Hi hi,
I got to my rental in Iowa City safe last week, after a ridiculously early (and then ridiculously delayed) flight. We give thanks for my friend A, who picked me up in apocalyptic weather (we passed like six car wrecks and two flips), took me to get groceries, and deposited me at my temporary digs. Butches make the world go round, etc etc.
So far things have been lovely and serene here. It’s so quiet on my street that I notice each car driving by my house, and when I saw a man with a flashlight walking around last night it registered as An Event. I’m teaching two classes this spring at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and advising thesis students; for the rest, I’m enjoying hermit life quite a bit, writing and reading as much as I can.
Visually, walking around Iowa City right now feels a little like being suspended in a bowl of cereal—picture cocoa pebbles, if you will, and a pour of cold blue-white milk. If you know where to stand, the sky can look so big here: a creamy, placid, coolly lit expanse.
a request
I am working on a feature for A Magazine on app-based dating, specifically, ways in which many people feel failed by it, and seem to be divesting from it—quitting the apps, trying to quit the apps, meeting people in person, renegotiating desire around traditional romantic partnership, or what have you. Also interested in talking to people who really like dating apps / have really benefited from using them / have never used them / never plan to.
Would you be interested in talking with me for this story? Know someone who might? Click here porfa.
new writing!
I have a short piece in the inaugural issue of Veena, the brainchild of Queens’ finest, Himanshu/Heems (formerly of Das Racist, for my millennials reading), edited by Meghna Rao. It’s about…mothers, silence, inheritance, touch, and, for any South Indians reading, avial. 🥲 I’m in some pretty sexy company; the other writers in the issue are absolute stars Kaveh Akbar, Tanais, Meghna Rao, Mayukh Sen, Amil Niazi, and Jason Diamond. Himanshu has a beautiful note up explaining what he’s doing with the project.
some things I’ve been reading etc
Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang remains one of the more beautiful novellas I’ve read: a world and a life, a family and a consciousness, conjured unforgettably in a scant hundred-some pages. Right now, I’m starting Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, and reading a few different (and drier) things about, well, war — its historical precedents, the evolution of warfare, nuclear war, and also thinking, as I read, about the thoughtful, moving work of my friend, the artist Joe DeVera.
Some music of the moment: Àlááfíà by Honour, a.s.o by a.s.o.
After a time of feeling crotchety-unmoved about a lot of visual art I’d been seeing, I’ve been falling for things again. I went to see Trey Abdella’s show Under The Skin at David Lewis for the minute I was back in New York and really was into it. I’ve also been revisiting the work of Margaret Durow, a Wisconsin-based photographer whose work holds a lot of beauty and resonance for me.
If we’re connected on Instagram, you know that I’ve been supporting Chris and Hanna get some direly-needed cash to people on the ground in Gaza. We’re still accepting money to get to folks on the ground to build tents in Rafah, where 2 million people have now been displaced to by Israeli aggression. Also THANK YOU to everyone who helped me raise $16,000 in a scant 24 hours for Khalil and Ghadeer and their baby to evacuate to Egypt for medical care—all the $$ is now with them, please keep your thoughts and prayers with them as they make their journey.
finally
I’m hoping to share my writing and thinking with a little bit more elan this year! Forthcoming installments of thot pudding will feature: a personal essay about writing and withholding, a series of these letters from Iowa (for paid subscribers from now on), an essay on air pollution (for paid subscribers), a mini-series on close friendship, some notes on aesthetics and The Culture (for paid subscribers), some notes on the history of war and propaganda, an essay on electoral politics and one on theories of change. And of course, ongoing reading/art/film recs. Thank youuuu to each of you who has shared this newsletter, forwarded it, sent a kind note, or supported it financially.
Stay warm and safe where you are.
Bisous,
STM
AVIAL!!!
Good luck in Iowa, Sarah! It sounds like a wonderful adventure.