As part of the New Orleans Public Library’s month-long series of events for National Poetry Month, Peauxdunque was invited to present a reading at the Nix Branch of the New Orleans Public Library on Thursday, April 24. Cassie Pruyn and Matt Robinson brought together a slate of poets, including themselves and Zach Bartlett, Emilie Staat, and Tad Bartlett. Drinks, of course, followed.
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!
Tomorrow night (Tuesday, December 3) at 7 p.m., Peauxdunque’s Cassie Pruyn and Benjamin Morris will be on the bill of the 5 Writers reading event at McKeown’s Books and Difficult Music (4737 Tchoupitoulas, New Orleans). Also on the bill are Geoff Munsterman, Matt Roberts, and Katy Simpson Smith.
On Sunday, December 15, beginning at 6 p.m., Peauxdunquian Maurice Carlos Ruffin will be among contributors to NPR’s Storyville project who will be reading at Siberia Bar (2227 St. Calude, New Orleans). Also reading will be Robin Baudier, Adam Karlin, Laura Janelle McKnight, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Lawton, and Phyllis Dunham.
And don’t forget, this Wednesday at 4 p.m., Peauxdunquians Cassie, Maurice, Emily Choate, Terri Stoor, Tad Bartlett, and J.Ed. Marston will be reading in the Presbytere (corner of Chartres and St. Ann) as part of the kick-off to the 2014 Words and Music Conference.
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, Maurice, and Cassie (not pictured) will be reading during the Faulkner Society’s annual Words and Music Conference on December 4, 2013.
Two bits of good news on the Peauxdunque publications front!
Peauxdunquian April Blevins’ story, “Thoughts on Seeing a Dog I Feel Affection Toward Gnawing a Fawn’s Leg,” has been accepted for publication at Furious Season.
Tad Bartlett‘s short story, “Hung Over,” will appear in the debut issue of The Rappahannock Review.
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.
Lots of great Peauxdunque news lately, all of it of the exclamation-point variety:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Peauxdunque Writers Alliance 