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.

Book release, another competition finalist, and more Sunday Shorts!

Posted on April 30, 2013 by tadbartlett

Tonight at Garden District Books, Bill Loehfelm has the release party for his fourth novel (first set in New Orleans and second in the Maureen Coughlin series), The Devil in Her Way. Book signing, reading, discussion, wine, and cheese start at 5:30 p.m. Bill was on the slate of readers for our inaugural Yeah, You Write! reading, reading from the first Maureen Coughlin novel; word on the street is that this new one is even better.

In other news, we’re excited to learn that Peauxdunquian Joselyn Takacs‘ story, “The New River,” was named a finalist in Narrative Magazine’s Winter 2013 Story Contest! Congratulations to Joselyn!

In Sunday Shorts news, the first installment, featuring readings from L. Kasimu Harris and Sabrina Canfield, went exceedingly well. Following each readings was a Q&A led by Gian Smith, which got to the heart of each writer’s storytelling process in a fascinating exchange with the writers and the audience. This week, May 5, show up to Red Star Galerie at 8 p.m. to hear readings and answers from jewel bush and Maurice Carlos Ruffin.

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).