The Last Couscous Evah

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Whether you’re a writer wanting to try out new stuff, a performance poetry aficionado, a literary groupie, or just a person looking for free & good entertainment, you’d going to wanna be at this event on TUESDAY NIGHT, 5/28, from 9:30 – 11:00 pm (yes, that’s way past Frequency’s bedtime too, but people– exceptions must be made), at AS220, 115 Empire Street, Prov.

tumblr_inline_mn5h6pbOMl1qz4rgpThe celestial pearl of RI poetry, Mairead Byrne, is hosting her last Couscous reading ever.

Mairead’s emceeing alone is worth seeing, but she’s got a great line-up of short readings/performances by people like the inscrutable Mark Baumer, the strangely funny Ric Royer, and Frequency’s own Tina Cane.tumblr_inline_mn2ehoeOGO1qz4rgp

ric royerAnd, there’s an open mic that starts at 10pm. You can read short stories, plays, strange rants, poems, etc. Let’s all go & read something at it. Come on.

http://couscous220.tumblr.com

Poetry Gala-Shindig-Hoe Down-Thing

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Need a little art & culture in your life? We are happy to pass on this invitation to all arts lovers in New England, courtesy of the Loft Poets:

New England Poetry & Art Gala

ne-poetry-art-gala-flyer-aProvidence Public Library Grand Hall, Providence, RI

Please join us for a special evening of Poetry, Paintings & Music, on Thursday, June 6, at 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM in the Library’s newly renovated Grand Hall and Ship Room.  Meet and be inspired by the poetry of Fred Marchant, Stephen Dobyns, Rick Benjamin, Wendy Mnookin, Richard Hoffman, Alan Feldman, Alice B. Fogel, Jennifer Militello, Vivian Shipley, and others!  A buffet and refreshments will be served. Doors open at 5 PM for registration, appetizers and art exhibits.

Featuring Guest Poets from throughout New England, the Gala celebrates the contributors of The Loft Anthology: New England Poetry and Art.  Winners of the 2013 Loft Prize for Poetry, judged by nationally acclaimed poet Denise Duhamel, will be announced live at the Gala.

Tickets: $15 by June 1. To reserve seats, please send a check with names and emails of attendees to:  The Poetry Loft, PO Box 8235, Cranston, RI 02920.  A confirmation will be sent to you with program details and additional information.

We welcome your questions at info@thepoetryloft.org

 http://theloftanthology.com/

In love with Daniil Kharms

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daniil kharms

daniil kharms

Maybe this just continues my tradition of falling for emotionally unavailable totally checked-out men, but in the case of Kharms, who cares.

Daniil Kharms (1905-1942) is a writer of short fiction, a poet, a diarist, a playwright– all of those things but none of them. As his translator, Matvei Yankelevich, says in the intro to Today I Wrote Nothing, “…in many of his best works, Kharms tests the waters of oblivion and then dives into negation, perhaps knowing that nothingness and infinity are one and the same.”

George Saunders wrote in a review of Kharms’ work a few years back (paraphrasing here) that in the process of trying to pound a nail, Kharms vaporizes his own hammer. Unknown

I love how his pieces feel strange but not, never, artificial. I never see the “writerly” or workshop-y move. It’s as if he’s too honest to actually be a writer.

Here’s one of his short pieces.

Blue Notebook #10

There was a redheaded man who had no eyes or ears. He didn’t have hair either, so he was called a redhead arbitrarily.
He couldn’t talk because he had no mouth. He didn’t have a nose either.
He didn’t even have arms or legs. He had no stomach, he had no back, no spine, and he didn’t have any insides at all. There was nothing! So, we don’t even know who we’re talking about.
We’d better not talk about him any more.

WRITING CLASS RI
WRITING WORKSHOPS RI

Hot off the press!

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H_NGM_N, a magazine of poetry & poetics has a brand-new issue out and for many reasons, it’s close to our Frequency hearts.

First, Frequencier Andy Axel has part of his awesome “Futuroscope” series in it:

http://www.h-ngm-n.com/h_ngm_n-15-content/andy-axel.html

Second, H_NGM_N’s founder & editor Nate Pritts, who is also a fabulous poet, has agreed to teach a one-day workshop on publishing for us.
**Should you publish your work? Where should you publish your work? How do poets the world over deal with rejection?** These are issues Nate will cover in the class!  WRITING CLASS RI
WRITING WORKSHOPS RI

Nate Pritts

Nate Pritts

A feast of great writers– which could include you

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Hi everyone,

Come on down to AS220 tonight and listen to some great writers and then join them during the open mike! It’s free & fun– as reported by frequency Frequenciers who do the open mike. We’re especially excited to hear Sarah Tourjee read– Sarah will be teaching this summer’s hybrid class:

April Couscous
as220, 115 Empire St

Tuesday 4/30/13
Emcee Mairéad Byrne
Program 9.30-10.30pm
Mark Baumer
Jonathan Bonner
Matthew Everett
Christopher Johnson
Gillian Kiley
Sarah Tourjee
Kim Triedman
Open Mike 10.30-11pm

free!

http://couscous220.tumblr.com/

Friday night. It’s either date night or laundry night, but on the 26th, it could be poetry night.

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RI poet Dave O’Connell won the Philbrick Poetry Award!

Come out and support him at his reading on Friday, April 26th at the Providence Athenaeum, 7 p.m. http://www.providenceathenaeum.org/philbrickaward/philbrickaward.html
If you are unable to attend, the chapbook will be on sale on the Athenaeum’s site. Go, Dave!

Monday morning

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Some favorite short stories (by George Saunders, Annie Proulx, Karen Russell, Kelly Link, Vladimir Nabokov, & more) to read online.

Footage of Frank O’Hara — late in his life, including painters he collaborated with, and  his cat.

“Risk keeps a writing project and also the writer vulnerable, open, off-guard, constantly changing, new, intoxicated, deeply immersed, in the midst of great adventure and also a great mystery.  Writing then becomes a window into things otherwise off-limits: ultimate freedom and ultimate possibility.”  Carole Maso, in an interview.

Photography as memory.

“At its core, writing is about cutting beneath every social expectation to get to the voice you have when no one is listening.”              -Voices Inside Their Heads, an essay by Pico Iyer

“Nothing for the magician is accidental / All that could possibly happen to the magical prop is intrinsic to it” -lines from Lyn Hejinian’s poem-essay “Happily,” which she introduces with a short essay here, and which can be downloaded here.

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Thanks to a generous donor, Frequency can offer four $50 scholarships for Archaeology of the Actual: a creative nonfiction studio with Mary Cappello on Saturday, April 27th. It promises to be a day of writing. Scholarships will go to the first four who specify on their registration form that they’d like a scholarship.