Everything Else

I’ve been prepping for Rabbit Box Storytelling at the Melting Point tomorrow night- I have eight minutes to tell about a rabbit hole I went down.  The decision is difficult- ever since I was a kid I’ve loved to immerse myself in history- I’m still obsessed with the Holocaust.  Forced exercise, Arbeit Macht Frei, Eichmann…

Arrived home yesterday from my third residency at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts.  It’s located in the foothills of the Appalachians- the birds would sing and the sun stream green through dense trees and I’d write- hiking the trails or running or reading* whenever I got stuck. The conversations and work shared by…

I’m leaving for a residency at the Hambidge Center for the Arts– one of my favorite places on the planet. Savannah sugar heiress turned bohemian Mary Hambidge established this artists retreat in the foothills of the Appalachians in the 1950’s- it’s an amazing place.  This will be my third visit. I completed this interview for Hambidge…

Six years ago today, Vic Chesnutt played my birthday celebration. Chris Sugiuchi and Eric Harris backed him.  They set up on the skateboard ramp which used to be in our backyard.  I love so many things- Vic’s guitar, which said “Chesnutt.” The break where he throws his head back and howls in Cobbham Blues.  My favorite…

 Create your own pulp fiction cover via Pulp-O-Mizer. Fun times!

Last Friday the extraordinary Craig Lieske-musician, writer, innovator- suddenly passed.  Several of us composed tributes to him for Flagpole. This was mine: Craig Lieske and I became friends four years ago. We were at the 40 Watt, the Truckers were playing and I was raw with grief over a friend’s sudden death. Everyone knew—Flagpole had recently…

This Wednesday, October 10, Talking Community: An Evening of Poetry, Storytelling, & Song takes place at Athica. Alan Flurry, Janet Geddis, Marc Tissenbaum, Beth Hall Thrasher and I will be reading. Star Room Boys frontman Dave Marr will play some songs.  This event is in conjunction with their current exhibition, Center, which “explores current ideas of community…

I’m headed to the Southern Women Writers Conference at Berry College.  Lots of great speakers: Isabel Wilkerson (author of Warmth of Other Suns, my favorite history ever), rocker and writer Marshall Chapman, poet Stacey Lynn Brown (love Cradle Song), A Dry Grass in August’s Anna Jean Mayhew and so many more… Excited to attend a…

   I moved to Athens, Georgia a few years after Escuela Caribe, knowing I needed to be surrounded by people compelled to create. Around the same time a group of artists moved here from Ruston, LA.  Back home they’d formed bands like the Synthetic Flying Machine and the Gerbils,  discovered Daniel Johnson and the Tall Dwarfs on college…

I worked with an amazing group.  We studied with Stephen Elliott.  We focused on being honest and empathetic in our writing.  More updates soon…