I want to tell poets that the book itself is more important than the book tour, that the author's life is more important than the author's photo, that public engagement is more important than endless publicity, that honoring one's influences is more important... than being an influencer...but I know this is not really true. while all these things can be important, there is so much more social, cultural, and financial capital involved in the literary world, so much more focus on popularizing, commodifying, and branding poetry and poets..

APIA Heritage Month thread: Listen, if you want May to just be Asian America Heritage Month OR Pacific Islander Heritage Month--then disaggregate. There's no rule against it. However, if you claim AAPI, APA, or API, you have the ethical responsibility to fairly represent both... if you fail to represent both, you risk dismissing, erasing, belittling, and offending. if you are not knowledgeable of AA & PI, then just don't do it...instead spend this month educating yourself.