Should I add these paragraphs to any of my self-descriptions, or are they too frivolous? “Professor Zero teaches at Vichy State University, an R-2 institution in Louisiana. Her departments and programs include, but are not limited to Spanish and Portuguese, Comparative Literature, and Latin American Studies. She has resigned her affiliation with Women’s Studies because … More Should I…?
Professor Zero’s hearing has ended. Barring any untoward or unforeseen events, she should be released from the Castle tomorrow. She is really, really tired of discussing Reeducation, and bored. She is not even angry any more. She is channelling Michel de Montaigne to remind us that the savage world may be more civilized than ours, … More Standing By
I have referred to parish prison as Abu Ghraib, but really we do not have those conditions. From the windows we can wave to festival revelers. The prettiest women have the most confidence of anyone, and they wave right back. I was even let out to go down the street to my ceramics studio. I … More Bar Zero
PARTIAL TRIAL TRANSCRIPT These are the main two things I disliked about Reeducation (I know I have identified other sets of “main two things” before, but I keep boiling it further down). 1. One was always a suspect, always under suspicion, always on trial. One had to second guess oneself and watch what one said … More Suspected of Not “Feeling”
After returning from a well heeled conference at a well heeled university attended by mostly well heeled professors I returned home refreshed, without a care in the world but the knowledge that I had spent $70 in restaurants that I do not have room for in my budget this month or next, and that this … More Aesthetics of Hunger
Referring ironically to the Romantic tradition that “nature teaches” César Vallejo called a linden tree murmuring in the wind a “professor of sobbing” and a “technician of shouts.” He ends this poem suggesting the tree is actually no such thing. I, however, really am now an engineer of poetry. My introduction to literature is intended … More Poetic Engineering
The United States, as we know, “does not engage in torture,” but only in this: This detainee who I was sent to interrogate was stripped down to his underwear, hands bound behind his back and a sandbag on his head—and I never actually saw his face. My job was to take a metal folding chair, … More Michael Prysner
Whether or not Professor Zero is ever released from custody, this site will on occasional weekends publish the names of recent Iraq casualties of all nationalities. To start, we give the names of U.S. deaths from March 4-22, as confirmed by the Department of Defense. Honorary Mexican and official Central American that Professor Zero is, … More Weekends in Iraq
This is Professor Zero, from parish prison (for those of you who live in states, districts, and colonies other than Louisiana, that means county jail). I am allowed to go to class and so on. I am not allowed to comment on blogs because I have far too much to do and it is only … More On Time to Tenure
César Chávez ¡Presente! Hoy día cumples 81 años y con nosotros los festejas, aunque no te veamos. Hoy en especial, pero también todos los días, nos da aliento tu luminosa presencia: limpia, sencilla, profunda. * In memory of César Chávez we direct you to Lumpenprofessoriat, who has found an amazing, inspiring Barack Obama Poetry Slam, … More Mañanitas de César Chávez
coldhearted scientist وداد 