The Lazuli Reading Series aims to explore the intertextual connections between works published in our journal, AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought, and classical and theoretical pieces of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The guided discussions may feature author readings, dramatic performances, and live insights by expert scholars.
Join us for our Feb 27 discussion on Mrs. Dalloway, Jacob's Room, and "Luzanky"!
Next up: "Still Sort of Weeping the Substance": Sugar Cane and Blood in the Artistic Imagination (March 29)
Join us for our Feb 27 discussion on Mrs. Dalloway, Jacob's Room, and "Luzanky"!
Next up: "Still Sort of Weeping the Substance": Sugar Cane and Blood in the Artistic Imagination (March 29)
"Think of yourself rather as something much humbler and less spectacular, but to my mind far more interesting—a poet in whom live all the poets of the past, from whom all poets in time to come will spring. You have a touch of Chaucer in you, and something of Shakespeare; Dryden, Pope, Tennyson—to mention only the respectable among your ancestors—stir in your blood and sometimes move your pen a little to the right or to the left. In short you are an immensely ancient, complex, and continuous character, for which reason please treat yourself with respect and think twice before you dress up as Guy Fawkes and spring out upon timid old ladies at street corners, threatening death and demanding twopence-halfpenny." - Virginia Woolf, "A Letter to a Young Poet"
Each of our discussion groups involves several components. Over the course of a month (sometimes a bit less and sometimes a bit more, depending on the relative hefts of the texts at hand), we will hold weekly optional "Reading Rooms" on Zoom, culminating in one formal discussion of the featured works. You may choose to attend the 4-week experience or solely the main discussion.
Main Discussion: Literary Analysis (online)
We will engage in a guided discussion of one AZURE work in conversation with works of classic literature and any associated theoretical texts. These may include other writings by the authors (diaries, reflections), artifacts of the work's historical reception, or analytical work by scholars in the field. Sessions will be led by scholars well-versed in the topics under discussion. Whether you have read these works in the past or have delved into them specifically for this discussion, we hope to engage you in a fruitful and insightful experience!
Author Reading (online)
In addition to our literary analyses of the texts, some (but not all) main discussion sessions will feature a reading of select passages of the AZURE work by the author. In many cases, the author will stay to lead, participate, or answer questions.
Reading Room (online)
These are drop-in sessions of dedicated, individual reading time that we will host online during the weeks leading up to your session. Our aim is to provide you with a virtual coffeehouse--you are welcome to drop in when you like, keep your camera on or off, and use the chat or the voice/speaking features on Zoom to discuss your ongoing experience with the reading material. The idea is to provide you with a time and space in which you can focus on the act of reading as an end in itself; to immerse yourself in a world of literature amongst a group. If you come across a beautiful line or a breathtaking insight and look up and hope for someone to share it with... well, you will have that. Some friendly guidelines will be in place, of course, to guard against literary spoilers (no one wants to accidentally overhear or flit across a mention of the ending of Bleak House 400 pages too early, after all!). You are welcome to mute the group when you need privacy or to come in and leave as you wish (there is no obligation to stay until the end and no requirement to arrive on time). If you're having trouble finding the time to commit to reading as much as you often wish you could, here is your space to do it!
Main Discussion: Literary Analysis (online)
We will engage in a guided discussion of one AZURE work in conversation with works of classic literature and any associated theoretical texts. These may include other writings by the authors (diaries, reflections), artifacts of the work's historical reception, or analytical work by scholars in the field. Sessions will be led by scholars well-versed in the topics under discussion. Whether you have read these works in the past or have delved into them specifically for this discussion, we hope to engage you in a fruitful and insightful experience!
Author Reading (online)
In addition to our literary analyses of the texts, some (but not all) main discussion sessions will feature a reading of select passages of the AZURE work by the author. In many cases, the author will stay to lead, participate, or answer questions.
Reading Room (online)
These are drop-in sessions of dedicated, individual reading time that we will host online during the weeks leading up to your session. Our aim is to provide you with a virtual coffeehouse--you are welcome to drop in when you like, keep your camera on or off, and use the chat or the voice/speaking features on Zoom to discuss your ongoing experience with the reading material. The idea is to provide you with a time and space in which you can focus on the act of reading as an end in itself; to immerse yourself in a world of literature amongst a group. If you come across a beautiful line or a breathtaking insight and look up and hope for someone to share it with... well, you will have that. Some friendly guidelines will be in place, of course, to guard against literary spoilers (no one wants to accidentally overhear or flit across a mention of the ending of Bleak House 400 pages too early, after all!). You are welcome to mute the group when you need privacy or to come in and leave as you wish (there is no obligation to stay until the end and no requirement to arrive on time). If you're having trouble finding the time to commit to reading as much as you often wish you could, here is your space to do it!
Virginia Woolf & Luzanky
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"Luzanky" by V.B. Borjen (short story)
in conversation with: Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf With author V.B. Borjen Discussion led by Sakina B. Fakhri (editor of AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought and co-founder of Lazuli Literary Group) Location: Online (Zoom) Main Session (registration open) Saturday, Feb 27: 2pm-4pm ET Reading Rooms (registration closed) Wednesday, Feb 10: 7pm-9pm ET Thursday, Feb 18: 8pm-10pm ET Tuesday, Feb 23: 8pm-10pm ET *As this will be Lazuli's first discussion group, we would like to extend a special offer to those who enroll in this installment of our series. With a purchase including the Reading Room package, you will receive unlimited access to any Reading Rooms (for this and upcoming installments) until June 15, 2021. $35 (Main session only); $95 (Main session + Reading Rooms) |
“Still Sort of Weeping the Substance”: Sugar Cane and Blood in the Artistic Imagination
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Perhaps there had been joy for them in finding that sugar could be made from blood.
—Edwidge Danticat in The Farming of Bones (1998) 
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When sculptor Kara Walker installed “A Subtlety” (2014) in New York’s defunct Domino Sugar factory, she described her entire body of work as somehow “subsumed or consumed” by history. She was, in that instance, linking her 75-foot long, sugar-covered mammy sculpture to several centuries of sugar cane as a crop, commodity, and cause for cruelty. Since 1493, sugar cane has implicated itself in this hemisphere’s conscripted labor, enslavement, and other imperialist indulgences that have not escaped the attention of our artists. As a source of greed and sweetness—steeped in violence, rebellion, delight, and diabetes—sugar cane continues to capture the attention of creatives who bear witness to its significance. Many of these artists continue to make clear that we are “still sort of weeping the substance” of sugar, as Walker said of the Domino factory walls dripping in molasses.
On March 29th at 7 pm, join poet and scholar Sarah T. in her exploration of this history through the aesthetic choices of artists from across the Caribbean and the Americas. This 2-hour seminar samples work that invokes sugar cane across a broad range of topics, with special emphasis on Walker’s installation, Euzhan Palcy’s Sugar Cane Alley (1983), Jean Toomer’s Cane (1923), and Sarah T.’s own adaption (2016) of Toomer’s work. Multi-award-winning voice actor Jeannie Brown Johnson will read one selection aloud. Course Materials Course materials are under $10.00, total. They are easily accessible and can studied over the course of a weekend or one very long, lavish, literary day:
Main Session Monday, Mar 29: 7pm-9pm ET Reading Rooms/Virtual Coffeehouses (optional) We will be reading and discussing poetry by Sonia Sanchez in the weeks leading up to the main session. Join us! Monday, Mar 15: 7pm-9pm ET Monday, Mar 22: 7pm-9pm ET $35 (Main session only); $75 (Main session + Reading Rooms) Sarah T. is a poet, a spoken word artist, and a creative nonfiction writer. She practices research-based, archivally sourced writing in each of the creative forms that she engages. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Everyday Feminism, The Washington Independent Review of Books, AZURE literary journal, the Santa Fe Writer’s Project Quarterly, DCist, Sally Hemings Dreams 'zine, Grace in Darkness anthology of DC metro-area women writers, Radical Teacher, 1455, and Voice Male. She has written two books: It Was the Scarlet that Did It (poems, 2019) and This Past Was Waiting for Me (essays and poems, 2018). In 2019, she was awarded the American Studies Association's Gloria E. Anzaldúa Award for Independent Scholars for her body of work. |
To be announced soon...
Blood Meridian & Lawton, Oklahoma
Coming soon!
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"Lawton, Oklahoma" by Mark Lawley (Wikifiction)
in conversation with: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (novel) and other texts Discussion led by author Mark Lawley (Cormac McCarthy scholar) Mark Lawley holds a BA from Dartmouth College, where he was a Rufus Choate Scholar and graduated with High Honors, and two master’s degrees in the humanities from NYU completed under Pulitzer Prize-winning and acclaimed professors. He has worked an adjunct lecturer at New York University, a guest lecturer at Stony Brook, and an adjunct professor at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. He chases his dreams by writing novels, short stories, and piano compositions and has won several national awards for his work. Further details TBD |
Edgar Allan Poe & The Looking Glass of Arthur Gordon Pym
Coming soon!
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"The Looking Glass of Arthur Gordon Pym" (short story) by Frank Meola
in conversation with: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (novel) Discussion led by Sakina B. Fakhri (editor of AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought and co-founder of Lazuli Literary Group) Further details TBD |