Quote: Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno

Chester Himes(1909-1984)"Chester Himes arrived in Paris on April 11, 1953, with a broken toe, the result of another pre-departure altercation with his former girlfriend Vandi Haygood. This was not the dramatic incident referred to above; it was just another in a series of disputes with Haygood. On the voyage over, he had begun a romance with a middle-aged white woman from Boston, Alva Van Olden.* On debarking she was met by her husband, a dentist...

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Easy Art Salon, featuring Erica Doyle and Reggie Harris

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to participate once again in ongoing Easy Art Salon series, hosted at the beautiful Brooklyn home of scholar and writer Robert Reid-Pharr. Instead of reading I served as curator, and invited award-winning poets R. Erica Doyle and Reginald Harris, both of whom have new books out this year, to read and talk about their work before an intimate audience. One of the hallmarks of the series is...

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Poet's Showcase at Poets House

Every year Poets House has its marvelous Showcase of newly published books, and its series of readings that coincide with the display.  This past Tuesday featured two writers I know and deeply admire, and two whose work I was not at all familiar with, but now have some appreciation for. What I loved about the reading is that although Poets House has one of the largest libraries of poetry, of all kinds, in New York or anywhere else, it also...

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Random Photos

The eyes have it, Fulton St.The Declaration of Independence,briefly on public displayDamrosch Park, Lincoln CenterOn the subway train to (or was it from?) HarlemHustle and bustleNear Port Authority, MidtownA common sight on Manhattanstreets, people seeking financial help72nd St. station, Upper West SideStretching, Jersey CityLooking for and at Saturn, Lincoln CenterAfter hours, Kraverie, Jersey CityBreaking down a street vending table, MidtownRepairing...

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Emotional Outreach Project 5.0 Now Live in Berlin!

TRD-Berlin @ REH-KunstIf you happen to be in Berlin up through the end of August, please do visit This Red Door's exhibition space there, where you'll see amidst the many exciting performances, installations, readings and talks, and artworks on display my little Emotional Outreach cards, which, I think it's fair to say, may be especially appropriate given the particular moment we're living through right now. Here are some photos, courtesy of...

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Who Edited Shakespeare?

William ShakespeareAs every writer knows, there is nothing like a great editor. Even for the most talented among us. Including William Shakespeare. Debates continue about who exactly Shakespeare was, and whether or not he or someone else wrote his plays and poems. I stand on the side of those who attribute most of the words and work to the Bard of Avon--and the actors who were involved in performing and shaping his plays as a result--and not...

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Fiction As An Aid to Thinking, or: Jacobs on Ambiguity

It has been a while since I've posted on current cognitive and brain science research that underlines the importance and power of imaginative writing, particularly fictional narratives, but then I came across Tom Jacobs' article last month in Pacific Standard, "Want to Learn How to Think? Read More," and realized I ought to write a little here about the work Jacobs discusses, and some of its implications. I should start by pointing...

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"My Soul Is Weary With Sorrow"

Trayvon Martin, 1995-2012"My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." Psalm 119:28Shortly before we learned last night of the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, C said to me, he's going to be convicted, and I said he would be found not guilty of the February 26, 2012 killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.Any number of clues during the trial's run pointed in this direction, but I also thought at that moment of the...

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Quote: Enrique Vila-Matas

"39) 'Adieu' is a brief text by Rimbaud included in A Season in Hell, in which the poet does indeed appear to be saying farewell to literature: 'Autumn already! But why yearn for an eternal sun if we are committed to the discovery of divine light, far away from those who die at different seasons?'"A mature Rimbaud - 'Autumn already!' - a mature Rimbaud at the age of nineteen bids farewell to what for him is the illusion of Christianity, to the various...

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Photos from This Winter & Spring II

Some photos from events I never got around to blogging. Enjoy!Phillis Levin, at the "John Donne, Re-Done" readingand discussion at the New York Public LibraryLevin, Timothy Donnelly, Helen Cespedes,Heather Dubrow, and Jay Barksdale, at "JohnDonne, Redone" at NYPLPoet, scholar and thinker extraordinaireFred Moten at the Segue Series, Zinc BarThe one and only Tonya Foster, readingat the Segue Series, Zinc BarDrawing by Anthony Gonzales,Leslie Lohman...

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