The A24 Podcast All The Ways To Be with Bryan Washington & Ocean Vuong
Dec 21, 2020
Topics covered include: the purity of poetry, radical okay-ness, alternate life as a straight man, power of saying no, learning to choose yourself, exoticism of suburbia, upside of being small, letting artist expand vision through adaptation, and writing as a miracle.
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Grief And Care During The Pandemic
- Ocean Vuong describes using the pandemic to grieve and care for family after his mother's death and renovating his basement for his displaced brother.
- He says those events felt so contrived they'd be cut from a novel, yet they became his lived reality during the book cycle.
Productivity Culture Distorts Creative Value
- Both speakers observe American culture's obsession with productivity starts early and equates worth with constant output.
- They argue that publishing intensifies this and that rest or slower pacing can be a radical corrective.
Overwhelmed By Winter Institute
- They recall meeting at Winter Institute and Brian describing the event as science-fictional and overwhelming with a parade of dinners.
- Ocean admits hiding in a closet between events to calm down from the social intensity.