There are things too large for us to handle. There are things that overwhelm us. There are things that can take us away, break us, twist us, keep us alive. There are things in this world that need to be done and aren’t, things that shouldn’t be done and are. There are worlds within our world that are incorrigibly plural, there are worlds born dead and still living. What I…
Themes on an Exit Novelty, and I’m not sure— Yesterday I felt a casual breeze and the loneliness of previous autumns came rushing back. I have the sense, or the symptom that the more I lose in sleep the more myself I become. It carves around myself: I pare down more tender, sore and supple, organic bruises beneath my eyes cosplay something more lovely. Winter is coming. It’s a warning.…
A collection of poems we have dubbed ‘hope-core’ to bring you out of the trenches!
Hope Yang is a sophomore at Hanszen College majoring in English and exploring Cognitive Sciences. In her free time, she enjoys making art, listening to–and occasionally playing–music, and admiring fish.
As September approaches its end, the semester is in full swing. With midterms around the corner, it is peak procrastination time at Rice University. Rather than encouraging you to do your work, The Wild Grain wants to help you procrastinate in the best way: with a fresh book. Here are the best books to procrastinate with, from the editors! The Idiot – Elif Batuman Calling The Idiot an easy read…
How to Grapple with the Fact That You Will Never Be Extraordinary First, you must know that one day you will be asked a question you cannot answer. It does not matter how prepared you may be, or how many times you rehearse your reply to the unknown query: it is not a response to be spoken aloud. The next few steps will be critical to your understanding of what…
Come to The Sea i want to be beautiful like the ocean the kind of beauty that reminds you of your own a mirror, a glimpse like staring into yourself like scooping from within let grains of sand slip through to drag you towards me i want to be beautiful the kind of beauty that brings clarity and alertness as you dive right in salty air and salty tongue take…
Fairy lights twinkled against the dark bluing night sky as the murmur of the audience drifted in waves, carried by the breeze, weaving in and out of rows of seats, dissipating towards the front, where a wooden lectern stood against the red-bricked background of Rice University’s Ray’s Courtyard. It is here that poet Dave Lucas began to speak. Lucas’s curled hair, thick-rimmed square glasses and colorful shirt caught the eye…
We are thrilled to feature Sarah Easley’s final project from Dr. Castromán Soto’s “Graphic Novel in African American Literature” course. Titled “Molding Clay,” this amazing series of papercut art compositions imaginatively visualizes excerpts from W.E.B. Du Bois’ well-known speech/essay, “Criteria of Negro Art” (1926). Sarah Easley is a visual artist and recent Rice graduate with degrees in Visual and Dramatic Arts and Political Science. Working primarily in sculpture and illustration, Sarah explores…
In this stunning video essay, “DIASPORA,” Sanvitti Sahdev, Kelly Park, and Joyce Chen meditate upon the intimate threads that weave the complex webs of their transnational identities. Considering their relationship to diaspora, Asia, America, and “home,” they craft a profoundly nuanced portrait of the complicated ties that can at times bind, while at other times connect. This project was created in Prof. Marte-Wood’s “21st-Century Asian American Literature and Racial Formation” course.…
