Bullets Into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence Accepting Submissions
I actually attended this event in June on the 16th at Beyond Baroque, but I have been so brutalized by violence myself I think I hesitated to post about it. It is horrible to live in fear. But that is the state of America today. Fear is what is driving division, all the isms, and the xenophobia. I have been effected by a twitter troll to the extent I do not want to leave my apartment and I will not leave Los Angeles. I do not think people realize that what they did was evil. I do not belong back east. I do not belong with my family. I am tired of manipulation.
I made this site to do something positive but here in my home in Los Angeles. I do think people back east understand that here art is everywhere. The concrete jungle of New York is dark to me. I need light. And I can not be in an office setting again. No one asked me what I wanted or dreamed. No one thought may be I had talents to offer. In the end I am scared all the time. So writing this post about the fact that artists are responding to Gun Violence was kind of terrifying. I was worried my twitter troll would attack me for going to the west side. But there is no Beyond Baroque anywhere else. There is no poetry place like it back in Maryland. I doubt I would find the community of creativity anywhere else. And I do not want to be an academic. I do not want to be a careful bored dull professor or a lawyer making billable hours. I needed to create. that is the irony. My stalker said I was not creating anything while making it impossible for me to create.
Bullets into Bells is a book but it was also a gathering of individuals to discuss the topic of Gun Violence. The co-editor Dean Rader was on hand as was the group “Moms Demand Action” and poets Carol Muske-Dukes, Michelle Bitting, and Olympia Miccio. Women Against Gun Violence were also present. The book has evolved into an online presence. What is so important for everyone to know about this endeavor is they still are seeking submissions for online, and apparently it is not just Poetry, but also essays and commentary. The guidelines are on the site. It is curated so they have the right to effectively reject, but they are open to diverse opinions on this subject.
