Lookg for joy? Then might be worth explorg your sorrow, plitns and ms. In his latt llectn of says, Incg Joy, poet Ross Gay rensirs the breadth of joy, argug that n be found – and even strengthened – life's harst moments, when we mt rely on one another. This week, host Brtany Le ss down wh Gay to discs the plexy of joy, the bety of grace and creatg meang life. You n follow on Twter @ItsBeenAM or email at
Contents:
- ROSS GAY ON CG JOY WHILE DG WH SORROW
- POET ROSS GAY ON HIS NEW BOOK AND FDG JOY SORROW
- INCG JOY WH ROSS GAY (TRANSCRIPT)
ROSS GAY ON CG JOY WHILE DG WH SORROW
* ross gay inciting joy excerpt *
I began readg “Incg Joy” a profound state of doubt.Y, I rpected s thor, Ross Gay, for the whimsy, disciple and fiance that produced his prr say and poetry llectns, “The Book of Delights” and “Catalog of Unabashed Gratu,” which won a 2015 Natnal Book Crics Circle Award. It happens all the time, and who n blame those who succumb to the allure of the market, given the hospable amic settgs which many wrers earn their livg as teachg faculty?Wh “Incg Joy,” which spir to look beyond the miseri of our era to envisn a more welg future, Gay vlts over the possibily of treacle to offer a ncept of joy ak to what Audre Lor nceptualized her say “Us of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” which she wrote, “The sharg of joy, whether physil, emotnal, psychic, or tellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which n be the basis for unrstandg much of what is not shared between them, and lsens the threat of their difference.”This is not to say that joy eras difference, nor that the ferocy of muny feelg should be ls aggrsive a natn that seeks to eradite that which do not nform to the immoral mands of palism. Rather, as Gay wr, “What if joy is not only entangled wh pa, or sufferg, or sorrow, but is also what emerg om how we re for each other through those thgs?”As direct as he n be when makg a pot he don’t want rears to miss, Gay prefers digrsns that are, and of themselv, dialectil enchantments.
POET ROSS GAY ON HIS NEW BOOK AND FDG JOY SORROW
An cement is what Gay means to liver, and he do.
Whether wrg about droppg to a hang, durg which two iends give each other the kd of attentn that Simone Weil lled the purt of generosi, or about gam of pickup, or about the pernic racism that plagu our untry, or about the stultifyg stctur of higher tn, Gay prov that “real learng is unpredictable, improvisatory, and by fn, nfoundg. By fn, if the learng is real, the out are unfathomable.”Gay’s radil openns to possibily leads to subtle discernments of his errors of judgment, such as dismissg the humany of his ad father to avoid the hurt of his own wound feelgs.
The ept joys are those we share.Kristen Millar Young is a journalist, sayist and thor of the novel “Subductn.”Incg JoyEssaysBy Ross GayAlgonqu.
INCG JOY WH ROSS GAY (TRANSCRIPT)
Ross Gay on cg joy while dg wh sorrow.