Hello hello from my mid-August to yours! This letter is coming a little lateā¦ and I have some exciting things to share. Some I can tell you, some I can tease.
Okay first piece of news (this is a news-letter, after all) so extra, extra read all about it, deep breath, here we go!
After a dramatic breakup letter with academia last year, soul searching, and a fervent desire to make a more long-term home in this city ā¦ your girl is going back to school! Iāve been accepted into a doctoral program here in Lisbon. Starting this February, Iāll be a PhD candidate in Translation Studies at an inter-university program between NOVA (full-circleā¦ this is where I studied for a semester) and Universidade CatĆ³lica Portuguesa. Iām excited to deepen my relationship with literary translation and study translator impacts on social movements past and present.
If nothing else, in about four years I can ask customers to call me doctor when I give them a lapdance. I guess I could have been doing that all along ā¦
soft announcement: Iām going to have a full-length poetry book coming out in 2022!!! <3 I will have more details, reflections, and feels to share as the months progress. For now Iāll say this; I feel terrified, elated, and overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude towards the protracted accordian of past selves that have led me here, sighing and collapsing into the present moment. Gratitude towards each of youā everyone who has continued to fuck with me & my workā¦ collaborators, readers, respectful instagram lurkers. Thank you. I love you.
Other pieces of thingsā not news persay, but seeds of thoughts to come:
Postcards are so funny. They show their whole ass for everyone to see.
Stigma towards Brazilians is a very real thing here. Thereās a widely-held perception that Brazilian women are scammers and con artists. Iāll have more to say about this soon, especially in relation to a concept I learned recently called lusotropicalism.
& last but definitely not least, you can sign up for my paid tier! For 7 dollars monthly, youāll receive:Ā
Access to hot new poems / and long-form work (posted weekly)Ā <3
Interviews/ intimate conversations with other artists and creators.
Access to special features, interactive columns. Hereās an eample of one such column:
Bad Advice OnlyĀ
Gossiping with your best friend meets Ask Abby on psychedelics. This is not your mamaās advice column.Ā
Submit your question/ situation and receive a poetic, oracular, nonsensical response to your qualm. Take what serves you & leave the rest.Ā Ā
This paid tier will support submission feesĀ & my ongoing development as a writer and artist.
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This monthly newsletter will always be free! You can continue to enjoy in perpetuity and I will never try to sell you a coaching program. To support my going back to school, penchant for shiny undergarments, bougie cat food for Magda, my Venmo is @duffylala