Things We Saw Today: Plagiarism Is Bad. Getting Words You Plagiarized Tattooed on Your Body Is Next-Level Terrible Idea

Poetry Twitter is in the midst of a baffling scandal right now, as a young poet named Ailey O’Toole was outed as having plagiarized work from a number of other writers after one of her poems was nominated for a Pushcart award.

A poem that plagiarizes me was nominated for a Pushcart. I HOPE WE WIN!

— Rachel McKibbens (@RachelMcKibbens) December 1, 2018

The whole story is wild, as more and more of O’Toole’s poems were outed as having been stolen. As for O’Toole, she actually apologized to McKibbens (who posted that tweet), trying to pass her “borrowed lines” off as having been inspired by McKibbens. But she clearly felt comfortable enough with the lifted lines and proud enough of her vague wording, to the point where she actually had a line from the poem tattooed on her body.

pic.twitter.com/El7ThA5bXv

— Rachel McKibbens (@RachelMcKibbens) December 1, 2018

This is especially upsetting because, as with so much poetry, the images O’Toole lifted were largely about trauma and other incredibly personal issues.

Over at Vulture, you can read a breakdown of the whole chronology of the plagiarism and the “Scooby Doo-esque” fallout, along with Poetry Twitter’s takes on everything. And if you’d like to read poetry by McKibbens, you can do so here and buy her collection here.

• The Good Place was renewed for a fourth season! Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of it not being renewed. Can you imagine the tears? The riots?
  

  Season 4 for #TheGoodPlace?! This makes the bass drop in our hearts. 😍💕💞💓💖💝🥰 pic.twitter.com/R8n5wx4tAz

  — There’s Snow Place Like The Good Place ❄️ (@nbcthegoodplace) December 4, 2018

• A priest who specializes in exorcisms and exorcism training called Celine Dion’s line of gender-neutral baby clothes “satanic” and “demonic.” Cool, normal response. (via Romper)
• This in-depth profile of all the freshmen women entering Congress is a beautiful thing. I can’t stop crying over just the header video. (via Elle)
• Give me this movie about free black female millionaires fighting racial oppression in 19th Century New Orleans ASAP please. (via Shadow and Act)

What did you all see out there in the wide world of the web today?

(image: Matthew Henry from Burst)

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