Friedman is the author of poetry books lost positive the eggshells skull rule and the prose poetry gathered bones are known to wander. Her poetry has been nominated for the pushcart prize and best of the net, and her work has appeared in pleiades, rust and moss, the and more. Elizabeth also works as a real estate in chicago and on legislation for a state senator in colorado. A woman on the right side of history. Bill o neill is new mexico state senator whose poems have appeared in both regional and national reviews. He has authored two critically acclaimed poetry collections, the freedom of the ignored Red Mountain Press and the definition of empty university of new mexico press. He has also published two novels and his recent save the bees has performed to sold out audiences in denver, scottsdale and albuquerque. Professionally, he has worked with both and adult offenders with Justice Reform being his legislative priority. Bill grew up in rural ohio and is a graduate of cornell. David masciotra is the author of six books, including bia, now the battleground of american democracy, which is forthcoming. I am somebody. Jesse jackson matters and mellencamp, american troubadour, a journalist, political analyst and arts critic. He has written for the new republic progressive Washington Monthly no depression, crime reads and many other publications about politics, literature and music. He and his wife live in indiana, where he teaches at Indiana University northwest and moderator. Today, ben tanzer is teacher, trainer, strategist, coach, podcaster, emmy award, psa writer and author bens acclaimed work includes the short story collection upstate the Science Fiction novel orphans and the essay collections lost in space be cool. His forthcoming novel, novel the missing, will be released in spring 2024. By 713 books. He in chicago with his family and as a note of a lot of their books will be available sale right outside the door after this event. And we will do a signing in the room as well. Welcome to all of you you. Well, thank you so much for. The introductions. Such an honor to be here and really be here again. And im absolutely thrilled with the three panelists. So nice to see all of you. Well, wed love start is maybe just a brief reading by each you of your work so people can get a flavor of what you have that are going come in with some hard hitting questions. Elizabeth, do you want to kick things off. Hello, im Elizabeth Strauss friedman, my newest book is called the lost positive and looks like this the last positive in english or a lost positive in english is word that is no longer used in its positive form in the vernacular. So in other words, a word like inept. We dont use apt anymore in our conversations, but the negative stuck behind uncouth unkempt. There are many many of them in english. This is a book of poetry about the council nations in the sky and the ways which theyre myths have helped to inform modern day misogyny and to help make women the lost. Positives of the universe. And so the goal is to put the form of femininity back into conversation. Ill read just a couple short poems for you and then pass along. This poem is about the sagittarius constellation, which is the archer in archery. Its really all about leverage, right . The the arrow that going to shoot out of the bow and the archer in mythology requested that zus put in the sky. He felt he deserved a place there and just said yes. And so this is about leverage. Its called scorpion and the rest malfeasance begins at interests self, at center. And sometimes i periphery children lacking in leverage. And so fall in line. But a prisoner formation. My fourth grade Science Teacher sought to prove female fortitude electrocuting the metal strip. We perched on his heart craving caged screams. We onto linoleum a spray birds, a gunshot, a less about conductivity than power. And this final one is about the sickness, which is the swan constellation in zoo star squeezed himself as a swan to seduce a princess named leda. And this is leder retelling her own story. Because women dont get to tell their stories in these myths. Its its called debonair and the dead air. Its set to go. This ancestry, this bearing, these generation born of my betrayal. Zu seduced. I lie lacking laid by swan. I lay eggs lay blame a flock of flying swans a wedge a flock of me a wanting my people womb a wedge issue. Which of my offspring spring from zuse immortal and which from my mortal husband no probe of reveals such mystery me mere vessel. Thank you very thank you very bill. Hello. Thank you. And thank everybody for coming. What a wonderful event. This is i have to say anyway, this this poem is called pascal. And basically, you know, i write personally on my ive got a novels and a couple of poetry collections and so forth and just write from personal experience. So my personal experience, the last, my god, 15 years has been as a state senator. And before that a state representative in new mexico. So this is from my first book called the freedom of the ignored. And basically im an introvert as. Much as im an extrovert, im in there in between. And so i started this book right after when a very contentious was my first session up there in santa fe. And just i found myself feeling a strong need to reclaim my soul, so to speak, or the better part of myself and this so i have a bunch of poems in here about, different legislators about been, you know, in that role of politician and and so forth. So this is called pascal and. This is, you know, when i was elected, i was welcomed by these older representatives at the time, men and women that really mentored. And i always felt extremely flattered. Im from the midwest and here i was like in new mexico, suddenly being a legislator and. This is this is to one of my faves as sandoval. And i think of him often. So here we go. Pascal his teeth are like a row of stumpy razors and his black hair has a sheen like the sun on black coral. He drinks diet coke instead of the filtered rainwater by the progressives who instead only make him very nervous. What bills are you going to steal me today, young man . He teases on the house floor, walking slowly with to deliberation of a champion mule. His decades of office, like so many forgotten arguments that look gives me quizzical impossible to read. How old are you anyway . He finally asked me one day on the house floor when i answer, he goes, my god, your old the best that any politics can hope for that the locals will pause, abandon their conversation and take notice, then abandon you like a forgotten his studies me with disdain as i follow them both through smoky casino as we joke about our lives, some unknown function of waiting nametags. He worries about depressed effect of twin primaries, years of service to be lost in a row of brilliant talkers. He bellows his High School Fight song exactly on cue. The way he seems to know every single mariachi song by heart leading our chamber in perfect unison on spanish de those trumpets listen there were no exemptions from the carnival tents in his hustling years, no song holding of the surrounding world, and all of its determining how back. Then everything could live up to a caricature. The grim clowning necessary sometimes seems to hold on to that capital outlay. Tomorrows vote would be like his blue 1983 grand marquee, pointing towards the contentious night sky, the moon nearly full over la barra. The point is not to surprise anybody. So thats my tribute to to fellow my guy. Wow. Thank you. Terrific david you on a round this out i guess you insist. I do. So i come at this from slightly different angle. Ive written book. I am somebody. Why jesse matters in which i argue that reverend Jesse Jackson is the most consequential civil leader since dr. Reverend Martin Luther king, the modern contemporary Democratic Party would not exist if not for the work of reverend Jesse Jackson. Thats one point that i explore in this book, and it relates to poetry because one of the unique gifts of reverend jackson is a poetic flair for poetic excuse me, for political rhetoric. So the page im going to read from this book not only explains the of the title, as it were, but also has some references to poetry. And i should say this opens with a reference to the office of the rainbow push coalition, the organization he founded, which is just a few miles from here in, the lobby of rainbow push. There is a lifelike mock up. Jackson and kings standing together on the balcony of lorraine motel, the description underneath the image anoints as the architect american democracy, the much ballyhooed brainchild of the founding fathers, could not envision a system of selfgovernance without, slavery and with an unlimited king could view america and realize that the soviet unions most popular and effective tactic to divert attention away from american criticism of its routine Rights Violations was slogan typically attached to visual depiction and you are hanging blacks the fbi most elected officials in the majority of white americans saw king as subversive when in reality he was americas most powerful, just as suffering through similar slander remains advocate for the Genuine Article america what walt whitman called center for equal daughters equal sons is perennial with the earth with freedom law and love. The tragic sweep of americas failure to support kings transition from civil rights advocate to Economic Justice crusader emerged in full a month after his assassin nation. It was the late dream to converge on National Mall of washington, dc a poor peoples march. He hoped it would triumph as the 1963 march on washington, where he gave the most famous of all his speeches. I have dream and gained a momentous victory for black freedom under american to prepare for the demonstration. Thousands of impoverished and dispossessed citizens of the worlds richest nation constructed a shantytown the capital, calling it resurrection city. It was occupy wall street, but only an earlier and grander residents of resurrection city. Elected jessie as their mayor. The grief emanating of kings untimely death coalesced with relative lack of success of the Poor Peoples Campaign and his resurrection city was preparing for collapse. Its constituents looked their mayor to give them something to use. Jacksons phrase, we were all depressed, told me i had no money to give them. I could not get them back. We did not change any laws. I looked their tired faces and said, you still have. You may be hungry, but you are somebody. Then i asked them to say it say i am somebody. I may be poor, but i am somebody. I may disabled, but i am somebody. I may be black, but i am somebody. Jackson, elke, miser as inspiration and poem by reverend holmes borders senior to in the absence of anything material provide the least of his brethren with those qualitative gifts that can never disappear without. Consent, hope faith and self. So here here to that and all of your readings and i want to open with something now youve all had a chance to share which is a came out of a Text Exchange i had with senator oneal. He sent me a quote, i guess, as people do when theyre texting and he the quote was from david byrne, a fellow american artist, and he said, everything is political but not in an obvious way. And the reason that had to me coming in today is you all write in an obvious way. Its sort of the opposite sometimes politics sneak in, but all in my mind, very coherent and cogent about it. Were here to talk about politics. And so what i would like to ask each of you to respond to is, what are you hoping to accomplish with your work and how is it we can use art to accomplish the change or transformations or changing of narratives hoping to get to what does your work do . What can any art do . So listen me, well start with you and well go from there along the line. Thank you. Good question. I had to come up with one good one that was important. I like it. I think one of the many purposes of art is present, something that already exists in a new way to. Introduce people to new theories and concept about old ideas. Now that old quote, theres nothing new under the sun right . For my book about misogyny and about women having power in society and all of that, thats certainly an extended discussion. Thats on since the beginning of time. But i was hoping to reframe through the mythology of constellations. I think thats what art allows us to do right now. And thank you, bill. Thank you. Yes. Well, okay. Stereotypes are terrible i think and certainly as a politician, get that on that every day that im appalled. Titian. So if nothing else on some basic level my work really dispels the the stereotype of politicians meaning like people are often shocked what youre a politician and you write poetry how could that be you know and so oh yeah well you know just am coming from the lobbyist drive up window and i got my 50. You know what i mean . Its its just it really. It really bothers me tremendously. These these this image of theres, like, missing information about government and politicians and this and that. So if nothing else, this my book is it dispels the notion that were all just, you know, waiting our next check from from monsanto or Something Like that. And so thats on a real basic level. I mean, i write personally, so im just going to write about my personal experience. But recently with this poem, save the beat, i mean, with this place, save the bees really took on this notion of like, why are we so polarized . You know . I mean, its based on a friendship i have with the counterpart to meet someone from a rural of new mexico. And, and you know, would vote totally the opposite me. But were like best friends and have all this in common, you know were athletic growing up i grew up in a small town in so forth so its its the play really addresses that with humor like why cant we Work Together and so i have this greek when we vote we do is we decide to in this play we switch votes so he votes pro prochoice i prolife i mean the character as portrayed professional two actors and then we have this great chorus going no, no, no, you cant do that. You cant do it. Why are you doing it . So its basically i feel like with that play it directly addressing our polarization so i feel very engaged with art can change attitude moods potentially and so some of the that have attended this fight say. Well i didnt realize like well republicans are not theyre not so bad sometimes you know so so its for me and for me its i grew up in a republican family. My dad went to with george bush, senior at yale. So like im very comfortable with working across the aisle. But if you work across the aisle at your own in this atmosphere, so my deal. Okay. Thank you, david. So i write for two reasons. The first of which is admittedly selfish, but i have a good cosigner on there. Toni morrison once said, if if youd like to read a book and it doesnt exist, then you have to write it. And thats been the case with of my work. I am somebody why Jesse Jackson matters. No book like that existed before i wrote it and were arguments that i felt were essential to make and stories that i felt were important to tell. And reverend jackson himself was willing to sit down with me over a period of six years in a series of conversations to tell it and allow me to tell it. However, if i was only writing to amuse myself, i would never attempt to get anything published. So there the. Forgive me for sounding arrogant self assigning this title, but i think this to all of us. The role of intellectual or the person who aspires to intellectual work sound a little more modest about it in public life is to inform and to enlighten and issue some corrective to. A consistent error in the Public Discourse or to tell the when surrounded by lies. And thats something becoming ever more powerful necessary when we live in an era of unprecedented book bans. If writers such as ourselves didnt have the power to persuade wade. Then people with actual political power wouldnt devote their time and energy to shutting us down and shutting us up. So write what i think is interesting to myself. But i attempt to do so in a way that becomes useful to a one would hope politically engaged audience. Its great. Id love to pick up this theme. And bill, if you want to hold on the microphone, could kick this off. Well have everyone talk about it. But david, as youre sharing that, youve all touched on this idea of, the stories we want to tell, the we want to make, bringing things leg up, thinking of that phrase, you know, truth to power, bringing truth, the light that one of our obligations is to shine a light on things. When someone says to me, why did you tweet that . I think because im worried someones going to miss it. Right . Thats actual quote by someone who then went out and did the exact opposite. So if we dont share that, whos going to share it . That doesnt make me an artist, just makes me compulsive. But what i be interested in for all of you is, you know, taking a step back from my original question, which is is all art inherently political period . Because youre putting something out in the world and i would love for us to tangle a bit with is anything public political . And then how do you think about that . And building on a story, thats an essay question for sure. I know. Sorry. So me your foot. I mean. Yeah at some level were following the david byrne quote, but i think i have written that everythings political. Doesnt seem like everything is political. Me like all art. I mean some art. I mean writing is like a mystery novel isnt a political thing, you know, but its but you know, ill open it up to others but it just to me its, you know, theres a tradition of american political novels like book daniel by my mentor e. L. Doctorow. You know, some are overtly political summer, you know, political. But to answer your question i just think it depends. Okay, elizabeth, what do you think . I think everything connects back to politics because our bodies, our lives, our experiences are in some measure sometimes, in large measure dictated by our government our ability to do certain things, the confines of society and the and all of that. Ill tell you a quick about how anything can become political. My last book was called the eggshell skull rule. Its about a doctrine in, tort law that essentially says you take your victim as you find them, not as you expect they ought to be. And you take responsibility for all injuries, regardless of intent. I was coming from a writers conference in d. C. At the beginning of 2017 and didnt realize that on the plane sitting behind me was neil gorsuch. He was. He had been nominated for the Supreme Court at the time, but he had not yet had hearings. And he was coming back from dc for a meeting with senators before his hearings. And i was coming back for a writers conference in dc and we got to talking and i realized im quite far apart from gorsuch, his ideology and a whole bunch things. But i came to realize this doctrine and tort law that i write about applied to our and applied to the ways in which he would then have power over my life in a lot of ways. I ended up sending the book to him. He ended up sending me a letter back was quite something. I framed it under my from obama and right next to me under under from obama and under my stormy signed picture when she was suing trump. I think its certainly possible make a political art. But once the art enters into a public context, it becomes part of a dialog with that which is political. And there are many examples of that. Miles davis putting out kind of blue, didnt have political intention to any of his biographers or of his fellow musicians, but love of jazz music inspired many young white at the time to support the civil rights movement. And there many similar examples. So i know this will get me censored on television, but i know that Ernest Hemingway once said, most important intellectual tool for life is a detector. So if if is writing about something seemingly apolitical as marriage or tennis or something more overtly political like Public Policy legislation, if it assists citizens in developing a b. S. Detector and strengthening the apparatus they can use to discern fact from fiction, truth from lies, then it inevitably has a political dimension just miles davis music helped certain people see. The truth of, black humanity, and therefore it had a political effect. Regardless of if that was miles davis intention or not. This is going to add to that i just want to say one more quote to overload you with today. These were all about quotes here and. Its exactly to what david just spoke to that writer Samuel Johnson in the 17th hundreds said a writer only a book a reader finishes. So you put something out into the world and it will always taken in some circles by some people, political and so that becomes sort of the stew in which it exists when you raise this really interesting. Right . So first off, theres putting art out in the universe and then its longer hours in a way, right and people can do what they want with it. And i wasnt thinking this when i asked the question those were all terrific. Im struck that can also decide how they want to interpret what doing. I once wrote a book of essays about being a father and one of the interviewers who wanted to talk about the book said, so youre telling people to children and i said, actually, im literally doing the opposite. If you the book, i would tell everybody not to. However, i thought it was really in that moment. Theyre like, well, i dont want to have children im having sure why they assign me this book. And i said, i dont know either. How should we about the spouse also struck that as soon as you put anything out if its offensive or inspirational to the person, thats what they attached to it. And so one of the things i would be interested in, i feel like this is a trap, but you know we put our work out people. Have any of you had to then respond to the response and, and or do you worry about that after its out of your hands. We all worry about things that i catch every comma i worry about that because i dont catch every comma. But i think the question is, do we worry about where its going go . Especially if in your three cases youre intentionally trying to say something. Wed like to go first. Okay . Please so. One of the the editors with whom ive had the privilege working is here today, aaron kean the the editor in chief. I dont think its your official title anymore, but of salon and i once wrote an essay for salon about why it is an to label every single combat veteran and every single active duty member of the military a hero. And the way i made that is i pointed the Sexual Assault rates that there are many women who go into the military, theyre sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers or sailors or marines and that was wildly missed interpreted. I was they put my face on fox news like it was a mug shot and fox news host said i was encouraging people to hate veterans and despise our military and i never said anything of the kind. But i did. I made a friend from experience, a gold star dad named fred bowen, whose son died in afghanistan. Wonderful person. I and he spent the day his radio show hosted a radio show in pennsylvania defending. Me from angry callers. But he told me that had i opened the essay or put near the top something about how it is important that we honor and acknowledge sacrifices that the overwhelming majority of members of our Armed Services make who do not commit Sexual Assault. I would have spared myself the trouble of those misinterpreted passions. I didnt put that in there because i thought it was so obvious and i thought that the statistics that i would provide would make that obvious, that i had no idea that i had no thought that this was the majority of troops. But when writing for an audience sometime assumption is your enemy. So i writing an article, especially something thats going to be read quickly, its incumbent upon the writer for the sake of advancing an argument to anticipate those possible misinterpretations and do what one can do to correct. Because there are many people such as those fox news host who theyre not making good faith errors, but theyre looking for an opportunity lie and to slander and to advance their hateful agenda. All right. Its good that were going out swinging. Yeah, if i may, as a politician, as a state senator, im used to dialog with constituents and other folks that email and i email back not all the time but you know i make that choice but and so im used to that dialog but its usually defending a vote, explaining a vote, usually on the defensive my case. But but im with the artistic side of myself. Im just flattered when somebody my work you know like even even if i you know if its a not so review, you know, at least he or she it and so im just im just of honored to be able to put my out there and be taken seriously. Thats my answer. You know bill, im going to let elizabeth answer to and were going to take one question from the audience. But i do want to note you now sound, like the jewish half of the panel, its like you read my work. You read my work. Thank you so much. So, elizabeth, sorry. I didnt mean to you up with that. Thats very thats very good. I wrote article about warren dropping out of the race in 2020 and the main i was trying to make in the article, taking taking the specific politics of Elizabeth Warren out of it was that its not just that men can misogynistic toward women women. Help prop it and there plenty of women and plenty of examples from Elizabeth Warrens campaign about how women helped tank her Campaign Just as much as men did and that we all have to sort of be aware of these things. In fact, there was a quote at, the end of her campaign where she was asked, do you think because youre a woman that youve had so much trouble . She said, its the old you know. Im paraphrasing, but its the old conflict. If i say yes, people say, oh, shes a whiner. And if i say no, people think, what planet are you living on . So im if i do either way. But in terms of how took it, there were several people who comment at it about, well, youve completely left women out of this conversation in terms of Elizabeth Warrens candidacy, and youve completely left lgbtq aplus people out of this conversation, and youve completely left millennials out of this conversation. And and on and on, on some good comments, too. Some helpful stuff, too. And i do my best to take in those comments with the benefit of the doubt that they are meant well and that i have missed something too. Shall point. And then at a point you have to say i cant cover. Every issue and every concern, every article, every time but i appreciate the feedback it helps me generally in life to know these things and maybe ill be better next time. Maybe we have time for a question. The audience. So id be thrilled to invite someone about 5 minutes or so. You have to use microphone so youre going make yourself public. Be happy to finish off with other questions, but does somebody want to ask one . You can use the microphone over here. We welcome it know stepping out of our bubble here and hearing from the public. Im pausing. Okay, so lets do closing thoughts. Weve talked about narrative. Weve talked about preempting things, talked about people appreciating, actually reading our work. All of those get wrapped up in the experience and so maybe ending on a different kind note, i would be thrilled to hear from each of you. Youre a published author. Youre getting write about what you want to write about. Seems to me to be the greatest privilege. There. You get to write it. Someone publishes it. Its out in the world. We get to have discussion. Im just curious for each of you what your experience like if you can differentiate it from other things, a somewhat political writer, how does that whats the experience like . How does it how is it fulfilling or, not fulfilling just to finish us off and i probably do asking more questions, ill finally share the microphone. Okay, because i want you. Well deal is i kind of stand im always curious about elected officials that are out with their published poetry or novels etc. And i find increasingly i mean always looking for somebody and feel like ive kind of am bit lonely, a bit like a unicorn, something by being this person. The other hand, you know im again, im flattered to be in space, but i want more company. Write out. We all do. Thank you. I grew up in a home where politics was terribly. We read the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune every day and were tested on them on weekends. It was intense. It was intense that some things if my father would say, yeah, if my father would say what happened this year in the French Economy, you would understand how the French Economy works. To understand how to discuss the nuances of it. Yes. And so politics was the language of our family like voting family outings. You know, they just wanted to make sure that we knew we had these responses, politics and so five years ago, i went to work for senator in colorado. I lived in for about five years. I work for her remotely. And i think for me what it writing about it and working in politics allows me to that i am working to make the change that we need to see in all kinds of areas. So i work on things like minority rights and, agricultural farmworkers rights, a bill to keep medical evidence, preserve after assaults and, all kinds of stuff like that because are the things i think are important. And thats why i do this kind of writing, because i think its important and i figure if somebody doesnt want publish it, ill find out ill you know, i wont a publishing contract and if somebody does want to publish it i hope it becomes part of a collective conversation that ever so slightly over time shifts towards something better, more equal, more fair, more decent, more. I love that. David, you want to finish this up for us . Yeah, thats an important point that elisabeth makes, because right now were just drowning in cynicism all want to discuss is when things turn out poorly or what should happen doesnt happen or what shouldnt happen has happened. And its its terribly eroded. The essential faith and trust in our institutions necessary preserve our democracy. And this happens commiserate with movements to deliberately sabotage our democracy. So stories such as those are very important when the system actually works because of people like elisabeth to make peoples lives better and to make institutions work more efficiently and more fairly. I come at this a little different. Im unlike my distinguished co panelists here. Im not part of the legislative process. So what im attempting to do with my work when it has public is to do even though this is an old phrase, raise consciousness and you know i agree with Norman Mailer as as silly as it might sound, if were writing and we arent aiming to change the world, then why are we writing . So i always to that ridiculous ambition that my next or my next book is going to the world and if it doesnt well then as samuel said, ive failed ill try again and ill fail better time but return to the subject of this im talking about today Jesse Jackson his other most famous phrase is keep hope alive. He typically begins speeches with i am somebody and ends with keep hope alive and hope will die when a person passive and apathetic it is only through involvement as writers involvement as activists, as workers involvement, as educators, whatever. Fill in the blank that one can coalesce with like minded and find the source of fuel to generate your movement forward. And one would certainly Hope Movement forward for our entire which is working and struggling to become more fair, more just more free and more inclusive. Well, that a great note to end on. I opened this by saying i was honored to be here with all three of you. I now feel even somehow more honored and i appreciate all the good words and just all the good work you do. And i want to encourage audience to find these authors books. And if youre literally in this audience, you can get right here. Sarah, is there anything else need to say . Just it will be good if you do purchase a book or if you brought one. We will be doing the