a literary confidence
From "The Night It All Got Going": I’m thinking, “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” but before I can open my mouth, she’s pointing at the window on my side of the bed. Light from the moon spills over the sill and bounces onto the adjacent wall in overwrought shadows. I shudder. She’s turned pale.
The body is a peculiar instrument, the actor thought after weeks of therapy. It can be imploding in the brain and a man can still hold himself upright. Even if only for short periods of time. The heart, of course, is a different proposition.
We're rounding up the Rhodeo Poets this Thursday. If you're on the island of Jamestown, between 6 and 8 pm, we'd love to see you at General's Crossing Brewery, 34 Narragansett Avenue. Shannon Kennelly and I will host.
If you are in the Jamestown, Rhode Island area tonight, please consider dropping into an in-person session of the always entertaining Rhodeo Poets group. The readings go from 6-7:45 pm, and just as they are on the 2nd Thursday of every month, the event will be hosted by Out of the Box Studio and Gallery,11 Clinton... Continue Reading →
Since it's such a pleasure to be associated with the creative folks at Curiosity & Co., I am doubly pleased to announce that they're throwing a party this weekend. Below is a breakdown of the store's programs for the rest of Independent Bookstore Week, starting with a screening of To Kill a Mockingbird at 5:30... Continue Reading →
An Evening of Readings with Three Local Authors
2021 saw Sparks make multiple forays into the world of cinema, first with Edgar Wright's affectionate documentary, The Sparks Brothers, and later, with Annette, director Leo Carax's English-language debut.
It’s a treat when he turns up on Leno or Letterman, even if his mind is peripatetic and the put-downs lack those surreal associations and references that would reduce even a seasoned straight man like Johnny Carson to tears of laughter. Absent too is the rarefied foolishness that would break out when Rickles would interrupt one of his host’s sketches.
And the voice here reads personal and warm, the humor and perspective in this collection refreshing.
Believe me, you are appreciated.
Grant’s Withnail, a combination of old boy pomp, contempo degeneracy, and stagey narcissism, lies, bamboozles, mooches, saturates himself in whiskey, pints and wine, and manages to stay at once angry and self-pitying throughout. He is a miracle. He carries on, rages ahead, all the while increasing his best friend’s anxiety while Marwood (Paul McGann) tries desperately to hang onto some semblance of reality. The walls are closing in and Withnail can’t get an audition. Marwood seems on the verge of another one and this frustrates “With”....
If you are in the vicinity of the Kingston Campus of the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday, November 3...
Unless, of course you find me reading my work in your neighborhood! THE PITCH: Here Comes Herodotus, Again! (and other microhistories) is still on sale! Order here. A now very limited number of my chapbook, Here Comes Herodotus, Again (and other microhistories), which is part of the Open: Journal of Arts & Letters 2021 Chapbook... Continue Reading →
Lyrically, Bill Nelson’s songwriting seemed to ascribe more to the ethos of another underrated band of the era, Blue Oyster Cult, and their code language of flames and futurism, than any other contemporaries. And even these similarities are more subtle than striking.
Read this: "Act Three" at Shark Reef, a Literary Magazine
One evening just a few weeks ago, I noticed him fiddling with something on his back deck. Cleaning bird shit off the umbrella above his picnic table, maybe. He held a spray bottle in one hand and a sponge in the other. He stood on a chair, squirting and wiping. Then he'd give the umbrella a little twirl and hit another spot. That was his method.
STC: Tell us about the mechanics of how you write. Cresser: First thing, pen to paper with as little self-editing as possible. When I feel like I'm running out of gas, I stop. I don't set daily goals, but I have a morning practice during which time is allotted for writing.
The Jamestown Community Theater in collaboration with the Friends of the Jamestown Public Library, pulled together a winsome, varied group of islanders to celebrate the holiday season with poetry and song.
A Pokey LaFarge show is like watching Cab Calloway and Jimmie Rogers together onstage, only they’re both Pokey. Add a little Ernest Tubb, and maybe a little Ernest T. Bass, as well.
While the errant knight, thwarted in his quest for all things flat screen and letting the world know about it, barreled down on me, I began to backpedal. It was a big place, and I thought I might double back to appliances or bedding, those repositories of shiny and fluffy things.
There were chinks in the fabric of the twilight trees, little sparks of fire, like the tip of a match at the moment when a flame is sparked---Whoosh! Pop! Fizz!
I am happy to report that I have a new poem called "Consumer Virus 2020" in List Poem Zine, a beautiful collection edited by artist and comics author, Seamus O. Hames. The Zine is a supplement to Out of the Box Studio's current exhibit, “Sun Path Poem,” and is a compilation of list poems submitted... Continue Reading →
T.S. Eliot was immense and wise, but no one, not even the sagacious Eliot, could have seen how historically cruel this particular April would be. Yet, on the whole, we're all still trying to get by. Some of us are even trying to brighten the corners. So a word here about the Rhodeo Poets, a... Continue Reading →
As he strolled through the Delta terminal, George caught snatches of Sleigh Ride, Blue Christmas and Winter Wonderland wafting from pizza shops and bars, gift kiosks and other cash happy operations. He had a layover in Atlanta and needed something to read on the plane that would take him the rest of the way to... Continue Reading →
Number one, I wanted you to know that you'll find connections to new pieces listed elsewhere on the site (under Story Links). The second purpose of jumping on a blog here is to say hello again. It's been a while. Have I been woodshedding? Trying on new plots, characters, themes. There is new work,... Continue Reading →
So pleased to be associated with this fine collaboration between two of Jamestown, Rhode Island's principal cultural institutions. Saturday, April 13th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, FREE 26 North Road (JPL) and 18 Valley St (JAC) The Jamestown Arts Center & the Friends of the Jamestown Philomenian Library celebrate National Poetry Month! The program starts... Continue Reading →
Get it while it's swimming!
I am happy to announce that I have two flash pieces in the current issue of The Ocean State Review (Volume 8: No. 1): "HVAC" and "Art's Parties." To purchase a copy of the number, follow this link: http://oceanstatereview.org/current-issue/
Just Between You and Me 