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a photo of a zine (small paper booklet) with the words "Let Every Word Be A Wrench In Their Machine: Writing Prompts: a collection of writing prompts for poets, emcees, songwriters, and other creative communicators"

Find even more activist-oriented writing prompts here.

Another new zine, another ongoing work-in-progress. I’m sharing some of my favorite writing prompts: for poets of course, but also for songwriters, emcees, and writers of all kinds.

It’s probably clear that my list favors political, movement-oriented, and activist-leaning prompts. There’s a reason for that: things are bad right now. They were bad last year, and every year before that too, but we should also be clear-eyed about the immense amount of work and struggle in front of right now. As always, art isn’t the only thing we need. As always, we do need art. Writing can help frame issues, shift narratives, and just bring people together. It won’t just happen inevitably, though; let these prompts be invitations for us all to be proactive and intentional.

Only other thing I’ll share here is that I also tend to favor “non-traditional” writing prompts. I like prompts that don’t point the way to a single poem or song, but rather to an impulse, a way of approaching our writing. These are prompts someone could use more than once, and write completely different pieces every time.

Here’s a link to a PDF for anyone who wants to print, cut, and fold the zine version (some directions here).

AND HERE’S THE FULL TEXT OF THE ZINE, PLUS SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Continue reading “Let Every Word Be A Wrench In Their Machine: Writing Prompts”

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A guiding question for artists, activists, and community-builders: If social media did not exist, how would you share your art, promote your work, and/or communicate your values?

***UPDATE: Here is a link to the zine version, printable on standard 8.5×11 paper (folding directions here)***

This resource is a work-in-progress that I’ve been brainstorming around with some friends (some of whom are cited below). I just wanted to share it now, so people can start to use it, debate it, add to it, and grapple with it, because (1) I think a *lot* of people are considering leaving social media right now, more so than previous waves of departures; and (2) The question of how we spread the word about stuff we care about, while AI runs amok and social media platforms devour themselves… is not just a question for indie bands and slam poets. It speaks directly to this historical moment—for organizers, movement-builders, and beyond.

Even in a world in which we do use social media, I think it can be useful to frame those platforms as “extras.” I tend to believe that social media success reflects outreach more than it actually drives it, and we can do more to get people excited about our events and projects than just posting about them (even if we’re also posting about them).

Take a look at the landscape: Twitter is dead, Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) are dying, TikTok was literally banned (and its future seems uncertain), and other platforms like YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn, etc. are not reliable unless you’re dedicating 100% of your energy to them. I like Bluesky so far, I guess, but it’s still relatively small. So where does that leave us?

Continue reading “Promoting Our Projects, Events, and Values BEYOND Social Media”

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An artistic design with the text “of what future are these the wild, early days?” w/ silhouettes of birds, a sun, stars, and rain drops. Art by Natalie Hinahara. Words by Kyle Tran Myhre.
design by Natalie Hinahara

New year, new administration, new challenges (on top of the challenges that remain)… as always, I am interested in exploring the role(s) of artists in this historical moment.

It’s easy to fall back on platitudes like “we speak truth to power” or “we cultivate imagination” or “we plant seeds.” Those statements are all true! But what do they actually look like in practice? What are some specific tools and tactics for not just doing that work, but doing it effectively?

And when it comes to the idea of “planting seeds,” how might we go beyond scattering wildflower seeds as we skip on our own through the meadow, and instead work together to plant crops that might feed a community?

This post is the first in a series sharing some thoughts, questions, and ideas related to those questions. I thought I’d start with a writing challenge, since I am connected to so many poets and songwriters. While I regularly facilitate workshops and classes on creative writing, I generally don’t share a lot of formal writing prompts. For people looking for prompts, I often recommend Ollie Schminkey, or Ariana Brown, or Tish Jones, or this big online database. That being said, I’ve got one to share today.

A WRITING PROMPT: Read ReFrame’s 2025 Narrative Predictions resource

That’s basically the prompt, haha. This whole post is really just an excuse to point people in that direction. That link shares six big predictions for the year ahead, and those predictions are made up of over 50 “narratives at play,” stories (some positive, some harmful) that live underneath our beliefs and values. Toward the bottom of the page, ReFrame also shares six “narrative openings” that, along with everything else in the link, are the best writing prompts I can think of—they’re seeds that could grow into countless poems, songs, and beyond.

I get that this is a non-traditional prompt. It’s really just about lifting up the idea that culture workers can take an active, intentional role in shaping narratives; identifying which ones are especially present in the air right now can be a useful start. Below, I’ll share a few points to keep in mind for the writing itself, plus a few examples of what this work can look like. As always, I’m about tools, not rules; nothing here is a set-in-stone directive—just stuff to think about.

Continue reading “Planting seeds vs. planting crops: a new year’s narrative writing prompt”

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This year was bad! But good work happens during bad years too. As is tradition: a few highlights from 2024, for people who are interested in what I do but may have missed something here or there.

photo of KTM/Guante performing at the Target Center in MPLS, surrounded by thousands of people.

Target Center performance + Grammy (!?)

It’s a long story, but as you may know, I’m on two songs by producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Again. This year, I got to perform one of those songs, “Kyle (i found you),” with Fred during his MPLS tour stop at the Target Center. Absolutely surreal; that’s what the photo above is from. The other song, “Berwyn (all that I got is you),” is on Fred’s album “Actual Life 3,” which won the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album back in February.

My friends try to tell me I should just go ahead and say that I’m “a Grammy-winning artist” since I’m a writer/performer on the album, but the humble midwesterner in me is going to run with “appears on a Grammy-winning album.” Either way, it’s kind of cool and not something I ever expected to happen.

Continue reading “2024 recap: New album, Target Center performance, Grammy (kind of), zines, videos, and more”

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Just a quick note that I’ve UPDATED my post sharing links, readings, and resources for people looking to get involved (maybe for the first time) with activism and organizing beyond just voting. It was originally set up in 2022, but has some new content that I’d recommend checking out.

I know not everyone is ready for “okay, so what do we do next?” content, and it’s good to take time to process and feel what we feel. But I made a commitment to myself to share that link no matter the outcome of the election, and for those who are looking for next steps, hopefully it can be useful:

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Framing: Beyond the what-I-hope-is-obvious point that Trump is a fascist scumbag and we shouldn’t vote for him, there are people in my life genuinely struggling with what we *should* do this year, between the threat of Trump/Project 2025 on one side, and both parties’ ongoing support for the genocide in Gaza on the other. Here, I’m not giving anyone any answers, just offering a few thoughts, plus a bunch of links to people smarter than me grappling with that question.

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In 2020, I shared this poem about how I think about voting. The big takeaway is really just repeating what I’ve heard from organizers and activists my whole life: Change comes from mass movements, and voting is a small but meaningful piece of what must be a larger movement-building strategy. No candidate will give us the world we want, and both major parties are invested in capitalism and empire—but there are also meaningful differences between them, and those differences both impact people’s lives now and create organizing opportunities for the future. 

I stand by all of that… in the context of 2020. I’d be lying if I said that 2024 feels exactly the same. 

I think a central tension this year is that the following two points both make sense: 

Continue reading “The “right now” work of elections, and the “all-the-time” work of movement-building”

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Surprise. The first new Guante & Big Cats album in over five years.

THE OFFICIAL BLURB: ‘All Dressed Up, No Funeral’ is a concept album about the climate crisis. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bunch of songs about trees or the importance of recycling—decorated indie Hip Hop duo Guante & Big Cats have crafted a furious, laser-focused rebuke to doomsaying, “abandon your posts”-style cynicism. This is an album about how while it is naive to believe that victory is inevitable, it is equally naive to believe that victory is impossible. It’s about how collective action can be healing, how grief can be a superpower, and how hope can—and often must—have sharp edges. 

Continue reading “All Dressed Up, No Funeral: Guante & Big Cats’ climate crisis concept album”