REPLAY CENTRAL: The four features from reduced Summer 2021 schedule of Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series

     Many LIVE reading series take summers off.  Doing Virtual Fridays Dire on Zoom weekly is a blast, but I wanted some Friday nights in the summer to myself. I ended up missing it, and having four events from July-through August seems scant...but they were some great evenings. Check out Natalie Bonfig, John Domini, Anna VQ Ross, and Rachel Yoder, if you missed them----as these Dire presentations by the authors, I've been told, are like a master class in writing. 

July 9:  Natalie Brobin Bonfig

July 23 2021: John Domini

August 6 2021: Anna VQ Ross

 

August 20 2021: Rachel Yoder

Autumn Schedule (back to weekly): Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series

    Features will read 10 minutes at either 7 PM or 8 PM, their preference. To see these events on live stream join Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series Group on Facebook or message me for information. All feature segments get uploaded to YouTube, and you have the option to subscribe.  Our  features are followed or preceded by the best open mic in the world, so bring your best stuff. 

Note: I no longer accept queries for features. 

September

3    LABOR DAY WEEKEND OFF

10   DeMisty Bellinger

 17   Cheryl Pappas

 24   Matt Bell

October

1    Michael Keith

8   Gloria Mindock

15  Molly Gaudry

22   CD Collins

29  Kevin Prufer

 November

 5  Juliet Escoria

12  Alina Stefanuscu

19  Meg Smith

26  Gregory Wolos

December

3  Damian Dressick

10 Jason Wright

17 Blake Butler

How many Dires by location? Let me count ...

    People that know the Zoom Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series around the world, may not know of the live event I ran in Cambridge, Ma. People in Cambridge may not realize that after a year and a half it popped up as a Zoom reading. For all of those folks here is the complete event tally and locations. 

.
                                                                                                                                      TOTAL

February-March 2001 - First Tuesday reading at Cantab Underground                            2


June 2001-Aug 2002- First Friday, Out of the Blue Art Gallery                                       15
                                    168 Brookline St., Cambridge

Sept 2002-Oct 2011-First Friday, Out of the Blue Art Gallery                                         110
                                    106 Prospect St., Cambridge

Nov 4, 2011-                -First Friday, Yarrow                                                                        1
                                    106 Prospect St., Cambridge



Dec 2011-Sept 2014-First Friday, Out of the Blue Art Gallery                                          34
                                    106 Prospect St., Cambridge



Oct 2014-Nov 2017-First Friday, Out of the Blue Too                                                       38
                              541 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge 

Dec 2017-June 2018 First Saturday Afternoon, The Middle East Cafe
                               480 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge                                                    7

July 2018                   First Saturday Afternoon, Zuzu
                               480 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge                                                    1

Aug 2018-                Oct 2018 First Saturday Night, First Friday too
                                 Center for Arts at the Armory
                               191 Highland Ave., Somerville                                                             3

April 2020-August 20          Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series  on Zoom                    62 and counting
                                                                                                                                     __________
                                                                                                                                          273

The Resigned Life of a Condo Trustee, published in Great Weather for Media's Anthology, Paper Teller Diorama

Wow, that's a mouthful. I know Great Weather For Media, the publisher of this anthology, through their sponsored reading series in New York City George Wallace, David Lawton and all the gang. 

 They also put out a variety of books and if you check out the link, there are many to choose from. 

The anthology, Paper Teller Diorama includes my flash fiction, The Resigned Life of a Condo Owner. (sneak preview to the left)

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: I am a condominium trustee at my complex in real life, not just playing one on TV, The adjacent buildings next to ours were being used as a dumping ground. I took that to create this twist of fact flash fiction piece where the Department of Public Works and various town offices calls our brave protagonist. Anyway, please check it out, at $19.00, it's cheap, without  garbage. 

MORE ON THE ANTHOLOGY:

Paper Teller Diorama is a thrilling collection of contemporary poetry and fiction from established and emerging writers across the United States and beyond. The anthology also contains an interview with San Francisco poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Contributors: Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones, Abraham Ajani, Austin Alexis, Joel Allegretti, Talal Alyan, John Amen, Oliver Baer, Pichchenda Bao, Tanya M. Beltran, Guy Biederman, Ama Birch, billy cancel, Ian Cappelli, Paul Corman-Roberts, Jeff Cottrill, Carol V. Davis, John Paul Davis, Dr. Deidra Suwanee Dees, Sean Thomas Dougherty, SaraEve Fermin, Cornelius Fortune, Timothy Gager, Emma Ginader, Diane Goettel, Rosalind Goldsmith, Leanne Grabel, Isa Guzman, Tim Hanson, Cindy Hochman, Erica Hoffmeister, Matthew Hupert, Karl Michael Iglesias, Alexis V. Jackson, Kit Kennedy, Ivan Klein, Andrew Kozma, Kate LaDew, Chime Lama, Jane LeCroy, Simon Lowe, Linda Malnack, Loria Mendoza, Anthony Morales, Valerie Nieman, Christy O’Callaghan, Jimmy Pappas, Wanda Phipps, Kenneth Pobo, Nicca Ray, Timothy Ree, Nnadi Samuel, Alan Semerdjian, Robert L. Shuster, Hilary Sideris, Myles Taylor, Aaron Tillman, John J. Trause, Andres Vaamonde, Cleo-Valentin, Alexandra van de Kamp, Carl Watson, Shannon Wolf, Celeste Rose Wood, Janet Jiahui Wu, Anton Yakovlev, and Donald Zirilli

George Wallace interviews Tongo Eisen-Martin

Cover artwork by Amy Brier

15 minute reading with WANA live from June 30, 2021

 I was posting a lot of video readings so I held back on posting this one (bottom of pate), but it's a good one for short attention spans, clocking in at 16:26.      

WANA (Writers Association of Northern Appalach) hosts a reading interview often and the hostsDamian Dressick, and Christina Fisanick are energetic and professional. 

HERE  IS the show:

I'm in Surviving Suicide Anthology, (it may save a life) but better yet, I've included the toll free Suicide Prevention Hotline Number

 SOS, Surviving Suicide: a collection of poems which may save a life, was released by Dean Stalham (Nirala publication,New Delhi )   It is a collection which includes my poem Deathiversary, A Year and a Day Later, and all of the people you can see beneath the book cover. Yuyu Sharma, my friend from Nepal was kind enough to ask me to contribute. 

 This is all pretty great, and maybe it will save a life---as many of us have been touched by a suicide or have considered it ourselves. 

Let me tell you though, that's a powerful ass poem if it'll cure depression and get someone off the ledge. I'd like to recommend counseling and a psychiatrist for mental health needs, and also to know this number, which is the Suicide Prevention Hotline :

800-273-8255

Contents

 Foreword Carlotta Allum / 9 

RAVI SHANKAR The Great Sun / 17 

dPART Rope / 20 BANU ERCON That Day / 

21 DANIELLE BUTTERS I nearly said goodbye / 23 CHRISTOPHER SOUTHGATE Sestina / 25

 ROY BARKER I have a choice / 27

 BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH You can hold your head high / 28

 The Angry Black Poet / 29

 TIM TOMLINSON Multiple Attempts on Dark Hollow Road, Friday Nights in Winter / 31

 Last Words / 32

 Godless / 33

 KAREN LITTLE Along the river / 34 

SADIE MASKERY No one can tell you / 35 

ANON Suicide Roulette / 37 

WENDY YOUNG Don’t judge/38 

MIKE GRAVES Stairway / 42 

SOPHIE CAMERON I love you always / 43 

ALBY STOCKLEY Grenade / 45 

KAREN CORINNE HERCEG Down from the Ledge / 48 

EVE MCDOUGALL TIK, TOK / 49 

MEGAN GARRETT-JONES Aladdin Trousers / 51 

MAT LLOYD Blokes 2020 / 54 

CAROL LYNN STEVENSON GRELLAS A Daughter’s Project / Getting over a Suicide / 58 To the Year of Unknowing / 59 

CARRIE MAGNESS RADNA People with Sad Eyes / 61 Family Sorrows / 63 

MARTIN HEAD What Could I Have Done? / 66 

JASON WISTERIA ‘A catch from above’ / 68 

JEREMY REED Dead Number, for Matthew Lewis / 71 Do Ya / 72 

ANNE CASEY She understood/ 73 

AGNES MARTON Time to Destination: Unknown / 76 

SUZANNE FRENCH There’s always another day / 77 

PAT LEACOCK AKA PDLpoet Strength in Numbness / 78 

MADELEINE F. WHITE One for Sorrow… / 80 

HENRY MADD Extraordinary Creatures / 82 

PATRICK LYONS Mirrors of the Dead / 85 

RORY PADDLE AKA RAWBYNATURE It’s Just the Face / 86 

DAVID NO ONE Wounded / 88 

SAM RAPP I Survived / 89 

AGNES MEADOWS Yellow / 91

 GIL DE RAY Erasing Awareness / 92 

SIMON MILES On Chelsea Bridge / 97 

DAVID ERDOS Let’s play these words as Ace / 98

 DAVE MANKIND Let’s All Hang Together / 101 

GILL FEWINS The Day After I Kill Myself / 103 

KIRSTY ALISON Install the Update / 105 

JUDITH MOK The Whetter of the Knife/ 108 

DAVID AXELROD Nothing Monumental/ 109 

BILL WOLAK Lost in Darkness/ 110 

JAMES RAGAN To a Mother and Child at the LA Mis- sion Shelter / 112 

CATHERINE ALICE WOODS Rocket Ships and Fireworks / 113 

FERN ANGEL BEATTIE Mining Rubies / 114 A

MAR AAKASH Messiah Puppy / 115 

TIM KAHL The Fermata / 117 

GERARD BEIRNE Ways of Survival / 118

 TIMOTHY GAGER Deathiversary: Years and A Day Late/119 

SANDRA YANNONE Grief / 120 

YOGESH PATEL Hofstadter’s Strange Loop / 122 

ANNA HALBERSTADT A Warm Weekend In May / 123 

MEGHA SOOD The Note / 125 

PATRICIA CARRAGON Just Say I Love Him / 127 

DARIUSZ TOMASZ LEBIODA The Last Letter Of Romek Jaskier / 128 

AMANDA GOVAN Life Drawing / 129 

JOHN PRASTITIS Light Pours Out / 131 

LUKE SULLIVAN I Stand on the Quay / 132 

YUYUTSU SHARMA You see it coming, Lincoln Centre / 134 

CARLOTTA ALLUM We Watched Her / 136 

DEAN STALHAM Daddy Duties/ 138 

The Poets Of SOS Surviving Suicide / 145 

Acknowledgments / 153

Fiction from the Summer Issue of Wilderness House Literary Review

Happy to announce the Summer fiction I was honored to read for Wilderness House Literary Review. To read the ENTIRE ISSUE, click the link

 WHLR 62st  Issue (Volume 16, no 2)-July 2021

• David P. Ervin - The Bus Driver
• G. D. McFetridge - Joker and the Drunk
• Gresham Cash - That Man We All Pass
• Joe Grantham - Sunflowers
• Judith Goode - Remembering
• Linda McMullen - In the Red
• Mattia Ravasi - In the Event of the Zombie Apocalypse
• Michael Cooney - The Perfect Babysitter
• Shannon O’Connor - Caffeine Headache
• Tess Brewer - Private and Confidential
• Zach Murphy - 437 Wilton Street (A Brick Story)

Three Flash Fictions published in Punk Noir Magazine

 How do I fit into this? Here's their description. I fit most under "punk." looking at the world in its most askew. Thanks to Editors BF Jones and Stephen J. Golds

Punk Noir Magazine  is purportedly an online arts and entertainment magazine that looks at the world at its most askew, casting a bloodshot eye over films, music, television and more. There are interviews, reviews, news, poetry, fiction, micro fiction, and flash fiction.  And some other stuff too, I’m sure. Indeed, a veritable cornucopia of carryings on.

Both punk and noir are words that have been so overused and misused that they pretty much mean nothing now. They’re random adjectives that are regularly added in a scattershot way, so combining them allows a lot of scope for the site. No sense? Nonsense!

 Anyway, I love their sensibility, and love that they picked three of my flash fictions. It's nice to get some new flash out in the world, the first of 2021, and first since October 2020. 

Here's the story behind the stories. Iope you have fun reading these---they go from heavy to real, and then ridiculous (but is it really that much so?).

1) Disremembering 

Is about how times go when you either forget or decide to not take needed medication 

2) How You Met Your Husband

This story is actually about how a friend of mine met her husband. This though is fiction, but I won't tell anyone what's real or not. 

3) Poke

Poke is a fun one about someone who missing the old Facebook "poke" and would like to bring it back as a dating app. 

REPLAY CENTRAL: All Last springs features at Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series (April 9- June 25, 2021)

 April 9: All Open Mic, One Year Anniversary Event-

 April 16:  Sandra Simonds

 April 23: George Wallace

April 30: Caroline Levitt

May 7: Charles Coe

May 14: Susan Henderson

May 21: Major Jackson

plus bonus track

June 4: Kara Vernor

June 11: Meredith Goldstein

June 18: Kimberly Ann Priest

June 25: Joanna Rakoff

 

"What Dante Learned" included in Ibbetson Street 49

Happy my poem, "What Dante Learned" was included in this wonderful issue of Ibbetson 49 along with Marge Piercy, Jennifer Barber, Ted Kooser, Keith Tornheim, Deborah Leipziger, Mary Buchinger Bodwell, Jennifer Matthews, Kathleen Aguero, Carla Schwartz, Zvi A. Sesling, Ruth Chad, Lainie Senechal, Wendell Smith, Dennis Daly, Lawrence Kessenich, Chad Parenteau, Mike Steffen, Denise Provost, Ed Meek, David Miller, Molly Lynn Watt, Tomas O'Leary, Harris Gardner, Thomas E. DeFreitas, Karen Klein, Nina Rubinstein Alonso Hathaway, Beatriz Alba, and so many others

Ibbetson is always a fine read. I am a frequent flyer in Ibbetson, 14 times, as my poems have appeared in issues 13, 21, 23, 25, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 45, and now 49

That's fourteen times. Man, am I ever grateful

To purchase, you can---on LULU

Thanks Doug Holder and Harris Gardner

Now about, "What Dante Learned,"  My poem is about life's lesson's learned as told from Dante's point of view in the poem Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Dante is sent on a journey through hell by poet Virgil. Typical of hell, you get there through loss of spiritual values. Pretty basic heaven and hell stuff---and many of us an relate to the loss of spiritual values. 

HERE IT IS....but buy the rest of this wonderful issue using the link provided above.