#PhillipTrey

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

Falling for Florence and Jonathan

I’m not a podcast person. I have had more conversations about them than I can count, recommendation after recommendation pouring in, about which one to listen to next, or to try. “Trust me, you’ll love this one!” But let me just tell you: I’m not gonna fucking listen to it. I try and try but never make it past the five-minute mark. I can’t listen to audiobooks either. I don’t know if I’m too ADD, but they almost always bore me or I just end up tuning them out. All that change

Andrew Wyeth: an American Artist Everybody Knows(?)

There I was, in the MoMA for the first time ever and sick to my stomach, trying to use the art as a visual antacid. It was November two years ago, and my family and I were in New York City for a couple of days before flying to Florida to go on a week-long cruise for my brother’s 30th birthday. But before the beaches and warm weather, I found myself staring at original Van Goghs and other omnipresent artists in a world-class museum. While sluggishly scanning the rooms, I remem

Delightfully/Disappointingly Crazy

Love and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Spending Time in "Jacob's Room"

The first time I opened Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf I was 22 and on a plane to Las Vegas. I was going on a (mostly) impromptu weekend trip with 2 close college friends. I read some of Jacob on the plane, maybe 10 pages on the short flight heading south, and was less than hooked. The life of Virginia Woolf and her novel Mrs. Dalloway have been central to my favorite-things lists for as long as I can remember. I can never get enough of the brilliant and complex author, or th

Call Me By Your Synergy, Call Me By Your Name

For me, world-building is one of the greatest aspects of reading, but the images we translate with our own minds don’t always match what’s on the page. A person's life, what they’ve experienced up until whatever it is that they’re reading, impacts how the story plays out for them. I think that’s why film adaptations of a novel can attract such high levels of scrutiny – how does the page match the screen match your mind? This past Fall, in anticipation of the eagerly awaited f

Making a Habit of Standing When Love Walks into the Room, or The Price of (Long-Distance) Salt

I started reading Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt to get a boy to fall in love with me. I know, I know. It was as naive as it sounds, but my intentions were good. We had known (of) each other through the lens of the internet for several years before dating; through Tumblr, Instagram, and Snapchat. When internet-talking became texting every day, became Skyping as often as possible, I started to think of other ways to stay connected. I started seeing past the 3,088 miles

This Way to Longleat

“Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” – Sir Philip Sidney It was the third time we’d passed the small picture of a castle on a green road sign. It seemed to follow us around each roundabout we used that day. This way to Longleat. We were at the beginning of a planned-down-to-the-minute, 18-day road trip of southern England and Wales – but we were ahead of schedule. We’d already strolled through the history of Highclere Castle that morning (the place used for the TV

Wandering Through the Symphony

I’m making a habit of going to the symphony alone. It’s equal parts bad planning and an impulse decision, but this November, three hours before show time, I decided to attend the Oregon Symphony – again. I love a good excuse to dress up and struggle to tie a tie, even though part of the beauty in going to a symphony performance in Portland is that half the audience will be dressed to the nines, and the other half will be wearing flannel and beanies. It’s a beautiful mix. This

Goodbye Backwords Press: A Personal Note from Jenny

Photo Credit: Molly Choma When Phillip first suggested that we each write our “goodbyes,” I agreed. But as Phillip and Matty both submitted their drafts, I had yet to write mine. Not because it was too sad, necessarily, but because I had already moved through my feelings about it. The end has been long and slow. It’s a testament to our process. In the same generous way that Backwords Press carried those poems we have carried each other as business partners and most importantl

Goodbye Backwords Press: A Personal Note from Phillip

I don’t know what to say about something that has already been talked about so much behind the scenes. It feels like when you’ve over-rehearsed for a presentation and then can’t present, or readied a speech in your mind and then fall silent with an audience. But it’s important to us, to me, to share more than a formal announcement letter – some heart enmeshed in the business details. The main thing I’d like to express is gratitude to everyone involved – more than the sadness

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