The general chaos of 2020 made it easy to miss the release of new books, movies, and other works. This is especially due to the fact that any promotional events, like in-person readings or premieres, were canceled, or simply became lost in the shuffle. To make up for it,
Pittsburgh City Paper is highlighting three new(ish) collections by local poets, all of which were released in 2020.
The History of Our Vagrancies, Jason Irwin (Main Street Rag) Jason Irwin delivers his third collection of deeply personal, evocative poetry with
The History of Our Vagrancies. Released on July 24, 2020, the book demonstrates Irwin s incredible range and voice, the various selections brimming with imagery, dialogue, and motifs conveying the yearning to escape, the strange drama of small-town life, and the author s own struggles with his health and body.
By Tobe Okafor
As you might have guessed, Boxing Day is not eponymous, deriving its name from the duelling sport. Neither does it have its origins in putting used wrapping paper into boxes, or with boxing up undesirable presents, or indeed with shopping or going on forced outings or any of the other activities that now characterise the day after Christmas. The origins of Boxing Day lie not in sport or peddling, but in small acts of kindness.
It is generally accepted that the name derives from the giving of Christmas âboxesâ, but there is no such consensus as to the exact make-up of those boxes and their initial disbursement. Some have traced the tradition to parishioners in churches in the Middle Ages who collected money for the poor in alms boxes. These boxes were opened on the day after Christmas in honour of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast day falls on 26 December.