REPLAY CENTER: Winter's features from Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series-recordings

   Replay some great readings and interviews from January 8, Rick Moody,  all the way to March 26, with Steven Cramer

1.8.21 Rick Moody 

1.15.21 Laurette Folk

1.22.21 Mark Saba

1.29.21 Sarah Anne Johnson

2.5.21 Josh Barkan

and Jennifer Haigh

2.12.21 Keetje Kuipers

2.19.21 January O'Neil

2.26.21 Elle Nash

3.05.21 Danielle Zaccagnino

3.12.21 Marty Beckerman

3.19.21 Nathan Graziano 

3.26.21 Steven Cramer

2021 Spring Schedule for Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series (4/9-6/25, 2021)

     

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. For previous features see HERE

Note: I no longer accept queries for features. 

April

2 Easter Weekend- OFF

9 The all-open mic One Year Anniversary Event

16 Sandra Simonds

23 George Wallace

30 Caroline Leavitt

May

7 Charles Coe

14 Susan Henderson

21. Major Jackson 

28 Memorial Day Weekend-OFF 

June

4 Kara Vernor

11 Meredith Goldstein

18 Kimberly Ann Priest 

25 Joanna Smith Rakoff

Still Zonking the Zoom Bombers--You can't get me!!

Because of pranks, perversion, and racism which will not be tolerated, here are some guidelines I will be using some of the following at various times.

1) People will be Automatically muted when entering, only host can unmute you, at any time

2) Eliminate Chat

3) Eliminate screen share

4) Lock Dire at 715 so even if you get booted out by mistake, you may not be able to re-enter--sorry.

5) Block camera ability for any interlopers that are frustrated by all of the above.

6) Not post the event on Twitter

7) Not publicly post Dire link to zoom

7+) Immediately remove offending animal. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21 Words of mine, "Motel Room," published in Molecule today

 

Molecule, a group of two or more atoms that form the smallest identifiable unit into which a pure substance can be divided and still retain the composition and chemical properties of that substance.

Molecule, a tiny lit mag.

(read it here)

-------------------------------

Molecule takes poems, prose, fiction, plays, interviews and art, which are fifty words or less. Edited and founded by Kevin Carey, and MP Carver, Festival Director at MassPoetry, the magazine has gotten "big," by being small for the past two years. 

Here's the Table of Contents, which feature some folks (Chris O'Carroll, Chad Parenteau, J.D. Scrimgeour, Michael Estabrook, David Somerset, Cindy Veach, Elizabeth Weiss) I know.  If the listed Table of Contents (below) piques your interest, go to the site and download the issue for FREE

Grey Sparrow Press Tenth-Year Anniversary Anthology: Catch the Moon, includes my poem Everything's Connected from 2009

 It is an honor to appear in their beautiful Anniversary issue (which you can buy HERE), which celebrates ten years of Grey Sparrow Press.

     Grey Sparrow Press, in this landmark book, cherishes the voices of national writing treasures published over ten years; Robert Bly, Robert Wexelblatt, Michael R. Keith, Jules Nyquist, Khem Aryal, Marie Sheppard Williams [posthumously,] Doug Holder, Momila Joshi, William Woolfitt, Thomas Smith, M.J. Iuppa, LB Chhetri, John Roche to name a few. Grey Sparrow Press was formed as a non-profit 501[c]3 May 11, 2009. Writing is dedicated to global issues that haunt us all.

     My poem, Everything's Connected appeared in only their second issue, as currently they have published 36.

Also, I recited it way back in 2009. Has anything changed since then?

Two Poems published 1) Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and 2) Bagel Bards #14

      The poem, Living With Rabbits, appears on page 19, of my bestselling book 2020 Poems. It also appears in this month's Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. I've been in Dead Mule a few times, but they now have a really modern and stiffy website with photographs accompanying each piece of fiction or poetry. You should really check it out, the website is absolutely gorgeous. 

To the right is the picture they used for my poem: 

    That's kind of a cool rabbit, but far less superior to mine, as I do live with rabbits and talk them during the pandemic.  Look there is one of them! Bertie surviving the pandemic!

      The story behind the poem is that apparently if you are a woman you can feel safe staying as the guest of a guy who owns rabbits, as they probably are not interested in women anyway...so it's going to be safe. Right? Not everyone is so, please be safe whether men own rabbits or not.

     My second publication is in the Bagels with the Bards Anthology #14, put out by the group the Bagel Bards, who the late Sam Cornish said

     "The Bagel Bards (or Bagels with the Bards) (are) a group of poets varied in age, race, gender meet, share poems, discuss poetry, drink lots of coffee, chew a bagel if so desired, sometimes sell their books. The atmosphere is generous and open to all, and you don’t have to be a poet to attend. What I find most exciting about the Bards, people here are not conscious of reputation and achievement, but love the poem and good friendly unpretentious talk."

     They have also put out 14 anthologies, and to be an official Bagel Bard you only have to go to one meeting of the group---and now, Zoom counts! The group was started by well-know poets Doug Holder and Harris Gardner as a way to start a poetry community in the Somerville, Massachusetts area.  The book is lovely as well, and this round was edited by David Miller. Steve Glines, as always, contributed the design, both inside and out.