#BACKWORDS

BACKWORDS blog explores the intersection between presence and history. The blog is a platform that honors the moment of encounter that any one person experiences—with art, literature, music, performance, or place. Often, reflections fit multiple categories—the opposite of a news program or style blog, BACKWORDS is not preoccupied with immediacy. An event does not need to be current to be relevant, nor does a memory need to be close to its origins to hold its potency.

Featured Posts

2020 and The One Where We All Try to Stay Sane

Tunnel Vision: Preparing to Hike the Pacific Crest Trail

Giverny, This Way

Happy Holidays!

My First Foray Into The Wonderful Wallowas

Spice and Rain

Traveling with Less

Antibiotics and Balinese Dance, A Winning Combination

Let's Confuse Each Other In German: How I Turned 30 in Paris

BACKWORDS Press: Kevin Sampsell

When we first began dreaming up which writers we’d ask to be part of the inaugural BACKWORDS Press issue, Kevin Sampsell was the first person that came to my mind. With each printed piece no more than 300 characters long, I chose Sampsell because, after reading his novel, This is Between Us, I knew he was a master of the short-short form. The whole book is a collection of tightly framed vignettes, some sections only a single paragraph long, where each moment ended for me with

BACKWORDS Press: Elaina Ellis

This month of April, to celebrate the launch of our press and coinciding with Poetry Month, we at BACKWORDS would like to honor each of our writers from our inaugural printing. First up is the eloquent Elaina Ellis. Her bio, while impressive, cannot fully capture the presence she brings when performing her work. She is simultaneously an accomplished editor and poet. Ellis currently resides in the Seattle area of Washington, and brings true beauty to the words she forms and th

(dis)Place

What is place? Is it a mark on a map or a series of numbers and symbols that correspond to somewhere else? Is it located upon the topography of our bodies or in the geography of our minds, tucked into the folds of our imaginations like a diamond wedding ring sewn into the hem of a little girl’s pajamas? For me, to be a refugee and to be a person of the Vietnamese diaspora, the weight of these questions measures in silences and heartbeats not just in miles and distances. Recen

Bonobo & Levertov

Earmilk contributor Alex Leonard claims that British composer DJ Simon Green’s, aka Bonobo, electronic music has been described as “…sounds without genres and timeless to all demographics.” Here, at BACKWORDS Blog, we treat any occasion as an event worth resting in, and Bonobo’s music represents that ethos in audio. BACKWORDS Blog is a platform that honors the moment of encounter that any one person experiences—with art, literature, music, performance, or place. Often, guest

Our Poison Horse

Derrick Brown’s latest book of poetry, Our Poison Horse, will not disappoint long-time readers and newcomers alike. If you haven’t heard of Derrick Brown, you may recognize his small press Write Bloody Publishing. He has published rock-star-esque spoken word poets such as Portland’s bright Mindy Nettifee, Seattle’s eloquent Elaina Ellis, the ever-touring likes of Buddy Wakefield or Andrea Gibson, and the profound Anis Mojgani. You can search the full list of authors on Write

This is War! (Part 1)

Living in Portland, Oregon for over two years has opened a lot of doors for me, especially with access to both old and emerging art and literature. Through volunteering with a local nonprofit, Literary Arts, I’ve had some amazing chances to meet and listen to visiting artists such as Ann Patchett, Michael Chabon, and Julia Alvarez. Literary Arts has also opened new doors into the types of novels I have read. In the past, through the Literary Arts' Delve Readers Seminars, I ha

"After Thoughts" by Oddisee

Emcee and music producer Oddisee’s twelve track instrumental album The Beauty in All (2013) is an emblem of his creative process. He tours and performs between 100 to 120, sometimes 180 shows a year, so to make music he’s adjusted his recording studio to a mobile one with a hard drive full of samples, headphones, and a laptop. In an interview on Nah Right, Oddisee shared that his music is influenced by his environment, “I’m always trying to find the beauty in everything I see

Geneviève Asse, Triptyque Lumière

Sometime in 2012, I started attending art museums and galleries because I wanted to include different modalities beyond those of literature and words. This was spurred by my interest in writers that were challenging or playing with traditional narrative and poetic form in ways that seemed architectural or painterly in scope. They treated the text as objects to be stacked and arranged, and were often accused of being haphazard and without purpose. But with some patience and a

Finding Grace Land

Recently I was in Kentucky for work and was lucky enough to have some leisure time. I drove to Memphis, a city I’ve only ever known because of my cousin’s love of Elvis Presley. I couldn’t wait to go to Graceland so I could feel what she must have felt for him. Instead, when I arrived in my blue suede shoes, what I got was a theme park. The house was built in 1939 and purchased by Elvis in 1957. Graceland was once a proud estate home that Presley had bought to care for his el

Leading Light: Suniti Dernovsek & Holland Andrews

Studio 2 @ Zoomtopia from the outside looks like a dentist’s office, the old boxy kind from the 70s. The name might cull images of a room full of yoga mats for short-distance sprinters, but it is not. The venue has a sprung dance floor, modern theatrical lighting, an excellent sound system, and bleacher-style seating for 40-100 built from un-sanded birch wood. It also houses the N.E.W (New Expressive Works) artists residency program, which is how I came to see Suniti Dernovse

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