Local News

The musical, lyrical, and comical C.S. Ward shot and edited a video in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Umass-Amherst's M.F.A. Program.  I'm glad to be included alongside Corwin Ericson, Dan Chelotti, Mira Bartok and others!

UMass MFA 50th from C.S. Ward on Vimeo.

John and I's wild story "Peer Confessions" is now available from New Herring Press, along with chapbooks by Marin Buschel, Bhanu Kapil and Laurie Weeks!  Here are the first two paragraphs:

Norene and I both want boyfriends. I am going to make mine spin like a statue on a music box. I’ll shine my flashlight all over him, and understand his penis and why it looks like that. Norene will have hers do her homework.

In my town there are two churches. Church Hello is new and white, an Olympic arena for lucky people. Their priest, Herb, drives a Cadillac to go muskie fishing. Our church is in an old Union cannon-ship used in the Civil War. Its enormous hull rises off the grass. There are portholes, and inside, canoe-shaped pews. The ceiling is canopied with thick white sails. It has an odd look, but Priest Paul says we are safe. He sounds far away. Priest Paul is the town’s only licensed orthodontist. He turns my metal with a key.

My very talented "Strange Page" Workshop is having a Reading on April 17th.  Here is the Facebook Event link.  Come by and be dazzled!  These writers are writing some of the best things I've read all year!  They are publishing in great places like Two Serious Ladies and Lit!

For the last few weeks, I've been lucky to participate in Flying Object's first Book Club-- a LAB reading of the epic Moby Dick, taught by the charismatic Melville scholar, Seth Landman.  It's been thought provoking to read this book for the first time and discuss it weekly with local readers, writers, performance artists, doctors, and teachers. The class is full (and at its midway point), but there are rumors Landman might teach this class again at a later date.



Lastly, if you live in the Western Mass area, consider taking my Serious Fiction Workshop :)