/lit/ - Literature

It might just mean she's a formulaic writer, I dunno. I'm still an undergrad but lately I've been thinking about doing an MFA. I wanna ride that fellowship gravy train.

Do you what she writes like?

OP this board is not here to validate your revengeful need of dismissing your ex-girlfriend and besides she is way too clothed on your pic. Tits or it didn't happen.

>>3544826
>Do you [know/like] what she writes like?

Yes to both. It's often confessional, auto-biographical, absurdist, emotionally driven, playful and heavily imagery based.

>>3544837
>OP this board is not here to validate your revengeful need of dismissing your ex-girlfriend and besides she is way too clothed on your pic. Tits or it didn't happen.

I always considered her talented and destined for good things. If anything, this is a weird kinda brag. I have tit pics, but they are not for you.

Here's one of her shorter works:

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

I see the spindle spinning
in the corner of your eye, the city
where Samson is holding his hair
and Delilah is singing. The way
the plates of the earth move, so
do all of us shift and take our turn:
somewhere I am lifting my shirt,
somewhere I am touching the tendons
of a horse’s legs, somewhere
you’re in a supermarket holding
a cantaloupe. If so, there’s a place
where Samson sings too, a place
where you and I are waiting
to be born, even waiting for our planet
to collect itself from dusty fumes,
begin to spin, begin
to burn inside.

Here is her Tumblr.

http://americanoctopus.tumblr.com/

Don't care enough to find out who she is. OP is a faggot.

>>3544853

her poem is shit... sorry, in another universe I may had liked it...

>>3544853
>>3544870
I liked her poem OP. So much so I going to find her and make her mine, just to spite you for leaving her.

>>3544853

The piece reads like prose. There's some decent imagery but it lacks rhythm and it certainly doesn't feel like a poem.

>>3544853
I really like the rhythm, but for some reason its content is devoid of appeal for me.

>Yes to bith. It's often confessional, auto-biographical, absurdist, emotionally-driven, playful and heavily imagery based.
>confessional

Oh God. I'm an editor of my uni's literary magazine, we get "confessional" pieces all the fucking time and I honestly think it's the same girl talking about the same breakup.

>>3544853

this is the feces of the horse tendon she touched. and it is in every alternate universe.

>>3544864
>http://proemproem.tumblr.com/
>Brooklyn College: Was accepted into their MFA program!

Is this her? And are those pictures of, um, her.

>>3544884
>I really like the rhythm, but for some reason its content is devoid of appeal for me.

>>3544886
>There's some decent imagery but it lacks rhythm and it certainly doesn't feel like a poem.

I love how contradictory your opinions are.

She definitely tends to write mostly prose poems:

here's another:

A SNAPSHOT OF MY MOTHER’S LEGS:
Daytona Beach, 1976

If your hair was long then I would like to know,
would like you to tell me. Did your first ocean hairstyle
flip sideways and salty over your scalp?

Were the Wood River girls already out
of their hearts when the bus trudged in at three am?
Were those legs already dancing then?

I know this—you went alone, you
burst apart at how much warmer the ocean was
than your body. And I do things alone, too:

things like oceans, nighttime harbors, things like
coming undone in the shock of the edge.
I don’t know who you were there,

cannot feel that life twenty years in the making,
neck deep in the pull and the push, moving
quietly. But I like to imagine you

kicking your knobby calves beneath the surface,
slowed down for the first time by currents so huge
you wanted to hold them—

so young and so humbled, sweet smile
widening your mouth, salt water dripping
from your mysterious chin.

>>3544895
>>3544864
I am going to jerk it to your gf, OP, and I'm not even going to enjoy it.

She looks a little like Chloe Sevigny and seems to have the careerism of Edna St. Vincent Millay. I kind of dislike her already.

Wait, so all I need to do is post some meh poems on Tumblr with some suggestive photos of myself to get into an MFA program? Sweet. I love modern life.

>>3544895

Tumblr is the worst thing I've ever seen.

>>3544870

You have shit taste. Her poem is pretty decent.

>>3544908
>She looks a little like Chloe Sevigny
Yeah, it messes me up when I watch Portlandia, because her character on that is more elevated version of how my ex already was. Also Parker Posey in Louie, not in looks but in behavior.

> seems to have the careerism of Edna St. Vincent Millay

That's a high compliment if I am not mistaken.

>Wait, so all I need to do is post some meh poems on Tumblr with some suggestive photos of myself to get into an MFA program? Sweet. I love modern life.

No, try producing work consistently since you could write, collect and edit the best work you have to about a 20 page worth thesis, and submit that. Your sex appeal on tumblr has nothing to with it.

>>3544917
>You have shit taste. Her poem is pretty decent.
But how are people supposed to know he's better than her?

>>3544886

>Doesn't feel like a poem

Said the person trying to define what poetry is supposed to feel like. That's the idea of poetry, it can be anything as long as it has artistic value.

The girl has a knack for writing the way she does. Everybody's mad jelly in this thread.

My Only Advice: Don't be jelly

>>3544917

> not getting the joke

>>3544930
> not getting the joke
And neither did I (OP), until now. It's easy to assume intentional vitriol on these sites.

>>3544917

Not him, but what do you think of these?

http://pastebin.com/FK3T9Ak2

OP why do you slut yourself out on tumblr and pretend to be your 'ex-boyfriend' in 4chan posts

>>3544919
It's not the best compliment. She used her looks somewhat to get published. I don't even understand how this worked as she wasn't particularly good looking, at least to me.

>>3544940
>OP why do you slut yourself out on tumblr and pretend to be your 'ex-boyfriend' in 4chan posts

Because it is less pathetic than an actual ex-boyfriend doing so. Oh wait, that is what's happening.

There's a picture of her sorting through photographs and I'm trying to find OP.

Why did she have these photos taken? I mean,why does any woman pay for these boudoir things. Is it a confidence-booster?

>>3544950
Yeah, I am definitely not in any of her pictures.

>Why did she have these photos taken?

Because she likes the attention, modeling is fun, and they do it for free. The boudoir ones are a bit tacky, but she's definitely gotten some amazing photos taken since.

>>3544945
So you're hocking her stuff on /lit/ to incur a self-validating thrashing?

>>3544920

>says the guy trying to define artistic value.

>>3544958
>So you're hocking her stuff on /lit/ to incur a self-validating thrashing?

Something along those lines. I don't fucking know my real motivation. I just know I am proud and happy for her. She's in Barcelona now on a eurotrip thing. In a month she'll be back in the city I live in for two weeks, and we'll be seeing each other for that time.

Obviously we are not over each other yet. So, yeah. Also I just like that phrase
>incur a self-validating thrashing

>>3544920
>Everybody's mad jelly in this thread.

I don't think anyone's denying that. I am myself quite jelly of this lady. Her abilities are intimidating and make me feel bad (particularly since I've had some papers to write and haven't written anything in days), and she's attractive to boot.

>>3544938
I've commented on your poetry before - an earlier version of the second part - and I would just like to say that seeing your development sporadically in different threads is very pleasing.

I would buy a book of your poetry. I really, truly enjoy it a great deal. Do you post it anywhere online?

>>3544966
So you support her. It initially seemed like you were just saying "Tear this poem up, /lit/."

Win her back, OP, you can do it.

>>3544816
Holy shit, really? Ha! Guess, I'll be seeing her there then.

>>3544976
If Bernard Black were to go on the internet, he'd browse the hell out out of /lit/.
He would spend the day being angry posting with caps on stopping for a glass of wine and then it would go on and on and on..

>creative writing MFA
>not from Iowa
pleb

>getting a masters in writing

lol

>>3544912
Why would you even
want to get into an MFA program?

>>3544853
I really like it OP. I'm going to be moving to Brooklyn to give her some good Texas lovin' right now.

Nope.

I work as an assistant editor at a literary magazine. I reject dozens of manuscripts from people in MFA programs on a daily basis. A lot of people in MFA programs are laughably bad writers.

>>3544988
Just remember, bringing up a thread on 4chan to her won't win you any favors.

I find her tumblr's mixture of thoughtfulness and kitschy vanity intriguing. I mean, I am having a hard time fathoming the personality of someone who would voluntarily juxtapose poems (which are pretty good) with softcore porn of herself.

>>3545051
Why are you on my /lit/? Go back to /vp/.

>>3545036
I go to a school that offers critical MAs, but you can do a creative thesis (which, from I understand, limits where you can go from there in terms of PhDs or teaching jobs) and the shit that comes out of there ... I can barely handle it. All creative MA degrees show is that you can produce a quantity of work to a relatively arbitrary standard in a certain time period.
That said, I'm sure there are good writers in MFA programs, but I really doubt they need to be there.

I got accepted into Brooklyn College as well.

>>3545051
>I am having a hard time fathoming the personality of someone who would voluntarily juxtapose poems (which are pretty good) with softcore porn of herself.

Makes sense when you meet her. Also, from all the photos you picked, you choose the one where is lying on my bed.

>>3545054
I don't know who you think I am...

>>3545060
yeah, I knew that. I can read. I also saw this:

B

I know you’re not reading this

and you’d hate me for saying it

but none of my love for you is gone

and now I have nothing to do with it.


...lol

>>3545075
Oh, so you're actively trying to be an asshole. Got it.

>>3545075
Man, im not OP, but you dont have to be such an ass.

I really dont like 4chan anymore I think. The indifferent tenacity is really unhealthy

>>3545084
What? Stop being so whiny.

>>3545084
>indifferent tenacity
I am enjoying the lovely little phrases this thread is producing.

>>3545085
Im saying I dont like how you are so indifferent in how you dealt with that quote, since it came from OP or his ex.

Im fine with being whiny, Id rather be that than an indifferent passive-aggressive gossip

>>3545081
first, pic related

second, I'm not sure what your intent / expectation is making a thread on /lit/ saying

>here's my ex
>does being in an MFA program validate her as a success?

if you also didn't expect us to pass judgement, what did you want?

>>3545096
>Im saying I dont like how you are so indifferent in how you dealt with that quote, since it came from OP or his ex.

It came from her, and yeah, this site definitely cultivates a a cruel glibness.

So thanks for sticking up, not for me or her, but rather for some modicum of sensitivity.

>>3545100
protip: ignore tripfags

>>3545098
I think he wanted us to pass judgement, but hoped for something more than what he would find from some clique in junior high. Dangerous and high hopes, I know.

>>3544988
>>3545058
well that's two of us, plus OP's girl. that's a foursome if OP is down for it, too

>>3545106
If you're a girl then yeah sure but if not then I think I'll pass.

>>3545105
so you think
>>3545051
is a "junior high" analysis? I don't; I tend to agree. I have no idea what you are talking about that you think is clique-y...

OP, she's pretty damn cute.

>>3545106
It's funny that the world is so small (or full of liars).

>>3545106
>that's a foursome if OP is down for it, too

Yeah, just all be hot. We're are both cool with whatever gender.

/lit/ is a board for discussing literature, not for posting somebody's pretentious 'poetry' which says nothing and changes nothing. Also not your blog, fag.

Not like anybody follows the rules on this board. Saged and reported.

>>3545119
Wah!

>>3544984

No. This and youtube are the only sites I visit.

I'm hoping to publish in print someday soon. I just need to get some very solid work together.

>>3544816

why ex, OP? She seems pretty chill. Was there drama?

The contrarian response is to say that it's good, just to prevent coming off as bitter but it's really, really awful sentimental shit.

Here's one from her Tumblr called Another Country:

First I ran out of postcards, then

I ran out of money, then

I ran out of words, then

I ran.

-

It didn’t matter, really.

If I’d told you,

you would not have

understood. Its one

of those things that burns

your eyes

unless

you’re looking it right in the face.

I mean, this isn't even much of a step beyond 8th grade diarykeeping. And she has all of these melodramatic lines that read like Fall of Troy lyrics ("Kansas children are screams on a string").

But good for her, I guess. Is getting into a creative writing MFA program supposed to be difficult?

>>3545504

graduate programs are sources of extremely cheap labor, so universities (esp. in the humanities) tend to take on too many students than they should. That said, at least it is an MFA program at what I assume is a good school.

>hfw she makes money on the side

>>3545528
bitch looks like a smarter version of marion cotillard

surely OP will deliver

>>3545551
She looks like Marion Cotillard's mouthbreathing cousin.

OKAY SO LET'S GIVE THIS A ROLL:

OP'S GIRLFRIEND IS ACTUALLY OP - BROOKLYN COLLEGE IS AN UNFUNDED EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE NYC PROGRAM THAT HIPSTER WRITERS USE FOR VALIDATION - SHE'S A POET SO HER LIFE IS GONNA SUCK ANYWAY.

>>3544895
I am laughing so hard at this. This shitty poetry and this pseudo-sexy photography is praise worthy? Whatever, I guess she is better than most here. But still, this is surreal in bad way, like I just woke up from nightmare to see my friend in front of me dressed in the monster's costume.

>>3545451
>Was there drama?
Yes

>surely OP will deliver
On what?

>OP'S GIRLFRIEND IS ACTUALLY OP
Nah. Why would she need to fake being her? She would get way more attention if she was posting herself.

>>3546514

>This shitty poetry

Let's be honest here.
>>3544853

This is far from shitty.

But the whole softcore porn juxtaposition is kind of bizarre... she seems like one of those unhinged bipolar types. I guess that comes with the territory if you want to be a dece poet.

>>3546775
>This is far from shitty.

Stop trolling. It's awful. "somewhere you are holding a cantaloupe" "all of us shift and take our turn" "begin to burn inside". Ugh.

>>3546781

>cherry picking lines out of context

You're one of these types who tries desperately to pretend that you're an authority on whatever topic you pass by, aren't you?

It's too early for this shit.

I'm going to echo the sentiments that her poetry is boring. >>3545504 nailed it by calling it the diary of an 8th grader. Not a lot of craft, which she'll learn in an MFA program. And the content doesn't do a lot for me.

And while it doesn't make me an all knowing arbiter of what constitutes good poetry, my having an MFA in poetry does (somewhat) validate my opinion, I think.

I am most definitely going to jerk it to your ex. Whilst evaluating her poetry.

>>3546849
You're making it too obvious that you're trolling.

>>3544895
>http://proemproem.tumblr.com/
>Notes from my bedside table, 4am
>I miss you hastily and frantically, like a word I can’t think of—
>but unlike a word, you’re not at the tip of my tongue.

Jesus, lol

Christ. If /b/ got hold of her tumblr....

>>3546936
I take that back. She'd just write more sad poetry about how mean the world is.

>>3544816
She's not validated as a good writer until she's romantically tied to Tao Lin.

As a working photographer I can't get over how shit these photographs are. I only dabble in fashion but living in NYC makes me obligated to photograph and most likely fuck your ex, OP.

>>3546970
Have you photographed and fucked moot yet?

>>3546974
I don't think moot is into fashion

Note: Successful fashion male photographers fuck 70% of the not-so-famous female models they shoot with.

>>3546982
>Note: Successful fashion male photographers fuck 70% of the not-so-famous female models they shoot with.
Of course. Both have very low standards. Pareto efficiency at work.

>>3546982
>Note: Successful fashion male photographers fuck 70% of the not-so-famous female models they shoot with.

No shit. Was that supposed to be an industry secret?

>>3546992
Did you know: Sometimes a masseuse will pleasure a client sexually for extra money?

>this thread

>>3547082
I don't get it

>>3546982
Did you know: Film producers regularly promise struggling actresses a movie role in exchange for sexual favors.

>>3546982
Did you know: Professors have been known to trade good grades for sex from their students?

>>3546982
>>3546995
>>3547124
>>3547136
Source?

>>3547139
It's how I got those photos, a better massage, the movie part, and an A for my thesis

>>3547265
I like how you were on the receiving end of the happy ending at least. So you make others whores too.

Wait... people actually enjoy poetry, let alone pursue academic degrees in poetry?

>>3547482
filthy animals, right?

Dude OP,

Good thing you dropped her. Only insecure dumbasses have tumblrs dedicated to nothing but photos of themselves w/ no clothing on.

Screams "LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME LOOK I'M SEXY REALLY AM!"

>>3547731

I learned that lesson the hard way. I refuse to romantically involve myself with anyone who takes part in social networking.

>>3544853
I SEE THE SPINDLE SPINNING?

ARE YOU FUCKIN KIDDING ME?

>>3547737

Tautology's in, bruh.

>>3545011
If it's all paid for, it seems like a pretty sweet deal. The only issue is having to deal with egos/less-than-helpful critique. And explaining to your parents that you're getting an MFA. And explaining to everyone else you meet what an MFA is.

>>3545051
It is curious. Is this what Tao Lin would do if he was female?

>>3547736
>I refuse to romantically involve myself with anyone who takes part in social networking.

I share the feeling, but boy does this sound like an impossible task.

>>3545055
>but I really doubt they need to be there.

I think for people with preternatural talent it's more of a stepping stone towards being published. If an instructor is truly impressed with a work and has connections, it's quite likely that it will be published. If worked for Bret Easton Ellis, and he was an undergrad when a professor got Less Than Zero published.

>>3545504
>I ran

I RAN SO FAR AWAYYYYY.

(I couldn't get away.)

>>3546514
At first I read that as "dressed in his mother's costume," which made your nightmare more interesting,

But you are correct, this is middling tripe. Ah well.

>>3545504
>Is getting into a creative writing MFA program supposed to be difficult.

Some are extremely selective (i.e. only accept a few candidates a year), but in general it's a matter of submitting a portfolio of writing and hoping it conforms with someone's taste to the extent that they might kind of like it and accept you into the program.

>>3546781
>somewhere you are holding a cantaloupe"

I actually liked that line. I mean, why a cantaloupe?

>>3546982
Go to bed, Terry.

Does your ex-girlfriend want to work at walmart the rest of her life?

What retard goes to to a shitty degree about poetry. My fucking god. I'd rape and bury her for that.

>>3547736
>I refuse to romantically involve myself with anyone who takes part in social networking.

I almost said "So how's that hermitage coming along" but then I stopped myself when I realized I haven't been on my Facebook in months and only sporadically post an apercu or one-liner via Twitter sporadically, to people who are going to hear or have heard me say them in real life already. You don't necessarily have to be a Luddite or a hermit just because you don't want to participate extensively in social media, But not wanting to engage with it on any level, in 2013, is enormously difficult. It's even worse for me because I'm studying journalism at uni and they're shoving this shit down our throats.

What I can't stand is this notion that social networking is the Second Coming, or the most advanced tool of democratization or something. "Social Media Coordinator" is not a real job; but then, neither is poet I guess. Still, at least your shooting for the ages in that endeavor. What the fuck do you have with social media, an impeccable LinkedIn description? Get fucked.

>>3547890

>>3544853
pretty good.

>>3547938
My toes tingle.

>>3547918
>studying journalism

shigy

>>3548146
Why is everybody so incessantly trying to knock everybody down?

>>3548284
It's a board full of 18 year olds who think they know everything about life.

>>3548284
I know, right? It's a real problem on /lit/

her poems sound decent but they don't really have a discerning style or anything that makes them stand out. if she were famous and someone were to read a poem of hers out loud, i could not put the style to any particular person, because it seems any young poet who receives attention now kind of writes the same way as the others.

>>3545051
that's just how tumblr is

>>3548326
in addition, i suppose that is what these creative writing courses are for. i mean she can demonstrate how to conceive, shape, and finish a poem, so now the education is about giving yourself a result that isn't sylvia plath 2013 with less mention of hooks

>>3547938
Am I the only one that would be deathly afraid of getting a momentary insanity and just push myself of the edge?

>>3548414
Or even just sort of slipping

>>3548420
No, you are not alone. I think we are all afraid we might jump.

>>3548427
But he's clearly alone

>>3548414
>>3548420
>>3548427
>>3548439
Almost a poem in itself.

>>3544853
>corner of your eye

she's not going to win the marianne moore award any time soon. for me the poem fell apart on the second line. poetry is about creating original language and imagery. according to google, "corner of your eye" produces 729,000 results. not exactly original. to be fair, if you would have included a beavershot, i might've been able to overlook the unoriginality.

>>3548427
>>3548420

that's known as a "death drive"

>>3548498
"not exactly original" produces 991,000 google results though

>>3548547
"Original...produces...results"
- anon

>>3548547

yeah but what doesnt pretend to be poetry

>>3548575

yeah but what i wrote doesnt pretend to be poetry

>>3547918

not sure if it applies to what you do, but one of things that was impressed upon writers where i went to school was how important it is to be careful about where you submit your material.

years ago, there used to be a guy on craigslist who would start poetry discussions. the CL goofs would race to compete with his pabulum. his writing was always junk. but every so often, someone would post something that was interesting to read. what the guy would do is steal the random poems, publish and sell them as his own. he surely was not the first person to do what he did.

>>3548146
I'll admit, didn't go into journalism with any illusions but even so I thought it was what I wanted to do.

>>3548414
>>3548420
>>3548427
>>3548439
>>3548485

We did it, /lit/. Expect a letter from the Iowa Writers' Workshop soon.

I honestly never expected to find material I could potentially masturbate to on /lit/. Consider those expectations properly subverted.

>>3546982
I know a guy that's as close to being a neckbeard as possible without actually having a beard: terrible "faux" hawk, overweight, gaudy graphic t-shirts, etc. but he takes pretty good pics and has likely banged a few (i.e. at least one) chicks he's photographed. I hate that fucker.

I go to Brooklyn College, OP. Tell me her name so I can give her a hearty case of vitamin D post haste

>>3549673
I am deathly afraid of a moments insanity
And pust myself off the edge
Or even just slip
We are not alone
We are afraid, we might hump
But he's clearly alone
Cantaloupe

>>3550457
Now this is writing!

>>3550457
>cantaloupe

I hope this becomes a canta-trope

I wish this fucking shitpostthread would fuck off and 404 already

You glorious bastards. This thread gave me a premise for a novel.

>>3548284
A couple times itt people have made posts upset about 4chan's bitter culture. Every time they include one big boy word, "incessantly"

The honest is a result of anonymity and the bitterness keeps the ego in check. If it doesn't sit well with you, there are plenty of internet communities that support identities.

In my opinion, she's definitely a shitty writer but it depends what you're comparing it to. She's much better than the average creative writing, journalist majors. I don't know any MFA's but I'm sure the majority are tasteless tools, too. I'd be pleasantly surprised to find out this is the quality of her writing, if she was my girlfriend I might even tell her I like it.

But it's shit.
Everything posted itt was crap. Cliche, hollow, sophomoric. It really annoyed me that it took until halfway through the thread >>3545504
before someone intelligent gave an honest criticism.

I'm going to masturbate to her.

>>3551782
Expect a letter from the Iowa Writers' Workshop soon.

>>3551763

>>3551893
>Expect a letter from the Iowa Writers' Workshop soon.

>>3551893

>>3551893
holy shit, thank you. I was accused of being a dick, or whatever. And I also think studying journalism is shigy.

Why /lit/ mad? You need to build up tolerances and stop being so insecure with your collective selves

>>3545504
>Fall of Troy lyrics

Doppelganger was fuckin golden!

>>3544853

>Yes to both. It's often confessional, auto-biographical, absurdist, emotionally driven, playful and heavily imagery based.

>this whole thread