"A Box of Winter" is now live at Flash Fiction Online!

My odd, little flash story, "A Box of Winter," about Robert Redford is up at Flash Fiction Online. The first few lines are below, but you can read the whole (quick) affair by clicking here.

"I was watching a documentary about Robert Redford when Robert Redford walked in. He was still dusted over with snow from skiing. In my paint ­covered jeans and beanie, Is howed him around the house. He lifted things gently and asked questions. I answered carefully. ‘Over there is a music box I’ve had since I was a baby.’ He wound the little box, and it played a warbly tune. ‘Here is a stone from the Great Kei River in South Africa.’ He held the stone . . ."

With great thanks, too, to editor Suzanne Vincent.

New poems in Four Way Review. Feeling tired? You can listen while I read them to you.

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By some sweet coincidence, Mamie and I are in the same issue of Four Way Review.

You can read/listen to my two poems "Letter in Exchange For" and "Apology to the Narrow Moment" here and to Mamie's "Letter to Yasha in my Third Period AP Lang Class Morning after that Girl She Likes Blocked Her on Instagram" here.

I'm insanely happy to be in her company. And with deep thanks to poetry editor Ross White and the whole team at Four Way--this is a gorgeous issue all around.

A tiny essay for your Monday.

my mother, rowing the laundry ashore (circa 1984)

Three years ago, I published a very brief, lyric piece of nonfiction in Waccamaw. It's called "Glass House: The First Moment of Her Leaving," and it's about my mother first meeting (or seeing) my father. You can read it here. With thanks to the lovely Cara Blue Adams.

A new, lyric essay forthcoming in StoryQuarterly.

My lyric essay, "Three Myths from the Northern Mariana Islands," is forthcoming from one of my favorite literary magazines, StoryQuarterly. The essay is divided into three parts, or three myths, from my native islands, the Marianas, also known as the Isles of Sails and the Isles of Thieves: "Creation Myth," "Myth of the Ancients," and "The Myth of the Lourdes Spring." I'm heart-happy and honored to be included in the issue, and I'll let you know when it drops.

Poems forthcoming in the Olive Press.

Awaiting the Time for Carrying Out Her Plans on a Large Scale. Pen, ink, and oil on canvas.

Odyssey. Acrylic, ink, and pencil on wood panel.

Two poems, one dedicated to artist Sullivan Anlyan and one dedicated to, and written after the art of, Severn Eaton, are forthcoming from the Olive Press!

"Sully Writes Haikus" considers, in part, the relationship between memory, desire, and language. Its origins lie in a conversation with Sully about haiku battles.

Fathom. Acrylic, ink, pencil on wood panel. Hanging here in the Refinery Gallery in Asheville, NC alongside the poem written after it.

"Letter to Severn No. 1" is written after Sev's painting, Fathom, and concerns itself with bliss and transcendence.

 

 

 

"Dog and Wolf: the Time Between" is listed as a notable one in Best American Essays 2016!

My essay, "Dog and Wolf: the Time Between," which appeared first in Southern Humanities Review and was later included in an anthology of North Carolina writers (27 Views of Wilmington), was is in Best American Essays 2016. My thanks to Aaron Alford and Chantel Acevedo.

In print with Sully Anlyan.

I'm thrilled to announce that Sullivan Elaine Anlyan & I are making our ekphrastic debut together as a team in the inaugural issue of the University of Miami's journal Sinking City. My poem "In the Painter's House" will be alongside Sully's painting "Moonage Daydream."

With endless thanks to the irreplaceable Chantel Acevedo.

Poetry in The Pinch.

with The Pinch, 36.1 Spring 16

My poem, 'Dear Keeper of Letters,' which I wrote after John Yau is in this issue. And there's an essay by Paul Crenshaw. And Emma Bolden is mentioned and congratulated in the Editor's Note. You know what, the whole issue is gorgeous. You should pick it up. If you visit The Pinch online, you'll find an interview with Lia Purpura, a poem by Philip Levine, and other gems.

Upcoming Panel with Jason Mott and Chris Ledbetter.

On October 21, I'll be on a panel about writing diverse characters with Jason Mott and Chris Ledbetter for the NC Writers' Network. We will be waiting for you at 11:30am in the Masonboro Room at the downtown branch of the New Hanover County Library.

Contributor copies, and a launch date.

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27 Views of Wilmington: The Port City in Prose & Poetry came in the post the other day, along with news of our slam-style, 1 paragraph-each reading and launch at Pomegranate Books in Wilmington, NC on October 24th at 2pm. With thanks to Eno Publishers and Elizabeth Woodman for including me.

 

 

Here's the star-studded list of local writers in this anthology:

  • John Jeremiah Sullivan

  • Wendy Brenner

  • Dana Sachs

  • Jason Frye

  • Karen E. Bender

  • Daniel Norris

  • Jean Jones

  • James Leutze

  • Emily A. Colin

  • Emily Louise Smith

  • Michael White

  • Bertha Boykin Todd

  • Robert Anthony Siegel

  • Virginia Holman

  • Ashley Wahl

  • Kevin Maurer

  • Jason Mott

  • Rhonda Bellamy

  • Wiley Cash

  • Melodie Homer

  • Gwenyfar

  • Susan T. Block

  • Philip Gerard

  • Marlon Moore

  • Nan Graham

  • Sheila Webster Boneham

  • Celia Rivenbark

  • Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams

 

Flower Gathering with "Between Dog and Wolf."

Happily joining a group of fearsomely talented writers who call the Port City home and who will be featured in the upcoming anthology, 27 Views of Wilmington, part of a series put out by Eno Publishers. Other city view anthologies feature giants like Holly Reid, Fred Chappell, Allan Gurganus, Randall Kenan, and Lee Smith.

An expanded version of my essay, 'Between Dog and Wolf (Essay as Ideolocator),' previously published in Southern Humanities Review will be included. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with Eno, and the brilliant Elizabeth Woodman in particular.

Stay tuned for details about a launch party and signing in October of 2015. I'm remembering that  the etymology of 'anthology' comes from the Greek 'anthologia' and means literally 'flower-gathering.'