WORD FROM THE WORMHOLE - MAY 2023
We went straight from Offprint to Young to host our first Compost Library ‘Write what’s RIGHT’ session. Thank you to everyone who came and shared their afternoon writing with us. We’ve been keeping busy with our morning pages and we hope you have been too.
If you didn’t manage to make it, you can join us on the 31st of May for the next session. We can brief you on week one, and if you can’t make it to the in person sessions, the course material is available too for you to complete at your own pace at home.
Book here.
Thank you Worm London for the flowers <3
Next Monday Reference Point is hosting our Monthly Book Club, where we’ll be discussing Simple Passion by Annie Ernuax. Meet us there, 2 Arundel St Temple, London, WC2R 3DA at 7pm BST or head over to https://www.wormsmagazine.com/bookclub to sign up and receive the zoom link.
WHAT’S NEW ON THE WORMHOLE
Larissa Pham, Anna Nicole Smith, Olivia Laing, Maggie Nelson - May in the Wormhole has been busy too. We have a film review by Worms editor Arcadia Molinas, a new set of reviews from Delia Rainey and the return of our Worms Digest.
We Cannot Read the Darkness
Worms editor Arcadia Molinas wrote about Narah T. Coelt’s short film To Have a Lover, a surreal, vampiric breakup film, reminiscent of the likes of Boy Meets Girl by Leos Carax or Possession by Andrzej Żuławski.
Breakups take you to dark places, an entire part of you is ripped out of your body and psyche by force, but that doesn’t mean that the talismans we make of them cannot be beautiful. What often comes out of that search is a contradictory balance of pain and light. As Nelson writes, “We cannot read the darkness. We cannot read it. It is a form of madness, albeit a common one, that we try.”
~*~*~*~*~*what delia read recently~*~*~*~*~
Simone White’s writing style is piercing, plucked yet never-ending, lucid and dream-tugging. The poetry contains motherhood and memory and personal history and sometimes sea creatures. The essay is about Black music (and Black writing) in conversation with Amiri Baraka and Du Bois, Fred Moten and Nathanial Mackey, and then considering contemporary rap and trap music and what the purpose of music is.
WORMS DIGEST
I came across this book through Delia Rainey’s reviews and felt incredibly drawn to it for its discussions on the ethical implications of writing from personal experience, drawing from other people. Particularly in the chapter concerned with writing about other people, "A Big Shitty Party", where I had previously considered only the approach from the writer's perspective - one's own experiences are theirs to talk about - I was forced to confront the reality that stories are "a process and product of radical reduction" and the consequences of this.
I read in bell hooks’ Communion: The Female Search For Love that women refuse to develop beyond being—or are pressured to remain—girls because that is the most loveable they will ever be to their fathers. […] I feel like Anna just wanted the love of her father so desperately, and when she finally found him, she realised that even this man, idolised at a distance, would hurt her.
I have Hilma Af Klint’s book ‘Notes and Methods’ which is a reprint of some of her working notebooks whilst she was making work, and I’ve been dipping in and out of that. She was completely rejected as an artist when she was alive (a reflection of the time) and the most shocking part of the documentary is when they compare work by male artists (Andy Warhol, Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers and more) who made art directly influenced by her and received huge acclaim for their work, despite it being years after hers was put into the world and completely ignored.
WORMS SHOP
Offprint took a dent at our wares but we still have some Worm Socks and Citation T-shirt’s available. Grab yours before they sell out!
The one and only Martine Syms wearing the Worms hoodie <3
Is your relationship with writing melting down? Are you reading a book your best friend recommended that you're hating? Is your ex taking credit for all of your intellectual pursuits?
ASK AGONY AUNT
and share your readerly and writerly woes with Aunty Worm.
Dear Aunty Worm, love this new venture for you. This one's a classic: I love writing, I do it all the time, expressing myself in increasingly experimental ways. Problem is, so far no journal press or zine wants to publish me! Sharing my work is really important to me, and I have got a lot of experience doing so off my own back, but doing everything DIY gets real tiring. It would be nice to a) not have to always be my own promo machine b) reach new people & c) get the kinda recognition that comes from other cool queers liking and spreading my writing. The rejections or total silences are getting me down, and fucking with my ability to appreciate my peers who do get published. I don't want to become bitter! What should I do?
Hello sweet worm. Firstly let me start by saying I’m sorry you’re tired. I get tired all the time and it’s truly the pits. The only thing to help this issue is to rest and restore, and I believe the same can be applied to your relationship to writing.
By persevering and posting, you are showing that you write for yourself and no one else, which I think is the way writing should be.
It’s wonderful to be able to enjoy writing as so many people, especially in recent years, don’t experience how pleasurable it can be. Unfortunately we exist in an era where self-promoting is seemingly the only way to efficiently output, and our physical existence is entwined with our digital one. While contributing to journals can lighten the load slightly, ultimately, it is on you to promote your own work. Let’s be real, people don’t know shit if you don’t post about it. Continue to self-promote as it will only prove wrong to those who have doubted you. By persevering and posting, you are showing that you write for yourself and no one else, which I think is the way writing should be.
In regards to the rejections or total silences, while I can’t speak on behalf of those in charge of submissions, I would suggest you are always prepared to chase and follow. All of us must chase what we desire and while it can drag and become heavy hearted, try to never lose enthusiasm and sincerity. If your pursuits ultimately end in rejection, then reply with a smile and open yourself to constructive feedback. It could bite, but feedback might be the only way to make your work worthy of publishing. And If being published is what you truly seek, then ask for some detailed suggestions. It may be that expressing yourself in experimental formats doesn’t suit the tone or theme of the publication you submit to. Could it be a classic game of commissioning? Next time you reach out, try to open the conversation without an attached piece of work and ask if there is room for you to contribute. Everything is about finding the right moment, and working within someone else’s time frame might help bridge you into becoming a contributor.
Jealousy is a disease and you need the cure! Have you spoken about your woes to any of your writing peers? Being open and honest about your insecurities can be the first step. As well, trying to identify what you want in the presence of others can also help. For lack of a better word…. manifest.
If all of the above isn’t working, then continue to enjoy writing as a hobby, like me! Being able to enjoy something purely for self fulfilment is a rare and beautiful thing in today’s world.
Happy Fertilising!
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