Michael Janairo

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Author: Michael Janairo

  • Recent press: Times Union on my Pushcart nomination

    Screen Shot 2017-04-26 at 8.57.49 PM

    If you read my announcement on this blog last week, then you already know this news. But it caught the attention of the good people at the Albany Times Union, including current arts editor Gary Hahn. He worked his magic and one of the newest hires to the TU, Sara Tracey, was kind enough to write up my literary news.

    Thank you, Gary and Sara!

    You can read the full story here: http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Delmar-writer-s-poem-nominated-for-Pushcart-Prize-11089133.php

    This was also buttressed from some really great social media mentions. Here’s a Twitter sampling

    https://twitter.com/SaratogaPRgal/status/855447234082680832

     

  • Watch: My poem ‘Instructions for Astronauts’ now a video

    You can also read the poem at Mithila Review.

  • My poem ‘For Your Own Safety’ Nominated for a Pushcart Prize

    So here’s a screenshot of something that I just saw today on the SF Poetry website:

    Screen Shot 2017-04-19 at 9.19.10 PM

    Thank you, Star*Line magazine for the recognition!

    I won’t know until much later this year if my poem gets picked.

    The poem isn’t available online, but you can buy the edition it is in from http://www.sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline39.1.html. And it was inspired by the figure below, a work of art called Refugee Astronaut by the artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE.

    ref-ast-front
    Yinka Shonibare, MBE’s “Refugee Astronaut,” 2015, photograph by Michael Janairo
  • Scenes from Montreal

    Scenes from Montreal

    Palais des congrès de Montréal
    Boulangerie Guillaume, Montreal
    ‎Teresa Margolles: Mundos at Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
    Subway entrance, Montreal
    Chinatown, Montreal
    A scene from the Underground City

  • Birthday awesomeness 

    When you have friends who bake, this can happen. 

    Wonderful chocolate cake for me and The Boy, who came home from NYC for a joint birthday celebration. 

    Thanks, Gina!

  • Thank you, Mithila Review!

    My new speculative poem, Instructions for Astronauts, appears in the new edition of The Mithila Review!

    It has also been made into a video. Check it out:

     

    Ajapa Sharma, one of the co-founding editors of the journal, writes in the introduction:

    When we read Michael Janairo’s submission “Instructions for Astronauts” for this issue, it resonated with some of the themes of our favorite space-based films and series. SyFy’s series based on James S.A. Corey’s Hugo award winning books, The Expanse has been our staple since season 2 of the series started airing in February. Against all criticisms, we’ve also thoroughly enjoyed Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and are eagerly waiting to watch Alien: Covenant later this year. Janairo’s poem captured elements that have traditionally been a part of science fiction’s visual corpus and his stellar voice quality made it all the more adaptable for a film. Working with Michael’s poetry, it became evident that good visual material can only come from excellent writing. The visual, after all, is an innovative translation of a textual script. The hope is that the video will become a medium through which Janairo’s poetry can travel far and wide.

    Excerpt From: Salik Shah, Editor. “Mithila Review – Issue 8.”

  • Seems like a good day for a dog picture

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    This was taken by the stepson.

     

  • Federal Arts Funding Beyond ‘Piss Christ’

    The short version: Bullies who favor guns over culture distort facts so they can gut federal arts funding; here are some facts.

    The news
    “The president’s budget would eliminate the NEA’s $148 million budget, the NEH’s $148 million budget and the CPB’s $445 million budget, as well as $230 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries and museums across the country.”

    — Washington Post

    Here we go again. A GOP budget plan to ax arts funding. Right-wingers cheering it on, saying things like arts are elitist and that people who want arts should pay for it themselves . This all seems to be a reflection of a couple different ways of looking at the world: the libertarian one, in which everyone needs to do everything for themselves (except maybe national defense?); and a kind of anti-intellectualism in reference to culture that can be summed up as “if I don’t understand it, it must be elitist.”

    I’m reminded of a story told by a former newspaper colleague who recounted a meeting with an adult person in public. That person, recognizing her from her photo in the newspaper, said something like, “You write those movie reviews, right? You must be a millionaire.”

    (more…)

  • Snow day time lapse, March 14, 2017