Let Me In. Dir. Matt Reeves. English, 2010. Horror film.
Another vampire movie? The knee-jerk reflex is of course to ask, why? Yet this film breaks, for me, new ground as the main character is a compelling, deftly controlling "twelve-year-old" little girl. Eternally living and yet on the brink of death if she is starved of human blood, she uses a nasty strain of co-dependence and grabs a boy every fifty years or so to do the killing for her. Why exactly they convince themselves to do this, I'm not sure, except for the fact that the girl is endearing (though, refreshingly not over-sexualized), seems more vulnerable than she is, and the boys she selects are lonely, weird, and need somebody whom they can help. So they grow up, taking care of this parasite by doing the dirty illegal work of murder and harvesting, while the girl who was their first love stays innocent in a string of apartments and drinks to her satisfaction. To be fair, the boy whom this film focuses on did get some help from her, both psychological and physical, in dealing with his bullies. Those jerks will never grace the halls of any school again. This movie features a strong, natural, and powerful, young female and makes the point that girls can hold a film together without exposing their cleavage.--olw (Written by Ola Liota Weinbaum)
For more information on this film, click on the film's title above.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
A Midsummer Night's Press Announces a Call for Submissions
http://amidsummernightspress.typepad.com/amsnp/2010/09/cfs-for-2-anthologies-of-jewish-gay-and-lesbian-poetry.html
A Midsummer Night's Press announces a call for submissions for two anthologies celebrating queer Jewish poetry:
Flamboyant: A Celebration of Jewish Gay Poetry
edited by Lawrence Schimel
and
Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry
edited by Julie R. Enszer
to be published in Spring 2011.
"We are looking for poems that celebrate and question, meditate and intimate, argue and reconcile contemporary queer Jewish identity. What is queer Jewish experience in the twenty-first century? What poetry expresses queer Jewishness today?
Whether you write about interfaith queer parenting, cruising in shul, how it feels to sign a ketubah in a country that won't recognize our same-sex marriages, fetishing a sheggitz or being fetishized, we want to read about it and share it with others who want to read it as well.
What are our sacred texts for today? If they don't yet exist, write them. What are our queer Jewish blessings, curses and prayers?
While there is a rich tradition of queer Jewish writers who have made an indelible mark on our literature over the years, from Gertrude Stein and Adrienne Rich, to Allen Ginsberg and Edward Field, we are looking for work that reflects queer Jewish identity in the new (secular) millennium. As such, we are open to either unpublished work, or work that was published since 2000 (this would include work originally published in a magazine or anthology before 2000, which was later collected in a book published after 2000).
We welcome voices from across the spectrum of Jewish identity, from observant to merely cultural, and their intersections with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identities and experiences. We are open to all styles of poetry, from formal to free verse. We welcome queer Jewish voices from outside the U.S., and are willing to consider translations into English (It is the translator's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem in English).
Both anthologies are open to previously published work, but it is the poet's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem.
We welcome work from Jewish trans poets, as long as the content of the work is revelant to either gay or lesbian experience.
There is no limit to the number of poems which may be submitted, as long as the Jewish and queer content are both relevant."
Submission instructions:
Payment will be three copies of the anthology per contributor.
About the editors:
Lawrence Schimel is the author or anthologist of over 100 books, including Found Tribe: Jewish Coming Out Stories; Kosher Meat; Best Gay Poetry 2008; First Person Queer; PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality; Two Boys in Love; The Future is Queer; etc. He has won the Lambda Literary Award (twice), an Independent Publisher Book Award, the Spectrum Award, and other honors. He writes in both English and Spanish, and his work has been translated into 27 languages.
Julie R. Enszer is the author of the poetry collection Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night's Press, 2010) and the chapbook Sisterhood (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010). Her work has appeared in numerous Jewish, feminist and queer publications, including Bridges; Jewish Women's Literary Annual; Sinister Wisdom; Calyx; Women's Review of Books; Feminist Studies; Washington Blade; Lambda Book Report; etc. She is also the founder of the Lesbian Poetry Archive.
About the publisher:
A Midsummer Night's Press is an independent poetry publisher, publishing primarily in two imprints:
A Midsummer Night's Press announces a call for submissions for two anthologies celebrating queer Jewish poetry:
Flamboyant: A Celebration of Jewish Gay Poetry
edited by Lawrence Schimel
and
Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry
edited by Julie R. Enszer
to be published in Spring 2011.
"We are looking for poems that celebrate and question, meditate and intimate, argue and reconcile contemporary queer Jewish identity. What is queer Jewish experience in the twenty-first century? What poetry expresses queer Jewishness today?
Whether you write about interfaith queer parenting, cruising in shul, how it feels to sign a ketubah in a country that won't recognize our same-sex marriages, fetishing a sheggitz or being fetishized, we want to read about it and share it with others who want to read it as well.
What are our sacred texts for today? If they don't yet exist, write them. What are our queer Jewish blessings, curses and prayers?
While there is a rich tradition of queer Jewish writers who have made an indelible mark on our literature over the years, from Gertrude Stein and Adrienne Rich, to Allen Ginsberg and Edward Field, we are looking for work that reflects queer Jewish identity in the new (secular) millennium. As such, we are open to either unpublished work, or work that was published since 2000 (this would include work originally published in a magazine or anthology before 2000, which was later collected in a book published after 2000).
We welcome voices from across the spectrum of Jewish identity, from observant to merely cultural, and their intersections with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identities and experiences. We are open to all styles of poetry, from formal to free verse. We welcome queer Jewish voices from outside the U.S., and are willing to consider translations into English (It is the translator's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem in English).
Both anthologies are open to previously published work, but it is the poet's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem.
We welcome work from Jewish trans poets, as long as the content of the work is revelant to either gay or lesbian experience.
There is no limit to the number of poems which may be submitted, as long as the Jewish and queer content are both relevant."
Submission instructions:
- Title file with the initials of the anthology and author's last name: F-Surname.doc or MH-Surname.doc
- Include your name, your mailing address, your email address, and a bio WITHIN the .doc file with your essay, as submissions will be separated from emails to be read.
- Submit your work by email as an attachment in .doc or .rtf format to: queerjewishpoetry@gmail.com
Payment will be three copies of the anthology per contributor.
About the editors:
Lawrence Schimel is the author or anthologist of over 100 books, including Found Tribe: Jewish Coming Out Stories; Kosher Meat; Best Gay Poetry 2008; First Person Queer; PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality; Two Boys in Love; The Future is Queer; etc. He has won the Lambda Literary Award (twice), an Independent Publisher Book Award, the Spectrum Award, and other honors. He writes in both English and Spanish, and his work has been translated into 27 languages.
Julie R. Enszer is the author of the poetry collection Handmade Love (A Midsummer Night's Press, 2010) and the chapbook Sisterhood (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010). Her work has appeared in numerous Jewish, feminist and queer publications, including Bridges; Jewish Women's Literary Annual; Sinister Wisdom; Calyx; Women's Review of Books; Feminist Studies; Washington Blade; Lambda Book Report; etc. She is also the founder of the Lesbian Poetry Archive.
About the publisher:
A Midsummer Night's Press is an independent poetry publisher, publishing primarily in two imprints:
- Fabula Rasa, dedicated to work inspired by myth and fairy tale, which has published Fortune's Lover: A Book of Tarot Poems by Rachel Pollack, and Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Schimel
- Body Language, devoted to queer poetry, which has published "This is What Happened in Our Other Life" by Achy Obejas; "Banalities" by Brane Mozetic, translated by Elizabeti Zargi; "Handmade Love" by Julie R. Enszer; and "Mute" by Raymond Luczak.
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