“I push back against a deeply-entrenched tendency in American culture to label quickly and no longer even examine the labels that were initially stamped on a person. I don't have a problem with any of my "hyphenated" biography - I don't have any problem with that at all. The world would be a better place if our thread of hyphenation were truly embraced beyond mere naming and category.” IfsWorldPersonsProblemWould BeCultureMereTendenciesLabelsCategoriesThreadBiographiesBetter PlaceAmerican Culture Author:Fady Joudah
“Poetry at large in America is naturally a reflection of the American system and culture. That's my possibly narrow view of it, or reductive view. But I think for as many portals for critical consciousness in the poetry world and in the American spirit that exist, there's also an over-arching, dominant mirroring, in poetry, of the corporate structure, the capitalist enterprise.” ThinkingWorldAmericaSpiritCultureViewsConsciousnessReflectionStructureCriticalCorporateEnterpriseCapitalistDominantPortalMirroringAmerican Spirit Author:Fady Joudah
“We all exist in similar systems that mirror and reproduce the same American culture for the most part. What Oscar Wilde said about the lucky author who has a non-literary day job no longer holds, if it ever did. Artists seek validation as much as they seek money. The creation and invention of culture and canon is where most of the trouble lies.” IfsSaidJobsLyingArtistCultureTroubleCreationLuckyMirrorsInventionOscarsAmerican CultureValidationCanonDay JobsWilde Author:Fady Joudah
“The more money you make, the more the culture already attracts you to serve it, with an aura of glitter and power, to reproduce it in even stronger ways. And you have to resist that so much if any meaningful artistic integrity is to be had.” IfsWayCultureIntegrityStrongerMeaningfulArtisticMore MoneyGlitterAurasArtistic Integrity Author:Fady Joudah
