Tonight

Posted on April 18, 2014 by tadbartlett

Can you believe it? Tonight. The Second coming of the original “Yeah, You Write!” event. It’s more than a reading, more than a photo exhibit, more than a dance party, more than a night out on the most incredible town this side of the moon. It’s all of that.

It started as a vision, something slightly more than a whim. One night in late summer in 2011, Maurice and Emilie and Terri and I sat around and talked about it, put it into words: To put great writers on great stages, put them on the pedestals on which we put our musicians and other artists, take them out of the usual context, fete them. When it first translated into something real two and a half years ago, I was a bit in disbelief we pulled it off. And now we have the audacity to do it a second time, with the help and guidance of a host of new Peauxdunquians (April, Denise, Sabrina, and Kasimu) with another slate of amazing writers and artists. I’m still flabbergasted, and extremely grateful that all these great folks said “Yes,” then and now. These are my literary heroes, and many of them I feel lucky to call my friends now, too. We’re so happy to share them with you. Beth Ann Fennelly,Tom Franklin, John Barry, Joseph Boyden, Ben Percy, jewel bush, Emilie Staat, Cassie Pruyn. Photos by the always amazing L Kasimu Harris. Tunes by the gifted DJ Seppe. Emcee’d by the extraordinary Nick Fox. We’ll see you tonight. 7:00 at Cafe Istanbul.

The return of ‘Yeah, You Write!’

Posted on March 27, 2014 by tadbartlett

We’re excited to announce that our original event series, “Yeah, You Write,” is back! Last time we billed it as a “literary concert”; this time it’s a full-on “word rebellion.” Back in October 2011, Peauxdunque launched its series of putting top writers on top stages, with our original event at Tipitina’s. This time around, on the night of April 18, 2014, we’ll feature writers, images, and music on the stage at Cafe Istanbul, at 2372 St. Claude Avenue.

MC Nick Fox, with Amanda Boyden, Gian Smith, Terri Stoor, Kelly Harris-DeBerry, Mat Johnson, and Bill Loehfelm, October 2011

This year’s slate of writers includes best-selling and prize-winning authors Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin, who will be reading from their new collaborative work, The Tilted World; Joseph Boyden, winner of the Giller Prize, whose new novel, The Orenda, has already been winning awards and praise in Canada and which will be released in the United States in May; John Barry, whose seminal work on the great 1927 flood, Rising Tide, informed much of The Tilted World, and who is currently front and center in a fight to stop a new great flood as southeast Louisiana washes away; Benjamin Percy, whose most recent novel, Red Moon, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, IndieNext Pick, Amazon “Top Ten Best Books of May,” CNN’s Top Ten Books of May, iBookstore Editor’s Choice, and an Entertainment Weekly “Must List” selection; insightful local essayist and writer jewel bush, founder of the MelaNated Writers Collective; Emilie Staat, winner of the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom Gold Medal for the essay; and stellar local poet Cassie Pruyn, finalist in the most recent Indiana Review 1/2K Prize.

Music for the event will be provided by DJ Sep, and the event will feature the projected images of writer/photographer L. Kasimu Harris. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., with the words set to start flowing at 7:30. $5 cover charge at the door.

A busy start to 2014 in Peauxdunque

Posted on February 4, 2014 by tadbartlett

There’ve been lots of doings in the land of Peauxdunque to begin 2014.

Susan Kagan has inked a book deal with Left Hand Press for her book, Avoiding a Perilous Path: Basic Wiccan Ethics, a book examining every mundane aspect of ethical behavior in a Wiccan’s life, from birth to death and all the epiphanies and drudgeries in between. Publication will be no later than early 2015.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin has learned that his short story, “Catch What You Can,” will be published this May in issue 11.2 of Redivider.

New Peauxdunquian Geoff Munsterman has been all over the place, presenting readings from his new collection, Because the Stars Shine Through It, including at the AllWays Lounge, at the “Meet the Authors of Lavender Ink” event at Faulkner House Books, and as a featured author, along with Maurice, at the upcoming Pine Street Salon hosted by Rodger Kamenetz and Moira Crone.

Tad Bartlett learned in January that his short story, “Superpowerless,” received an Honorable Mention designation in the November 2013 Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers.

Emily Choate continued her great series with Chapter 16, posting a review of Charles McNair’s Pickett’s Charge, his first book since his Pulitzer-nominated Land O’ Goshen nineteen years ago.

Tom Carson continues to write his insightful film and cultural criticism for The American Prospect and GQ, including his touching obituary in GQ for Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And L. Kasimu Harris had a successful solo exhibition of his photography at the Bellocq lounge, titled “Dreams Do Come True.” Proving the truth of that title, Kasimu also emcee’d the “Haute & Handmade” event, a showcase of Southern costume couture, at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on January 24.

MORE TO COME!

Peauxdunque at Words and Music

Posted on November 22, 2013 by tadbartlett

The Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society’s annual Words and Music conference will take place from December 4 through December 8, centered at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. In just two weeks, a fantastic line-up of writers and scholars will convene with top agents and editors to discuss writing, publishing, and this year’s conference theme, “Faith and the Search for Meaning as Inspiration for the Arts.”

At 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, six members of Peauxdunque have been invited to join in a reading of new works related to the conference theme. Terri Stoor, Emily Choate, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, J.Ed. Marston, Cassie Pruyn, and Tad Bartlett will present readings alongside award-winning poet and non-fiction author, Rodger Kamenetz, and the associate editors of the Double Dealer, Caroline Rash and Geoff Munsterman. The readings will be at the Presbytere, at the corner of St. Ann and Chartres. A cash bar and complimentary cocktail snacks will be available, and a showing of Walker Percy, a new documentary film by Win Riley, will follow.

J.Ed., Terri, Tad, Emily, and Maurice will be reading during the Faulkner Society's annual Words and Music Conference on December 4, 2013.

J.Ed., Terri, Tad, Emily, Maurice, and Cassie (not pictured) will be reading during the Faulkner Society’s annual Words and Music Conference on December 4, 2013.

Maurice Ruffin book-signing event

Posted on November 4, 2013 by tadbartlett

Maurice Carlos Ruffin, whose essay “Beginning of This Road” appears in Rebecca Solnit’s and Rebecca Snedeker’s Unfathomable Cities, will be one of several contributors signing that book at Octavia Books on Tuesday, November 5. Beginning at 6 p.m., Maurice will be joined by Rebecca Snedeker and other contributors Eve Abrams and Billy Sothern. Unfathomable Cities pairs twenty essays with twenty-two full-color maps in a stunning exegesis of post-Katrina New Orleans and its surroundings.

Stark Nature reading October 3rd

Posted on September 19, 2013 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin will join a stellar line-up of writers at the Stark Nature reading on October 3rd. Maurice joins extraordinary poet Carrie Chappell, as well as Margaret Wrinkle, Chloe Lee, Chris Lawson, and Daniel Lang. They’ll be at the Marigny Opera House, 725 St. Ferdinand Street, NOLA, beginning at 7 p.m. A $15 fee is the suggested cover.

Marston and Pruyn are poetry finalists

Posted on July 23, 2013 by tadbartlett

Congratulations to Peauxdunquers J.Ed. Marston and Cassie Pruyn, who have been named as finalists in the poetry category of the 2013 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing Competition!

As we reported last week, Peauxdunquian Tad Bartlett is a finalist in the short story category of the Faulkner-Wisdom competition (with Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Keri Rachal on the short list for finalists in that category). Winners and runners-up are scheduled to be announced on Faulkner’s birthday, September 25.

Peauxdunquians on the 2013 Faulkner-Wisdom lists

Posted on July 16, 2013 by tadbartlett

In 2011, Peauxdunque’s Terri Shrum Stoor won the William Faulkner-William Wisdom gold medal in the short story category. In 2012, Peauxdunquian Emilie Staat won the Faulkner-Wisdom gold medal in the essay category. In 2013, Peauxdunque’s Tad Bartlett will try to defend the medal streak, as one of his stories has been named a finalist in the short story category to be judged by Ron Rash. Also in the short story category, Peauxdunquians Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Keri Rachal were named to the short list for finalists. Several categories of the competition have yet to have finalists released; we’re keeping our eyes on those.

Don’t forget that next week, on July 25th, Maurice and Terri will be featured readers at the Poison Pen Reading Series in Houston.

Award-winning weekend; and one last Sunday Shorts

Posted on May 13, 2013 by tadbartlett

At the annual awards banquet for UNO’s Creative Writing Workshop, Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin was presented with the Joanna Leake Prize for Fiction Thesis, awarded to the best fiction collection by a graduating MFA student, for his collection, It’s Good to See You’re Awake. In addition, great friend of Peauxdunque Che Yeun received the Ernest Svenson Fiction Award for her fantastic story, “Yuna.”

Che Yeun, winner of the 2013 Svenson Award for Fiction; and Maurice Ruffin, winner of the 2013 Joanna Leake Award for Fiction Thesis.

This weekend also held the third in the month-long series of Sunday Shorts short story readings at the Red Star Galerie at 2513 Bayou Road, featuring readings by members of the MelaNated Writers Collective and Peauxdunque. Terri Shrum Stoor and Jeri Hilt both read captivating stories to a standing-room-only audience. The last in the series is this Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m., featuring readings by MelaNated’s Danielle Gilyot and Peauxdunque’s Tad Bartlett.