Lot's of news. tl;dr :: I've made a chapbook, I've published a poem, a radio play I wrote for the Lobbyists just went live, and the video opera Everything for Dawn will premiere on October 1. Details below.
Hello dears,
As some of you know, I've been writing poems over these past few years, mostly concerning attention and relationships to place.
I'm happy to say that I'm ready to share some fruits of that work in the form of a chapbook - manual for reentering a home world. The book contains four long poems, the result of a woods-wandering practice, following critter trails and curiosity. I'm excited to share it with you.
The book was designed by, and contains visual elements from, artist / landscape architect Cecil Howell. She's created a gorgeous object, small and tender.
The poems were written on Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican land, so if you'd like a copy, please donate to their Cultural Affairs Office. They're currently raising money to build a new Tribal Cultural Center, which will house the Tribe’s archives as well as serve as a gathering place for cultural workshops, language classes, and more. It's an extremely worthy cause - I hope you can join me in supporting it.
If you'd like a copy, please donate $15 or more (you can write "Tribal Cultural Center" in the "Description" box), email me your address, and I'll send you a book.
I'm also happy to share that another one of my poems, "Tu Fu wanders to the edge of Dragon's Gate, and I can't leave the bathroom," was just published in the Pamona Valley Review. Check it out, if you have a chance.
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A while back, Will Turner asked me to write him a ghost story to perform for The Lobbyists' new radio-drama podcast, Around the Campfire. Will gives a gorgeous performance of the story, which is enmeshed within a spooky serial narrative. You can start listening from episode 1 if you want to get all caught up, (a pleasurable listen!) but the segment also stands alone.
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Lastly, the video opera I helped write the libretto to, Everything for Dawn, will have its premiere screening in NYC on October 1st at Anthology Film Archives. It'll also be available for streaming shortly thereafter - more info on that as it arises. I won't be at the screening (Arkansas is rather far away from New York, it turns out), but I wish I could see it in a movie theater with you. Let me know if you end up going.
Here in Arkansas, the birds are molting - the crows flap hard, gaps in their wings and tails; the cardinals flit about the yard, awkward in mottled gray-brown-red, still missing their crests. I feel similarly, adjusting to this new place, this new season of life. One joy of this time of year: feathers, fallen in the grass.
Drop me a line if you have a moment. I'd love to hear from you.
Much love,
Jerry