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.

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.

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.

Terri Shrum Stoor reading at Sunday Shorts, May 12, 2013. Photo by Wayne Edelen.

Sunday Shorts are halfway home

Posted on May 6, 2013 by tadbartlett

MelaNated Writers Collective and Peauxdunque Writers Alliance are halfway done with the Sunday Shorts Reading Series. In the dynamic art space of Red Star Galerie at 2513 Bayou Road, we’ve heard some fantastic stories read to an audience itself packed with some of the best writers in the city.

On April 28, L. Kasimu Harris waxed eloquent on the tribulations of being dumped in the digital age; while Sabrina Canfield wove a hypnotic spell about trains and baseball and distorted connections. On April 5, superhero Maurice Carlos Ruffin brought the house down with a chapter from his novel in progress; while jewel bush transported the room to the world of Layla in poignant, small-town Louisiana, where consequences of human fragility can be incredibly universal. And Gian Smith has provided incisive spark as he has led a Q&A session after each reading.

Two more nights in the Series, with award-winners galore taking Shorts to new heights: on May 12, a special Mother’s Day night treat with readings from Jeri Hilt and Terri Shrum Stoor. Then the Series wraps up on May 19 with Danielle Gilyot and Tad Bartlett. Doors open each night at 8, with readings starting at 8:30. Free admission.

Sunday Shorts starts in four more days! Plus, more Peauxdunque recognition …

Posted on April 24, 2013 by tadbartlett

The Sunday Shorts Reading Series starts this Sunday, April 28, at Red Star Galerie at 2513 Bayou Road. MelaNated Writing Collective denizen (and Peauxdunquian) L. Kasimu Harris kicks off the series with his fine new short story work, and the opening session of the series will be capped off by the hypnotic fiction of Peauxdunque’s Sabrina Canfield. Doors open at 8, readings start promptly at 8:30, and will include Q&A with the authors following each reading. Check out the Reading Series’ Facebook event page here.

L. Kasimu Harris (photo by Kate Cauthen).

Future installments of the series will feature jewel bush and Maurice Carlos Ruffin on May 5; Jeri Hilt and Terri Shrum Stoor on May 12; and Danielle Gilyot and Tad Bartlett on May 19.

In other Peauxdunque news, this week Tad Bartlett’s short story “Riding in Cars at Night” was included on the Honorable Mention list for the February 2013 Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers. Tad will be reading at the Sunday Shorts series on May 19.

Sunday Shorts Reading Series

Posted on April 15, 2013 by tadbartlett

MelaNated Writers Collective and Peauxdunque Writers Alliance are partnering up for Sunday Shorts, a month-long reading series featuring short stories from MelaNated and Peauxdunque writers (MelaDunque? PeauxNated?). Every Sunday evening from April 28 through May 19 will feature another pair of writers at the Red Star Galerie at 2513 Bayou Road in New Orleans. Doors open at 8:00, with readings beginning at 8:30.

April 28: Sunday Shorts starts with L. Kasimu Harris (MelaNated & Peauxdunque) and Sabrina Canfield (Peauxdunque).

May 5: Readings from jewel bush (MelaNated) and Maurice Carlos Ruffin (Peauxdunque and MelaNated).

May 12: Readings from Jeri Hilt (MelaNated) and Terri Shrum Stoor (Peauxdunque).

May 19: The series concludes with Danielle Gilyot (MelaNated) and Tad Bartlett (Peauxdunque).

Upcoming literary events, featuring Maurice!

Posted on March 19, 2013 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin will be featured with others at three readings in the next two weeks.

First up, this Thursday, March 21, Maurice will be reading fiction at the UNO Gold Room at Handsome Willie’s, 218 South Robertson Street, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Also reading at the Gold Room will be Stephanie Doyle (fiction), Laura McKnight (non-fiction), and Ben Sines (poetry). Free admission.

Maurice will next be reading on Friday, March 22, at the Melanated Writers Collective’s Literary Jook Joint, at the M. Francis Gallery, 604 Julia Street, beginning at 8 p.m. Maurice will be part of a stellar line-up, including Yeah You Write alums Kelly Harris DeBerry and Gian Smith, and fellow Melanated Writers Dr. Gee Love and Mary Webb. $15 admission for a great night of words, food and drinks included ($10 with student ID), in conjunction with the Tennessee Williams Festival.

Finally, Maurice will be reading at the next installment of the 17 Poets! series on Thursday, March 28, with Katarina Boudreaux. The series occurs weekly at the Gold Mine Saloon, at 701 Dauphine Street, with readings beginning at 8 p.m.

Peauxdunque performances coming up!

Posted on July 9, 2012 by tadbartlett

A couple of readings and performances by Peauxdunquians are coming up soon, and both should be well worth attending.

Tonight, The Megaphone Show Featuring Harry Shearer will feature impromptu story-telling from a cast including Peauxdunquian Helen Krieger. It will take place at The New Movement Theater at 1919 Burgundy, New Orleans, at 8:30. It will be a fundraiser for the Hell Yes Fest, and advance tickets are recommended.

This Saturday, July 14, Peauxdunquian L. Kasimu Harris (along with Friend of Peauxdunque Kelly Harris and several others from the MelaNated Writers Collective, including Ayanna Molina, Geryll Robinson, and Danielle Gilyot), will present works at the second installment of the MelaNated Summer Reading Series. At 4 p.m. on July 14 at Cafe Treme (1501 St. Philip Street – free admission), MelaNated puts on The Literary Jook Joint. Kasimu and fellow Peauxdunquian Ben Morris put together this teaser for the story Kasimu will be reading Saturday:

Another Peauxdunque publication, and a performance, too!

Posted on June 19, 2012 by tadbartlett

Peauxdunqian Tad Bartlett has started a new “Food and …” column on the Oxford American website. The first installment is up, “Food and Writing: Talking Mushrooms with Terroir-ists,” and new installments will be posted once every month or so.

Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s reading at the New Orleans Museum of Art during the first night of the summer-long MelaNated Summer Reading Series is now available online. You can view the whole thing here, or skip to the 44-minute mark to pick up with Maurice’s reading:

Maurice Ruffin reading at NOMA’s “Where Y’Art” June 1st

Posted on May 23, 2012 by tadbartlett

On the evening of June 1st, with other members of the Melanated Writers Collective, Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin will read from recent work at the New Orleans Museum of Art’s “Where Y’Art” series. On June 1st at 7 p.m., Where Y’Art will feature A MelaNated Summer, hosted by Kalamu Ya Salaam and including readings by several Melanated Collective members, including Maurice. The Melanated Summer Reading Series will continue with readings at Cafe Treme on July 14 and JuJu Bag on August 2.