a few of my favourite things (2022)
2022 FEELS SO LONG AGO. I considered not posting a yearly list but here we are...
Books
Looking at this selection, it appears I was drawn to cinematic writing, vignettes/fragments, and authors who explore female interiority, female solitude, language, and the unsayable.
- By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
- Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
- Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
- In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri
- The Years by Annie Ernaux
- A Horse at Night: On Writing by Amina Cain
When I first started writing, Nadine Davidoff (via HARDCOPY) encouraged us to think about the 'narrative arc' of our manuscripts. At 24, I felt I was too young to have an arc to my life.
The thought of writing a 'traditional' memoir gives me SHIVERS. The first essay collection I read was Small Acts of Disappearance by Fiona Wright, in 2015. My all-time favs: Too Much and Not the Mood - Durga Chew-Bose, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel - Alexander Chee, Blueberries - Ellena Savage, and Pop Song - Larissa Pham. Life-changing.
I love how essay collections allow a writer to explore various selves. Fragmented yet whole.
Art
After seeing two of Vilhelm Hammershøi's paintings at ACMI, I flew to Copenhagen to see more of his work. I was particularly touched by The Artist's Easel (1910).
I wrote about visiting the ACMI exhibition alone, solitude, (female) interiority, distance and falling in love. (I'm working to expand it into a longer essay.) I'm so grateful to Neha Kale for commissioning and editing the piece for 4A Papers. She describes it as tracing 'the first breath of a long-distance relationship'. Highly recommend the rest of Issue 11: Intimacy!!!
Music
Before my trip to London, I played Rina Sawayama's Hold the Girl, Florence + the Machine's Dance Fever (fav tracks - 'King', 'Daffodil', 'My Love') and Harry Styles' Harry's House.
OMG the opening shot..... Sawayama stands by lace-framed windows, lit from behind. The camera tracks towards her, until the sun is on her face. She climbs out the window.
I saw Sawayama ('Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)' and 'This Hell', woo!!!) and Lykke Li (FINALLY! AFTER 10 YEARS!) perform in London. I love Lykke Li but my fav albums were her Wounded Rhymes (2011) and I Never Learn (2014). I cried when she played her older songs.
Perhaps I was also crying for the girl I used to be.
