The Herd: One-Year Retrospective
INTENTIONS | 8.1.2020
Artist Statement of The Herd. Text reads, “May we be rooted in dusty hills, the sound of bee wings, and gentle reminders that we are not alone.”
We are at one year of The Herd, which has grown into an online community with 120 people. Some of you are family, some of you I’ve never met, and some of you I may have met randomly—in coffee shops, in Staples helping me print things, in writing workshops, in environmental education, in mentorships, in Shuffle, in passing—in and around and about.
To date, we’ve had 12 issues and 10 featured artists, as well as over 50 shared online and virtual events in the “Happenings” section. Maybe those numbers don’t mean much, but the people behind them do.
To any and all artists, I admire the sweat and hard work that goes into the daily grind; and for many of us, often the hours of work “after work…” where you do your work work—that is, the writing, the singing, the rapping, the sculpting—the way you take a bit of the world and mold it, process it, challenge it.
Looking at the next year, I hope The Herd can grow as an online space for creative recharge, for thought exchange, and for interdisciplinary connection.
I don’t have plans besides that, with this monthly literary newsletter. I believe in the power of words to inspire fruitful action and necessary change. I cling to this belief.
We’re only at one year here with The Herd. Let’s see what we can happen, and what we can make of what unfolds next.
Together, let’s stay awake.
-Allie
CREATIVITY CRUSH | Year in Review
10 incredible artists shared their projects, art, and thoughts with us over this first year of The Herd. Each of these artists were generous with their time to be interviewed here, as well as generous in their human spirit and rooted belief in the power of art.
Their ongoing work and dedication to push the boundaries of music, of poetry, of sculpture, of paint—it is rivetting.
Thank you Emily, thank you Adi, thank you Ruth, thank you Laura, thank you Katia, thank you Tara, thank you Daniel, thank you Melinda, thank you Brett, and thank you Dania.
Truly, deeply. Thank you.
Since August 2019, we were able to feature:
Emily Nadel — ceramicist and beader
Adi Wickham-Gobert — musician
Ruth Galm — novelist
Laura Ståhlberg — art director
Katia Aoun Hage — visual artist & poet
Tara K. Shepersky — poet and photographer
Daniel Eugene — MC, songwriter, and creator
Melinda — multimedia artist
Brett Benson — poet
Dania Ayah Alkhouli — poet & nonprofit manager
Looking for an artist to support and appreciate? Why not pick one of the artist’s above and explore their work—buy their book, rate their album, or share on social media about their art!
#ArtistsSupportingArtists
Remember back to November 2019? We had a Fall Harvest Special Issue, where Herders were invited to share any of their work.
That issue, we featured art and poetry by Rob Jackson, The Doodler, Tara Shepersky, Brett Benson, Meyya Tabbaa, Mason Fernandez, Kevin Dick, Harriet Patterson, Julia Rigby, Zeina Baltagi, and Kelly Alsup. Some of these artists had never shared their art in a public way like this before, while others had. In May, we also had two short stories, Meditation and Mother’s Day, debut from Sarkık Kulaklı, a writer using a pen name that means “lop-eared” in Turkish.
Mark your calendars for The Herd’s annual Fall Harvest, where everyone is invited and encouraged to share their work.* Entries will be due via email by October 15th. You can submit artwork via photos, portions of any of your writing, your unpublished or published poetry, your unpublished or published short stories, your studio (if you have one), your response to one of our prompts… lots of options!
In your email submission, please include any websites or social media handles (if any) as well as a 1-3 sentence bio.
*Whether you’ve submitted your work 100 times before or not at all, it can still be intimidating to submit your work—it can also feel really exhilerating. Of course, rejection can feel personal. My work gets rejected right and left. Why not take a leap here?
AUGUST WRITING PROMPT | Time Traveling
Big thank you to my sister and supporter, Julia Edith Rigby, for her original artwork.
Did you know that Merriam-Webster Dictionary lets you travel time now?
This Time Traveler application shows the year a word first appeared in print, and/or was recorded by Merriam-Webster. Type a year that has meaning to you, and then incorporate 5-10 of the words from that year into a freewrite.* No rules. Write whatever comes to mind. How many of these words are already dated? Familiar? Too familiar??
*This prompt is from Poets & Writer’s magazine.
QUICK LIT REVIEW | Year in Review
Did you read any of the books from our Quick Lit Reviews? Since Issue I in August 2019, we offered brief endorsements and critique of several books of poetry, as well as longer works of fiction, short stories, nonfiction, and more. Do you have a favorite from the list below?
Lit Reviews in Order of Appearance:
Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias.
The Book of Delights — Ross Gay
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous — Ocean Vuong
There There — Tommy Orange
The Overstory — Richard Powers
Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers — Jake Skeets
The Collected Schizophrenias — Esmé Weijun Wang
Autumn Light — Pico Iyer
1919 — Eve L. Ewing
This section of The Herd is often quite short, and often the first thing dropped when time is running low. Fellow Herders, should we make the reviews a bit meatier? Drop them altogether? Is there another section in The Herd you’d like to see more of? Less of? Equal amounts of?
We’re always open to your feedback as we grow this monthly newsletter and online community!
10 HAPPENINGS | 8.1.20
Poems from Quarantine with Tommy Pico, Karla Brundage, Preeti Vangani, Nazelah Jamison, and Danielle Bero.
From Shuffle’s Weekend of Words Literary Festival, Poems from Quarantine with Tommy Pico, Karla Brundage, and More. Featuring Tommy Pico, Karla Brundage, Preeti Vangani, Nazelah Jamison, and Danielle Bero.
August 5th 7:00 PM PST — “Coming Together When Things Fall Apart” from Bay Area Book Fest. Register for an email reminder of event here. Featuring authors Anthony Doerr, Viet Thanh Nguyen, R.O. Kwon, and Danielle Evans.
Flash Fiction Open Mic! August 19th, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PST. “Share your flash fiction examining the truths and the lies we’re uncovering amid this global pandemic.” Event moderated by author Lyzette Wanzer.
August 26th 7:00 PM PST — “What the Secret Social Networks of Fungi Reveal About Nature’s Genius and Being Human.” From Bay Area Book Fest, please register for an email reminder here. With Merlin Sheldrake and Michael Pollan.
Gayl Jones is Releasing Her First Novel in 21 Years. “Jones’s early novels were shepherded by Toni Morrison, then an editor at Random House, who’d dedicated herself to publishing Black writers, especially women,” from The Best American Novelist Whose Name You Might Not Know, by Calvin Baker.
Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund, brought to you by Shade Literary Arts, has supported 148 writers so far. Fundraiser remains open for the remainder of 2020.
Want to write a few postcards? Consider this postcard writing campaign with Reclaim Our Vote, a nonpartisan voter outreach program whose mission is to empower underrepresented and deregistered voters.
Who is Reading Who? Compilation of What 100 Writers Have Been Reading During Quarantine, by Emily Temple.
How Can Artists Use Their Practice to Support Urgent Social Causes? Article by writer, curator, and educator, Anuradha Vikram.
A Conversation with Caz Azevedo. Artist and UC Davis MFA graduate, Caz Azevedo, interviewed by artist and UC Davis MFA graduate Julia Edith Rigby.
Bonus! What Are Bay Area Artists Creating Amid the Pandemic? Another fabulous article by Iris M. Crawford.
That’s it for Issue XII of The Herd. Feel free to comment below, share The Herd, and let us know your thoughts. This is a project in the making, and we are open to your ideas!
The Herd is a literary newsletter that celebrates artistic expression and elevates artists who build community and foster connection.