Only Ghosts, as a percussive storytelling was initiated New Year's 2011. An intimate group of creative friends came over to my house to celebrate New Year's Eve. We started talking about our creative aspirations and YouTubing music that inspired us. Ragon showed us a clip of the Dresden Dolls. I was wowed by the cabaret feel of the video and the drama of the percussion work. What Ragon wanted, he told us that night, was to create a dramatic percussive performance to my novel, Only Ghosts. I had read sections of the novel at cafes and wine bars with Ragon playing guitar behind me a couple times, but what he suggested was a much larger undertaking. The next morning, I started pulling the strings of the novel and thinking about Ragon's vision. A couple weeks later Ragon and I met to discuss the project and I agreed to have a script ready by fall 2011. There you have it: from Dresden Dolls to Only Ghosts.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Whitman Project
Organized by Poet, David Oats. Portland poets and Whitman lovers converged October 20, 2010 to read all 52 sections of Leaves of Grass at PNCA. I read section 46. Sitting through all 56 sections, listening to Whitman's voice through so many voices was a dream come true. Whitman's book sleeps by my bed and is an old companion, but hearing his proclamations outloud in 52 waves I drowned in its beauty.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Writers Reflect on Reading: Part Two
However, just as not all runners are equal, nor all athletes, all writing is certainly not equal. At some point during my college years I promised myself to never, ever waste my precious time reading junk. Never. Unless it’s a magazine. Then it’s all bets off.
For several years I only read the classics. Only the names bound in those Literary Anthologies you read in college: Hardy, Whitman, Woolf, Shakespeare. Under my definition of “classic”, Steinbeck was a bit of an upstart. Then after living in Nepal, I went through a long bout of only reading Indian writers—preferably ones who used magic realism. Do you know how difficult it was to make a steady diet of this writing? Salmon Rushdie hasn’t written that many things, nor has Gita Meeta, nor Tagore. It was like eating a very limited diet of only orange vegetables. Yummy, but limiting. My creativity, like a body on such a diet, was grinding to a halt.
Then I befriended someone who existed on a diet of everything, with a generous helping of sweet reading candy. Marianne read several books a week, reading them to sleep and waking to them before work. She read whatever was in front of her, whatever she found, whatever, whatever, and loved it. Marianne was a sweet novel addict and, as such, had the enviable ability to talk books with whomever she met. She called me a book snob and I called her a book whore. We were best friends. We parted—listen up Red and Blue voters—by mutually respecting one another’s views.
After meeting Marianne, I expanded my views. Here’s my adjusted creed: If for entertainment purposes only, and if (this is my caveat) the reader is intelligent enough to know the difference, and game enough to throw in superbly written novels, then the average reader may read crap. The aspiring writer, though, is an exception. To become exceptional, a writer must read more like an Olympic athlete in training. A great writer must, like an Olympic athlete, read a well-balanced, varied diet. I know, I know: it works for Billy Bob Thornton to only eat orange food (okay, to set the record strait, he eats only raw food, not necessarily orange. Big difference), but not for the writer. Sorry. Even a straight genre writer should cross train.
With my new creed in mind, I joined a book group. It was kind of like the Nutrisystem for me. A prescribed diet of someone else’s food, just enough to pry me from my old habits, and get me on the road to a healthier diet. I’ll admit that I didn’t like all the books my group chose. I don’t care if he does write a pretty sentence; Jonathan Franzen struck me as a pubescent boy stuck with a nasty god complex. Mostly, though, I read wonderful books I never would have chosen with my own sensitive nose. I was introduced by Mandy to Iris Murdock’s The Sea, The Sea, by Maureen to Peter Carey’s Parrot and Oliver in America, and by Tracy to Jennifer Vanderbe’s Easter Island. The camaraderie of a group to gush over or trash a book is added fun I didn’t take into account when I joined.
Like many people who have kicked an eating disorders, I maintain my Nurtisystem support group, but I also go on my own hunts. These days I’m like a reformed meat-eater who now leads groups on urban mushroom foraging. I will spend my late hours on the Internet searching the Independent Publishing sites such as Dranzen Books, Algonquin Books, Other Press. This search has led down some strange paths, such as The Mullet: Hairstyles of the Gods, or Shitting Pretty. It has also put some gems in my hands. On these excursions, I have found Galore by Michael Crummey and The End of the World by Sushma Joshi.
While most of my college promises to myself (big hair, stonewashed jeans, cheap beer, Nihilism) are better off dead, my promise to stay away from bad writing has solidified like cement beneath the post of my own writing. I have many coaches. Thomas Hardy and Virginia Woolf will always be there, but so, too, will Louise Erdrich, Orhan Pamuk, Gao Xingjian, and Cormac McCarthy. I may not make great art yet, but with the help of these Olympic coaches, I can strive for more. Who knows, with time, practice, and lots of good reading, I could break the record–or put a deep scratch down it so it won’t play on the record player any more.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Writers Reflect on Reading
Recently I wrote a list of books that influenced my writing and I thought it would be interesting to pose a question to my writing group, The Guttery. Tell me about a book or author that inspires your writing. The Guttery responses were (not) surprising.
Bruce Greene's writing scratches like fingernails down the vertebrae of class and culture. Listen to the performance, Love Outlives Us, and you'll appreciate that the writers who influenced Bruce were Kenneth Patchen and John Steinbeck. Bruce claims that he likes them both because they tackle "big ideas and are thought provoking." Bruce does too. His "Goldfish" piece read in the Moonlit Guttery's reading of Love Outlives Us uses the metaphor of a harmless goldfish to pry open the box of the Vietnam war. My mother, whose brother's life was shattered by his three tours in Vietnam, could not sleep after listening to Bruce read his piece. She told me that Bruce's story gave her a new perspective on her brother's life and the cultural forces that led to his decision to do three tours. Bruce has published his memoir of his Vista years on the web, Above This Wall. Here is an excerpt from Bruce's memoir. It is a section of his statement of conscientious objections to his Vietnam Conflict draft board:
To be sure, I have been influenced by the great thinkers of non-violence, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, however, my increased interest in poetry led me to my most profound influence, the American poet Kenneth Patchen. Patchen’s works encompass the totality of my religious beliefs.
There is only one truth in the world:
Until we learn to love our neighbor,
There will be no life for anyone,
Force cannot be overthrown by force,
To hate any man is to despair of every man,
Evil breeds evil—the rest is a lie:
There is only one power that can save the world—
And that is the power of our love for all men everywhere.
When A. Molotkov (Tola) told me that Milan Kundera was his one author, a felt a thrill of recognition. Tola said of Kundera, "I love his capability to be modern and innovative, to play with the narrative and with character development, all the while discovering poignant human truths that are relevant to all." This, is Tola's writing. He's pushed and sifted enough sand to create a world in which all his character and two in particular, Zungvilda and Goombeldt, attempt to stand. From Tola's work The Melting Hourglass:
Goombeldt walks in
folding his umbrella
why is he carrying an umbrella?
it’s not raining.
As with Kundera's writing, that's the point--why do we carry an umbrella when it is not raining? How is it that we stand on such sticky, stilted ground?
Cameron McPhearson Smith writes that his favorite book is Craig Childs and his book The Secret Knowledge of Water. If you haven't read Childs' book, it is a fascinating, poetic adventure of man's inexhaustible pursuit of water sources in the desert. Cam writes that Childe's book is "inspiring because every word is so carefully picked; the book is a lesson in craftsmanship." Cameron is an adventurer whose writing strives to include the reader in Cam own sense of wonder and fascination with nature. In this recent excerpt from Cameron's blog, his prose is as haunting, poetic, and evocative as Childs:
Funny that when the stars come out, we go in, and sleep, and dream...sometimes of the stars or of impossible distances, or of near-infinite energies, or of other infinitudes. Then, as the stars are winking out, we wake and step outside, the lit sky blocking our view and thoughts of a larger universe.
David Cooke was the last to share his favorite writer: Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakoy's Master and Margarita. This book was called THE masterpiece of the twentieth century by The Times of London. Having not read it yet,--I ordered it at Powell's Books online yesterday--I can't speak to the parallels between Bulgakov's writing and David's; however, in reading about this novel I found a similar trait. Allusion. One of the novel's predominate themes is good versus evil made through heavy allusions to Faust. This reminded me of David and his use of allusion and his love of grand themes. In the first stanza in his prize winning poem Edges, the allusions transcend the experience of one life to an exploration of our lives.
I don’t know where to start. Far before the moon pulled the tide
to your chin. Before your groin became a grotto. Before the brine
washed away the haloes your feet squeeze into the sand. I don’t
believe in the alchemy of eels and their mud.
To be sure, I have been influenced by the great thinkers of non-violence, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, however, my increased interest in poetry led me to my most profound influence, the American poet Kenneth Patchen. Patchen’s works encompass the totality of my religious beliefs.
There is only one truth in the world:
Until we learn to love our neighbor,
There will be no life for anyone,
Force cannot be overthrown by force,
To hate any man is to despair of every man,
Evil breeds evil—the rest is a lie:
There is only one power that can save the world—
And that is the power of our love for all men everywhere.
When A. Molotkov (Tola) told me that Milan Kundera was his one author, a felt a thrill of recognition. Tola said of Kundera, "I love his capability to be modern and innovative, to play with the narrative and with character development, all the while discovering poignant human truths that are relevant to all." This, is Tola's writing. He's pushed and sifted enough sand to create a world in which all his character and two in particular, Zungvilda and Goombeldt, attempt to stand. From Tola's work The Melting Hourglass:
Goombeldt walks in
folding his umbrella
why is he carrying an umbrella?
it’s not raining.
As with Kundera's writing, that's the point--why do we carry an umbrella when it is not raining? How is it that we stand on such sticky, stilted ground?
Cameron McPhearson Smith writes that his favorite book is Craig Childs and his book The Secret Knowledge of Water. If you haven't read Childs' book, it is a fascinating, poetic adventure of man's inexhaustible pursuit of water sources in the desert. Cam writes that Childe's book is "inspiring because every word is so carefully picked; the book is a lesson in craftsmanship." Cameron is an adventurer whose writing strives to include the reader in Cam own sense of wonder and fascination with nature. In this recent excerpt from Cameron's blog, his prose is as haunting, poetic, and evocative as Childs:
Funny that when the stars come out, we go in, and sleep, and dream...sometimes of the stars or of impossible distances, or of near-infinite energies, or of other infinitudes. Then, as the stars are winking out, we wake and step outside, the lit sky blocking our view and thoughts of a larger universe.
David Cooke was the last to share his favorite writer: Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakoy's Master and Margarita. This book was called THE masterpiece of the twentieth century by The Times of London. Having not read it yet,--I ordered it at Powell's Books online yesterday--I can't speak to the parallels between Bulgakov's writing and David's; however, in reading about this novel I found a similar trait. Allusion. One of the novel's predominate themes is good versus evil made through heavy allusions to Faust. This reminded me of David and his use of allusion and his love of grand themes. In the first stanza in his prize winning poem Edges, the allusions transcend the experience of one life to an exploration of our lives.
I don’t know where to start. Far before the moon pulled the tide
to your chin. Before your groin became a grotto. Before the brine
washed away the haloes your feet squeeze into the sand. I don’t
believe in the alchemy of eels and their mud.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Don't Worry!
I want to translate the phrase don’t worry, and I call for those who use it to consider using the translation because it's much more accurate.
The first time I heard this phrase was after the movie 101 Dalmatians came out. We had an older, cranky Dalmatian. After that movie came out, wherever we went, kids would race up to our leashed Dalmatian as their parents smiled and called out, “Don’t worry, our kid is good with dogs.”
I would respond, “But mine’s not good with kids!” Luckily, our dog never bit a kid, not even the little three-year-old who tweaked our dog’s nose while his dad said, ‘aw, how cute.”
Then we got our little ten-pound, rescue, complete with a pathetic limp and a timid disposition. I thought, “Now I don’t have to worry about people getting into my dog’s space!” After months of training, I introduced him to the dog parks last summer.
Shortly after we started going to dog parks, a pit bull owner saw that I was hesitant about having his large dog play with mine and he told me, “Don’t worry, my dog is good with other dogs.” Right after those words, his dog mistook mine for prey and crushed my little guy’s jaw. After jaw surgery and eight weeks of a muzzle and cone, my little guy recovered physically.
However, when many people shook their heads and said, “You shouldn’t have brought a little dog to a big dog park”, they exacerbated the ordeal. When the pit bull dog owner refused to accept any responsibility or even to acknowledge his dog’s aggression, I was put in a really difficult position. Of course, he explained his dog's behavior with another of my favorite phrases: “My dog never did anything like that before.”
This Saturday, four months after the incident with the pit bull, I decided to take our dog to a dog park designated specifically for little dogs, Normandale Park. I sighed at the decision because the lazy in me would much prefer the three parks within walking distance. But, maybe all those people were right; a ten-pound dog should not be in a park with big dogs.
Normandale is a nice park for dogs. Two enormous fenced in play areas for any dog, and then one smaller area for little dogs. All areas are well gated and marked. Being a Saturday, the two larger dog park areas were crowded and rowdy, but the little dog area was empty and peaceful. A great way to reintegrate our dog into the world of dog parks.
My daughter and I brought our dog into the little dog area and, for the first time in four months, we let him run without a leash. It was nice to see him relax and sniff around, and I started to think about how I could fit this park run into our busy lives. That is until two women with three large dogs nonchalantly let themselves into the little dog area. My dog sat down and started to shake as three enormous dogs pounced all over him.
“Don’t worry, our dogs are good with other dogs,” they called out, but I didn’t smile and play nice. I did the unthinkable. I challenged the implied authority of the don’t worry. I explained that this was a little dog park and that I drove to Normandale just to use this one park designated for little dogs.
Offended, they told me, “Our dogs are friendly. They’re not a problem. Your problem is not letting your dog play with other dogs.” All in a huff, they finally left the little dog park. As one woman was telling the other, “You told her!” their unleashed dogs bounded straight over to jump on a little kid in the children’s play area. The father raced to pick up his son, but the women invoked their get-out-of-jail card, calling out in dulcet unison, “Don’t worry, our dogs are good with kids.”
As I watched their dogs pawing down the front of this child, I finally got it. Don’t worry is code for I’m an asshole and I can do whatever the hell I want.
As I watched their dogs pawing down the front of this child, I finally got it. Don’t worry is code for I’m an asshole and I can do whatever the hell I want.
Friday, November 12, 2010
A Guttery Great at Tony’s Tavern
This was a fun night at Tony's. The MC didn't show up, and so David moved the the table, set up the chairs, and we played. One Tony regular showed up, but otherwise it was just us. There was something so fun about the unexpected spontaneity of the evening. I love when things don't go as planned.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
bookfutures: discuss
bookfutures: discuss: "http://futureofthebook.org/social-reading/ is your link to Bob Stein's Taxonomy of Social Reading which was unveiled at the Books in Browser..."
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Show and Tell Gallery
Last night I did a reading at Show and Tell Gallery. I'm not sure about the expression on my face, but it was supposed to be comical piece. I guess, if nothing else, my face made everyone laugh.
From the Show and Tell Gallery Website:
Melissa Sillitoe started Show and Tell Gallery in her living room in 2007, a DIY gallery open at Everett Station Lofts on First Thursdays that included live musical and spoken word performances as part of the arts format. Friends showed art and volunteered showing guests from the lobby to her living room.
Show and Tell Gallery Productions–which includes collaborators Luke Lefler and Nikia Cummings and volunteers–now hosts a weekly invited reading and open mic at Three Friends Coffee House.
From the Show and Tell Gallery Website:
Melissa Sillitoe started Show and Tell Gallery in her living room in 2007, a DIY gallery open at Everett Station Lofts on First Thursdays that included live musical and spoken word performances as part of the arts format. Friends showed art and volunteered showing guests from the lobby to her living room.
Show and Tell Gallery Productions–which includes collaborators Luke Lefler and Nikia Cummings and volunteers–now hosts a weekly invited reading and open mic at Three Friends Coffee House.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Stonehenge Studios
Stonehenge Studios Poetry Open Mic
10/10/10
I read an excerpt entitled "Revolution" from my book, Only Ghosts.
10/10/10
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
 | ||||
| A Tharu Family In Dang, Nepal |
Friday, September 10, 2010
October 2nd Performance at Beach Books
Saturday 10/2/10 (5-8pm) at Beach Books in Seaside, OR: A poetry and musical experience featuring five local artists. These Portland poets will weave their work into a tapestry with full musical accompaniment.
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. Although he has been writing fiction and poetry for over 25 years, his more recent involvement with other art forms allows him to approach the creative process from various angles, with individual parts contributing to a greater whole. Molotkov is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award for his short story “Round Trip”, which was nominated for a Pushcart. His fiction and poetry has appeared in or accepted by the Hawaii Pacific Review, Peralta Press, Acquillrelle, Gival Press, Epicenter, Suger Mule and elsewhere. His debut CD “Can You Stay Forever”, an ambitious project utilizing 15 musicians, has received glowing reviews. A. Molotkov is quickly becoming known in the Portland poetry community for his exceptional skills at oral presentation. In February 2010, Molotkov spearheaded a one-hour performance “Love Outlives Us” presented by the Show and Tell Gallery and repeated on KBOO in June.
www.amolotkov.com
John Sibley Williams is a poet and book publicist residing in Portland, OR. He has a previous MA in Writing and presently studies Book Publishing at Portland State University, where he serves as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and publicist for Three Muses Press. His poetry was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize, and his debut chapbook, A Pure River, is forthcoming from The Last Automat Press. Some of his over 100 previous or upcoming publications include: The Evansville Review, Ellipsis, Flint Hills Review, Euphony, Open Letters, Cadillac Cicatrix, Juked, The Journal, Hawaii Review, Cutthroat, The Furnace Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Aries, and River Oak Review.
www.TheArtOfRaining.com
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. Portland has been her home for ten years. For the last four, she has been collaborating with members of The Guttery. Some of her readings have been published by The Peace Corps Digital Library, The Oregon Literary Review and Show and Tell Gallery as well as featured on the site Love Outlives Us. She writes novels about what happens when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash. Her latest novel, Only Ghosts, is about the changes to a village in Nepal during the democratic movement of 1990. More at www.kalirati.blogspot.com
David Cooke was raised Catholic in Oakland, California, and now lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon. His debut poem Edges won the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize and was nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize. His work appears in Flatmancrooked, Hunger Mountain, A River & Sound Revie,w and in performances at the Blackbird Wine Shop, Show and Tell Gallery, Stonehenge Studio, and KBOO’s Talking Earth. He is also known as The Lawn Guy throughout Portland and Lake Oswego for his lawn maintenance business. Much of his current work is included in his forthcoming chapbook, Discretion.
Ragon Linde is a musician specializing in eclectic jazz. He plays the guitar, drums, and bass. Ragon moved to Portland in 2006 from Tulsa, Oklahoma where he lived most of his life. While in Oklahoma, Ragon played in a wide range of musical groups over the last 35 years whose styles included big band, psychedelic jazz, heavy metal, acoustic folk, classical, and western swing. Much of his work has been recorded and his latest album of work titled My Own Private Jihad can be found on his MySpace site, www.myspace.com/RagonLindeMusic.
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. Although he has been writing fiction and poetry for over 25 years, his more recent involvement with other art forms allows him to approach the creative process from various angles, with individual parts contributing to a greater whole. Molotkov is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award for his short story “Round Trip”, which was nominated for a Pushcart. His fiction and poetry has appeared in or accepted by the Hawaii Pacific Review, Peralta Press, Acquillrelle, Gival Press, Epicenter, Suger Mule and elsewhere. His debut CD “Can You Stay Forever”, an ambitious project utilizing 15 musicians, has received glowing reviews. A. Molotkov is quickly becoming known in the Portland poetry community for his exceptional skills at oral presentation. In February 2010, Molotkov spearheaded a one-hour performance “Love Outlives Us” presented by the Show and Tell Gallery and repeated on KBOO in June.
www.amolotkov.com
John Sibley Williams is a poet and book publicist residing in Portland, OR. He has a previous MA in Writing and presently studies Book Publishing at Portland State University, where he serves as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and publicist for Three Muses Press. His poetry was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize, and his debut chapbook, A Pure River, is forthcoming from The Last Automat Press. Some of his over 100 previous or upcoming publications include: The Evansville Review, Ellipsis, Flint Hills Review, Euphony, Open Letters, Cadillac Cicatrix, Juked, The Journal, Hawaii Review, Cutthroat, The Furnace Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Aries, and River Oak Review.
www.TheArtOfRaining.com
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. Portland has been her home for ten years. For the last four, she has been collaborating with members of The Guttery. Some of her readings have been published by The Peace Corps Digital Library, The Oregon Literary Review and Show and Tell Gallery as well as featured on the site Love Outlives Us. She writes novels about what happens when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash. Her latest novel, Only Ghosts, is about the changes to a village in Nepal during the democratic movement of 1990. More at www.kalirati.blogspot.com
David Cooke was raised Catholic in Oakland, California, and now lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon. His debut poem Edges won the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize and was nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize. His work appears in Flatmancrooked, Hunger Mountain, A River & Sound Revie,w and in performances at the Blackbird Wine Shop, Show and Tell Gallery, Stonehenge Studio, and KBOO’s Talking Earth. He is also known as The Lawn Guy throughout Portland and Lake Oswego for his lawn maintenance business. Much of his current work is included in his forthcoming chapbook, Discretion.
Ragon Linde is a musician specializing in eclectic jazz. He plays the guitar, drums, and bass. Ragon moved to Portland in 2006 from Tulsa, Oklahoma where he lived most of his life. While in Oklahoma, Ragon played in a wide range of musical groups over the last 35 years whose styles included big band, psychedelic jazz, heavy metal, acoustic folk, classical, and western swing. Much of his work has been recorded and his latest album of work titled My Own Private Jihad can be found on his MySpace site, www.myspace.com/RagonLindeMusic.
Love Outlives Us
LOVE OUTLIVES US
by The Moonlit Guttery Team
love outlives us like trees
love outlives us
like the air we breathe
A. Molotkov: text, spoken voice, vocals,
duduk, percussion, handsonic
Bruce Greene: text, spoken voice
Shawn Austin: text, spoken voice,
percussion
David Cooke: text, spoken voice
Ragon Linde: guitar, electric guitar,
percussion, musical direction
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk: text,
vocals, spoken voice
Love Outlives Us
by The Moonlit Guttery Team
love outlives us like trees
love outlives us
like the air we breathe
A. Molotkov: text, spoken voice, vocals,
duduk, percussion, handsonic
Bruce Greene: text, spoken voice
Shawn Austin: text, spoken voice,
percussion
David Cooke: text, spoken voice
Ragon Linde: guitar, electric guitar,
percussion, musical direction
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk: text,
vocals, spoken voice
Love Outlives Us
Peace Corps
50 years of Peace Corps volunteers tromping around the world. From 1990 to 1992, I worked in Nepal (PCN170) as a teacher, teacher trainer, women's health trainer, and smokeless stove builder. My novel, Only Ghosts, comes from this time. Also, I've written some articles about my service. My narrative essay, "Assimilation" can be found in the Peace Corps Digital Library. Happy 50th Anniversary, Peace Corps.
Assimilation
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Guttery Website
My writing group, The Guttery, has finally gotten our own website.
Theguttery.com
What I like about the site is that we're blogging on it. So if you'd like to read what some writers think about the craft of writing, or what creative events are happening in Portland, Oregon, check out our site.
I'm excited about it.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Love Outlives Us to be performed on KBOO
Missed the Three Friends' Coffee House performance of Love Outlives Us?
Love Outlives Us by A. Molitkov's Moonlit Guttery Team will be performing on KBOO's Talking Earth.
Monday, June 14th
10:00pm - 11:00pm
Talking Earth
Hosted by: Barbara LaMorticella
Poetry, spoken arts, prose
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Peace Corps Nepal
 |
| Baglung Pani Miss |
The Baglung Pani Miss
A word of advice: avoid moving to a village where a volunteer preceded you.
When I moved to Baglung Pani, Andy Walker was my own personal Freddy Krueger, popping into every conversation, and shredding my every deed. At each “good morning,” people would point to the hostel next to the school and tell me, “Andy Walker built that. What are you going to build?” At noon, the woman who gave me tea would drill me with questions in rapid Nepalese and then announce, “You don’t speak as well as Andy Walker. He spoke Gurung too. When are you going to learn Gurung?” At dinner, I listened to my host family tell stories of Andy Walker’s humor and wit. I gritted my teeth through the nightmare of comparisons until the remarks grew less frequent and trickled to the occasional. I made friends with those who never knew Andy Walker and soon with those who did.
About a year into my stay, I was taking a bus back home from a training in Kathmandu when an older Nepali man offered his seat and asked me where I was going.
“Baglung Pani,” I answered. The man’s eyes lit up with a look I now recognized as the Andy Walker look and I sighed. “Yes, I know” I said flatly. “You met the volunteer there.”
“She is wonderful! Do you know the Baglung Pani Miss?” he asked, and before I could answer the man was off telling me about her perfect Nepalese, her sweet Gurung, her friendly nature, her wonderful singing voice, her skill with the children.
I sat up in my seat and beamed in anticipation of his delirious bubbling at discovering me. This was my moment of vindication! When the man slowed enough for me to get in a word, I exclaimed, “I’m the Baglung Pani Miss!”
The man’s smile faded. “Oh, no, you can’t be the Baglung Pani Miss,” he argued. “Your Nepali isn’t good! You can’t even speak Gurung.”
“No,” I said, at once indignant. “I am the Baglung Pani Miss!”
“That is not possible,” the man replied, equally adamant. “She is just like a Nepali, but look at you. You are not!”
I took a deep breath, ready for battle when Andy Walker came to mind. I sank back down and nodded. “You’re right.” The man huffed in agreement and turned away. I stared out the window so that the man could not see how giddy I looked.
Who was I to trifle with the myth of the Baglung Pani Miss?
To read other articles about my Peace Corps experience, click here.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
To My Father on His Birthday.
My sister started a new tradition in our family where, on a family member’s birthday, we each tell that person why he or she is special. This felt strange on my tongue the first time we did this for my mom’s birthday this last November. We’re not a family who gratuitously compliment, our compliments are shy; they hide within jokes, or are implicit in gestures. So, in anticipation of this new tradition for my dad’s 67th birthday party on Sunday, I thought I would write what is difficult for me to say. All my life I hear the same phrase: you’re just like your father. In the childhood years I go without combing my hair; during my middle-school years when eons before environmentalism is trendy, I carry a lunchbox to school because it is less wasteful; in everyone’s fear that I choose to move as close to Manhattan as I can for college; in my mother’s anger that I decide to travel even farther to the Peace Corps; and in my poor family’s frustration when I marry someone no one thinks is right for me. All these times and more, I hear, in the face of my fierce purposefulness, you’re just like your father.
Pragmatic New Englander my father very much is, and very much is not. He works hard; his accomplishments are as vast as the cords of wood that corral the property of my childhood home in New Hampshire: the farmhouse in Jaffrey that takes years to restore, the antique cars, the maple syrup, stained glass, and every sort of home improvement. His ventures, however, I’ve come to realize, are not always the systematic or calculated moves of a pragmatist like, say Hilary Clinton. In fact, some of his decisions, like moving to North Carolina, are instinctual, even whimsical. In all of my dad’s choices, there is a commonality: a Thoreau-like call for a life well-lived. Dad and Thoreau would have been friends for more reasons than that they are from the same state. Dad’s life is testimony to Thoreau’s words, “Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” My dad does not leash himself to his lucrative computer programming job, nor to his place of birth, nor even to his homes that he painstakingly polishes to showcase beauty. Instead, my dad takes chances. Not all of them pan out--some rise to greatness while other shatter--but all of them are his legacy. His actions have taught me to value life, to create it, fight for it, and to pay stubborn attention to my visions.
My father walks a softer road in his love of family, and most importantly, his relationship with my mother which winds back as far as middle school. I know that many people say this, but in my father’s case it is true: he has never looked at another woman. When I was a kid, I watched women, married woman, fall all over themselves over my dad, and I watched his Ataturk-blue eyes seek refuge with my mother. My father has only ever had one best friend: Mom. To this day, he is uncomfortable when she is gone for too long. All three of his kids are solid committers. None of us have ever cheated on anyone, and all three have entered our relationships earnestly and with faith in our partners. That faith, that earnestness is a gift given to us by our parent’s marriage.
I have a little secret that should be shared on my dad’s 67th birthday—about time, right? I don’t mind when people tell me I’m acting like you. In truth, I’m proud that I’m just like you.
Happy birthday, Dad.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Support Haiti by giving to Partners In Health (PIH)
Haiti. You see the images, hear the appeals, and want to help. I recommend Partners in Health.
When I first heard about the devastation in Haiti, I immediately thought of the nonprofit, Partners in Health, founded by Dr. Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl. If you read Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, which tells Paul Farmer's story and his enduring commitment to health care in Haiti,then you surely had the same thought as me: give to Partners in Health. No aid organization understands the health needs in Haiti as well.
According to an e-mail I received from PIH, "the PIH/Zanmi Lasante team was designated by the World Health Organization to serve as the coordinators of the public hospital, Hopital de l' Universite d'Etat d'Haiti" PIH team members were some of the first on the scene, they have one of the best health care infrastructures in Haiti, they're recognized by the World Health Organization and, most importantly, they are respected by the Haitian people.
Find out more about PIH, what they're doing, what they need, and how to contribute by going to this site: PIH IN HAITI
If you don't want to take my word for Partners in Health, here's an article that ran in the St. Petersburg Times
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Join Us At Three Friends Coffee House
Coming February 8: CAFFEINATED ART #80 – A. Molotkov, Bruce Greene and the Moonlit Guttery Poetry Team – “Love Outlives Us”
7 p.m., Three Friends Coffee House
SE 12th and Ash, Portland, Oregon
Love Outlives Us
A. Molotkov, Bruce Greene
and the Moonlit Guttery Team
an evening of words with music
Bruce Greene:
text, spoken voice
The Team:
Shawn Austin:
text, spoken voice
David Cooke:
text, spoken voice
Ragon Linde:
guitar, electric guitar, percussion, musical direction
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk:
text, vocals, spoken voice
A. Molotkov:
text, spoken voice, vocals, duduk, percussion, handsonic
Luke Lefler:
sound
Based on texts by A. Molotkov, Bruce Greene, Shawn Austin, David Cooke and Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk, “Love Outlives Us” is a symbolic exploration of the value and meaning of a human life, the character-defining nature of human interaction, and each individual’s responsibility for the world in which they conspire to exist. The tone of this performance is balanced around a stark contrast between A. Molotkov’s mysterious and laconic verses and Bruce Greene’s real life stories, in this case his experiences as a teacher in the years following the war in Vietnam. Shawn Austin, David Cooke and Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk contribute their own unique visions to make up a whole that has a sense of unity, despite its many edges. Ragon Linde’s musical contribution and several sung compositions by A. Molotkov expand the palette. Backed up by music, words acquire a greater levity, contributing to the listener’s ability to be entranced and whisked away on an hour-long tour of self-discovery through meaning and metaphor. Several audience participation numbers allow the listeners to become part of the performance in a more tangible way than possible in a passive listening mode. “Love Outlives Us” seeks to engage the audience on all levels, to ask questions that will linger in one’s mind long after the performers have left the stage.
love outlives us
like trees
love outlives us
like the air we breathe
Bruce Greene, David Cooke, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk and A. Molotkov are members of The Guttery, www.theguttery.com.
Shawn Austin and A. Molotkov are the founding members of The Moonlit Poetry Caravan, www.meetup.com/MoonlitPoetry.
Luke Lefler is the Digital Media Producer for Show and Tell Gallery.
Bruce Greene
Bruce Greene taught English, history, and psychology in the Bay Area for many years. He now works with beginning teachers at Marylhurst University. In his eclectic writing career, Bruce has been a correspondent for a national thoroughbred horse magazine and published everything from poetry and educational research to creative non-fiction and memoir. He is always looking for another river to fly fish, coffeehouses conducive to writing, and an agent for his recently completed memoir, Above This Wall: The Life and Times of a VISTA Volunteer 1969-70.
Shawn Austin
Shawn Austin would like to thank his wife for putting up with and supporting him. A poet first, Shawn draws on an eclectic approach to poetry stemming from work in the Social Services, Mental Health field, and also from his youth where he credits his poetry, “Being nurtured from the kneecaps of parties.” Much of those perspectives can be found operating in his poetry today. Shawn sees great poetry much like the kitchen, patio, refrigerator, or a toilet; “An inflected space” in a strange house where the reader steps into and interacts. Shawn is a founding member of a poetry meetup group in Portland called “The Moonlit Poetry Caravan” and has started an artistic movement in poetry, called “Inflectionism.”
David Cooke
David Cooke is an award winning poet living in Lake Oswego, Oregon. His poems have been described as vivid, assured, startling, sustained, lucid, satisfying, lyrical, gorgeous, beautiful, and mysterious. The poems are complexly layered while preserving a first reading cohesiveness. His facility at blending everyday language, puns, and natural images with the scientific, mythical, and religious is enviable. “Edges” received the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize in 2009. “Mentimos Cuando Soñamos” and “Elliptic” will appear in Discretion, the first collection of his poetry. He hopes that you will be quite smitten with each poem.
Italics drawn from written comments by Charles Atkinson, Miciah Bay Gault, and the staff at Hunger Mountain Journal.
Ragon Linde
Ragon Linde is a musician specializing in eclectic jazz. He plays the guitar, drums, and bass. Ragon moved to Portland in 2006 from Tulsa, Oklahoma where he lived most of his life. While in Oklahoma, Ragon played in a wide range of musical groups over the last 35 years whose styles included big band, psychedelic jazz, heavy metal, acoustic folk, classical, and western swing. Much of his work has been recorded and his latest album of work titled My Own Private Jihad can be found on his MySpace site. Ragon is particularly excited about the February 8th performance as this is his first since moving to Portland three years ago.
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. She’s now proud to declare herself a coffee mug carryin’, microbrew drinkin’, Powell browsin’, environmental stumpin’, trail hikin’ Portlander. She writes novels about the adventures that occur when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash.
A. Molotkov
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. He lives in constant stress, torn between a multitude of projects in various art forms – way too many for any one sane individual to handle. Born in Russia, he moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. He is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award. The winning story “Round Trip” has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Award and accepted by Intramel for publication in Italian. A. Molotkov’s poetry and short stories have appeared in over a dozen publications, both in print and online. His inclination to break the rules and his interest towards blending art forms tend to get him in trouble a lot, including the challenging performance of Love Outlives Us. Visit him at www.AMolotkov.com if you have an hour or a week to spare.
7 p.m., Three Friends Coffee House
SE 12th and Ash, Portland, Oregon
Love Outlives Us
A. Molotkov, Bruce Greene
and the Moonlit Guttery Team
an evening of words with music
Bruce Greene:
text, spoken voice
The Team:
Shawn Austin:
text, spoken voice
David Cooke:
text, spoken voice
Ragon Linde:
guitar, electric guitar, percussion, musical direction
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk:
text, vocals, spoken voice
A. Molotkov:
text, spoken voice, vocals, duduk, percussion, handsonic
Luke Lefler:
sound
Based on texts by A. Molotkov, Bruce Greene, Shawn Austin, David Cooke and Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk, “Love Outlives Us” is a symbolic exploration of the value and meaning of a human life, the character-defining nature of human interaction, and each individual’s responsibility for the world in which they conspire to exist. The tone of this performance is balanced around a stark contrast between A. Molotkov’s mysterious and laconic verses and Bruce Greene’s real life stories, in this case his experiences as a teacher in the years following the war in Vietnam. Shawn Austin, David Cooke and Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk contribute their own unique visions to make up a whole that has a sense of unity, despite its many edges. Ragon Linde’s musical contribution and several sung compositions by A. Molotkov expand the palette. Backed up by music, words acquire a greater levity, contributing to the listener’s ability to be entranced and whisked away on an hour-long tour of self-discovery through meaning and metaphor. Several audience participation numbers allow the listeners to become part of the performance in a more tangible way than possible in a passive listening mode. “Love Outlives Us” seeks to engage the audience on all levels, to ask questions that will linger in one’s mind long after the performers have left the stage.
love outlives us
like trees
love outlives us
like the air we breathe
Bruce Greene, David Cooke, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk and A. Molotkov are members of The Guttery, www.theguttery.com.
Shawn Austin and A. Molotkov are the founding members of The Moonlit Poetry Caravan, www.meetup.com/MoonlitPoetry.
Luke Lefler is the Digital Media Producer for Show and Tell Gallery.
Bruce Greene
Bruce Greene taught English, history, and psychology in the Bay Area for many years. He now works with beginning teachers at Marylhurst University. In his eclectic writing career, Bruce has been a correspondent for a national thoroughbred horse magazine and published everything from poetry and educational research to creative non-fiction and memoir. He is always looking for another river to fly fish, coffeehouses conducive to writing, and an agent for his recently completed memoir, Above This Wall: The Life and Times of a VISTA Volunteer 1969-70.
Shawn Austin
Shawn Austin would like to thank his wife for putting up with and supporting him. A poet first, Shawn draws on an eclectic approach to poetry stemming from work in the Social Services, Mental Health field, and also from his youth where he credits his poetry, “Being nurtured from the kneecaps of parties.” Much of those perspectives can be found operating in his poetry today. Shawn sees great poetry much like the kitchen, patio, refrigerator, or a toilet; “An inflected space” in a strange house where the reader steps into and interacts. Shawn is a founding member of a poetry meetup group in Portland called “The Moonlit Poetry Caravan” and has started an artistic movement in poetry, called “Inflectionism.”
David Cooke
David Cooke is an award winning poet living in Lake Oswego, Oregon. His poems have been described as vivid, assured, startling, sustained, lucid, satisfying, lyrical, gorgeous, beautiful, and mysterious. The poems are complexly layered while preserving a first reading cohesiveness. His facility at blending everyday language, puns, and natural images with the scientific, mythical, and religious is enviable. “Edges” received the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize in 2009. “Mentimos Cuando Soñamos” and “Elliptic” will appear in Discretion, the first collection of his poetry. He hopes that you will be quite smitten with each poem.
Italics drawn from written comments by Charles Atkinson, Miciah Bay Gault, and the staff at Hunger Mountain Journal.
Ragon Linde
Ragon Linde is a musician specializing in eclectic jazz. He plays the guitar, drums, and bass. Ragon moved to Portland in 2006 from Tulsa, Oklahoma where he lived most of his life. While in Oklahoma, Ragon played in a wide range of musical groups over the last 35 years whose styles included big band, psychedelic jazz, heavy metal, acoustic folk, classical, and western swing. Much of his work has been recorded and his latest album of work titled My Own Private Jihad can be found on his MySpace site. Ragon is particularly excited about the February 8th performance as this is his first since moving to Portland three years ago.
Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. She’s now proud to declare herself a coffee mug carryin’, microbrew drinkin’, Powell browsin’, environmental stumpin’, trail hikin’ Portlander. She writes novels about the adventures that occur when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash.
A. Molotkov
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. He lives in constant stress, torn between a multitude of projects in various art forms – way too many for any one sane individual to handle. Born in Russia, he moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. He is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award. The winning story “Round Trip” has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Award and accepted by Intramel for publication in Italian. A. Molotkov’s poetry and short stories have appeared in over a dozen publications, both in print and online. His inclination to break the rules and his interest towards blending art forms tend to get him in trouble a lot, including the challenging performance of Love Outlives Us. Visit him at www.AMolotkov.com if you have an hour or a week to spare.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
An Anonymous Poem From Iran
Iran has one of the richest cultures in the world. I have hope for Iran. I have hope.
Nelson Mandela's favorite singers
After watching Invictus, I was struck by the strength of forgiveness. Anger is easy, but to be soft in the face of anger and righteousness is difficult. I couldn't sleep, so I read up on Nelson Mandela--one of my heroes. And I learned that while in prison for those 28 years, he was deprived of music. Today one of his greatest pleasures is to listen to music while watching a sunset, specifically classical. He said that one of his favorite singers is Paul Robeson.
Here's a link where you can hear Robeson and read a bit of this New Jersey native's own struggles.
Paul Robeson
When I talk about South Africa and music, I have to add a link to a video of one of my favorite songs by South Africa's Johnny Clegg. Listening to this reminds me of road trips with my friend Marianne. It is a touching song and a great story.
I Never Betrayed The Revolution
Here's a link where you can hear Robeson and read a bit of this New Jersey native's own struggles.
Paul Robeson
When I talk about South Africa and music, I have to add a link to a video of one of my favorite songs by South Africa's Johnny Clegg. Listening to this reminds me of road trips with my friend Marianne. It is a touching song and a great story.
I Never Betrayed The Revolution
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
I tried a poetry slam
Tony's Tavern
Listed as a "dive bar," Tony's is a fantastic place for a poetry night, especially great for the beer-drinking poet or just the beer drinker. David, a member of my writing group, The Guttery, has been entertaining us with stories of Tony's Tavern. When David asked some of The Guttery to try out the mike on Thursday, I couldn't resist the possibility of drunken poets falling into the crowds. I decided to bring my little poem down. My poem is not raunchy, no mention of masterbation or sex. Not a slam, but it was all I had, and I've always had this thing for dive bars. I decided to bring it.
Thursday night, hidden beneath my Mao cap, and propped up with my Doc Martins, I was ready. The small reading was crushed into the back of the bar, but no one seemed to mind the close confines. I got there while a man dressed like a superhero changed hats with each of his poems. Most of the poets knew each other, and when I say "knew", I heard history in their stories, roommates, old friends, people from the same state and similar states of mind and innebriation. I tried not to think of the mild vomit smell coming from someone near me, and enjoyed the show.
When I went on, the Tony family was polite and friendly. I didn't get any crazy cheers or kisses and no drunken poet fell on me, but I had a great night.
Listed as a "dive bar," Tony's is a fantastic place for a poetry night, especially great for the beer-drinking poet or just the beer drinker. David, a member of my writing group, The Guttery, has been entertaining us with stories of Tony's Tavern. When David asked some of The Guttery to try out the mike on Thursday, I couldn't resist the possibility of drunken poets falling into the crowds. I decided to bring my little poem down. My poem is not raunchy, no mention of masterbation or sex. Not a slam, but it was all I had, and I've always had this thing for dive bars. I decided to bring it.
Thursday night, hidden beneath my Mao cap, and propped up with my Doc Martins, I was ready. The small reading was crushed into the back of the bar, but no one seemed to mind the close confines. I got there while a man dressed like a superhero changed hats with each of his poems. Most of the poets knew each other, and when I say "knew", I heard history in their stories, roommates, old friends, people from the same state and similar states of mind and innebriation. I tried not to think of the mild vomit smell coming from someone near me, and enjoyed the show.
When I went on, the Tony family was polite and friendly. I didn't get any crazy cheers or kisses and no drunken poet fell on me, but I had a great night.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Coranna has a friend Sleep Over
These are mile markers in a kid's life. I can still remember the excitement of having a sleepover. This is Coranna and her dear friend Mito. It is an evening of Pokemon cards, dancing to music, and play, play, play.
Japanese Festival
On the last hot day of fall, Coranna performed at a Japanese Festival.
Taiko
Richmond Japanese Immersion's Taiko
Coranna with her group waiting to perform
The Ponyo Song in Japanese
Taiko
Richmond Japanese Immersion's Taiko
Coranna with her group waiting to perform
The Ponyo Song in Japanese
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A Reading at Blackbird Wine Shop
The Oregon Literary Review has published a video of the September reading I did with my writing Group, The Guttery.
The READING
It was an amazing experience. I hope to do this again.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Guttery Reading
Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE 44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. This show is 21 and over. Contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com for more information.
The readers for September 2 are Bruce Greene, David Cooke, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk, A. Molotkov, & Evan Cooper. GUTTERY
This night features writers of a successful Portland writing group The Guttery
Bruce Greene taught for 33 years at an urban high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a teacher-consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project at UC Berkeley for the last 20 years, he’s published numerous articles on educational issues in his own practice as well as personal essays based on his experiences and observations. An avid thoroughbred horse lover, and frequent contributor to The Blood-Horse magazine, he served as Northern California correspondent from 1985-2000. Bruce now lives and writes in Portland, Oregon and is currently looking for three new streams to fly fish, two more coffeehouses conducive to writing, and one literary agent for his recently completed memoir, Above This Wall: The Life and Times of a VISTA Volunteer 1969-70.
David Cooke is a former middle school special education teacher who operates a landscape maintenance business aptly named The Lawn Guy. He is a founding member of two writing groups– Leora: A Writing Group and The Guttery. He graduated from both the University of California, Santa Cruz and the Portland State University Masters of Special Education program. Raised Catholic in Oakland, California, he now resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon with painter, Jessica Acevedo. His debut as the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize winner is available in The Hunger Mountain Journal online and in print. He is currently compiling a chapbook entitled Discretion.
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. She’s now proud to declare herself a coffee mug carryin’, microbrew drinkin’, Powell browsin’, environmental stumpin’, trail hikin’ Portlander. She writes novels about the adventures that occur when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash.
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. Born in Russia, he moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. He is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award. The winning story “Round Trip” has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Award and accepted by Intramel for publication in Italian. A. Molotkov’s poetry and short stories have appeared in over a dozen publications, both in print and online. Visit him at www.AMolotkov.com
Evan Cooper is a writer of fiction. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Willamette University and an M.A. in Media and Culture from the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He often rolls them up and uses them for house fly-icide and K-9 reprimands. He lives and writes in Portland, Oregon.
The readers for September 2 are Bruce Greene, David Cooke, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk, A. Molotkov, & Evan Cooper. GUTTERY
This night features writers of a successful Portland writing group The Guttery
Bruce Greene taught for 33 years at an urban high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a teacher-consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project at UC Berkeley for the last 20 years, he’s published numerous articles on educational issues in his own practice as well as personal essays based on his experiences and observations. An avid thoroughbred horse lover, and frequent contributor to The Blood-Horse magazine, he served as Northern California correspondent from 1985-2000. Bruce now lives and writes in Portland, Oregon and is currently looking for three new streams to fly fish, two more coffeehouses conducive to writing, and one literary agent for his recently completed memoir, Above This Wall: The Life and Times of a VISTA Volunteer 1969-70.
David Cooke is a former middle school special education teacher who operates a landscape maintenance business aptly named The Lawn Guy. He is a founding member of two writing groups– Leora: A Writing Group and The Guttery. He graduated from both the University of California, Santa Cruz and the Portland State University Masters of Special Education program. Raised Catholic in Oakland, California, he now resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon with painter, Jessica Acevedo. His debut as the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize winner is available in The Hunger Mountain Journal online and in print. He is currently compiling a chapbook entitled Discretion.
Before landing in Portland, Carrie-Ann Tkaczyk lived all over. She learned kickboxing in Turkey, faced-off with a rhino in Nepal, discussed the weather with Queen Elizabeth in England, and was chastised by Mother Theresa in India. She’s now proud to declare herself a coffee mug carryin’, microbrew drinkin’, Powell browsin’, environmental stumpin’, trail hikin’ Portlander. She writes novels about the adventures that occur when the will of the individual and the collective muscle of a culture clash.
A. Molotkov is a writer, composer, filmmaker and visual artist. Born in Russia, he moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. He is the author of several novels, short story and poetry collections and the winner of the 2008 E. M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award. The winning story “Round Trip” has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Award and accepted by Intramel for publication in Italian. A. Molotkov’s poetry and short stories have appeared in over a dozen publications, both in print and online. Visit him at www.AMolotkov.com
Evan Cooper is a writer of fiction. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Willamette University and an M.A. in Media and Culture from the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He often rolls them up and uses them for house fly-icide and K-9 reprimands. He lives and writes in Portland, Oregon.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Strange Fate of Fire Horse Women
Women born in the ominous year of the Fire Horse have been persecuted throughout history. Today many authors and screenwriters are reviving the myth of the Fire Horse women. Can they change the stigma for future generations?
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1754142/the_strange_fate_of_fire_horse_women.html
The Strange Fate of Fire Horse Women
Women born in the ominous year of the Fire Horse have been persecuted throughout history. Today many authors and screenwriters are reviving the myth of the Fire Horse women. Can they change the stigma for future generations?
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1754142/the_strange_fate_of_fire_horse_women.html
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