Looking Around The Blogosphere

Every day, it becomes more and more apparent that blogs are the future of publication. The middle man—the magazine, newspaper, or book publisher—is virtually eliminated. Blogs are people speaking to people. Yes, that brings with it some problems like editing and relevance, but I find that reading blogs is like sifting through sand for diamonds. I drop in, read for a while, and if the writing stays fresh and interesting, I hang around. If not, there is always the delete button.

I have written in this space about William Michaelian, his poetry books, his Author’s Press Series, and his expansive website. His blog, Recently Banned Literature, offers daily doses of his poetry, ruminations, dreams, recent book acquisitions from local thrift shops, and other “marginalia.” William has amassed quite a following on the internet through blogging and Facebook, giving him a plethora of readers who often interact with his work within their own creations. He posts drawings, art work, and photographs, his own and those of his readers, making for some interesting symbiotic creativity. I found his post this week on a particular dream he had with his son to be interesting; Jungians should take note.

The late David Mills, a television writer whose credits include NYPD Blue, ER, The Corner, and the new HBO series, Treme, wrote a blog called Undercover Black Man. Mills died of a brain aneurysm on March 30th on the set of the New Orleans-based production. His blogging focused on racial issues, a subject Mills explored in his television writing. He also had a passionate love of music, especially funk and R&B. Read back through the years and you will discover a gifted writer and former journalist who was taken from us much too soon.

The final blog is one that is near and dear to me. Vatche Yousefian is my student, graduating this year from high school, and destined for the writing program at UC Irvine next fall. Vatche has been in my classes for four years, and has grown immensely as a writer.

He began this school year writing for my blog of student work, Saroyan’s Ghost. Shortly thereafter, he started his own blog, The Student Writer’s Mind. He posts several times a week in an eclectic series of genres, including nonfiction, fiction, and something he calls, “A Mental Snack,” usually a short quotation or snippet of writing meant to inspire comments and discussion.

When you visit Vatche’s site, make sure to read his hilarious story about meeting David Sedaris at UCLA.

Although newspapers and magazines have seen a decline in subscriptions and readership, there is a vigorous online catalogue of writing and art about every subject and nuance under the sun. Blogs are, without a doubt, a rich and democratic source of creative work.