Cordella Press

10/06/2025

09/06/2025

"The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism." ~Hannah Arendt

The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt: https://amzn.to/449aEMa

08/06/2025

“Socrates said, ‘The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.’ He wasn't talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth.
A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.”

–Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories:https://amzn.to/43KcXWa

19/04/2025

Ruth Asawa didn’t just contribute fountains and sculptures to San Francisco’s physical shape; she helped create lasting institutions dedicated to arts education. Her first posthumous retrospective is on view at SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through Sept. 2.

Our review ⬇️

02/04/2025

"In the q***r community a lot of people don’t get to grow old, and in the hobo community a lot of people don’t get to grow old. 'Old' for both of those communities is like 30-35. And that’s insane. A lot of people in the overlapping of those communities don’t get to experience [old age]. It’s really wonderful that there’s so many q***r people and women and femmes and trans people who are heavily active in my community–the thought of having elders who have learned all these skills and want to teach and give it in a safe way is so special, and that’s not something anyone has seen. Trans people don’t get to grow old, especially not trans people of color, or women of color. If they get to grow old in this community it’s like ten times wilder, because they survived things that are unspeakable, and they saw the most beautiful things, and they could give that to the younger generation. I’m just excited to see my friends get over the age of 30."

–from Autie Carlisle's interview with musician Sweet Bean Selene, in our new issue at cordella.org 💛

Autie made this gorgeous film of Sweet Bean Selene playing "Waiting," one of her original songs on her new album, available on Bandcamp at sweetbeanselene.bandcamp.com/album/sour-honey

https://vimeo.com/911674132

Sweet Bean Selene is in the midst of recording her album, Sour Honey. Film by Autie Carlisle for Cordella Press Camera operators: Autie Carlisle & Elijah Sullivan Sound…

31/03/2025

29/03/2025

Like the Gold Rushers, my girl had rolled dice with death, / a bottle of pills almost swallowed her whole. I had to steel-plate / my heart to get through. Years have passed since the scale / tilted her back to her self, but before her pain peaked / how many valleys she saw.

–from "Pachamama’s Plate" by Sarah Key, read more in our new issue, Mother/Land, at cordella.org

27/03/2025

“From what I understand, reclaiming the idea of and language around madness is part of the movement to decolonize psychiatry. What my mom was experiencing–potentially delusional thoughts and hallucinations–have been understood and valued in other countries and cultures at different periods in time. People experiencing these states of mind have not always been seen as ‘mentally ill’ or in need of intervention or medication. In some cultures, they have been considered seers, with access to the spirit realm and important messages to provide to their communities. So I think it’s about the reclamation of the term mad, which was used in a derogatory way for a long time. Similar to how q***r folks have reclaimed slurs to be used amongst themselves. For people who identify with the term ‘mad,’ calling themselves mad or speaking out about madness reclaims language that was used to hurt or ostracize them at certain points in history.”

—from our interview with Nina St Pierre, author of “Love Is a Burning Thing,” in our new issue at cordella.org 🤍 link in bio

24/03/2025

I can almost scoop my mother up now,
sift her between my fingers, marvel
at her scattered sparkles in the sun,
touch the tenderness that always ducked
beneath her consuming tentacles,
her barnacled will to cling.

—from “Where Are You Going My Little One, Pretty One?” by Jennie Meyer, in our new issue, Mother/Land 🤍 cordella.org

24/03/2025

In 1955, Emma Gatewood left her Ohio home, telling her family she was going for a walk. That "walk" turned into a 2,000-mile trek through mountains, rivers, and untamed wilderness.
At 67, she became the first woman to solo thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail in a single season. Without high-tech gear, sponsors, or support, she carried only a homemade denim sack, a shower curtain for shelter, and wore a simple pair of Keds sneakers.

Why did she do it? To prove she could.
Emma had endured a lifetime of hardship — raising 11 children, surviving an abusive marriage, and weathering the Great Depression. After reading about the Appalachian Trail in National Geographic, she decided she could walk it. So, she did.

With unwavering grit, the kindness of strangers, and a profound love for nature, she completed the trail, inspiring generations of hikers. She returned to hike it again in 1960 and finished a third trek in sections by 1963, becoming the first person to complete the trail three times.

Emma’s courage and determination transformed the hiking world, igniting interest in ultralight backpacking and bringing national attention to the Appalachian Trail.

Today, her legacy endures. Hikers still follow the same paths she blazed, walking in the footsteps of Grandma Gatewood — the woman who went out for a walk and never turned back.