Known for his bestselling memoirs and as an acclaimed poet, Nick Flynn in Stay presents a self-portrait via a constellation of topics that the author has circled-or have circled him-in his work: suicide, homelessness, addiction, political engagement, artistic friendships.
Low explores the jaggedness of memory and what is salvageable when the past is broken by loss, violence, and trauma. Punctuating Nick Flynn’s signature lyric poems are prose pieces and sequences, veering toward essays, including “Notes on a Calendar Found in a Stranger’s Apartment,” a truly strange experience of cataloging a deceased neighbor’s belongings and how quickly they become worthless; “Notes on Thorns & Blood,” a study of time and wounds; and “Notes on a Year of Corona,” a loose sonnet crown about the early stages of the pandemic and the unrest after racist police violence. Despite its existential reverberations, Low is a celebration of desire in all its forms—the desire for home, the desire to be held, the desire for people to be kind to one another, the desire to understand where we are from and what we can do to make the best of that. But how do we create a home, these poems ask, in a world of satellites and atom bombs and algorithms, those things designed to dehumanize and reduce us? To get low is to reconnect with the earth, to engage with the emotional state of the planet, to remember that “the cure all along grows beside us.” Flynn’s collection is a prismatic, even prophetic, experience, with new complexity and ardor at every turn.
Nick Flynn chronicles the surreal experience of being on set during the making of the film Being Flynn, from his best-selling memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, and watching the central events of his life reenacted: his father's long run of homelessness and his mother's suicide.
The narrative explores the lasting impact of a traumatic childhood event, as Nick Flynn revisits his past after becoming a father. Through lyrical bedtime stories, he confronts his memories, intertwining themes of loss and resilience. The character of Mister Mann embodies the darkness and vulnerability of Flynn's early experiences, illustrating how these elements shape his identity and parenting. This poignant reflection captures the complexities of familial bonds and the quest for understanding amidst a tumultuous upbringing.
Nick Flynn met his father when he was twenty-seven years old, working as a caseworker in a homeless shelter in Boston. As a teenager he'd received letters from this mystery father - self-proclaimed poet (and greatest American novelist since Mark Twain), descendant of the Romanov dynasty, alcoholic, and con-man doing time for bank robbery - but there had been no contact. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (a phrase Flynn senior uses to describe his life on the streets) tells the story of the eerie trajectory that led Nick and his father into that homeless shelter, onto those streets, and finally to each other. With a raw authenticity, telling honesty and a dark but necessary humour, Nick Flynn's memoir breathes new life and vigour into the form. In passionate and playful prose Another Bullshit Night in Suck City illuminates the emotional and physical consequences of a relationship between father and son that exists, if at all, in a void.
"WHATEVER SHIRLEY OR NICK TELL YOU-BELIEVE THEM." - Naomi Shihab Nye How do we read a poem? What can we teach from a poem we love? This book addresses these questions by inviting preservice and inservice teachers, staff developers, and anyone interested in integrating poetry into their lives and classrooms. It offers a close examination of poetry inquiries in primary through middle school settings. Each chapter features a mentor poem to spark discussion, accompanied by a narrative reflecting the authors' perspectives through a specific poetic lens. Readers are guided into a classroom writer's workshop, where vignettes, conversations, and mini-lessons explore key elements of poetic practice over time. Teachers will find valuable resources for designing and conducting inquiries around mentor poems, including mini-lessons that guide students from initial exploration to in-depth extensions, student writing samples showcasing various stages of development, and insights from beloved poets that inspire teaching. Appendixes provide additional resources such as book lists, charts, and conference transcripts. This book demonstrates how to help student writers draw inspiration from the poems they love, fostering a writing life that encourages them to find and craft their own voices.