Resource

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I basically decide to make a zine when I’ve had so many conversations about a topic that a shortcut would be useful. Not that the conversations aren’t fun; I just want to make sure people can share these resources/ideas beyond the conversation. The newest zine in my library is maybe a little more niche than the others—it’s a collection of resources for people who are looking to start some kind of creative-writing based group: like a high school poetry club, a writing circle, etc.

As always, there’s no one way to do that, and not everything in this zine is going to apply to every person in every situation. But my hope is that there’s something useful in there, at least as a starting point.

One brief note: This is a traditional, 8-page, “z-fold” zine. If you want to print/cut/fold some yourself, here’s a PDF (note that it’s formatted for 11×17 paper). I have a different 8-page zine that’s all about getting involved in spoken word for people who are new to it. I have also, however, combined the two 8-page zines into a single 12-page zine (cutting some of the overlapping content), that I will have with me at shows/events for the foreseeable future. If you’re a teacher, event organizer, etc. who might be interested in a bulk order, feel free to get in touch using my booking form.

As always, here’s the full text of the zine:

Continue reading “All the Threads Between Us: The Power of Poetry Clubs, Writing Circles, Open Mics, and Other Collective Efforts (Zine)”

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Some upcoming opportunities, food-for-thought, and resources:

1. First, to contextualize everything else here, a few thoughts on what it means to recognize National Poetry Month during a genocide. What are the role(s) of poets in times of crisis? What are some concrete, specific things we can do, in the spaces we move through, with the audiences we have access to? A few tactics and resources in the link (it goes to a nine-slide IG carousel). Related:

2. Second: A few local appearances, online opportunities, and more coming up. So much of my work is on-the-road, at schools, colleges, and what basically amounts to “private” events. But these are ones that are more open. Details below:

a promo graphic for "midwest poetry mash-up: finals hosted by kyle tran myhre aka guante; get your tickets today: tinyurl.com/MashUp2024; April 19-20 at Strike Theater in MPLS.
a promo image for the unfold writing series: 2024 guest host: guante (kyle tran myhre) workshop: anthemic writing: monday, april 29, 7-9pm cdt. become a member: bit.ly/unfoldwriting
promo image for "out loud at the library" w/ sun yung shin, kyle tran myhre, kashimana ahua and desdamona: "free creative workshops led by artists throughout may; wednesdays from 6-7pm at the george latimer central library
Continue reading “National Poetry Month 2024 Links”

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A collage of poem titles: What I Will by Suheir Hammad, If I Must Die by Refaat Alareer, Picking up Rocks by Rasha Abdulhadi, What is Home? by Mosab Abu Toha, Naturalized by Hala Alyan, Mismarked by Tariq Luthun, Don't Step on My Feet Again by Basman Aldirawi (via the book, Light in Gaza), Birthright by George Abraham, Antizionist Abecedarian by Sam Sax, Red Sea by Aurora Levins Morales

Kind of a National Poetry Month post. I’ve written about this before, so I’ll keep it short: it times of great crisis, I think poets have more to offer than poems. We should still write the poems, of course, but we can also “be mobilizers. We can be movement-builders. We can use our networks to spread information” and on and on. One way this plays out in our everyday work, for me at least, is the practice of kicking off events and performances by bringing someone else’s voice into the space.

I’ve done this here-and-there through my whole career, but it’s felt like a real necessity over the last five months. If I have 20-60 minutes of stage time at an event, I’m not really interested in just jumping into my own material. I want to acknowledge context. I want to acknowledge that the audience’s hearts might be in two places at once. Opening a show with a poem from a Palestinian poet is a small thing, a tiny thing, but I think it matters. A big part of my own pedagogical approach has been the idea that poems are excuses—they have value on their own, of course, but beyond that, they are footholds, opportunities for us to look at something we weren’t already looking at, to think deeply about something that would otherwise be ignored. If we’re not doing that as a bare minimum, what are we doing?

This post is just a list of links—both to short poems I’ve been returning to, over and over recently, and some articles/interviews on how poetry can be used in this moment. I use that word, used, intentionally. It’s not just about what we can say via poetry; it’s about what the process of writing and sharing poems can help build. Hope these can be useful:

A FEW POEMS

A note on the selections: Any time I make a topic-based list, the list is not exhaustive. This one does not feature every great Palestinian poet, or every poet who has written about war and peace (indeed, the ones listed here are not all by Palestinian poets, and they are not all from the last five months). The list is, very specifically, a small sampling of poems on this topic that have been useful to me in my work as a performer, educator, and facilitator. I’m less interested in the “best” poems, and more interested in poems that can be generative, that can lead to good conversations, and questions—poems that can open doors. There are so many others, and I’d encourage all of us to make these kinds of lists and share them.

A FEW OTHER LINKS

Click through for even more examples:

an IG post with the text "art for palestine challenge: for artists and art makers of all kinds to keep attention on palestine and help amplify palestinian voices! (1) write, illustrate, sing, play music, recite a poem about something you saw in the news or on a video about Palestine. You can also choose to amplify Palestinian voices by creating art based on their exact words. Make sure to give them credit and cite your source! (2) Post your creation and tag #ArtForPalestineChallenge
An IG post with the text “Share your art on and offline! Plaster your city! Ga*za is calling all creatives: use your art to tell the world the truth. With increasing censorship, your role as an artist is more important than ever. Tag @palestinianvoiestoday in your art & we will share.

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a photo of three zines, side by side, titled "the call for a free palestine is a call for freedom everywhere"
click image for an Instagram-friendly version to share.

New zine: Collecting some of the writing that has been useful or meaningful to me over the past three months. I’ve already shared some of my own thoughts; this zine is about signal-boosting voices that I think we should all be listening to in this moment. Below, you can read the zine itself, and find links to all of the sources/articles quoted.

The cover is a design by Natalie Hinahara, which is part of this fantastic folder of “Palestine Art for Protests.”

PRINT YOUR OWN: HERE is a link to the PDF, in case anyone out there wants to share (just makes sure to print on 11×17 paper; here is my favorite “foldy zine” tutorial for how to cut and fold them).

As always, reading, learning, and critical dialogue are first steps, not final steps. Let’s learn, of course, but let’s also find ways to take action.

Continue reading “Zine: Recommended Reading on Gaza and the Struggle for Justice in Palestine”

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As people with platforms, especially here in the U.S., we have a chance to share more than thoughts and prayers.

11/18/23 Update: Editing this post to be a hub for a few things I’ve been sharing:

And here’s an update (2/8/24): a video version of the Racket piece:

A photo of attendees of a march, facing away from the camera. Multiple Palestinian flags are visible; in the foreground, a Palestinian flag and a “land back” flag fly from the same pole. Over the photo, text: “FIVE NOTES FOR ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS WHO WANT TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT PALESTINE BUT AREN’T SURE HOW: by Kyle Tran Myhre; read the full piece at bit.ly/SpeakOutRacket

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Just wanted to share a few good links and a specific thought about how they’re all connected. For more background (especially if you’re looking for more foundational info/context about Gaza), you can also check out the bundle of links I’ve shared on my “recommended reading” page.

NDN Collective’s solidarity statement featuring the text “cease fire: settler colonialism is at the root of the violence in Gaza” + “read our full statement at ndncollective.org” + an image of a silhouette holding up a Palestinian flag.
Jewish Voice for Peace’s solidarity statement featuring the text “JVP Statement: the root of violence is oppression” + “10/7/2023”
The Audre Lorde Project’s solidarity statement featuring the text “free Palestine: ALP stands with the people of Palestine and with all colonized & oppressed peoples fighting for liberation around the world” + an image of a Palestinian flag with brown fists raised.

The focus of this post is solidarity statements. Check out this guide from Building Movement Project that talks about what they are, why they matter, and questions/variables to consider when writing one.

That being said, it’s always important to first acknowledge and center statements (and specific calls to action) from groups representing, and/or connected to, the people most directly affected by an issue. In this case, that might mean looking to orgs like US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Palestinian Feminist Collective, etc.—not necessarily as absolute authorities, since no one group speaks for all of the Palestinian people, but as crucial starting points. What news are they sharing? What are their calls to action?

As of this writing, those calls to action might include contacting elected reps to support a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian aid corridors, attending a local march or protest to show solidarity and gain media attention, and doing more in-depth political education and narrative-shifting work in your community. Another call to action, especially for those of us connected to organizations, might be to write a solidarity statement. A few examples:

Continue reading “Gaza, Media Literacy, and What We Can Learn from Solidarity Statements”

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NOTE: This new zine is part of a limited-edition zine bundle I’m making available via Button Poetry. I normally just give all my zines away for free; the bundle is meant for people who aren’t able to see me in-person; the price covers just a portion of the printing costs. Preorders are available now.

As with all my zines, the FULL text is free and accessible online. Especially with this one, which is less of my own writing and more a curated list of cool quotes and resources, it’s important to me that people who need it can get it.

Framing

The rectangular cover of a zine featuring the text "of what future are these the wild, early days? resources for emerging movement-builders

Over the last decade that I’ve been traveling and performing, a big pet project of mine has been finding ways to invite people into activist work. Even when I’m brought in to facilitate conversations specifically about masculinity, or consent, or whiteness or whatever, I try to help those conversations “land” in a space of agency and possibility—yes, the problems we face are big and intimidating, but they’re not inevitable or insurmountable.

That’s a simple idea, but in this historical moment, it’s easy to lose sight of. I think more people than ever are fired up and want to do something, but there are also more “off-ramps” for that energy than ever before. Our outrage can get channeled into performative social media posting, into passively ingesting hyper-online leftist podcaster/youtuber content, into voting and nothing beyond voting, into cool-kid doomer cynicism, into anxiety around being the most politically-tuned-in individual we can be, and on and on.

So many of the young people I work with today have incredible politics, light-years ahead of where I was at their age, but not a lot of experience with, or exposure to, perspectives on organizing. And to be clear, I’m not any kind of expert, or even a full-time organizer. I’ve just had the privilege of having some great mentors and being plugged into powerful movement spaces, so I’m trying to use what platform I have to pass along some of what I’ve learned.

This zine (what’s a zine?) is the synthesis of a bunch of conversations related to all that. It mixes some foundational perspectives with some really recent ones. Something that should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway because we’re on the internet: it’s not comprehensive. It’s not “everything you’ll ever need to know about activism.” It’s just a 12-page zine. The idea is that it’s a sampling, a small collection of potential starting points, doorways into movement work.

Because crisis often happens (or feels like it happens) all at once; preventing crisis is longer-term, all-the-time work. This is about how we might step into that work.

The full text of the zine is below; as is the case with all my zines, I also have physical copies, and you get them for free at events where I’m performing. If you’re an educator, activist, or just someone who can put them to use, feel free to reach out (you can contact me via my booking form) and we can discuss bulk orders. Instagram carousel version here.

Continue reading “Of What Future Are These The Wild, Early Days? (Resources for Emerging Movement-Builders)”

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Honored to contribute a poem; check it out, along with all the other contributions too.

The cover of the RJ Zine, featuring the text “reproductive justice: a university of minnesota women’s center zine collaboration along with various images of human beings with children, trees, mountains, and sunsets.
Cream background, three art panels in the bottom 3rd of the image with a tree, a mountain, and sun reflecting on water. Text from top to bottom reads: Pick up your zine copy! / Come to the Women's Center lounge in Appleby Hall Room 65 during one of the following times to pick up your copy!* / [In bold] Tuesday May 2nd, 11:30AM-12:30PM and 2:30PM-4:30PM / Wednesday May 3rd, 11AM-12PM and 1PM-4PM / Thursday May 4th, 11AM-12PM and 2�PM-3:30PM / [in italics] *Limit 1 copy/person. While supplies last. We will offer second round print delivery and pickup in a couple weeks based off demand!*

What is Reproductive Justice? I’ve always appreciated SisterSong’s framing:

SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. We believe that Reproductive Justice is…

  • A human right. RJ is based on the United Nations’ internationally-accepted Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a comprehensive body of law that details the rights of individuals and the responsibilities of government to protect those rights.
  • About access, not choice. Mainstream movements have focused on keeping abortion legal as an individual choice. That is necessary, but not enough. Even when abortion is legal, many women of color cannot afford it, or cannot travel hundreds of miles to the nearest clinic. There is no choice where there is no access.
  • Not just about abortion. Abortion access is critical, and women of color and other marginalized women also often have difficulty accessing: contraception, comprehensive sex education, STI prevention and care, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support our families, safe homes, and so much more.
Continue reading “New Reproductive Justice Zine from the UMN Women’s Center”

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a text image: "just because you don't have the power to run outside and magically "fix" everything, it doesn't mean that you don't have power." - from "not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough" by KTM/Guante, art by Casper Pham. ButtonPoetry.com

I’m writing this before the results are in, so can’t comment on that. What I can comment on, however, is that it’s been really weird to have my poem about voting go viral over the last 48 hours.

If you’re here because of that piece, and are new to my work, welcome! Please feel free to take a look at my about page for some more info on what I do.

Anyway, a big part of the *point* of that poem is that voting is important, and also that voting is insufficient. Voting is a small thing we can do that can make a difference on the margins—and the margins matter—but the work of building a better world is much, much bigger than electoral strategy.

So this is a post with some readings and resources that have been useful to me about that idea of “the day after.” These aren’t deep dives into tactical questions; just some potential places to start, especially for people who haven’t been involved in organizing, activism, or advocacy work before. I hope these can be useful.

Continue reading “Resources for Getting Involved Beyond Election Day”