Check out my latest essay up on Queen Mob's Teahouse, on the Hartford (or Connecticut) Wits and their place in literary history. It is a plea for more historicity in our curriculum choices...but no, wait! It's actually a fun read. Check it out.
Article on our Collaboration
Amy and I were recently the subject of a wonderful article in the Connecticut Post. Read it here. We now have had a major feature article on the two of us in the four biggest Connecticut papers. (as well as many 'minor' ones) Next up, the New York Times? Well, a guy can dream.
Yours Truly at Queen Mob's Teahouse
Read my essay on the gentle art of writing letters on Queen Mob's Teahouse.
Black Tie Lunchbox
My good friend J. Timothy Quirk and comedienne KJ Johansen interviewed me on their excellent show on KBJB. Check out my appearance on the podcast Black Tie Lunchbox!
History's Continuum
Recently my wife (pictured here) and I were honored that the University of Bridgeport asked us to write a poem to be put on the outside of a time capsule in the new dormitory. They had it carved (?) onto this plaque, and it will be there for the next fifty years until it is opened. I think they put a couple of our books inside, too. It is a great privilege.
Pushcart Prize Nomination and Ebook
The Shadows of Paris ebook is out! Get a copy here. And even better news - the publisher nominated it for a Pushcart Prize! Fingers crossed.
Writing, Hiking, Traveling
Amy and I were the subject of an article by Mary Ann Lynch in the Hartford Courant, called "Writing, Hiking, Traveling Keep Them Together." Not the usual kind of 'author' article, it is really a story of our relationship. It's a nice little feature. Check it out here.
First Two Reviews of Shadows of Paris!
Reviews of my new novel are up at Kirkus Reviews and Necromancy Never Pays. If you need convincing to get yourself a copy, check them out!
Marilyn Nelson
Over the past couple years Amy and I have become friends with Marilyn Nelson, one of Connecticut's most valuable and famous poets. I use her book The Freedom Business in my Connecticut history class at the University of Bridgeport, and her interweaving of history and poetry has been inspiring. The photo above is from a recent trip we took to Weir Farm National Historic Site (accompanied by Bessy Reyna and Susan Holmes). I feel blessed and honored to have been able to spend time with Marilyn, and I look forward to more adventures in poetry and life.
Shadows of Paris Released
My new novella, Shadows of Paris, was just released. I couldn't be happier. Those who have read it say its the best thing I've ever done, and I've had quite a few "you made me cry, you @$^%&*." You can read the beginning of the book here, if you want a preview before purchasing this exciting new arrival.
Tom Thumb and Benedict Arnold on WMRD/WLIS
Go to this link and click on the 'on demand' button and "Tom Thumb Author" to hear my conversation with Don Decesare on WLIS/WMRD.
Benedict Arnold on WNPR's Colin McEnroe Show
Tracking
Released next week - Wildness: Voices of the Sacred Landscape, which includes a creative nonfiction piece of mine about, you guessed it, tracking animals. Click on the picture to find out more.
Poetry with Friends
Myself, my wife, and friend David Leff at the Artists' Cooperative in Westerly, Rhode Island, just before we gave a poetry reading. Here's one of the poems I read that day.
The Long Grey Trail
Legs pounding, feet slapping against grey rock,
Hard muscles straining up cold, grueling slopes,
We follow green, breadloaf mountain ridges,
Through days of biting flies and spiteful rain,
Until our backs bend beneath the burden,
Lean flesh steaming in the simmering sun.
What force pushes us past hunger and pain,
Past endless trees, icy mist, wind and thirst,
Past oceans of boulders and nightmare peaks?
This strange strength forces us to moments when,
With pure hearts, empty heads, and leathered skin,
We hope to touch the real, fight the long sleep,
And share a feast with old friends and strangers
At the silvery end of the long grey trail.
Rare Chance to See Me Reading Poetry
I'll be participating in the "Poets for the Earth" celebration, Sunday, April 10, 1 p.m. at the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery, 7 Canal Street, Westerly, Rhode Island. In fact, I'll be reading some of my own poetry, which is a rare occurrence to say the least. After I married Amy Nawrocki, I realized that my dreams of being a top-notch poet were mostly dreams, and I should defer to il miglior fabrio. However, I still dabble, and although my poetry is not on par with my wife's, it has its own little niche (or so she claims). Since you are probably reading this at your office, here's a little sonnet I wrote ten years ago. Enjoy!
Office Space
Chit-chat and happenstance stretch office days
into pleasant, coffee-doughnut hours –
How was your weekend, someone says blithely,
and we smile, answering with sun-rays
of good nature, and decide to add her
name to our email address list as friend.
The copy machine and the microwave
are hubs that whirl us like a thousand moons.
When we at last jitter home to empty,
deadbolt apartments, they seem too empty,
like the bottoms of vast whiskey bottles.
Night opens around our lonesome bodies,
so vulnerable now that we have shed
the interlocked armor of cubicles.
- November 2006
The First Settlers of Black Rock
I had a piece on the first settlers of Black Rock published on the Bridgeport History Center site and I didn't even know it. So much written over the past decade...I often forget what I submitted and what was accepted, even if I try to keep track. Read it here.
Afoot on the Farmington Canal Trail
Foundation of Summer Chapter 1
Homebound Publications has released the first story from my collection The Foundation of Summer. Check it out here.
A Reason to Write
Just got a nice phone message from someone named Kate Gallagher who finished Becoming Tom Thumb and thought it was the best book she ever read. That's always nice to hear - balances out the occasional hate mail and the disingenuous review or two. It'll help keep me going through the next project. Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed my work and told me about it through reviews or personal messages over the years. You are one of the main reasons I keep writing.
A.E. Hotchner
I had the privilege of seeing A.E. Hotchner at the Southport Pequot Library a couple weeks ago courtesy of WSHU. He talked about Hemingway in Love, his new memoir, in Hemingway's words for the most part. It describes the crucial situation between Hadley, Ernest, and Pauline, hinted at in earlier biographies and A Moveable Feast, but never described in full. The interview was recorded for the radio, and I asked one of the three questions to Mr. Hotchner, namely for him to describe the differences and similarities of Hemingway and Paul Newman, since he was good friends with both of them. Everyone seemed to like that question.
Hotchner is 95 years old, and still smart as a whip. It was an impressive performance. I hope I am still going that strong in fifty years, and telling stories to generations hence.