I’m delighted by the enthusiastic welcome back I got from y’all over the weekend. Honestly, I’ve resisted thinking too much about why I needed to step away, but I’m truly grateful for the grace y’all have given me. ANYWAY, your favorite agent of chaos is back!
Also, it looks like many of y’all loved the failed essay idea in particular so I thought I’d record a voice memo discussing it in a bit more detail.
When I mentioned to my friend, poet Tiana Clark, that I had invited my students to write a failed essay on purpose, she replied “I love the idea of failure as a form.” The elegant insight of her response is why I’d live in conversation with poets even if I wasn’t a poet myself.
Moving forward, I think I will save my voice memos for paid subscribers but since I’m still getting back into the flow of things, this one is on the house.
xoxo, Saeed
PS — I don’t tweet anymore. Bad vibes! But you can follow me on BlueSky which is like twitter, but without all the Nazis.
PSS — Have you read this profile of Ta-Nehisi Coates??? “A decade after “The Case for Reparations,” he is ready to take on Israel, Palestine, and the American media.” WHEW. Definitely worth checking out. Maybe we can talk about it in the comments?
PSSS — Pre-order Tiana’s forthcoming book here.
Some More Thoughts on "Failed" Essays