The Workshop Opening

I read selections from my memoir at the opening gala of The Workshop, a new writers’ collective (that’s what I’m calling it) in Rollinsford. It was crazy hot, as you can see from the image. I’m excited for what the space could become. I’ve been craving a community of flesh-and-blood writers ever since graduate school. I mean, my online friends are smart and gracious and eager to read and edit, but sometimes you need to look someone in the eyes in order to hear critique. Or maybe I just want to hang and talk shop.

Primal Tongue

I will be a featured reader at Adelle’s Coffeehouse in Dover, NH, for the next Primal Tongue Reading Series event.  This is a unique series as it focuses on prose rather than poetry.  On the seacoast, prose writers have been quite alienated when it comes to sharing their work, as the area is inundated with poetry open mics.  I hope to read from my new project, a book focusing on my grandparents’ relationship over the course of their lives, highlighted by three years of love letters between them during World War II.

The program begins at 7pm on Thursday, August 6th.

Caesura

I found out I will have a poem in the next issue of Caesura, a journal published by the Poetry Center San Jose.  It is entitled “Twin,” and it deals with the alluring idea that we all have a twin in the world.

Ello Gallery Show

Sadly, an awesome local gallery is closing: Ello Gallery on State Street in Portsmouth.  (And it’s not just awesome because it’s showing my art.  It is a place that is unafraid to take risks and exhibit things other than the typical seacoast scenes of lighthouses and sailboats.  When it came to town, I breathed a sigh.  “Ahh, we need more of these places–places with no pretensions and no hidden agendas.  Art for art’s sake.  Art to save the world!”  Okay, I’m getting a little off track.)  Three of my collages will be displayed for the final two weeks that the gallery is open: June 14-28.  More below.

Postcards From the Edge is our final open-call exhibit featuring artists from the 2-year run in our space as well as new artists we have not shown previously. Each artist will present 1-4 postcard designs which blur the line between design, art and functionality.

Postcards From the Edge will run from June 14 – June 28th
(runs concurrently with Pinehaven Collective: Revival)
special closing reception Friday, June 26th, 5-9PM

Public Honesty

photo by Erika Ritzel

This message is painted on the side of an old movie theater in town–the theater, in fact, where I saw Back to the Future and Back to the Future 2. Later, I watched Titanic there during a blizzard and the screen went black but the sound played on. It was sad for me when it closed several years ago because the gazillion-screen theater up the road took over. This one always had better popcorn.

The wall has been painted for a month now, maybe more, and I’m glad no one has come round with cleaning supplies. It got me thinking about the other graffiti I remember as a child. The bridge by the Hawk Shop and Pic N Pay was a popular place to express oneself. I was talking to a friend the other day and we remembered this: “Pam, I’m sorry. I still love you. Julio.” And then: “Will you go to prom with me?” This was in the 80s. We can’t remember if the two statements went together or not. Anyway, I’ve wondered over the years whether the certain couple did in fact party down at the PHS prom. And did Pam forgive Julio? Those messages have now been painted over by lame tags, the kind that are just names without any artistic value whatsoever.

Now I wonder: Who is S? Has she seen the wall? I want her to marry the writer and have babies.

It’s Sooo Unfair!

I’m still reeling from Lil Kim’s elimination on Dancing with the Stars.

Let’s Get Political

My poem “Pink” was selected for inclusion in the current issue of The November 3rd Club.  It is from a series I wrote about the JFK assassination–some scrutinizing the teletypes that were sent that day, one from the bullet’s point of view, another an elegy for Oswald.  Click here to see the poem.

Back from the Depths

I haven’t written in a while. That’s because I’ve been busy… I am working on a collaboration with Scott Yates, a local photographer. He sends me an image, and then I write some sort of narrative inspired by that visual. I am trying to go with immediate response–free association. So the photo won’t always appear to “match” the text, or vice versa. We’re thinking of it as a sort of game that we play twice a week. He then posts the photo and “story” on his blog. To see the first few experiments, click here.