An update on competitions and publications

Posted on March 6, 2012 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Maurice Ruffin’s short story “The Winter Lion” was selected as one of the top ten finalists in the 2012 Tennessee Williams Festival fiction contest. Many congratulations to Maurice!

Also, friend-of-Peauxdunque Susan Vallee has published an essay in VIE magazine entitled “A Writing Conference to Ruin the Rest,” (starts on page 64) about the Oxford American Summit for Ambitious Writers. An excellent essay, with great photos, including one of Susan along with friend-of-Peauxdunque Tom Franklin and Peauxdunquians Emily Choate, Terri Stoor, J.Ed. Marston, and Tad Bartlett.

New post about old but good news

Posted on January 24, 2012 by tadbartlett

For awhile now, we have known about the Peauxdunque performance in the 2011 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing Competition, held in conjunction with the annual Words and Music Conference, but now the Words and Music folks have updated their website with the official announcement of winners and finalists.

Of course, at the top of the Peauxdunque heap is Terri Stoor, who won the gold medal in the short story category for her story “Bellyful of Sparrow.” Judging the short story category was Harper Collins editor Michael Signorelli, who said of Terri’s story:

“A Bellyful of Sparrow” balances the horror of life with the humor. The mute, immobile, terminally ill narrator wryly observes the life around him, while also inspiring unexpected attention from friends and family. But what could be a dirge is instead quietly mirthful. The story upends expectation and strikes for the elusive territory between bemusement and solemnity. And carried by the strength of its naturally engaging prose-voice, it succeeds.

Terri was also named second runner-up in the essay category of the competition for essay “Bird Dog.” Joining her in placing as finalists in the competition, Maurice Carlos Ruffin was a finalist in the short story category for his “Ten Stories”; J.Ed. Marston was a finalist in the poetry category for his “Voyage of the Limit Perfected Fish”; and Tad Bartlett was a finalist in the poetry category for his “new century/old century: three acts.”

Terri with her gold medal, with Jeff Kleinman, agent and founding partner of Folio Literary Management

Other placings in the competition by Peauxdunqians include: Sabrina Canfield on the short list for finalists in the novel-in-progress for “To the Place Where They Go”; Sabrina was also on the short list for finalists in the essay category for “Spring Sparks Sure Shot”; Tad and J.Ed. cowrote a manuscript on the long list for finalists in the novel category, “Kites, Quite Tall”; Sabrina also had a manuscript on the long list for finalists in the novel category, “Birds of Paradise”; J.Ed. made the semi-finalist list in the short story category with “No Accidental Fall”; and Tad joined J.Ed. on the short story semi-finalist list with “The Non-Artists.”

Peauxdunquians read at Words and Music

Posted on November 10, 2011 by tadbartlett

On November 9, the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance helped kick off the 2011 Words and Music Conference in New Orleans, with four Peauxdunquians invited to read at the Words and Music Writers Alliance annual meeting in the Cabildo, which fellow Peauxdunquian (and award-winning filmmaker) Helen Krieger caught on video.

First up was Terri Stoor, gold medal winner in the short story category of the 2011 William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition, who read “Bird Dog,” her second-runner-up entry in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition’s essay category:

Following Terri, Tad Bartlett read his poem, “new century/old century, three acts,” which was a finalist for the 2011 Marble Faun Poetry Prize:

J.Ed. Marston then read a trio of poems, “Mangy Brown Dog,” “Limit-Perfected Fish,” and “Steel on Wood.” “Limit-Perfected Fish” was also a finalist for the 2011 Marble Faun Poetry Prize:

Finally, Maurice Carlos Ruffin read two flash fiction pieces, “Cocoons” and “Mercury Forges.” “Mercury Forges” will be published in the upcoming Apalachee Review:

Words and Music will continue through November 13, with most events happening at the Hotel Monteleone.

Upcoming publications and readings

Posted on October 27, 2011 by tadbartlett

From time to time, we will update the site with upcoming publications and readings by Peauxdunquians (so come on, y’all, let’s get to work!).

Coming up in less than two weeks, four Peauxdunquians have been invited to read from recent work at the Words and Music Conference put on by the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society in New Orleans. On Wednesday, November 9, beginning at 4:00 p.m., Words and Music will host an event of readings on the conference theme, “Life & Literature in the Global Village,” in the second floor gallery of the Cabildo. The event will be led by nationally acclaimed poet and LSU writer-in-residence Laura Mullen, and will feature new work by New Orleans poet Brad Richard. Also reading from new and recent work will be Peauxdunquians Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Terri Stoor, J.Ed. Marston, and Tad Bartlett. Also scheduled to read will be New Orleans poet (and gold medal winner in the poetry category of the William Faulkner-William Wisdom competition) M’Bilia Meeker.

In publication news, Maurice will see his story, “Mercury Forges,” published in issue 36.2 of REAL: Regarding Arts & Letters, and his essay, “Cheating the Muse,” published in issue 62 of The Apalachee Review.

Peauxdunque at Petit Jean …

Posted on August 26, 2011 by tadbartlett

Before the summer gets away, a brief word about and some pictures from the fantastic experiences of several Peauxdunque members at the first annual Oxford American Summit for Ambitious Writers. Put on by the fabulous folks at the Oxford American, the Summit selected a group of around 75 writers from across the country for a week of intensive workshopping and insightful lectures. Among the inaugural class were a few Peauxdunquians – Maurice Ruffin, Terri Stoor, J.Ed. Marston, Tad Bartlett, and Emily Choate.

The experience was all words, all the time, even during times of whiskey and wine. It was, to put it bluntly, Earth-shifting. And beautiful. And inspiring. Here are some great photos by the OA‘s Nicholas Pippins and Carol Ann Fitzgerald. Here are some more by Carol Ann.

Here are some by us:

: Maurice, Tad, and Terri, at the final Summit dinner

: Tad and J.Ed. on the edge of the mountain

: Tom Franklin’s workshop group: Mary, Tom Franklin, J.Ed., Starr Crow, David Meischen, Susan Vallee, Terri, Emily Choate, Tad, and Anene Tressler-Hauschultz

: Back in New Orleans from the Summit: Kasimu, Tad, Terri, Jamey, and Maurice

: J.Ed., new friends Susan Vallee and Emily Choate, Tad, and Maurice, on the edge of the mountain

The first Peauxdunque post, four years later.

Posted on August 25, 2011 by tadbartlett

Here we are with our first post on our spanking new website/blog/thing, a mere almost-four years after we started this great experiment. So I guess we’re official now. The About page will tell you a few things that you might expect to find in a first post. Here are a few pictures of some of the folks in the group: