PLACE FOR WRITERS

Less a place than a community, The Place for Writers produces a roving series of programs and readings. Our focus is on building relationships outside of the classroom—among Mills graduate students, writers, scholars, and activists—and between Mills and Bay Area communities.

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September 19

Ava Rosen’s Top Five Picks

Hi all! Happy Wednesday. It’s not Tuesday, when Top Five Picks are published. I hope you will forgive me, as this whole grad school thing is a time-warp.

I want to introduce myself, since I’m a first year (MFA Book Art/Poetry) and most of all because I’m co-editor of The Place for Writers’ tumblr this year.

So! Here are my Top Five records to listen to while writing:

1.      In A Cloud II: New Sounds from San Francisco. My new favorite compilation for writes upon waking or before sleeping. Aptly named for its ability to make me float.

2.      Charlie Parker: Bird At the Roost, The Savoy Sessions. This wakes my brain (and eardrums). Perfect when energy’s low and concentration’s wobbly. Pair with typewriter for full musical effect.

3.      Broken Water: Peripheral Star. Dark, dreamy, reverby heaven. I’m not one to classify, but I think you’d call this Olympia shoegaze. Great for spacing out to, or for the streaming-of-the-consciousness, as they say. Flip 4-6 times.

4.      Last Kind Words: 1926-1933. One of Mississippi Records’ first compilations. Rare early American blues tracks, including Geechie Wiley’s “Last Kind Word Blues”—said to be the first female blues singer ever to be recorded. It slows my speeding mind, letting it take a single path.

5.      Terry Malts. Best SF punk for jumping/dancing around my room for a few minutes when my feet/fingers/brain fall asleep. Not for writing, but for taking the necessary break from my own messy head.

Have a great week! Check in next week for Rex’s Top Five picks!

- Ava