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.

Cassie Pruyn second runner-up in Faulkner-Wisdom competition; and an interview

Posted on September 26, 2013 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Cassie Pruyn’s beautiful poem, “Two Places,” was named second runner-up by judge Beth Ann Fennelly in the poetry category of the 2013 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Competition! Congratulations to Cassie! Also at the conclusion of judging, Peauxdunque’s J.Ed. Marston was a finalist in the poetry category with his piece, “Steel on Wood”; and Tad Bartlett was a finalist in the short story category with his story, “Riding in Cars at Night.”

Link to the full listing of competition winners and finalists.

Also, Peauxdunque’s Emilie Staat (last year’s gold medal winner in the essay category of the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition) was recently interviewed by Hothouse Magazine. You can read that great interview here.

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.

Productions, books, and travels: A Peauxdunque update

Posted on June 12, 2013 by tadbartlett

We’ve been quiet on this site, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been quiet in real life.

Peauxdunquian Helen Krieger is busy with preparations for the production of Season 2 of Least Favorite Love Songs. The KickStarter campaign for the production has ten hours left. While you wait for Season 2, you can watch Season 1 here.

Peauxdunque founder Amy Serrano‘s latest poetry collection, Of Fiery Places and Sacred Spaces, is now available from Barnes & Noble. Amy has also learned that her twenty-page essay and photo project, From Punta to Chumba: Garifuna Music and Dance in New Orleans, on Garifuna women and culture, commissioned by the Louisiana Division of the Arts, will form part of a 5-10 year traveling exhibit on the diverse cultures and folkloric traditions that live within Louisiana.

Tom Carson, of course, continues to keep on top of things for The American Prospect and GQ, with his latest articles on HBO’s documentary, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, and on the Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.

In traveling news, five Peauxdunquians attended this past weekend’s Yokshop Writers’ Conference in Oxford, Mississippi, workshopping with and learning from Beth Ann Fennelly, Josh Weil, Sean Ennis, Scott Morris, and M.O. Walsh, as well as drinking and hanging out with new friends alive and dead. Peauxdunquians in attendance were Terri Shrum Stoor, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Emily Choate, J.Ed. Marston, and Tad Bartlett.

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For another great slideshow of Peauxdunquians in action, head over to P’dunquian Emilie Staat‘s Jill of All Trades blog, where her latest “All Things Brag” post includes a collection of images from the Sunday Shorts Reading Series, featuring readers from both Peauxdunque and the Melanated Writers Collective.

Emilie Staat accepts her Faulkner-Wisdom essay prize

Posted on December 4, 2012 by tadbartlett

During this past weekend’s Words and Music Conference, Emilie Staat received the gold medal in the essay category of the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing Competition for her essay, “Tango Face.”

Andrew Lam, judge of the essay category of the competition, took the occasion to describe Emilie’s work:

Peauxdunque reads at Words and Music

Posted on November 29, 2012 by tadbartlett

Yesterday, November 28, six Peauxdunquians read from their fiction and nonfiction, and a seventh was the emcee, during a session of the 2012 Words and Music Conference at the U.S. Mint in New Orleans. The emcee for the event was Peauxdunque’s own Terri Stoor, who was the 2011 gold medal winner in the short story category of the Faulkner-Wisdom writing competition, awarded by the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society in conjunction with the Words and Music Conference.

Terri Shrum Stoor emcees the Writers Alliance reading at the 2012 Words and Music Conference

The first reader was this year’s gold medal winner in the essay category of the Faulkner-Wisdom competition, Peauxdunquian Emilie Staat, who read from her beautiful winning essay, “Tango Face”:

Emilie was followed by Tad Bartlett, who read an excerpt from “Addressing You,” his short story that was a finalist in the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom competition:

J.Ed. Marston then read an excerpt from “The Truth Project,” a novel he collaboratively wrote with Tad, and that was on the short list for finalists in the novel category of the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom competition:

Next up was Sara Paul, who read an excerpt from her historical fiction about a young scientist moving into New Orleans to conduct some experiments at the turn of the last century:

Maurice Carlos Ruffin followed, reading an excerpt from his current novel project, from a narrator looking back on the former city of New Orleans:

Rounding out the afternoon’s reading was Janis Turk, who brought the “music” into the Words and Music Conference with her reading of a minute in the day of New Orleans:

Great readings by all, and Peauxdunque looks forward to the final four days of an excellent conference!

Another Peauxdunque publication, and a reading

Posted on November 20, 2012 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Emily Choate‘s story “Thunder Sometimes, Never Bells” will be published in an upcoming issue of The Florida Review! “Thunder Sometimes” was previously named to the short list for finalists in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition. A beautiful story; we’ll update when the issue is available.

A host of Peauxdunquians–Tad Bartlett, J.Ed. Marston, Sara Paul, Matt Robinson, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Emilie Staat, Terri Shrum Stoor, and Janis Turk–have been invited to read from recent work during the Words & Music Conference in New Orleans on November 28, at 3 p.m. The reading will be in the Second Floor Black Box Room at the U.S. Mint, 500 Esplanade Avenue.

Update on Peauxdunquians, long overdue

Posted on October 30, 2012 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunque marches on with its 2012 calendar of meetings and activities, with wonderful meetings in the past few months and the invigorating work and critique by both old members and those new to our ranks (and in between; yes, we’ve been around long enough now to have an “in between”). In November, the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance will be celebrating five years of existence. Feels like just yesterday we met for the first time in Exchange Alley in the French Quarter. And it feels like forever, too.

Peauxdunquians continue to run about in the world. Recently, Helen Krieger has been active with Shipwrecked! A Storytelling Experience, the NO Show podcast, as well as taking her movie Flood Streets international, recently to the Film By the Sea Festival; coming up on November 4, Helen will participate in the Salon de Danse de Macabre at Cafe Istanbul.

Peauxdunqian Maurice Carlos Ruffin‘s The Pie Man is in the most recent edition of The South Carolina Review. L. Kasimu Harris continues his string of brilliant essays and photography in his Parish Chic column on the Oxford American website. Both Maurice and Kasimu have contributed recent work, as well, to the Times-Picayune. Tad Bartlett‘s latest installment of his “Food and …” column has posted to the Oxford American website, on Food and Recovery: Reclaiming After the Storm. Tom Carson continues his fine work at the American Prospect and GQ, making smart mosaics out of various cultural and political shrapnel.

From November 28 through December 2, Peauxdunque and our friends will convene at the annual Words and Music Conference, for lots of good words and good times, and to celebrate the gold medal won by our own Emilie Staat in the essay category of the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition (as well as the finalist, short list for finalist, and semi-finalist placings of a whole slew of Peauxdunquians in the essay, short story, and novel categories).

Peauxdunquian Wins Essay Prize

Posted on September 25, 2012 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Emilie Staat has been named the winner of the essay category of the 2012 William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition, announced on William Faulkner’s birthday, September 25! Emilie will receive the prize and the gold medal at the Faulkner for All Ball during the Words and Music Conference, taking place in New Orleans from November 28 through December 2.

Last year’s winner in the short story category, Peauxdunque’s Terri Stoor, was also a finalist in the essay category this year. Tad Bartlett and Maurice Ruffin were finalists in the short story category; and Emily Choate was on the short list for finalists and the semi-finalist lists in the short story category. J.Ed. Marston and Tad were on the short list for finalists in the novel category; and Susan Kagan was on the semi-finalist list in the novel category.

The full list of winners and runners-up in all categories:

Novel, Judged by Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary Management: Winner: Jerusalem As a Second Language, by Rochelle Distelheim of Highland Park, IL; First Runner-up: An Organized Panic, The Author Has Asked to Remain Anonymous; Second Runner-up: Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence, David Samuel Levinson, Durham, NC
Novella: Winner: Inspection, Daniel Castro, Madrid, Spain; Equal Runners-up: Albert’s Lark: A Concerto for Black Hole, Gary Bollick, Clemmons, NC; The Odd Sea, Petra Perkins, Highlands Ranch, CO; The Saltonfell Case, Alice Leaderman, University Park, MD
Novel-in-Progress, Judged by Deborah Grosvenor, Grosvenor Literary Agency: Winner: A Boy Called Riot, Kim McLarin, Mattapan, MA; First Runner-up: Chiaroscuro, Jennifer Steil, London, England; Equal Runner-up: Lower Case Love, Geoff Schutt, Gaithersburg, MD; Ridgeland, Paul Byall, Savannah, GA
Short Story, Judged by Short Fiction Writer and Novelist Justin Torres: Winner: The Bottom, Alison Grifa Ismaili, Baton Rouge, LA; First Runner-up: Longingly,Milly Heller, New Orleans; Second Runner-up: And The Sun Sets on Walker Street, Will Thrift, Columbia, SC
Essay, Judged by Narrative Non-Fiction Writer, Andrew Lam: Winner: Tango Face, Emilie Staat, New Orleans, LA; First Runner-up: Fossils, Elsie Michie, Baton Rouge, LA; Second Runner-up: April’s Fool, Mary Ann O’Gorman, Ocean Springs, MS
Poetry, Judged by Laura Mullen, Poet and Writer-in-Residence, Louisiana State University: Winner: Aftermaths, Peter Cooley, New Orleans, LA; First Runner-up: Sugar Maple, Judith White, Chevy Chase, MD; Second Runner-up: Words Then Space,James Bourey, Dover, DE; Third Runner-up: Last Will and Testament of L. J., Jennifer Bartell, Columbia, SC
Short Story by a High School Student: Winner: Leigh Vila, Metairie, LA, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts; First Runner-up: The Cult of Happiness, Ryanne Autin, Metairie, LA; Second Runner-up: Misery, Agony, Heartbreak, Tyler DeSpenza, New Orleans, LA; Third Runner-up: History, Sophia Derbes, Mandeville, LA

And now presenting “The NO Show”

Posted on August 22, 2012 by tadbartlett

Just received this email from Peauxdunquian Helen Krieger, about a new creative endeavor also featuring Emilie Staat and friend-of-Peauxdunque Gian Smith:

I want to invite you to the first ever live taping of this variety style podcast, the NO Show produced in partnership with the folks at itsneworleans.com. What is the NO Show? It’s live music, comedy, sketches and interviews with interesting people about town, all taped live in front of a beautiful audience, that hopefully will include you and your friends! The podcast is then posted online at tsneworleans.com.

We’re doing two pilot shows, this week and next, and then we’ll use those shows to look for a sponsor so we can keep doing the show on a regular basis. Here are some of the people who will be featured on this week’s show:

Gian Smith – a spoken word poet who’s been featured on VH1 and HBO, and who’s poem, O Beautiful Storm, was the Season 2 trailer for Treme.

Chris Trew and Tami Nelson – The comedy duo behind the New Movement Theater, they do improv, stand up, and the most entertaining sports show I’ve ever heard.

Chris Champagne – New Orleans born and public school educated, this political satirist knows no bounds when it comes to local and state politicians. His incisive wit at his one-man shows leaves audiences laughing to tears.

Our house band is Hazy Ray, and our sketches feature the writings and/or performances of Chris Kehoe, Cyrus Cooper, Emilie Staat and Mindy Hawes.

Oh, and did I mention all this is free? Tonight from 5-6pm
sharp and next Wednesday same time, at the Maison at 508 Frenchmen.

Cheers!