Dekadentzya is here!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the good fortune of having two of my poems, “In Search of Genesis” and “Self-Confrontation,” selected to appear in  the first issue of Dekadentzya. I’m happy to say that they have launched a lovely new website, and the debut issue  is currently on sale at the following locations in Łódź:

* mała litera, Nawrot 7
* mała litera art, Ogrodowa 19
* Lodz University Press bookstore, Lindleya 8
* Institute of English Studies library, Kościuszki 65
* Langpol, Piotrkowska 63

Hurray! Congrats to Dekadentzya and all the contributors to this issue.

The Podionovel

I first learned about the podionovel from a TimesOnline article on August 9th about Iain Banks’ latest novel Transition being made available through a series of podcasts. I admit I was skeptical, but since I was also intrigued and iTunes was planning to offer it for free, I figured I’d give it a fair try when it became available. The article claimed the first edition of the podcast would be available on September 3rd, so I waited patiently for its debut. On September 4th I logged into the iTunes store and tried to download the podcast, but was politely told it was not available in my country, so I logged off slightly disappointed-after all the audio book version was available for $19.95. I considered giving up and purchasing the audiobook, but sine I wasn’t over attached to the new novel I decided to wait and try the podcast version later. When I did try again on the 22nd I was able to download the introduction. I synced it with my iPod right away and hit the gym to give it a listen.  Just like an audio book it began by telling the listener the company who created the recording, book title, author, and who would be narrating the story. The narrator proceeded to make a plug for the 13 hour unabridged audiobook version, then began: part 1 of 23. The story then continued like any audiobook ’til the end of the introduction, and finished with a longer plug for the audiobook than was given in the beginning.  Although the advertisements for the audiobook do get a tad bit nerve-wracking if you’re trying to listen to several chapters of the novel one after another, aside from this inconvenience the quality was as good as any audiobook I’ve listened to. As I’ve listened to subsequent podcasts I’ve even found myself enjoying the wait for the next chapter, something I was unsure about. While the podionovel might not be a viable alternative for all texts and is not for impatient listeners, it is a pleasing substitute for expensive audiobooks.

The Bush Adminstration does it again- Rowling denied Presidential Medal of Freedom

I may not be a Harry Potter fan, but Rowling’s books “promoting sorcery?” Seriously? Read the story here.

Boutique Gets A Makeover

The boutique page now has a new look! Check it out, and be sure to check back often- new items coming soon!

Eighty Percent Magazine!

WHAT? Eighty Percent is an online literary journal, published three times a year, and devoted to upcoming and established writers of quality work.

MISSION Eighty Percent publishes the traditional and the experimental, shorts, lyrical poetry, free verse, novel excerpts, flash fiction, rhyming poetry, genre fiction, creative nonfiction (if you can convince us that it exists), drama, haiku, translations, ballads, cat poems. Seriously–we don’t care what it is, only that it is good.

MORE INFO For specific submission guidelines, legal mumbo jumbo, and answers, please visit us our website, or contact us at: eightypercentmagazine@gmail.com.

On Facebook!? Become a fan.

À la recherche de la vérité

In my WST 501 class this week we have been discussing the slave history of France and Canada. The following poem was written in response to Claire de Duras’ Ourika.

À la recherche de la vérité

Vous qui êtes tombé
avec les dernières feuilles,
je vous parle
dans cette langue emprunté.

Vous avez défraîchi
de ce que vous avez caché-
qu’est ce que vous avez ?
Vous dit simplement
ma position et ma couleur -
est-ce que c’est vrais ?

Confiez-moi votre secret!
Les autres dit c’est l’amour non récompensé,
l’ évasion, ou la disparition lente,
mais moi je pense
que c’est la résistance silencieuse.

Bienvenue, Pierre!

Bienvenue, Pierre !

His pea coat button
nose shocked me cold
into my metamorphosis
to a walking, toy shopping
high-voiced-baby-talking
poop scooper.

Crosscut Reading

My poem “Séduction Canadienne” will appear in this year’s edition of Crosscut. I’ll be reading “Séduction Canadienne” as well as some other poems at the launch party September 9th at the Husson University Writing Center. More details to come!

For the Estabrooke Crew: an elegy

I had originally planed on writing about our former home, Estabrooke in a fiction class I took last semester (what else is the Brooke but a fiction?), but while writing my thesis I could not devote the time to it. However, from this I began to realize that perhaps the Brooke is not a fiction, but a poem. I don’t often write in form, but the idea of writing an elegy for an inanimate object (was it?) seemed intriguing. Following, is the first poem about the Brooke, in true Brooke fashion beginning with the end.

ON THE CLOSING OF ESTABROOKE

I.

Honorably built sanctuary for women,
Ma Estabrooke would cry to see her
smoke filled carpets and moldered walls,
the glass elevators, her pride now barred,
her windows cracked and brick face marred.

No feet dance in the ballroom,
warm home of Spring Flings.
The slate pool table has been sold,
the lights all turned off and cues removed.
All 162 doors are closed, their locks tightly in place.
The clanging radiators have been silenced.
No clammy bodies sleep on the gritty floor.
The evidence of weekend drunks,
exams and poetry no longer
surrounds the welcome bench.

II.

You housed our debauchery
and heartbreaks with open doors,
what strange magic! You bounded us,
Mother of we tired passions, and held fast
until each was strong enough
to lock the door fast behind
and smoke one last cigarette, shivering.

III.

Your basement will again
be the site of after parties,
laughter will spill out of
the windows and elevators.
Cards will be shuffled
and lipsticked lips will whisper
secrets over wine glasses
of a new Hellion crew.

Forthcoming from Green Rock Publications

My poem “Rockland Portrait II” is slated to be featured by the online journal Green Rock Publications in September! See more about Green Rock Publications here.