We had a great time in Len Kuntz’s weekend workshop, Brave Ink: Mining Our Fears to Create Writing that Slays your Reader on October 17- 19.
Up next, we have Nina Schuyler, author of three books, who will take us through Writing the More-than-Humans!!! This will be December 12- 14, and Nina is an astute and memorable teacher, and being! More here: https://bendinggenres.com/writing-groups/
We watched “Last Words” on Netflix last night- an interview with pioneer Jane Goodall, hosted beautifully by Brad Falchuck. It was important, insightful, deep and more than we’d anticipated. I highly recommend it. R.I.P. Jane Goodall.
We have a new music column at Bending Genres, curated by Maia Cardew. Her original article is about one of my favorite bands, Massive Attack, whom she saw live in England this past June. She went with her dad, Jonathan, who grew up in Sheffield.
Take a peak and there will be more pizazz to come from Miss Maia!!!
Thanks for all of your birthday wishes and presents, cake and more! I’m honored to know and share space with you. And I look forward to seeing some more of you this summer, and in the remainder of 2025. Cheers, family and friends!
Hello, friends! Thanks for registering so quickly for our August 16- 22, 2026 Bending Genres retreat at Synergia Ranch! When we opened up the retreats, two weeks ago on our Bending Genres website, I had no idea we’d sell out so fast! I’m honored, and pleased that we are able to gather a talented and incredible group so quickly. And both Nancy and I will be thrilled to see you all in the high desert outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
We had all sorts of summer storms this weekend- set new records for rainfall, and thunderstorms, and all sorts of crazy weather patterns throughout southern Wisconsin. One shiny gem was having family here, a spontaneous visit, and a deliciously fun way to spend the weekend. Much appreciated!
Listening to Billie Holiday’s “Stormy Weather…” feels appropriate enough!
Hello friends! Two new upcoming Bending Genres events. First, fantastic author and authentic loving human, Alina Stefanescu, is hosting our August 15- 17 Bending Genres weekend workshop. These are asynchronous, and fast paced, and highly productive if you want that injection of nuanced, inspired blast! More information and registration here:
Also, we have set the date! Our 6th return to Synergia Ranch, August 16- 22, 2026. Yes, a year from this coming August, both Nancy Stohlman and I will return to New Mexico’s high desert for the dream retreat of a lifetime! Set outside of Santa Fe, Synergia Ranch is nothing less than a magical setting, complete with geodesic dome, and dance studio. Peruse some images on their website. And very soon, we’ll have our Bending Genres website available, too:
We wrote, we laughed, we sweat, we imagined. One glorious week in Chalais, France, Bordeaux region. Trains, planes, & automobiles. Our host, Emma, was generous, lovely and insightful. There are two buildings in which participants sleep: the original manor, a former champagne estate. And La Grange, the refurbished barn, which served as our workshop space also. There are also two glamping tents, positioned under that large linden tree.
We had retreat participants from France, Great Britain, Portugal, and America. Some I had met previously- Jomil, Dorothy, Tom, and Jesse. And some I knew online from various social or literary websites: Philippa, and Sandi. And then I met remaining writers for the first time- Marina, Jenny, Nicole, Holly, and Leslie. Everyone received lovely new journals & pens, and Dr. Seuss books to set the tone of our INVENTIVE week!!!
We ate all of our meals outside, despite three days of intense heat (over 100 degrees F). A saltwater pool helped to keep everyone “refreshed.”
Nancy and I decided to have a theme of experimental as backdrop. We had breakfast and coffee/ tea. My sessions were 10:00 am- 11:30 am. I had soft daily focuses around character, point of view, memoir, and abstraction. We read teaching examples from various current authors like Jacqueline Doyle, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Sabrina Orah Mark, Benjamin Niespodziany, and many others. We wrote in class with various exercises. We offered prompts. Nancy sessions were in the afternoon- 5 pm- 6:30 pm. She created a whimsical exercise in which we re-invented words and new definitions with an homage to Gertrude Stein. We also did imaginative dream work, and carried that into an abstract dream for ourselves.
There was a lot of time to write, to process. Also we were offered a Constellation workshop with Emma one evening (this literally blew my mind- profound thanks to Tom (as “James” a character in my new project) and Jomil (portrayed me). Such risk, inventiveness, and a unique energetic connection. Also each writer who attended the retreat were offered a one-on-one meeting with either Nancy or me.
Another afternoon, some participants travelled to Aubeterre, a local town with a famous sunken church. And… sunflowers!!!!!!!!!! Everywhere.
Overall, the week was sparkling, effervescent, unbelievable, extraordinary, and brilliant!!! Working with Nancy, and working in Europe were both a dream come true. Thanks to everyone for helping me to live my dreams in action.
Lately I’ve been thinking about literary journals that supported my work a decade or more ago, and have gone away. Elimae, Metazen, Lost in Thought, Housefire, the list goes on and on and on…
I’m so grateful to all of those terrific zines that accepted multiple pieces of mine like In Between Altered States, Midwestern Gothic, Prick of the Spindle, The Camel Saloon, Used Furniture Review, Fix it Broken, Clutching at Straws and many, many more.
Recently with the publication of our 45th issue of Bending Genres, it came to our editors attention that a piece we accepted had been plagiarized. Of course, this was disappointing, and as we decided with our initial incidence of this same experience, we handled it as delicately as possible:
This is a selfish offense and it causes magazines like ours, and many others, tons of concern. With the advance of AI, and other complicating issues we all face, this need not to be an additional problem.
I hope this writer gets her career on the right path, and continues to address how she got into this mess to begin with.
Meanwhile, dig into our latest issue at Bending Genres. What is your favorite piece?
We published our 45th issue of Bending Genres Journal! Filled with 30 pieces of hybrid poems, flash and CNF. Thanks editors: David O’Connor, Amy Marques, Tom Hedt, Chris Butler, Clementine Burnley and David McNicholas. We also have several review editors to thank for their ongoing support: Jonathan Cardew, Britta Stromeyer, Francois Bereaud, Al Kratz, and Swetha Amit. Also, thanks Keith for your diligent IT skills and support. And Adam, for the ongoing mastermind.
Edmund White has passed at 85 years young. I remember reading A Boy’s Own Story, at school, when it released in 1982, and like all of the early alternative tomes, it made me feel seen, and not quite so alone. His influence on alternative writers, and literature is inestimable. Here is a terrific interview with Ed by Michael Wolfe:
Ghost Parachute is run by Brett Pribble, and among the many things I adore about this zine, is the layout- each piece is designed with an accompanying art piece. “Slips” is paired with collage art by the amazing writer/ artist Amy Marques. Thanks, Amy!
I wrote this piece over ten years ago, for a Smokelong q & a, then I re-wrote it entirely during Jonathan Cardew’s Bending Genres online weekend workshop in April called “Hybrid Memoirs.”
But the origins, the references if you will, arose from an Amtrak trip I took in the mid- 1990s from New York to Durham, North Carolina. I have always kept a journal (still do) and these images, those “slips on a line” were among the many I recorded while on that train. Trains, planes, automobiles… I often sketch, write first impressions while in motion.
