A Couple of Busy Weeks

Two weeks ago, from Wednesday, March 3 through Sunday, March 7, my company, Bending Genres was a sponsor of an event called @SMOLfair. It was complete great fortune that I came across this event online, in lieu of not attending my first AWP in ten years. Six writers got together (I knew 1/2 of them) and decided to host an alternative to AWP, even though both were to be held virtually. I reached out to Jason Teal, EIC of Heavy Feather Review on TW: “Is there still time to get Bending Genres involved?” Jason said, “SURE! Here is what you need to do,” and he put me in contact with Jesi Bender, EIC of whiskeytitbooks. She got immediately back to me, and Bending Genres was added to the virtual BookFair! Then, through several conversations with Meg, and Adam and many others on our team, we created a flyer:

https://twitter.com/rgvaughan/status/1367845506299363329/photo/1

And decided to host our very first Bending Genres reading, Friday, March 5 at 9:00 pm EST.

Dominique Christina was our featured reader. She transformed the entire zoom room of all 60 of us!!! DC read three fearless, gut-wrenching poems.

Aimee Parkison read “The Renovation,” a fantastic flash piece!

And Sara Lippmann pinch-hit well beyond the park, reading “Neighbors,” from her upcoming collection, JERKS.

Three fantastic bending poems were shared by Despy Boutris.

Kaj Tanaka read a sad, hilarious, dark flash piece.
Tommy Dean read his stormy flash. Everyone was mesmerized.
Kim Magowan read her exceptional flash piece, “Rascaly Rabbit.”
Nancy Stohlman read her exotic and enthralling flash, “The Butterfly Children.”

We also had four OPEN MIKE readers and all were exceptional: Kona Morris, Ben Woodard, David Byron Queen, and Rogan Kelly. OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!

In addition, we gave away Bending Genres merch: John Steines won a BG mug! Victoria Buitron won our BG journal, pen and bookmark! Yunya Yang won our BG Anthology! Brittany Terwilliger won our Ron Kibble tee! Jason Teal won our BG Logo tee! And our GRAND PRIZE was the winner gets to select his/her free Bending Genres weekend workshop. Amy Q. Scott took that prize.

I want to thank Meg Tuite for co-hosting, and helping to envision and make this event happen. Also, to the readers and guests who made that Friday reading so spectacular! And to SMOLfair for providing the backdrop and support.

Two more things: Bending Genres found out recently that Leah Christianson has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her “Strawberry Jackknife” which we published in Nov/Dec 2020, Issue 18: https://bendinggenres.com/strawberry-jackknife/ Huge Congratulations, Leah! We are rooting for you.

And on a personal note, on March 1, I sent my latest manuscript to a publisher. Fingers and toes crossed. It’s a good month. Hope yours has been the same.

Spring into Summer

Hi friends! In Wisconsin, we look forward to the longest day of sunlight during each year, which arrives this week, on the Summer Solstice. We’ve had stunning days of searing sunlight, but cooler temps and this makes for frolicking outside a tad easier than holing up in one’s basement.

I’m also excited for my upcoming Bending Genres weekend workshop- Stop Making Sense, June 19- 21. It’s filled up, with 20 writers total, and many older and new friends have signed aboard. I look forward to a variety of innovative explorations. Here is a course description: https://bendinggenres.com/product/robert-vaughan-stop-making-sense-writing-the-absurd-meaningless-whimsical-and-silly-june-19-21/

In July, Meg Tuite will be leading our BG weekend workshop with something to do with violence in writing. More to come on that, and the dates!

Jonathan Cardew, our Microviews Editor, asked Leonora Desar to choose her Fave Five pieces from May and her selections are here: https://bendinggenres.com/2020/06/15/leonora-desar-my-fave-five/

Recently, Michael Maxwell wrote a lovely and creative review of our first Bending Genres Anthology. He notes ten particular pieces, some of which have been read in Jonathan Cardew’s new series, Bending Genres Presents: https://bendinggenres.com/2020/06/17/bending-genres-anthology-review-by-michael-gillan-maxwell/

Soon, we will have our Bending Genres t-shirts available for sale on our Merch page: https://bendinggenres.com/bg-store/

And that, my friends, is a wrap. Stay safe, and love each other.

 

 

 

National Poetry Month Recap

One of the many reasons I adore April is because it’s National Poetry Month. And for the third time, I am reading a poem a day. This time, my caveat is I have to own the book in which the poem I choose daily is published, and also, that I have read, or re-read the poem within the past twelve months.

Here are the poems I’ve read since last Monday, April 6th:

4/6/20: I read Ocean Vuong’s “Untitled (Blue, Green and Brown): oil on canvas; Mark Rothko: 1952” from Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFkWKFz_XMk&t=4s

4/7/20: I read Jules Archer’s “How to Love a Monster with Average-Sized Hands” from Little Feasts (Thirty West): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhAzftRDM60&t=11s

4/8/20: I read Nico Amador’s “Self- Portrait with Cropped Hair (after Frida Kahlo) from Flower Wars (Newfound Press): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sESlflVKSs

4/9/20: I read Hala Alyan’s “Ordinary Scripture” from The Twenty- Ninth Year (Mariner Books): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md856nWuDms&t=3s

4/10/20: I read Joe Wenderoth’s “First Impression” from It Is If I Speak (Wesleyan University Press): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTii-0_C29k&t=7s

4/11/20: I read Kim Addonizio’s “The Work” from what is this thing called love (W.W. Norton): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ZaenvwU80&t=2s

4/12/20: I read Patrick Johnson’s “Transubstantiation (AWOL)” from Gatekeeper (Milkweed Editions): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCkqyJfcTA&t=11s

4/13/20: I read Mary A. Koncel’s “When the Babies Are Missing Again” from you can tell the horse anything (Tupelo Press): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugAL6b7wq7w&t=4s

Thanks for watching! And thanks for all of the wondrous poetry that you are all writing. Stay safe and take care of each other.

 

 

This Writing Life

Hobart Journal last November. Bud Smith was the guest editor and he accepted 5 flash fictions, mostly all from journals that have gone out of publication. You can read them all here: http://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/five-stories. I can’t share the “exciting news” part quite yet. Just know I am over-the-moon!!! Today was the beginning of Jonathan Cardew’s Ugly Real Beautiful: Let Your Characters Tell the Story. It’s our third Bending Genres weekend workshop of 2019, and all three (Meg Tuite in January; Alina Stefanescu in February) have been full so far. We only take 20 writers max, and our next opportunity, Sara Lippmann’s Mine What Matters, is more than half full already. So, don’t wait!!! More here: https://bendinggenres.com/monthly-workshops/. Today I also booked flights for Synergia Ranch, our first Bending Genres retreat on May 10-16. I am so excited for this! Also, we still have some openings for our second Bending Genres retreat at Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, N.M. on July 21-27. Come write your heart out in the desert, eat gourmet food, laugh and dream with like-minded writers: http://retreat.bendinggenres.com And, I hope to see you in Portland at https://www.awpwriter.org, March 27- 31? I’ll be floating around the book fair needing a haircut, hiding in back booths at late- night readings, toasting friends like Bill Soldan, Karen Stefano, Len Kuntz, Jayne Martin and a plethora of other talents who have new books, or books being birthed soon. Please let me know if you have any signings or engagements. Happy writing! What are you reading lately?]]>

The Hardest Thing to Express

When I first began to publish more actively in online and print journals, around 2009 and 2010, there was a community called 52/250. I just ran into one of the three editors of 52/250 in D.C. at the AWP conference, John Wentworth Chapin! It brought back so many memories of that entire year, workshopping and showcasing our work as a supportive online community, and even more, using the venue as a vehicle for experimentation, pushing writing conventions, or “rules,” or boundaries. Being willing to fail on the page (as Beckett made famous- ‘fail better!’) Simultaneously, I was taking notice of the online journals that seemed to have pizazz, and moxie, the journals that published more edgy, experimental, or a range of writing that interested me. Among many was a site called The Nervous Breakdown, started by Brad Listi in the mid- 2000s. On a whim, after seeing the Joan Rivers documentary movie, I wrote a whimsical “review,” but not really a review, more a commentary piece about Joan. I decided to send it to The Nervous Breakdown, and although Brad was confused about what category of writing it was, he sent it to Cynthia (pictured above). She was the Arts & Entertainment Editor. She loved it, and published the piece: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/rvaughan/2010/07/a-piece-of-work-joan-rivers/ Then, a few months later after I’d seen a rather bizarre movie called “Inception,” directed by Christopher Nolan, I wrote another strange piece called “I Had a Dream” (Thanks Mr. King), and Cynthia again loved it, despite it being a sort-of fiction/ prose poemy/ creative non-fiction piece. She published it at Nervous Breakdown: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/rvaughan/2010/07/i-had-a-dream/ Years later, when RIFT (my last book, co-written with Kathy Fish) was selected as the Nervous Breakdown‘s Book of the Month Club (December, 2015), Cynthia sent me the most flattering congratulations “fan letter.” I was buoyed by her sweet, wonderful words and enthusiasm, and her referencing those earlier pieces she’d published in the journal. Her work, and her words are still online here: http://cynthiahawkins.net/blog1/ Dearest Cynthia, we miss you. I MISS YOU. The world seems slightly less lovely without you here.  I will miss discussing all things cultural: movies, actors, plays, etc. If you knew Cynthia, or are reading this and feel moved to help her family (husband, and two girls), you can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/CynthiaHawkins In short, I’m so grateful for everything you ever gave to me, and my writing, Cynthia. I hope that in our support of one another, I gave you as much encouragement and gratitude as you have towards me. Thanks for your bright light, your laugh, and your writing and wit.]]>

New York, New York: Big City of Dreams

states-of-terror On Saturday night, Paul Beckman hosted the Best Small Fictions 2016 reading! Same spot, KGB. This reading included mostly authors selected for the recently published anthology, expertly edited by Stuart Dybek and Tara Masih. Including, but not limited to: Britt Haraway, Anne Weisgerber, Dawn Raffel, Nancy Ludmerer, Courtney Sender, Ilana Masad, Dianca London Potts, Tina Barry, Eliel Lucero, Michael G. Maxwell, Karen Stefano, Paul Beckman, Len Kuntz, Meg Tuite, Bud Smith and me. I read my piece, “A Box,” which was chosen for the Best Small Fictions, 2016 (originally in RIFT, my co-authored book with Kathy Fish). kgb-riftbrooosbsf-group-shot And then, there was the general pizazz of being in in a city I love more than any other, with writer pals/ friends I adore, admire, revere, love: yesr-l-s-kwestvillemeg-mgm-me Overall, I would do this again, and again. Soulful, inspiring. Deeply satisfying. Please, sir, may I have some more?  ]]>

Readings, Raffles and more

10426125_10205375485565130_1045649562077628047_nLen Kuntz Sa Fe 2015 We went to Santa Fe for the TWISTED Reading Series, hosted by our pal, Meg Tuite: El Flacco and Meg Santa Fe Our featured reader was the exceptional Kate Braverman, and once Karen Stefano and James Claffey arrived, everything was A-OK! Meg’s Santa Fe reading circle rounded out the twelve readers. Also the Denver writers, with Sally Reno, Kathy Fish and Nancy Stohlman (at a Karaoke Lounge after the reading) : Kate Braverman and meReading in Santa FeThe gang Santa Fe 2015Len and me Santa Fe Last photo of me actually reading a new piece, “Keep it, Curt”: 10945029_1029094903774721_5854911798826018526_n Overall, it  was a festive event and a great extended weekend! RAFFLES: The winner of the January Raffle is…Julia Fiero!!! There were seventy-four entries and I asked a non-writer to select a name out of a hat (blind). Congratulations, Julia- I hope you enjoy Luke Goebel’s Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours as much as I did! February Raffle is Together We Can Bury It by Kathy Fish! To enter, simply comment here or on my Facebook Post, Twitter or Tumblr. This is another book you simply must have! And, my piece called The Fallow Heart, which is in my Addicts & Basements book, you can read at Fictionaut: “The Fallow Heart” by Robert Vaughan — Fictionaut And that, sugar plums, is a wrap…stay warm and informed.  ]]>

Family, Friends and Writing

Heidi and baby Rob Christmas Hiram Lake, 1993 Also, today is my dearest friend Andrea’s birthday. It is not polite to mention a lady’s age, but we’ve been friends for more than half of our lives. Besties. Roomies. Through thick and thin. Through drink and smoke. Through concerts by the dozens. And through it all, we’ve maneuvered our relationship with grace, with ease, supple support. I love you, Andrea! Thanks for so much laughter and our depth. My story, “Bacon and Eggs, 1977” is published today at Everyday Genius. This is from my upcoming story collection, Departures Or Arrivals. Michael Seidlinger chose it as he curates the month of August at EG, and wanted to represent writers’ works from a current project: Everyday Genius: Robert Vaughan Also, another short fiction piece, “No Face World Champ” was published recently at theNewer York, by Josh Raab and Chuck Young: No Face World Champ – theNewerYorkThanks, guys! Last weekend, I was in the city of my youth, Rochester, and was simultaneously reading a memoir by Sonja Livingston called Ghostbread. What a breathtaking book! Through her use of poetic prose and short chapters, structured like brilliant flashes, this book made me feel as if I’d learned something completely new about a city and region in which I was raised. I highly recommend it. I also suggest gathering siblings and loved ones on a frequent basis. Telling stories, various opinions on why this one got that name, or how grandpa fell into his potato soup. Or why it matters to have intelligent and diverse discussions! Thanks Mikel (Mike), Julia, Cheryl (Aldo), Satchi, Heidi, Jeff, Rob (Anna) and Trevor for being my family. And grateful for all of the friends who turned out for Trevor’s going-off-to-college party…thanks! Kick some serious butt: Rob, Anna and Trevor this fall.]]>

Room with a View: The Clearing, part 2

campusentrance1 Upon arriving at the Lodge, I was greeted warmly by Tammy, and shown my Loft room in the Professor’s Quarters building (same building, different entrances). Although the stairs to my room were possibly lethal, I had the best view on the planet! mainlodge The first morning, I had a taste of our entire week: five writers showed up to take the Mixing Genres course: Nancy, Pete, Jami, Siobhan, and Cate (would have been six, but one had a last minute family commitment). After a hearty breakfast, I worked my way through the woods to the Schoolhouse where we hosted the entire week of Mixing Genres in the Weaver Room: schoolhouse The workshop went great; here is a brief outline, some of what we covered: Monday: We opened with a quote by Steve Jobs. Talked elements of Poetry,  including poems by Marie Howe, Li-Young Lee, Stanley Kunitz, Dorianne Laux, David Wojnarwicz, and Ocean Vuong. We also tried a prompt called Making the Ordinary into the Extraordinary. And in the afternoon, we roundtable the new work. Handout from Ray Carver’s “On Writing.” Also, every day I met with one writer one-on-one so we could discuss whatever they desired. Tuesday: Discussed Mark Twain’s concept about Truth is Stranger than Fiction. Five Elements of a Story. “Read” by Kathy Fish, Russell Edson, Evelyn Hampton, Elizabeth Ellen, Len Kuntz, William Goyen, Brandi Wells, and returned to Kathy Fish. We did an in-house prompt on character, using photographs. In the afternoon, after a filling lunch, another roundtable. Wednesday: We chatted about the ever-evolving landscape of Memoir. Read and discussed Anais Nin’s prologue to House of Incest. Samuel Delaney, Lidia Yuknavitch, Kate Braverman, Mark Doty. Then we read the entire Yiyun Li’s “Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life”, published at A Public Space. We did another in-house writing prompt. And we round-tabled after lunch. Thursday: Biography: we read the forward of Shadows and Light, by Joni Mitchell’s biographer Karen O’ Brien, talked about D.T. Max’s Every Story is a Ghost Story: David Foster Wallace; Diane Arbus by Patricia Bosworth; Raymond Carver by Carol Sklenicka, and Cynthia Carr’s Fire in the Belly about David Wojnarowicz. 5 writing prompts on the board. Afternoon free. And so, I used the opportunity to do a couple of things I’d wanted to do: photos_labyrinthhomesteadmeadow I walked the entire labyrinth, and then soared through the breath-taking Homestead Meadow, following the footpath through deep woods to the Cliff House, Jens Jensen’s original private retreat: cliffhouse8 This is Jens, the founder of The Clearing, sitting on his Cliff House bed. I spent time inside of this small but incredibly special place on the campus. I really felt Jens’ presence more than once during the week, but no place more than here. Back in class, Friday, we discussed the essay, beginning with Bob Hicok’s “Prose Poem essay on the Prose Poem” which is the forward of the Rose Metal Press’s Field Guide to Prose Poetry. We also discussed Kate Zembrano, Ben Tanzer, Hilton Als, and Roxane Gay. We talked about all sorts of other things you might do with a writing career: radio, television, travel writing, literary journalism, plays, writers on craft (like Judy Bridges’ Shut Up and Write) We practiced our pieces for the Friday evening Camp night! Then we did one last exercise to honor one another and the great week we’d spent together. After Friday’s supper, all the workshops performed: first my writers read their original works, then a Jeopardy game by the Touring Door County group; the Wood Working workshop explained their shed they’d built, and finally the Novel Discussion group performed an impromptu performance. Afterwards we had refreshments and I joked “don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” When I returned to my sleeping quarters, there was a group of new friends drinking wine: Marilyn and John, Mary, Pat, Joan, Russ and Corky. A nice way to round out the week! What a wonderful week! Thanks Judy Bridges for this amazing opportunity. Thanks Mike Schneider, Kathy Swanson, Eric Rinkleff, Tammy Musiel, and Melinda Schaufer for not only making me feel welcome, but taking interest in what we are all there to accomplish. To everyone I met, and spoke with, laughed and cried, risked and debated: I cherish you. I will return.        ]]>