Living versus Writing

Dear Readers:

I have had a tremendous summer so far and sharing with you some of these experiences is important to me. As I embarked on my intense estival journeys, I imagined that I would update you at least every few days on my various adventures and happenings, along with any insights that I gained along the way. But in fact, I kept a very busy schedule with not a lot of time for leisurely relaxation or even reflection. Instead, the intellectual process will effectively take place in the coming weeks, and the task at hand is to meditate on the past couple of months. What did I learn and how can I effectively convey my experiences into something more meaningful that goes beyond a personal level? How can I translate these empirical endeavors into my pedagogical practice and as it relates to my writing? So with these questions in mind, the objective will be to analyze these past occurrences and frame them in their proper context. This may seem like a vain exercise, but I have come to realize that I am not the best of multitaskers, and I am perfectly aware that admitting such a thing in our advanced technological age is practically heresy. However, I have discovered that I can either live life very intensely, or I can seclude myself in order to write and create. Recently, while reading a blog that I faithfully follow, Theodora Goss shares a very similar idea. In her July 4th blog post "Being in London," she explains that: "In order to contemplate, to gather myself together, to write. I think you can live or write, and if you’re living as intensely as I did last week, wandering everywhere, it’s very difficult to write. So that’s what I’m going to be doing over the next year. This is my summer of living intensely, a summer that’s teaching me so much. And then, I will withdraw into myself and see what I can create." Goss's reflection and acceptance of the complexity of the writing process itself gives me the courage to continue albeit the lentitude of my production and the spirical path that I usually take. Below are a few pictures that share some of the excitement and elation I experienced; hopefully this serves as a teaser for you to continue reading my blog!

Le 14 juillet 2012!!

Avec mon amie Rosana pendant le 14 juillet! Vive la France!

I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,

Sylvia 

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part IV (Final Update)

Dear Readers:


During the last update with respect to my final semester as a graduate student at the University of Houston, I recounted some of the tumultuous events that transpired as the academic session waned. Even though stress dominated these days and the hours seemed to stretch into years, my graduation day finally arrived. The ceremony began at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 11, 2012, at the Hofheinz Pavilion at UH. Although the ceremony was extraordinarily long, it was really awesome to be hooded for my doctoral degree by my wonderful director, Dr. María Elena Soliño.

Here I am with Dr. Soliño immediately after the ceremony.

From left to right: Dr. Bencomo, Sylvia Morin, María Perez, Laura Garza, and Dr. Soliño

Albert and I after graduation; I am thrilled to have received such lovely roses!

Once the graduation ceremony was over, we went to celebrate by having lunch at Brasserie Max & Julie once again. Of course the food was delicious, but the best part was savoring my recent successes, which of course were only possible because of the love and support of family and friends.

From left to right: Dr. Soliño, Sylvia Morin, Michelle Cohen,
Jovita Morin (my mom), and Adrian Morin (my dad)

From left to right: Dr. Soliño, Albert DeJesús, Sylvia Morin,
Michelle Cohen, Jovita Morin (my mom), and Adrian Morin (my dad)

I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,

Sylvia 

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part III

Dear Readers:

As I mentioned in my previous post, the weeks immediately following my trip to Rhode Island were intensely busy and difficult on many levels. I finally settled on a title for my entire dissertation, "Silent Sirens and Reticent Revenants: Reconceptualizations of the Femme Fatale in Twentieth Century Spanish and Mexican Women's Fictions". Furthermore, I had to incorporate significant changes to the first chapter of my dissertation, "The Siren's Hybrid Lineage of Body and Text in Adelaida García Morales’s El silencio de las sirenas". I had included a section that discussed the links between essentialist conceptualizations of femininity as it relates to fascist ideology and how that might be a critique that the author develops in view of the recent fall of the Franco regime in Spain at the time that the novel was written. However, I must admit that this particular section, which explored fascism and Luce Irigaray's essentialism through an analysis of Elana Gomel's article "Hard and Wet: Luce Irigaray and the Fascist Body", required greater emphasis and elaboration. As a result, this idea had to be cut. In the future, I do intend to go back to that and at least write an article on the subject. 

In addition to those changes, I also streamlined the introduction and the conclusion quite a bit. My dissertation committee members really helped me during this tedious process and helped to keep things in perspective. After all, a dissertation is only the first step or rather a rough draft of what will develop into one's first published book. Still, it was difficult to delete those meticulously written paragraphs that had taken weeks and months to write. Finally after enduring a great deal of anxiety, my defense date was set for Wednesday, April 18th at 10:00 a.m. Dr. María Elena Soliño, my director, coached me in preparation for the big day. Surprisingly, I actually slept fairly well the night before. I arrived early with my mother and Albert, who were there to support me. I am also very happy to say that my friend and colleague Elisa, from Tercets, and my friend Danielle Michel-Chich and her husband also attended my defense. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family and such caring friends!! 

At the conclusion of my defense, which was successful, my emotions got the better of me, and all I could do was sob! 

From left to right: Elisa Garza-Leal, Danielle's husband, Danielle Michel-Chich, Sylvia Morin

Signing the documents to make the completion of my defense official.
From left to right: Dr. Pedro Gutiérrez, Dr. María Elena Soliño, Sylvia Morin,
Dr. Christina Sisk, Dr. Anadelí Becomo, and my mother, Jovita Morin

From left to right: Dr. Pedro Gutiérrez, Cristián DeJesús, Dr. María Elena Soliño,
Sylvia Morin, Dr. Christina Sisk, and Dr. Anadelí Becomo

Finally smiling, Cristián DeJesús and Sylvia Morin

A successful collaboration: Dr. María Elena Soliño and Sylvia Morin

Dr. María Elena Soliño, Sylvia Morin, and Dr. Christina Sisk
Dr. Sisk was instrumental in the streamlining of my dissertation.

Success at last: Sylvia Morin and Albert  DeJesús   

After a grueling and emotionally exhausting morning, Albert and my mother went to lunch to celebrate. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Brasserie Max & Julie. After a delicious meal, I decided that it was best not to go in to work; I was totally drained. In the afternoon, I went to have a much needed massage and went to bed early. This was the beginning of my recuperation, a process that I still think is ongoing right now.

While all of this academic craziness was going on, my grandmother had become quite ill. In fact, on the day of my defense, my mother was worried that she might not be able to accompany me because my grandmother was at the hospital. Luckily, one of my aunts remained at my grandmother's bedside during this time. In the days following, it was difficult to experience a real sense of happiness given that I knew that my grandmother's condition was deteriorating rapidly. Unfortunately, as one of my friends reminded me, life sometimes isn't always a state of happiness and health; however, difficult cycles will ultimately come to an end and new ones always start again. The cyclical nature of death and rebirth may be challenging, but it is in fact the very essence of life itself. Sadly, my grandmother María Isabel Tamez Cavazos passed away on Thursday, May 3, 2012, a few months shy of her ninetieth birthday. Her funeral was on Monday, May 7, 2012. I will miss her very much, but I am certain that I will hold on to all those cherished memories that we shared. I also know that I carry her life and legacy in me, and I am extraordinarily thankful for the sacrifices she made for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 

My grandmother, María Isabel Tamez Cavazos,  and my grandfather  José  Tomás Tamez Alaniz

A more recent picture of my maternal grandparents

Not only will I miss my dear grandmother, but my grandfather, who is now 94, will certainly miss her very much as well. Even though I was overcome with grief, I am thankful I had my grandmother for so long. My paternal grandmother is also still alive and lives in the Valley. I hope that I can visit her before the end of this summer. 

I have one more update to share before moving on to a new topic; I certainly don't want to bore you. I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,

Sylvia

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part II

Dear Readers:

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to share a bit more about what we did in Providence when Albert and I were not at the conference sessions. One of the places we visited was The Providence Athenaeum, which was the successor to the Providence Library Company founded in 1753.

By European standards, 1753 is not very old, but for Americans this type of historical building really brings to mind our fairly recent colonial past and the birth of our country. So of course, Albert and I were very excited and spent some time walking around the library. It is rather small and has a damp, wooden smell, but that certainly is part of the charm. Even though the library's dimensions limit its capacity to have an extensive book collection, I was very impressed to see Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States edited by Nicolás Kanellos. Its inclusion certainly has a great deal of symbolic significance, given the Hispanic legacy in the United States, as well as pointing to the growing influence of Latinos in the U.S.

Here are a few more pictures of us while we browsed.

Albert and I at the library. Notice that Herencia is the bright yellow book  in the  upper right.

Engrossed in reading!

Posing next to the Egyptian Elephant Folio Cabinet, 1838-40.
Click  on The Providence Athaneaum Art Collection to learn more about this piece. 

An exterior view of the Athaneaum.

Just to wrap things up, here a a few final pictures of Providence.

A view of Fleur-de-lis Studios.

A view of the Brown University campus.

The conference ended the first of April, and we returned to Houston that same Sunday. I gained a lot from this experience, and it was a refreshing break from the hectic routine of the past few months. Upon returning home, I concentrated on making corrections to my dissertation, and I anxiously waited for a date to be set for my defense. During these first few weeks of April, my maternal grandmother also became quite ill, and I spent time visiting her as well. In my next update, I will give you more details about those turbulent times. 

I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,
Sylvia

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part I

Dear Readers:

My last post was nearly two months ago, and truly I must apologize for neglecting this blog. When I last posted, I had just submitted my chapters to my dissertation committee, and I was waiting to hear back from them to know if I would move forward with my dissertation towards completion and ultimately graduation from the Ph.D. program. Before I tell you all the details, I would like to assess this past semester.

Let me begin by saying that it was an incredibly intense semester. Even though I only taught two courses, I also continued to work at the language lab at UHD. So, I still had quite a bit of administrative stuff to deal with throughout the course of the semester. The real challenge, however, was coming home after a long day and making myself work just a bit more on my writing. Weekends were extremely difficult, especially when I knew that my friends were enjoying themselves or the weather was lovely outside. I even opted to miss my husband's niece's quinceañeara, while I stayed home to write. I felt isolated, and the only glimmer of hope was the possibility of finally finishing up this semester.

Even with all of this on my plate, I was very fortunate to have been invited to attend The Friends of Women's Studies Table Talk 2012 Event."Table talk is a fascinating combination of conversations over lunch. Dynamic Houston women, of various cultures, professions, and experiences, lead the discussions at each table. Proceeds support the Women’s Archive and Research Center and Women Studies at the University of Houston." At my table, the conversationalist was Anna C. Dragsbaek, President & CEO, The Immunization Partnership. Anna led a great discussion with respect to the need for immunization and education for parents as to the benefits of immunization in light of a growing trend in the United States of parents opting against this for their children. 


In addition to the lovely luncheon sponsored the the Friends of Women's Studies at the University of Houston, my husband and I attended the Annual Meeting of the Comparative Literature Association entitled "Collapse/Catastrophe/Change" from March 29-April 1, 2012 at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. We both presented at the conference. Albert chaired a session entitled "Traumatic Postmodernity: Violent Introspection, Repression and Transgression in Recent Latin American Narratives" and presented his own paper titled "Abject Trauma: New Perspectives in the Representation of Violence in Recent Latin American Short Story". I was part of a session called "Kairos and Qualia, or the Voices of the Undead" and the paper I presented was titled "Transfiguring Revenants and Transforming Discourses in Ana María Moix's Las virtudes peligrosas". I learned so much from the fellow presenters, and it was a wonderful experience intellectually. Providence also proved to be a lovely city, and perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future to spend more time there, especially when the weather is warmer. We stayed at Edgewood Manor, a lovely bed and breakfast while we were there.

The antique decor was delightful and breakfast was great everyday!

The buildings that both comprise and surround Brown University are absolutely amazing. We loved it there!

I was also very fortunate during the trip to meet a colleague I have been working with for some time via Skype. Johannes Angermüeller from Germany is one of the project leaders for discourseanalysis.net. He happened to be doing some research at Harvard, and we met up for lunch when we arrived in Boston and then he joined us for dinner in Providence.

From left to right: Cory Hahn, Albert DeJesús, Sylvia Morin, Johannes Angermüller

I will tell you more about Providence, and the rest of the semester in my next post. I promise it won't take so long for me to write as it did last time. I do appreciate you reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog as well. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,

Sylvia

Dissertation Update

Dear Readers:


I have updates with respect to my dissertation. After sending all of the chapters to my dissertation director earlier this week, she has approved three sections so far to be sent to the committee. This is very exciting, because the wheels are certainly turning! I e-mailed the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 to all of the committee members, and I am anxiously awaiting comments and responses. Chapter 1 is currently titled "The Siren’s Hybrid Lineage of Body and Text in Adelaida García Morales’s El silencio de las sirenas" and for now, Chapter 2 has been titled "Male Anxiety and Women’s Gaze: Transformations of the Femme Fatale within Ana María Moix’s Las virtudes peligrosas". As far as the overall title for the dissertation, I am still brainstorming; it is definitely no easy feat, given that the naming of this textual body will follow me for the rest of my life. 


As I reflect on the still ongoing process, I think about some of the difficulties and challenges I have faced during these past four years. One of them has been my writing environment. After finishing my comprehensive exams, I have worked steadily as a Spanish Language Adjunct and as a Language Lab Coordinator for the Arts and Humanities Department  at the University of Houston-Downtown, and I also lecture at the University of Houston for the  Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. With such a busy schedule, it was only during the infrequent moments in which there were no interruptions while at the lab that allowed just enough time for me to make any sort of progress. Even so, my windowless office has often made it particularly hard to feel inspired, as the natural world is completely shut out. Still, I have slowly, slowly typed away. But just to give you a glimpse of my dark cave, you can see a picture of  my office below, and I am sure you will agree that is has to be a trying experience to be locked away for so many hours during the week. 

Well, there is still much to do; so, I will say good-bye for now. I hope to share more news with you soon! Thank you for reading my blog, and if you have not yet added your name as a follower of my blog, I would really appreciate your support.


Best,
Sylvia 

Upcoming Readings

Dear Readers:

My friend Elisa, from Tercets, has some upcoming poetry readings that many of you may enjoy.  Also, she very kindly has passed on the Liebster blog award to me!  I appreciate her support very much and will in turn share this award with other blogs that I enjoy. I am making this post very brief, because I am really swamped with writing; truly, I just want to finish my dissertation.  However, I know that my perfectionism has hindered me in the past from just moving forward with my blog, with other creative projects, and with life in general.  So although I am not posting my very own content, I do hope these posts inspire you and keep you reading until I can devote more time to my own blog.

Best,
Sylvia Morin 

Upcoming Readings:

If you live in Houston, you can hear a large group of poets published in the Mutabilis Press anthology Improbable Worlds read at Brazos Bookstore on Saturday, February 25, at 2 p.m. I will read my poem “Bat Bridge” and mingle with the other poets. I hope you will join us.

On Saturday, March 3, you can hear me read in Chicago at the AWP Conference as part of the panel Border Bodies — Womanhood In Verse. Our presentation is from 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. in Private Dining Room 2, at the Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor. This is a panel of poets all associated with Mouthfeel Press, including Katherine Hoerth, Laura Cesarco Eglin, and Maria Miranda Maloney.

My talk at AWP is not open to the public, but I hope to see you there if you are already registered for the conference. For the rest of you, here is a preview:

I will discuss how the narratives of women’s bodily processes, such as lactation, are considered natural instead of cultural, which means they are not valued as important enough for literature. I will read my poem about Hurricane Ike, which is about nursing my newborn during the storm.

I will discuss how a woman’s body can metaphorically represent her path in life, and read from my poem “Soy Chicana.”

Lastly, I will discuss how poems about women and their bodies offer a much needed counterpoint to the dominant narrative about border culture that is militaristic and hyper-masculine. I plan to read from poems in process about the women murdered in Juarez.

I have other reading and writing events in the works, and will post information here, and on the “Upcoming Events” page when they are finalized.

If you want to buy my latest book, Entre la claridad, it is available for $7.00 from Mouthfeel Press. My poem “Soy Chicana” is included. You can listen to some of the poems from this book through the links on my “Audio” page above.

Have you liked the Entre la claridad page on Facebook? I post notices about writing, the giveaways, and literary events there also.