Last night I had a really nice, relaxed time at the launch party for Stress City: A Big Fat Book of Fiction by 51 DC Guys at Politics and Prose. The newest anthology pulled together by editor Richard Peabody over at Paycock Press, it includes fiction by the likes of Matt Kirkpatrick, RIchard McCann and yours truly.
It was a great turnout. I got there about ten minutes early and counted 82 heads, but more came after I got there. Considering DC residents often leave DC in the summer to make way for tourists and that it was a Friday night it was a real testament to both Peabody and the writing community of DC in general.
Because it would have been crazy to have 51 people read from their work----we'd still probably be there---nine of the contributors read small sections from their stories. From Brian Gilmore's tale about a lawyer named Funk to Richard McCann's elegy of a dead lover via memories of a gay bar to Dave Housely's Avant Pop twist on the old Davy and Goliath cartoon, they really showed the broad spectrum of the kind of writing that goes on in this town. And I'm happy to say not one of the pieces were political thrillers. Other readers included RR Angell, Juan H. Gaddis, Charles R. Larson, Alex MacLennan, David Nicholson, and Jim Patterson.
The reading was followed up by a Q+A session moderated by poet Rose Solari and author Jim Patterson. Questions raised were the solitary nature of men in fiction, the lack of issues like gender strife and parental issues that often appear in the work of women, how mean "deal" with problems instead of just "cope", and how writing and art in general let men to enter modes of introspection and intimacy that men don't normally allow themselves to enter. Reading those I know it all sounds very serious but it was all fairly light-hearted and fun.
Afterwards I caught up with a couple of people I haven't seen in awhile and picked up a couple extra things from the shelves of the bookstore. I even had a nice older couple ask me to sign their copy of the anthology when they found out I have a piece in the book. It was great feeling part of a writing community again, even in a very small way. Once I find my full time job and get myself settled in our near Baltimore that's one of the things high on my list to seek out. While I brought a camera, I sadly neglected to included working batteries. If other sites put up pics I'll update here with some links.
Anways, I highly recommend the book. If you're interested you can probably pick it up in person at places like Politics and Prose and the Writer's Center, and you can also order it via Amazon.
Excelsior.
Showing posts with label Readings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Readings. Show all posts
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Lethem Reading
The Jonathan Lethem reading I went to Friday---the closing event for this year's Fall for the Book Celebration at GMU---was a lot of fun. A staff member of the event----who (ahem) didn't introduce himself at all---opened the event by stating that Fall for the Book was about putting living writers on the same level as rock starts and using their event to give readers the chance to put a real face to the person behind the words. Lethem, in the writer-garb of the day with a sport coat, jeans and leather clogs, finally approached the stage and accepted the very first Mason Award, an award that celebrates "an author whose body of work has made extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public". Although no one said so, I took this as a nod to Lethem's skill at appropriating styles and themes from sci-fi, fantasy, crime fic and comic books to mainstream lit.
Lethem then launched into a reading of a short story entitled "The King of Sentences", a short story he had just finished with earlier that day. The story focuses on Clea and an unnamed narrator obsessed with words. By day they work together in a bookstore, looking down on their customers with complete disdain because they couldn't possibly understand the power and beauty of the books they were purchases with their paltry dollars. By night they read, write and pretty much achieve sexual gratification by exploring wonderfully constructed sentences. The pair decide to seek out their favorite writer, a reclusive older fellow living in upstate New York who we only know as The King of Sentences. This author reminded me a lot of J.D. Salinger, or at least what we know of Salinger: reclusive, irascible, and brilliant. It's a wacky piece and has a lot of fun with concepts like the powers of words, fandom, and the nature of a public image. I could easily see it fitting in at McSweeney's or some other equally irreverent lit mag.
Lethem stuck around for another 15 minutes or so to answer questions. I'd say about 2/3 of the audience was made of undergrads from George Mason University, many of whom recently read Lethem's novel Motherless Brooklyn for one of their literature classes. An odd choice, I thought---it does some interesting things but it's not my favorite novel of his. Anyway, several questions focuses on that novel. But other people asked him about other works, about the essay "The Ecstacy of Influence" he wrote for Harper's Magazine that attacks current laws and concepts of intellectual property, his thoughts on sci-fi, and if he sees himself as part of a "zeitgeist" of current male novelists who deal with similar subjects in similar ways (he doesn't).
I had a great time. There are still some things he said that are swirling around in my head---particularly the idea of creative influence---that I'll probably post about here after thinking on them some more. Until next time....
Excelsior
Lethem then launched into a reading of a short story entitled "The King of Sentences", a short story he had just finished with earlier that day. The story focuses on Clea and an unnamed narrator obsessed with words. By day they work together in a bookstore, looking down on their customers with complete disdain because they couldn't possibly understand the power and beauty of the books they were purchases with their paltry dollars. By night they read, write and pretty much achieve sexual gratification by exploring wonderfully constructed sentences. The pair decide to seek out their favorite writer, a reclusive older fellow living in upstate New York who we only know as The King of Sentences. This author reminded me a lot of J.D. Salinger, or at least what we know of Salinger: reclusive, irascible, and brilliant. It's a wacky piece and has a lot of fun with concepts like the powers of words, fandom, and the nature of a public image. I could easily see it fitting in at McSweeney's or some other equally irreverent lit mag.
Lethem stuck around for another 15 minutes or so to answer questions. I'd say about 2/3 of the audience was made of undergrads from George Mason University, many of whom recently read Lethem's novel Motherless Brooklyn for one of their literature classes. An odd choice, I thought---it does some interesting things but it's not my favorite novel of his. Anyway, several questions focuses on that novel. But other people asked him about other works, about the essay "The Ecstacy of Influence" he wrote for Harper's Magazine that attacks current laws and concepts of intellectual property, his thoughts on sci-fi, and if he sees himself as part of a "zeitgeist" of current male novelists who deal with similar subjects in similar ways (he doesn't).
I had a great time. There are still some things he said that are swirling around in my head---particularly the idea of creative influence---that I'll probably post about here after thinking on them some more. Until next time....
Excelsior
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Kiss the Sky Reading: A Slight Return
The reading last night for the anthology Kiss the Sky was one helluva good time. Miss L and I walked into the Writers Center to Jimi Hendrix Experience playing on the stereo and the smell of incense burning. A table was set with postcards and images of Hendrix, along with a plate full of sugar cubes dyed with food coloring,making them look like something Hendrix might have dosed on back in the day. It all helped set the mood for what was a pretty fun night. Special thanks to Miss L for taking all the photos in this post.
Editor Richard Peabody started off the evening by dropping a little Hendrix knowledge and giving some history on the anthology. It was a labor of love, a project that started roughly seven years ago to create an anthology based around Hendrix as a theme. He shopped it around through several publishers, and while several like the concept they always wanted to make changes. Odd changes. Changes like replacing all the works by African American poets with essays by white rock and roll critics (Lester Bangs is in the book, but he gets a pass because he kicked ass when he wrote about music). But Peabody stuck to his vision and, using his own Peacock Press, put out the book himself (for more details on the book itself, go here).
The wide variety of works we heard that night was really impressive. Ruben Jackson started things off with a poem that answers the question "What if Jimi lived to 49?" There were drug-hazed remembrances from people like Kevin Downs. Matt Kirkpatrick's story tells the fictional history of Hendrix's first guitar as it passed from owner to owner via a variety of pawnshops. Steve Messner's tale of the reincarnation of Hendrix, an odd man who creates music not with guitars but vacuum cleaners, was probably the funniest piece of the night.
But really the standout piece of the night was a personal essay by Meredith Pond entitled "Proud Hail". Pond attended Woodstock....no, not the one with the Chili Peppers or the one with Green Day, but that first one everyone else wishes they attended. Written in a beautiful, poetic prose, she tells what it was like to see Hendrix take control of the stage and perform his (in)famous rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner". The whole book is worth it just for her piece alone.
My own reading went ok. I kept it short and focused on the one section of my story that I really like. I gave a little intro and launched into things; everything was going pretty well until about 2/3 of the way into my reading. A lady sitting in the front row hand a handbag that started chiming. Or, rather, she had a cell phone in a handbag that started chiming. I tried my best to ignore it, but it was like a scab that just had to be picked. The more I tried to ignore it the louder it seemed to become. I started stumbling over my words, and, of course, felt like the phone was getting even louder. I felt bad that I was flubbing my reading a little and I felt bad for the woman, who seemed really embarrassed.
After the fourth ring she finally managed to lay her hands on her phone and hit the ignore button.
"About time," I thought. "Now I can forge ahead."
But two more lines into my piece and the damn thing rang again. I guess whoever was calling really wanted to get ahold of this woman. The poor lady finally gave in, stood up and took the call in the next room. By that point, though, my reading was just about over.
The reading was followed up by some socializing augmented with chocolate, wine and coffee. Peabody also arranged a raffle of some choice Jimi artifacts: a few posters, a t-shirt, and copy of the Hendrix Box set. The t-shirt, which seemed to be made for a ten year old girl, was won by Steve Messner, one of the bigger guys in the room. Hopefully he knows a kid to pass it on to.
I chatted with Steve a good bit. We had some classes together in the Hopkins program, and it was nice to see him again. We commiserated a bit about writing fiction that's slightly offbeat, and how we're handling or not handling it. He mentioned moving into Noir a bit more, which actually sounds kind of fun.
On my way out, I picked up a couple of mags to buy from the Writers Center store. I ran into Matt Kirkpatrick in the line to pay. We chatted a little, and then he just looked at me a second and said, "Do you have a blog?"
I nodded.
"You're Hebdomeros, aren't you?" he said.
I admitted I was. He said he saw my post that I was reading that night, and that he wanted to figure out who I was. He then asked if I knew a particular author of local prominence. I've never had the pleasure of meeting this person, but I know her work a little bit. Apparently, some time ago she asked Matt he knew who I was. Never knew I was such a man of mystery.
Excelsior.
Peabody Giving Background on the anthology Kiss the Sky
Editor Richard Peabody started off the evening by dropping a little Hendrix knowledge and giving some history on the anthology. It was a labor of love, a project that started roughly seven years ago to create an anthology based around Hendrix as a theme. He shopped it around through several publishers, and while several like the concept they always wanted to make changes. Odd changes. Changes like replacing all the works by African American poets with essays by white rock and roll critics (Lester Bangs is in the book, but he gets a pass because he kicked ass when he wrote about music). But Peabody stuck to his vision and, using his own Peacock Press, put out the book himself (for more details on the book itself, go here).
Ruben Jackson reading his poem Hendrix at 49
The wide variety of works we heard that night was really impressive. Ruben Jackson started things off with a poem that answers the question "What if Jimi lived to 49?" There were drug-hazed remembrances from people like Kevin Downs. Matt Kirkpatrick's story tells the fictional history of Hendrix's first guitar as it passed from owner to owner via a variety of pawnshops. Steve Messner's tale of the reincarnation of Hendrix, an odd man who creates music not with guitars but vacuum cleaners, was probably the funniest piece of the night.
Author Steve Messner introducing his story "The Jimi Hendrix of Vacuum Cleaners"
But really the standout piece of the night was a personal essay by Meredith Pond entitled "Proud Hail". Pond attended Woodstock....no, not the one with the Chili Peppers or the one with Green Day, but that first one everyone else wishes they attended. Written in a beautiful, poetic prose, she tells what it was like to see Hendrix take control of the stage and perform his (in)famous rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner". The whole book is worth it just for her piece alone.
Meredith Pond reading her piece "Proud Hail"
My own reading went ok. I kept it short and focused on the one section of my story that I really like. I gave a little intro and launched into things; everything was going pretty well until about 2/3 of the way into my reading. A lady sitting in the front row hand a handbag that started chiming. Or, rather, she had a cell phone in a handbag that started chiming. I tried my best to ignore it, but it was like a scab that just had to be picked. The more I tried to ignore it the louder it seemed to become. I started stumbling over my words, and, of course, felt like the phone was getting even louder. I felt bad that I was flubbing my reading a little and I felt bad for the woman, who seemed really embarrassed.
After the fourth ring she finally managed to lay her hands on her phone and hit the ignore button.
"About time," I thought. "Now I can forge ahead."
But two more lines into my piece and the damn thing rang again. I guess whoever was calling really wanted to get ahold of this woman. The poor lady finally gave in, stood up and took the call in the next room. By that point, though, my reading was just about over.
The reading was followed up by some socializing augmented with chocolate, wine and coffee. Peabody also arranged a raffle of some choice Jimi artifacts: a few posters, a t-shirt, and copy of the Hendrix Box set. The t-shirt, which seemed to be made for a ten year old girl, was won by Steve Messner, one of the bigger guys in the room. Hopefully he knows a kid to pass it on to.
I chatted with Steve a good bit. We had some classes together in the Hopkins program, and it was nice to see him again. We commiserated a bit about writing fiction that's slightly offbeat, and how we're handling or not handling it. He mentioned moving into Noir a bit more, which actually sounds kind of fun.
On my way out, I picked up a couple of mags to buy from the Writers Center store. I ran into Matt Kirkpatrick in the line to pay. We chatted a little, and then he just looked at me a second and said, "Do you have a blog?"
I nodded.
"You're Hebdomeros, aren't you?" he said.
I admitted I was. He said he saw my post that I was reading that night, and that he wanted to figure out who I was. He then asked if I knew a particular author of local prominence. I've never had the pleasure of meeting this person, but I know her work a little bit. Apparently, some time ago she asked Matt he knew who I was. Never knew I was such a man of mystery.
Excelsior.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Kiss the Sky Reading
If you've ever had the grand desire to meet me, I'll be reading this Saturday at 7:30 pm at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. I'm joining forces with other writers who contributed to the new book edited by Ricard Peabody Kiss the Sky, a collection of fiction and poetry either about or inspired by the life and music of Jimi Hendrix.
Readers for the night include Theodore Carter, Barbara DeCesare, Kevin Downs, Sunil Freeman, Reuben Jackson, Matthew Kirkpatrick, Steve Messner, Rebecca Motil, David Nicholson, Meredith Pond, Darrell D. Stover, Ross Taylor, Jeremy Trylch.
My own piece is a loopy sci-fi thing heavily influenced by Philip K Dick. I've read a handful of the other pieces in the book here and there, and they are pretty good. It promises to be a fun evening. If I can remember, I'll bring my camera along and post some pictures later.
You can find full info on the event online here.
Excelsior.
Readers for the night include Theodore Carter, Barbara DeCesare, Kevin Downs, Sunil Freeman, Reuben Jackson, Matthew Kirkpatrick, Steve Messner, Rebecca Motil, David Nicholson, Meredith Pond, Darrell D. Stover, Ross Taylor, Jeremy Trylch.
My own piece is a loopy sci-fi thing heavily influenced by Philip K Dick. I've read a handful of the other pieces in the book here and there, and they are pretty good. It promises to be a fun evening. If I can remember, I'll bring my camera along and post some pictures later.
You can find full info on the event online here.
Excelsior.
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