available online. Check it out. 

 **

4. Sarah Kay
via Write Bloody

 I also heard Sarah Kay perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. I think I almost cried in the third row at one point because it was so overwhelmingly good. Start with the one that went crazy viral: If I Should Have a Daughter. (I linked to the text, but her performance is not to be missed and can be easily found on YouTube.) And then watch all her videos here.

 **

5. Nicole Homer

via Write Bloody

Nicole Homer is a poet I ALSO say perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. Spoiler alert: she is also an incredible poet, and her performance left me in awe. Here is video to her poem "Motherhood". And here is a link to all her published work available online. 

 **

6. Claudia Rankine
via Graywolf Press

I mean, do I even need to sell you on Rankine's Citizen? It is so necessary that if you haven't read it, you need to go read it ASAP. It is a masterpiece. 

because white men can't
police their imagination
black men are dying

**

7. Brenda Shaughnessy
via Copper Canyon Press
I have been a fangirl of Brenda Shaughnessy since my freshman year in college and I have never, ever looked back. I got to be in the same room as her at AWP and it was beautiful. You should read all her work, but you can start with her poem "I'm Over the Moon" (warning: intense lfeatured on the Poetry Foundation. 

 **
via Sarabande Books
I read T Fleischmann's book Syzygy, Beauty, after picking it up from the Sarabande Books booth at AWP. It's a nonfiction essay in (what I view as) prose poem units and it's incredible. I'm including the book synopsis from Sarabande Books' website below because they say it best: 
"The word “syzygy” refers at once to the alignment of celestial bodies in astronomy, repeating relationships in mathematics, and male/female pairings in Gnosticism. T Fleischmann’s Syzygy, Beauty, then, is an essay ordered by complimentary needs: art criticism, the narrator's construction of a house, and the direct address of a lover. Playing with scale and repetition, the speaker keeps us off-center, and therefore always looking, as we are lead through an intimate relationship that is complicated and deepened by multiple partners, gender transitions, and itinerancy. In language both plainspoken and startling, Fleischmann attempts a reconciliation between the sadness and beauty that come with a love that must always be, in some ways, distant."
**

9. Vievee Francis

via Northwestern University Press
I hadn't heard of Vievee Francis until I encountered her on a panel at AWP, but boy am I so, so glad I did. She rescued a panel about sentimentality in women's writing from the clutches of white feminism and overall said some incredibly powerful things about femininity and what it means to be a black woman. Check out an interview with her on Muzzle, and then read one of her poems published on Rattle. 

 **

10. Jamaal May
via Alice James Books

I picked up Jamaal May's book The Big Book of Exit Strategies from the Alice James Books booth at AWP during their stellar Saturday sale, and I was not disappointed. Check out his poem "There Are Birds Here" published in Poetry for starters. 

****

WHAT'S NEXT? Share this post. Then share it again next week. Use your platform to make sure these voices are heard. Listen more and talk less. Support the featured poets -- buy their books, go to their readings, shake their hands, and thank them. Resist the urge to make their work about you. Reflect and listen some more. And of course, never stop reading better. 

WHAT IS RRR? Reading Resolution Round-Up.

WHAT IS RRR? It's a challenge to myself and to you. In 2017 and beyond, let's read more inclusively. Let's be better allies. 

BUT WHAT IS RRR? Each month I'll will be actively seeking out poets whose voices have been historically marginalized (EX: PoC, LGBTQIAP+, women, immigrants, Muslims, refugees, ETC.) and I will share a round-up of what I've been reading. Expect relatively little commentary from me. This series is about their voices, not mine. Read more about this project in January's Letter from the Editor.

****

JANUARY: Christopher Soto, Ocean Vuong, Warsan Shire, Danez Smith, Sandra Lim, Kristiana Rae ColΓ³n, Samiya Bashir, Natalie Diaz, Oliver Baez Bendorf, and Monica Youn.



1. Christopher Soto 
via Sibling Rivalry Press
Christopher Soto's chapbook, sad girl poems (Jan. 2016, Sibling Rivalry Press), was sent to me from a stranger through "Secret Stanza". The introduction (as well as the poems of course) is so necessary. 

Start here: [Somewhere in Los Angeles] This Poem Is Needed, via The American Poetry Review. Here's an excerpt from the poem: 

Mothers are getting // handcuffed & harassed. Homes are being
            Crushed [like cigarette butts]. Everyone I know

Hates the racist police & wants a revolution. // But we seldom
            Aim the gun... Have you heard // how the bullets

Sing their anthem // throughout the body?? // It sounds like
            God shutting the door— Bang. Bang.



2. Ocean Vuong

via Copper Canyon Press
Like pretty much everyone in the poetry community, I read Vuong's Night Sky With Exit Wounds (Apr. 2016, Copper Canyon Press) and died a million tiny deaths because it was so, so, SO good. You need to read it. If you can't afford the collection, start with Aubade with Burning City, via The Poetry Foundation. I honestly can't choose which part of the poem to quote as a teaser because I love every syllable of it. You'll just have to take my word for it and read the poem. The Poetry Foundation also has a recording of Vuong reading the poem available. He has additional poems published online that are accessible. Find them on his website. 






3. Warsan Shire

via Amazon
Warsan Shire has long been one of my favorite poets since I discovered her work in college. I even had the incredible opportunity to take an online class about poetry and trauma through The Poetry School. Her collection Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth (Dec. 2011, flipped eye publishing limited) is incredibly powerful and I highly recommend. I thought I'd share her poem The House, via The Poetry Foundation, which I recently found and have already read ten times over. Here's how it starts: 
i 
Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women; kitchen of lust,
bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy.
Sometimes the men - they come with keys,
and sometimes, the men - they come with hammers.





4. Danez Smith

via Danez Smith's website
I found Danez Smith's poem From "summer, somewhere", via The Poetry Foundation, in the Ecopoetics issue of Poetry. I was on a plane home from Los Angeles, and I wept openly. (Note: not saying that to elicit sympathy for myself; only to showcase the raw power set loose in the poem.) Here's an excerpt from the first section: 

...here, there is no language
for officer or law, no color to call white.

if snow fell, it’d fall black. please, don’t call
us dead, call us alive someplace better.

we say our own names when we pray.
we go out for sweets & come back.





5. Sandra Lim

via W.W. Norton
I had the great pleasure to hear Sandra Lim speak and read from her latest collection The Wilderness (Sept. 2014, W.W. Norton) when she visited George Mason University. Before that, though, I had the even greater pleasure of reading and living with her wonderful collection. Here's a good place to start: Vous Et Nul Autre, via Drunken Boat 18. This is how it starts:

I have hung our dwelling with enormous
nets, crackerjack feeler though you are.

But nets don’t help us in the awful
enormity of the emotion of thinking.

The electrifying interiors keep
turning their faces from the light.





6. Kristiana Rae ColΓ³n

via GoodReads
I found Kristiana Rae ColΓ³n while seeking out Latinx poets. I stumbled upon a remix for remembrance, via The Poetry Foundation, and was instantly captivated. She has many, many other talents outside of poetry as well. (Read more about that on her blog.) Here's a stanza from her poem "a remix for remembrance", dedicated to her students, that I found particularly lovely: 

Speak away the limits to heights of your existence
Be a witness, be a record, be a testament, a triumph
Set your poems flying in the glitter of the planets
Feed open mouths with truth, the truth is we are famished
The Universe is starving for the symphonies you play
Clarinets and thunder and the syllables you say
are the instruments: you are infinite. Stretch your hands to heaven






7. Samiya Bashir

via Samiya Bashir's website,
forthcoming from Nightboat Books Spring 2017
Samiya Bashir is another poet that I found within the pages of Poetry's Ecopoetics issue. Her poem Blackbody Curve, via The Poetry Foundation, had my brain churning in a million directions with its innovative structure. 

Here's how it starts: 

Stairs: a rushed flight down thirty-eight; French doors unlocked always.
Always: a lie; an argument.
Argument: two buck hunters circle a meadow’s edge.

I know I'll be keeping an eye out for Bashir's forthcoming collection, Field Theories (left). 










8. Natalie Diaz

via Copper Canyon Press
I heard Natalie Diaz speak and read at the  Fall for the Book festival in Fall 2016 and she was incredible. The entire audience sat in stunned silence every time she finished reading a poem. If you aren't paying attention to her voice, you're not doing this whole "poetry thing" right. Start with this poem: My Brother at 3 A.M., via The Poetry Foundation. This is another one where I can't decide on an excerpt, so just take my word for it and go read the full poem. I'm currently in the process of buying a copy of When My Brother Was an Aztec (May 2012, Copper Canyon Press), so perhaps...more poems from Diaz to come on RRR!







9. Oliver Baez Bendorf

via Kent State University Press

I also discovered Oliver Baez Bendorf through the Fall for the Book festival last year. He read in the same session as Natalie Diaz, and was also absolutely incredible. I left this reading last night swimming through their poetry. The Spectral Wilderness (Jan. 2015, Kent State University Press) is another collection on my wish list. Bendorf's work is important and resonant on so many levels. Natalie Diaz introduces his work beautifully and selects two great poems ("Queer Facts About Vegetables" is a very memorable one from his reading in Fall 2016) to feature in this article from Poetry Society. 










10. Monica Youn

I missed Monica Youn when she came to read at Fall for the Book (argh!), but I did catch her episode on the New Yorker poetry podcast. Her collection Blackacre (Sept. 2016, Graywolf Press) has been kicking ass and taking names lately. Yes, this is another collection on my wish list. You can start with the collection's namesake poem, Blackacre, via The Poetry Foundation. Here's an excerpt from the second section: 

A wide-eyed girl is extreme in her unliddedness, her bare membranes flinching at any contact, vulnerable to motes, to smuts, to dryness. A wide-hipped girl extends the splayed arches of her body to bridge the generational divide. A wide-legged girl unseals a portal between persons; she is disturbing to the extent that she is open to all comers, a trapdoor that must be shut for safety’s sake. A wide-eyed girl is often thought desirable; a wide-hipped girl is often thought eligible; a wide-legged girl is often thought deplorable. A wide-legged girl is rarely wide-eyed, though she may have started out that way.



****

WHAT'S NEXT? Share this post. Then share it again next week. Use your platform to make sure these voices are heard. Listen more and talk less. Support the featured poets -- buy their books, go to their readings, shake their hands, and thank them. Resist the urge to make their work about you. Reflect and listen some more. And of course, never stop reading better. 


See you next month. 

Read more of Alexandria's work on Floodmark.




Hello readers, writers, dabblers, artists, and web surfers! 

I wish you all a happy, happy new year! However, for many of us, a happy 2017 seems nigh impossible given the political circumstances here in the USA. And that's partially what I want to talk to you about today: what you can expect of Floodmark in the coming years and where we stand, given the current political environment. Let's get that out of the way first, shall we? Then we can discuss the 2017 Reading Resolution Challenge, and exciting forthcoming projects.

Floodmark was founded on the idea of inclusivity, and now more than ever we are committed to it. We believe that creative writing serves everyone and should represent everyone. That means this site is a safe space for all, and we have zero tolerance for hate speech or anything that makes other readers feel unsafe. Our commitment to that is unwavering. This is a space for people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, beliefs, and (of course!) writing skill levels. We welcome you to our space on the internet, and hope you will find inspiration, support, and perhaps a smile while you're here. If you ever find yourself triggered by anything on this blog, please speak out! Nobody is perfect, and we expect to make mistakes. You will find a very receptive and responsive team of editors ready to learn, make amends, correct the mistake, and be better editors and people moving forward. You can find our Contact Information here.



While we're on the subject of contact information -- if you ever have anything to talk to us about, we're around. If you want to ask "What's up?", we'll tell you what's up. If you want a book recommendation, we've got you. If you're looking for guidance or want to see something on the blog or need a friend to talk shop with, we're here. When we say "creative community", we're not just saying it. That's always been the beauty of Floodmark: we are writers, just like you, and we're on the other side of the computer. Not hiding, but waiting, writing, thinking, laughing, crying, binge-watching Netflix, eating too much sugar, and generally doing all the same things you're probably doing. So get in touch! We'd love to hear from you.

While we continue our commitment to inclusivity, we want to do more than open up our space. We intend to get more involved. (If you've got an idea for a partnership, contact us!) We started to do this in 2016, if you recall Floodmark getting into the classroom to lead creative writing workshops at Loyola University's Q-Summit and our visit to the Center on Halsted in Chicago. (You can read all about it here!) We want to do more of that. And this brings us to the 2017 Reading Resolution Challenge. We'll be seeking out the many brilliant writers who have been historically marginalized in the USA -- Native American, Black, Latinx, Asian American, Arab American, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Atheist, Women, LGBTQIAP+, and immigrant writers. Every month, we'll publish a round-up of writers that we've had the pleasure of reading. Share it. Send the poems to family, friends, whoever. Let these writers be heard. True, it's a small act. But when we actively seek to read outside our own experiences, or focus on finding writers who aren't being heard, we make a tiny difference. We build a bridge, brick by brick, poem by story by essay. We should celebrate our differences as well as our similarities. Diversity is what makes humanity -- and thus literature -- so beautiful. Sometimes people forget that. Let's remember it in 2017.

We challenge you to not just read these writers, but to give them your time, attention, and make room in your life for their voices. Perhaps you will disagree with some of them. All we ask is that you know why you disagree -- respectfully. The art of respectful disagreement is one that all writers and readers should be studying closely in an age where disagreements escalate so easily to violence and "otherness". And while we're on the topic: we reject the "other" in 2017. We (and you) can and will be better than this. We owe it to ourselves and everyone we share this world with not to make "others" out of people who are different from ourselves. We are all writers here. Live by the golden rule and treat each other how you'd like to be treated. We encourage you to comment on social media and/or the blog posts, send us an email, whatever is easiest. Tell us what you think.

What else can you expect in 2017? Lots of excitement and inspiration! We've got a couple projects under construction that we hope to launch by mid-year. The most exciting project we've been working is our soon-to-be self-paced, online open course called "Poetry 101". Don't be fooled by the name; poetry veterans will find things to take away from this course, too! We'll be providing video lectures, reading lists, and prompts in each module. There will be 10 modules in total, each covering what we see as the foundation of good poetry. Learn the ropes with us, or hone your craft. You can submit your poems for feedback from each other and us throughout the course. Pretty neat, right? We're hoping to launch the course in the Spring.

The Editors will also continue our monthly reading series on SoundCloud, which you can find here. Each month, we'll all select pieces (poetry, non-fiction, fiction, etc.) that fit a seasonal theme. (For example, January's theme is Winter.) We'll record ourselves reading, and pow! Story time for you. Now you can get your daily dose of poems/stories/essays while you're driving, mowing the lawn, or doing something else equally boring.

There are more things under construction, but this should give you a good idea of where Floodmark is headed in 2017. By the end of the year, we hope we'll have made an impact, and helped you get some good writing done. Stay tuned!

All the best & brightest,

Pssst, read Alexandria's other articles on Floodmark here.


Wondered about getting a tattoo about your favorite literary work? Cam and Alexandria offer their takes on it. 

Cam: 


 As an almost English teacher with an appreciation for tattoos, I’ve thought of how badass I would be if I had full-arm sleeves of literary references. While there’s the concern of deterring a future employee with tattoos, raising questions of professionalism, I can’t help but get giddy over the idea of teaching a book to my future students and showing them a tattoo in reference to that book.

Of course, for now, I’m a coward over body modification and commitment. I would have to be dead in love with a work of literature and a design for the tattoo before I considered maybe getting it. But there’s at least one tattoo idea that I’ve toyed with for four years that I hope to get someday. It references my favorite poem: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot. It’s the poem that made me realize I was a poet.

A long-term substitute teacher for my senior AP English class introduced me to the poem during our Hamlet unit, reading it aloud with passion and character. I started working on memorizing the poem –I carried around a copy of it everywhere I went. My sophomore year of college, I started to think about getting some sort of tattoo to commemorate my love for the poem. I had to analyze it for a History of American Literature class, and the image hit me: a pocketwatch with a swatch of the universe replacing the face, with the minute and hour hands flying off the hinges, with the line “Do I dare / Disturb the Universe?” arching around the time piece.
To me, this poem became a carpe diem mantra. Sure, there’s the whole “I want to carpe diem for a girl but I’m too socially awkward to profess my love” undertone to it, and sometimes a lover can be someone’s universe… but the main take-away for me is that Prufrock wants to make something of himself but doesn’t know how. It would be a reminder for me to be extraordinary, to be as grand and explosive as the universe. 


Alexandria:


Like Cam, I too was worried about professionalism when contemplating my first tattoo. Plus, I was a total chicken and nervous about walking into a tattoo shop and acting like a dweeb. Which I did, by the way. My best friend took me into a tattoo shop and I was so awkward and weird. But you know what? I went back and went through with it. I am a dweeb, but I'll be damned if that holds me back.

I've wanted this tattoo for at least six years. Ever since I read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. The full line from the novel is: "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am." 

 For me, "I am, I am, I am" is an affirmation of my identity as a writer. I look at this tattoo to remind myself of who I am and what my purpose is. 

 When I was looking around for fonts, I found this quote tattooed upon someone's wrist in Sylvia Plath's handwriting and that just smacked me over the head with how right it was. So I went and found her handwriting and delivered it to my tattoo artist. He was able to work his magic and turn it into this tattoo. 

 Okay, and so this did hurt ever so slightly but it was over super fast and sort of just felt like getting stung by a bee slowly. In case you were wondering about the pain and all. 

 And also, yes, I am already plotting my second tattoo. The addiction is not a lie. I will probably end up being the tattooed professor Cam talked about. Just wait. 


Thinking about getting your own literary tattoo? Have one you're super proud of? Share your experience with us in the comments or send an email our way!


This summer, I had the great fortune to embark on a trip to Europe. I thought I'd share some of my photos and anecdotes with you as inspiration -- either for your writing or your next big trip or maybe just a little escape from the everyday scenery. Today I'll talk my time in Paris, but you can check out my post about Amsterdam for Part 1 of my adventure! (Psst! If you're interested, you can also check out my trip to New Orleans or my trip to Amelia Island this year. We also have a Travel tag on the blog if you want to stay tuned to our editors' adventures around the world!)

***

 Ah, Paris. City of Lights and chocolate mousse and Shakespeare and Co. bookstore and thousands of other lovely little things. This is my second time visiting Paris, and I'd say that I got closer to the heart of my experience this time around. Have you seen the movie "Midnight in Paris"? It's the movie that really sparked my interest in Old Paris -- Paris of the Lost Generation. Since, I've read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, and become obsessed with the Fitzgeralds, and all around fallen in love with the history of this extraordinary city. So, naturally the theme song for "Midnight in Paris" is playing now, as it was playing in my head during my trip. Youtube video below so that you might put yourself in the proper frame of mind.





Good. Now we're ready. As of this moment, you and I are going to wander down the streets of Paris in my memory. We'll visit my Top 10 favorite things I saw.

1.  It's a lovely night for a stroll. Let's go see the Eiffel Tower, shall we? 






I'd seen the Eiffel Tower before, but never like this -- at night. It's a completely different experience and one that I'd demand you have if you visit Paris. It's like all the stars descended on this tower for a little while. You know it's just fancy lights but it's also goddamn magic. I will add some reality to the situation and say that the walk to and from the tower to our Air BnB was acute and intense misery. The scars I have from those blisters will be with me for awhile. But I remember the blisters less than the Eiffel Tower so I suppose I can forgive me father for forcing me to trudge the miles in terrible walking shoes without warning.

2. Notre Dame Cathedral


The morning after seeing the Eiffel Tower, finding the Air BnB apartment hidden away in a little courtyard, and settling into the unbelievably creaky but very, very French living space, I woke up (I think understandably) grumpy. I nursed my substantial blisters and resentment through a cold fend-for-yourself breakfast of cheese (from Amsterdam), chocolate (Amsterdam again), and a baguette (Obviously French). With rain in the forecast, we headed out to see Notre Dame.


A photo posted by @alexandriapetra on



Through my grumpiness and exhaustion, I did appreciate Notre Dame. How could I not? It's truly a masterpiece, and historically fascinating. But I wanted to appreciate it alone and without commentary, which made me a terrible traveling companion. Hey, vacation isn't all perfect Instagrams and immaculate outfits. (Though I admittedly put much effort into both of those things.)

I love the interior of the Cathedral the best simply because the quality of light is so unexpected after the stoney exterior. Stained glass never looks as remarkable from a distance. It's one of the art forms you need to be inside of to marvel at. I'm not terribly religious, but stained glasses feel like prayer to me. I understand why the cathedral is holy.


A photo posted by @alexandriapetra on


In particular, Notre Dame is visually full of surprises. Everywhere you look, and every time you encounter it, there is something new. The back is so different from the front is so different from the inside. I think it has something to do with the nature of the architecture  of ornate detailing.


A photo posted by @alexandriapetra on


And of course, how I can I forget the flowers? Huge, pillowy roses hung heavy all around the back of the cathedral. I haven't seen live roses like that before. They're really something.


3. Shakespeare and Company Bookstore


Oh, be still my heart. I stumbled into a little piece of heaven after we finished viewing Notre Dame and the Archeological Crypt underneath. I walked around like in a dream. It was so perfect, so much the bookstore of my imagination, that it was an entirely surreal experience. Throw in the fact that I was walking up staircases that Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Joyce frequented, and I was catatonic. Literally incapable of speaking to anyone. I had just come from a cathedral and understood why it was considered holy, but this was my religious experience.



Praise be to Sylvia Beach for creating this magical place. Books everywhere, from floor to ceiling. All kinds of books, used and new. The shop was deeper than it looked and both narrow and wide depending on where you were.  And all the walls were books. Who even needs walls anymore, seriously?! Shouldn't all walls just be bookcases?! I spotted a staircase with a sign that said "poetry" and drifted toward it.

And here, before we go any farther, I have to make a confession. The store asks you not to take photos so as to not disturb your fellow shoppers.  (Not everyone wants to star in your Instagram posts, right? It's a small space, so nearly impossible not to accidentally get someone in there if you're trying to capture the full effect.) Here's my confession: I took a few photos.  I know, I know. Terrible. I have so much respect for this store, but it was so beautiful that I needed to remember the little details and I was sleepwalking at this point and couldn't count on myself. Anyway, if any employee reads this post, I am so, so sorry to be "that tourist".

Okay, on to the staircase. I started walking up, but then I noticed the stairs had words on them. Of course the stairs had words on them. I backed up and actually teared up. Seriously, the fact that this place exists is comforting to me. Can you have faith in a bookstore? Because I do. I really do.




The really wonderful thing about Shakespeare & Co. is that it hosts book-loving travelers among the shelves. Seriously, there are little cushioned areas amid the books where people can crash overnight. And everywhere that isn't covered with books is covered with mementos from visitors paying homage or saying thank you for the place to sleep. If I had the chance to sleep in this store, I would not sleep because I would be up all night trying to memorize every dazzling detail of this place.


Anyway, even if you're not staying overnight, there are plenty of nooks for writers to stash themselves away and get to work. There's a little booth-like nook in particularly that I spent some time in. There was a typewriter and the entire space was covered in notes, poems, pictures, drawings, stories, messages, inspiration, doodles, shopping lists, old candy wrappers, etc. No one could see me in there and I might have shed a tear or two because my brain was broken and unable to accept the unfairness of only having an hour or two to spend in this place.




Aside from all this, I do have to mention one room in particular. Then we'll move on, promise. The room that preserved much of Sylvia Beach's original collection. The windows were open and the breeze was fresh after the rain. There was an incredibly beautiful young writer at work typing at a desk and there were so many old, old books. I tried to touch as many as possible with the knowledge that a writer that I idolize had likely held the same book in his/her hands or at least bumped their fingers against it reaching for another.

As a writer, there's this sense of being an intellectual descendant of other writers. For me, the Lost Generation is a huge influence. And being in this space was like reaching back in time to them. In fact, time was completely suspended for me. It's truly somewhere timeless. There are deeper roots than heritage and blood.

And that's all I'll say. I'm still sorting through the rest.

But of course I bought books.


4. Montmartre 


I stumbled outside to find my family waiting for me. I don't actually know how I long I was in there, but coming outside was like waking up. One quick ride on the subway later, and we were ascending a very steep staircase up to Montmartre. In fact, the stairs were much steeper than I remembered them. But the view was even better than I remembered it, so I supposed it all evened out.




 Basilique du SacrΓ© CΕ“ur was my first view. And it's gorgeous, but when you turn around you stop breathing for a second. Which is really difficult to do because you're panting from walking up the stairs. So overall it's a painful but also amazing moment. Paris is just spread out underneath this hill like a blanket of buildings and people and hundreds of little cafes with thousands of eclairs and espressos and macarons. 

This is me admiring the view from the steps of the  Basilique:
Also, at this point it's very important that we make a soundtrack switch. On Montmartre, La Vie en Rose was playing in my head. I should mention I also love the Rat Pack and old jazz and that whole era. (Of course, if you read my New Orleans post you can hear me wax poetic on jazz for awhile longer.)




After the view, we wandered around Montmartre for awhile, among the artists and the cafes. I had a terrible crepe and a ridiculously good macaron. Street performers and musicians played in the square. Artists tried to convince you to let them sketch you -- for a fee, of course. Music boxes played from every shop, and it was such lovely chaos. There's a reason this is where all the artists and writers came to hang out. It's everything you've ever heard and also so much more. On the way down I took a polaroid of an incredible graffiti painting of a woman. There are few better ways to spend an afternoon. 

5. Up, up, up the Eiffel Tower. 


Of course, we went back to the Eiffel Tower. We still had to go up to the top. We chose dusk as the time to do this, and won the lottery on the wait-time to get to the top. (FYI, usually you're waiting in line for a loooooooong time.) Seeing as I have a fear of heights, this was a curse and a blessing. The ascension (worst part) was over quickly. But it was still pretty terrifying and I had less time to prepare myself than I would have liked. 




Admittedly, it was worth it. While we were there, France was hosting the Eurocup finals and a game was happening far down below. It was so loud that I could hear the relentless chorus of vuvuzelas
from down below. Think about that for a second. Yeah, that's insane. By the time we started heading down, it was dusky and the crowds had started to thin out. Time seems to progress differently up there -- everything goes faster and slower.

6. Giverny 


Alright, the next two will be cheating bit because they aren't in Paris. BUT they are just outside of Paris and were both incredible experience, so now we'll take a brief journey outside the city. First: Giverny, home of Claude Monet and the secret garden to end all secret gardens. Another religious experience to add to the books. I had dreamed of visiting Giverny for years. To actually be able to reach out and brush the flowers and window frame of Monet's house was incredible.



The glorious thing about Monet's house was that every room was dominated by a different color. There was a yellow dining room, a blue kitchen. It was both mad and magical. Do places this perfect even exist anymore? I don't know how much I was breathing, so I remember being pretty light-headed through all this.



The amount of beautiful things to see was agonizing.




Of course, the Water Lilies were chief among the things I wanted to see while I was in Giverny. What a moment it was. I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad and I think that was about right.




7. The Palace of Versailles


Again, not in Paris. But obviously this deserves to be on the list. This palace is the definition of decadence. In a way, it's terrifying to believe people actually lived there. It's a relief that it's a museum now. It's so vast and unnecessary and beautiful.




And of course, the history. I'm always very aware of my feet and the path I am wandering in places like this. Who else has stood where I am standing? What were they thinking? Were they also looking out this window just after it had rained? It's a minor obsession of mine.

A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on


The air is absolutely thick with the history of movement through these spaces. You can feel the past brush up against you so palpably. And the amount of details there are to notice and process and photograph and write about makes this a writer's dream.



8. The Louvre


Back to Paris. After our long day adventuring outside of the city, we returned and visited The Louvre.  You can't leave without paying a visit to this spectacular museum, but be warned: it's insanity. The huge increase in tourism has made it a little overwhelming sometimes, especially around the Mona Lisa. This is OK as long as you're prepared for it. Not surprisingly, I don't have many superb shots of the most popular artwork at The Louvre.

A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on


Of course, I like to think this helped me to focus on the other artwork in this grand museum which is just as deserving of my attention. I'll share a few snapshots from my wandering in the museum:

There's the lovely Venus de Milo. Whom I had to photograph from behind and on an upward angle because she is quite popular with the tourists. But I like this shot more for being a little unconventional.



Okay, yes there's some side-eye at selfie sticks in that caption. I'm sorry, but I can't hide my distaste for them. Especially in an art museum. I read about someone knocking over a priceless statue while trying to take a selfie with it the other day. Tragic. Why does your face need to be in every photo of art anyway?? Fight the urge, people. Fight the urge. Look at the art and absorb it. Don't look at it like a trophy to stick next to your face.

End rant.








Cour Marley is a great place to take a breather and get a little fresh air. The whole courtyard is marble and there's more air movement in there. Plus, it's not that crowded so it's a nice spot to pull over and collect yourself before diving back into the halls of The Louvre.

Oh, and the marble statues are fantastic. That goes without saying.


A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on


So, you could give me a year to spend wandering The Louvre and it wouldn't be enough. But it does make for a fine day.


9. Musee d'Orsay


In the same day, I visited Musee d'Orsay, another huge place on my to-do list. This was a week after the Seine had overflowed and caused flooding. The river was still quite high, and it was raining. As we hopped around puddles, we watched the Seine hustle along. As rainy days go, it was a rather nice one.

We entered the museum, which used to be a train station, and headed to the top floor where the big collection of Impressionist art is located. There's a big clock face here right when you get to the top. It's lovely.

A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on


I'll share some works I saw there without much commentary -- it doesn't need much explaining. I really loved the quiet nature of this museum. It's definitely worth a visit if you have the time.



A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on



A photo posted by Alexandria Petrassi (@alexandriapetra) on





10. MISC. (AKA I'm cheating and want to show you three other quick things.) 

Because what would Paris be without the little details?!

A. Dessert


OH MY GOD THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE THING. We basically had little to no idea what we were ordering and I nearly died when they set this down. It was better than you're imagining. Trust me. I'm still not over it.




B. Love Locks

Duh. I had to snap a picture of at least one cluster of Love Locks on the bridges in Paris.




C. Moulin Rouge


Last, but by no means least. This is a show I will never, ever, EVER forget. If you go to Paris, try to do this. You will be blown away and also there will be a lot of bare breasts and innuendo and glitter and shiny things and gorgeous people and singing and roller skating and champagne. It's an experience. There were also bunch of small red lamps that reminded me of the Red Light distract, but I couldn't photograph them. So here's the outside of this iconic establishment: 

I hope you enjoyed this little adventure through Paris. It's by no means exhaustive. The beauty of Paris is the atmosphere and the history and the vibes. It's a city with charm and a lot to offer the tireless visitor. Stay tuned for the last city I visited during my vacation this summer: London. And then of course, the many more adventures I've had in the Fall. 

Never stop exploring, friends. There's too much to see in this world. 

All the best and brightest to you today.

Read more of Alexandria's work on Floodmark.








Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
© Floodmark Made By Underline Designs