::: Paul Cunningham :::

2012-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Very excited. Chad Redden of NAP contacted me last week. It turns out I have a new e-chapbook of poetry forthcoming from NAP in mid-2012:

foamghast

2011-12-27T15:17:00.001-08:00

I have a new poem, “Of Lifted Chin,” in the seventh issue of The Monongahela Review.

Features new work from Eleanor Leonne Bennett, Mason Brown DeHoog, Marit Ericson, Ruth Foley, William Haas, Kevin Heaton, Rich Ives, C. Joseph Jordan, Peycho Kanev, David Linebarger, David McAleavey, Devon Miller-Duggan, Jessica Poli, Travis Schwab, Marc Vincenz, and Nathan E. White.

Open publication - Free publishing - More journal

2011-12-05T18:38:00.001-08:00

These are 'rotten' comments I compiled from critics via Rotten Tomatoes. These were intended to be negative comments in response to various films. I would take any one of them as a glorious compliment:

"Disturbing and completely inappropriate for kids."

"This is an infuriating film."

"A mixed bag of realism and arch, dramatic exaggeration."

"A great big incomprehensible phantasmagoria."

"Avoid it like the plague."

"Maddening."

"A puzzle deliberately without a solution."

"They speak English, but the film doesn't feel American."

"The film is masturbation."

"A bitter confection chock-full of rusty barbs and a woeful, inexorable slide into doom and worse."

"An extended mood opera."

"It's a movie about luggage."

"A baffling but always intriguing failure, the movie gets more confusing, not less, as the story unfolds."

"As menacing to the artist as that of gravity is to the balloonist."

"He has a vision. No question about that. But in the end, he leaves us wondering why we should share it."

/rm issue five

2011-09-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Bri and I launched the latest issue of Radioactive Moat on September 1st.

/rm 5 features the work of Amber Ortolano, Carrie Lorig, André Braga Cabral, Lonely Christopher, Helen Vitoria, Michael (H.C.) Koh, J.P. Dancing Bear, Teresa Petro, Jamison Crabtree, Dawn Pendergast, Rachel McCarren, Simon Perchik, Suzanne Marie Hopcroft, Marit Ericson, Nate Pritts, Laura Carter, and A.T. Grant.

2011-09-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

I have seven poems in the latest issue of red lightbulbs. Lots of great company as well: xTx, Adam J. Maynard, Heather Palmer, Steve McGouldrick, Lyra Hill, and others.

A Review of Diana Salier's echapbook, wikipedia says it will pass

2011-08-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Diana Salier deploys an intriguing, pop-cultured frustration—a humankind-gone-fad constructed via social insecurities and concepts of love, sex, and betrayal. wikipedia says it will pass (The Red Ceilings Press, 2011) provides readers with a polygonal voice that celebrates the imperfect, admires the costumed, and explores specious zones of ghost and person. This poet knows us and she knows us well. She asks us questions just to be sure: “what’s your general purpose / what’s your gist? / give it to me in a 140 characters or less”

And the beautiful part is … I think Diana Salier knows 140 characters will never be enough.

Read the echapbook [here]

IRL Poetry Tour (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

2011-08-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

2011-08-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

I have a tumblr now.

2011-08-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'll be reading with Steve Roggenbuck and Poncho Peligroso in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 12th.

Venue: Cats and Dogs Coffee House (4059 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224)

2011-08-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

Very pleased to announce that Zack Sternwalker's echapbook of writing and illustrations, Black Nail Morning, is now available from Radioactive Moat Press.

Read it here.

Radioactive Moat: Issue Five Preview

2011-07-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

/rm five from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

2011-07-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

2011-07-22T09:57:00.001-07:00

Black Nail Morning from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

2011-07-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have a poem called "Night-Blister" in the eleventh issue of Robot Melon.

A Review of Brett Gallagher's Vessel

2011-07-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Brett Gallagher’s Vessel lacerates with a numinous grace and a trembling abundance of gruesomely beautiful sentences, all while defeating notions of a ‘correct’ literary structure as well as other connected viewpoints typically grounded in absolutism. This rightfully sanguine avant-gardist has pieced together a complexity rich in symbol and humanity—and, to be honest, I have developed unease simply from the thought of review. I do not fear naming two of its focal points—Erland and Kjellfrid—just as I do not fear naming perhaps its key focal point: travel via vessels. (Difficulty in interpreting the latter may stem from complications dependent on how one chooses to define my use of the word, travel as well as the multiplicity behind a word like vessel.) My fear rests with my own interpretation, which I will share with courteous vagueness. I will also not ‘liken’ the text to anything—I feel it is not deserving of a ‘likening.’ Immediately different from Loop Loop Endogenous Nightscape (Gallagher’s echapbook publication), Vessel boasts an unlike narration—a narration that presents us with characters and dialogue. The inclusion of characters and dialogue may cause Vessel to appear less intimidating than Loop Loop—more familiar or comfortable. But by the time readers finish “incantation, the scintillant hex unobserved,” they will surely realize comfort’s most apparent absence. They will realize this and move onto portions like “The Magic Lantern” and that’s when they’ll suddenly realize Gallagher’s language is not frustrating or inaccessible, but deserving of much praise.

True, I found portions of Gallagher’s earliest run-ons to be frustrating, but such frustration, I feel, is necessary. The run-ons—the closeness of the lines of prose—all of it necessary: “his hand clasped with her hand, is guiding kjellfrid along the coast to his vessel.” I identified Kjellfrid as female and Erland as male upon reading, “kjellfrid closes her eyes and remains,” and though that early identification was confirmed via pronoun association, I still had/have doubts about Erland’s existence and gender. There is evidence throughout Vessel that alludes to Erland’s nonexistence—that he is illusory and nothing more than a projection existing within the mind of Kjellfrid. In “incantation, the scintillant hex unobserved,” Kjellfrid suffers from what I can only determine to be an illusion while she watches Erland stand beside a window. This illusion occurs before Kjellfrid and Erland head out to the fjord. For that reason, I did not attribute the cause of Kjellfrid’s illusions to the trappings of Kjellfrid’s vessel, but I cannot deny that the trappings of the vessel did not enhance what I’m referring to as illusions.

I have chosen to abstain from discussing the vessels themselves for now. I will most likely revisit the subject in the future. All I can say is that, for me, the vessel signified something simultaneously natural and mechanical and dark—something that is not worn, but possessed: “joints of her vessel which are braided hamstrings within finely selected gum tissues and from her vantage point a light that is gooey and foreign impregnates a darkness which creeps on its hands with pelvis turned upward and it is hard for kjellfrid to swallow with trachea attached underfoot . . . ”

I am unsure if my interpretations can be proven, but I believe if an answer exists, it may exist somewhere in the portion of Vessel titled, “an observation.”

In contrast, I also viewed the relationship between Kjellfrid and Erland as a possible radical dualism. Not binary, but unit. Perhaps both characters do exist, but perhaps in ways we remain ignorant to. There are moments within Vessel that read like a ghoulishly prophetic math equation. One passage in particular reads, “a time a period of timelessness a mountain the mountain sunken into abyssal depths a fjord a vessel a two a pair of three a tressel of four in three departed in two reduced to one,” which not only reinforces an idea of multiplicity (as well as subtraction), but also provides readers with perhaps the topography necessary for understanding the relationship between Kjellfrid and Erland.

Again, these are only my thoughts. I cannot deny that I will always welcome the unanswerable. For now, I am satisfied with Vessel’s existence alone, which is anything but mere.

Tongue Party: A Review

2011-06-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

Sarah Rose Etter is a literary vigil. As the honest, fervid eye protruding from the unspoken moments of life, she watches us humans play our game. As eye, she reminds us that there is a loveliness in darkness—that there is so much more than sugar in a bite of cake. Her sentences foment a story we have not heard, yet she paints her readers colors of familiarity—like in a dream. Etter scoops us up into brilliant anomalies, and once inside, the reader adjusts without question—accepts and embraces Etter’s imagery as normalcy. It’s when we near the end of each story—those few pages that gradually fill mystery’s lacunae—that’s when we wake up and realize we’re inside Tongue Party. Each enigma entices and builds with tension. Its growth? Well-paced with convincing dialogue. We feel nervous. We feel as if we’re dissolving right along with her often distraught characters. We know we’re either watching or being watched:

“I watch and love the very small things: motions, flicking hair from their eyes, stretching, pressing fingers to the glass, looking in vain for weak spots, their Adam’s apples pulsing, the stubble on their cheeks growing into full beards, the shapes in which they sleep.”

It’s refreshingly haunting to be pulled in so closely to characters within a work of fiction. Etter’s stories are populated by men that often function as vacuum—by women that resist and combat vacuum. The book’s tragic moments are some of its most powerful. Works like “Womb Peck” and “Tongue Party” appear to criticize the objectification of women—the problematic relationship—the disturbing nature of patriarchy. Passages like, “When you get there, after you swallow, your womb will be clean, coated in white paper, endlessly flawless,” have not left my head. “Cake” was particularly unforgettable:

“The sugar creeps into my blood stream, soaks into my tissue.

‘Another,’ he says, nodding at the cake, his hand squeezing above my knee.

I dig the fork back into the cake and a sense of dread rises up inside of me. I cannot guess how many bites I have left.”

Tongue Party is not wholly optimistic, but wildly important and poetic fiction. Its paragraphs are rich with humor and shadows—she comforts us; she terrifies. Sarah Rose Etter is not here to watch passively—she is here to throw her guts at us and demand that we eat.

2011-06-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

I recently interviewed Steve Roggenbuck over at Radioactive Moat Press.

Read his thoughts on internet literature, defining literature, font, digital publishing, knitting, and more!!--read it all [here]

Jessica Maybury of decomP magazinE reviews Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

2011-06-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

You can read a new review of my echapbook, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Pangur Ban Party, 2010) via Jessica Maybury of decomP magazinE.

"The collection masses itself in the mind as a primeval collage-cloud, coiling in suspension, in myriad colors. Hopefully it won't leave anytime soon."

Many thanks to Jessica--I am very grateful and happy to know that the lion still roams.

2011-06-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Epilogue, 2009.
Silkscreen-on-paper diptych,
each panel 34 3/4 x 23 1/4 in.

The above, Epilogue, is a work of visual art from Jill Magid.

Magid's Wikipedia page simply states that, "her genre is difficult to categorize." Those six words (particularly the 'sixth' word) summarize all that is wrong in the world of art as we know it. We have traded artistic interpretation for a gruesome rubric--a wound--a string of 'post-post-post-fuck.'

It has all become category. Columns in books.

Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category. Category.

A fodder; a most horrific gore.

Art As Activisim: Iran

2011-06-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

Come Caress Me - Amir Mobed from Kulturguiden.tv on Vimeo.

Iranian performance artist, Amir Mobed, invited museum guests to shoot him with a pellet gun in Azad--an execution that he says is symbolic of a silencing of the Iranian artists of his generation.

Above, one of Shirin Fakhim's Tehran prostitute sculptures currently featured at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea. Such sculptures were inspired by the Persian working-girl subculture of Terhan, Iran. The Saatchi Gallery notes that "Fakhim farcically combines westernized hooker fashion with the codes of Islamic demur, torsos and heads made from cooking implements, adorned with make-shift veils and chastity belts."

Above, No. 1 from artist Ala Dehghan's waterfall series.

"It is clear that the state repression in Iran is intensifying. Society there exists in what a reporter for the Economist calls 'a carefully managed sense of national emergency.' It is clear too that contemporary Iranian artists want their freedom. Outsiders, however, do not always understand their expression of displeasure." -Benjamin Genocchio, Modern Painter

Themes of violence, dark humor, gore, and frequent occurrences of the color red are just a few common features in Iranian art. Many works are political, often controversial, and the subject matter ranges from women's issues to economic migration. An Iranian artist's painting can just as easily function in the same way a street-wide protest does. Though, like a street-wide protest, the message of an artistic piece has the potential to be deemed offensive by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which may or may not result in prosecution.

Above, Untitled from artist, Maryam Amini

"Indeed photography has emerged as a particularly vital means of social and political engagement here. Iranian photographers tend toward documentary. Shirin Aliabadi and Shadi Ghadirian are well known for exploring women's issues in Iranian society. Both have exhibited abroad, and their work is in American and European museum collections. Ghadirian and some friends recently established an Internet registry of some 180 Iranian photographers, fanoosphoto.com, which presents online exhibitions of artists and contact details for photojournalists." -Benjamin Genocchio, Modern Painter

Above, Crtl + Alt + Delete #3 from artist, Shadi Ghadirian

Above, Qajar 2 from artist, Shadi Ghadirian

Ugly Fish Giveaway Results

2011-05-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

Jamison Crabtree's "Gar" was selected as the 'ugliest fish.' You can read his piece [here]

Ugly Fish Giveaway

2011-05-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Interested in a free copy of Feng Sun Chen's chapbook of poems, Ugly Fish?

Well, all you need to do is writing something ugly.

2011-05-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Katy Perry, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Kesha—why are these the units that young women and men choose to (most frequently) mimic and popularize? Whether it’s Lady Gaga’s exploitation of gay youth culture or Rihanna’s pink-tank-equals-feminism philosophy, the motive of women in pop music has become dangerously obscure. Why? The industry isn’t interested in selling us the intellectual woman. Or man (if you can call Justin Bieber that).

Below, an excerpt from an interview between Kanye West and Rihanna featured in the December/January issue of Interview:

RIHANNA: I love to combine femininity with a kind of extreme masculine edge, and I felt like the tank is just not a typical thing that you think of when you think of a girl--or in any kind of relation to a girl. Then we made it hot pink. We just added that touch.

WEST: I mean, people really need to see a photograph--the entire tank was pink. That was a great piece of commercial pop art. Was the idea of that to kind of portray an American Dream--like the fantasy of this hot black girl sitting on top of a pink tank?

RIHANNA: [laughs] I never actually thought of it like that.

WEST: How does it feel to know that you could have any man in the world? Or woman. How does it feel to know that you can turn straight women gay?

Now, if you could stomach that, just ask yourself this: why does Rihanna feel that the only way she can be considered 'edgy' is if she projects a look or vibe with masculine or even semi-masculine qualities? Why must the color pink be continuously attributed to a notion of femininity? And examine West's final notion as well. Why is the possession of power so important to West? Admittedly, I enjoy his music, but his disturbing fascination with power has not even slightly dwindled despite what critics claim.

And what is edgy, anyway?

Here's an excerpt from the recent article, "Going Gaga," in the May 2011 issue of Bazaar:

"The only tense part of our conversation occurs when I try to transition her fantasy into reality, asking about the new look--a series of sharp bones that protrude from Gaga's shoulders, cheekbones, and temples. How long does it take to apply the makeup and prosthetics to her face and arms?

'Well, first of all,' she says, 'they're not prosthetics. They're my bones.' Okay, so when did the bones appear? 'They've always been inside of me, but I have been waiting for the right time to reveal to the universe who I truly am.' Did she will them to come out for this album? 'They come out when I'm inspired.' Is she worried that this new look will inspire other people to 'grow' similar bones? 'We all have these bones!' she says tersely. 'They're the light from inside of us. Do you mean body modification?' Yes. 'No, I'm not concerned about that.'"

I feel as though Gaga is damaging or at least severely limiting her LGBTQ fans--specifically, her younger LGBTQ fans. Her fame allows her to project a singular version of LGBTQ culture that reaches a vast mainstream audience. In turn, whatever Gaga projects (typically theatrics that I believe wrongfully designates gays as something inhuman or alien) essentially becomes 'the' definition of LGBTQ culture. I believe, no matter how much money she has donated to whatever the 'pro-gay' cause, she is steering her fans toward that definition, which I believe is heavily grounded in consumerism.

And I've overheard the following exchange too many times:

"You don't like Lady Gaga?"
"No. I don't care for her."
"And you're gay?"
"Yes."
"What the fuck?"
"What?"
"You can't be gay and not like Lady Gaga."

Liking or disliking Lady Gaga has, at least among youths, become a modern-day signifier of one's alleged 'authenticity' as a gay person. Such thinking is highly detrimental. Not to mention absurd.

In passing the storefront of a Hot Topic the other day, I spotted items like the one below:

A young girl was begging her grandma to purchase this item for her.

"You don't understand. I need this."

Even something like a $20 tank-top has become more than an overpriced piece of apparel that showcases a fan's support for Lady Gaga as a musical artist. The $20 tank-top and its lyrics-based message, "Born this Way," has almost a stronger connection to personal identity and pride as a member of the LGBTQ community than it does a connection to the musical artist herself. Too many persons are submissive to Gaga - she is the sudden definition of what it means to be gay in 2011. In purchasing a tank-top like the one above, one has to wonder if he or she is wholly supporting the LGBTQ community or, rather, Gaga's own hijacking of the LGBTQ community.

One has to wonder: what is the purchasing of such goods going to truly perpetuate? Who is truly receiving benefits?

And I guess Beyonce's latest video is supposed to be empowering:

Meanwhile, some dumbass just watched the video and said:

The thing is, in terms of pop music, even if the artist's message is intelligent--or that the artist's intent is to educate--a music video is most likely not going to successfully educate. It has a reputation to adhere to. It must be fun and it must be catchy and it must be, above all else, sexy. It's just a money-generating medium that serves you a dish without explanation. It's not Wollstonecraft or Butler. Again, it must adhere to its 'sexy' and 'fun' MTV roots, which is why I believe it will forever fail as an artist's outlet of opportunity to convey a message with even the slightest amount of intelligent criticism. Pop music artists--they think they're making a difference. They don't know they're actually Tommy Wiseau at a Q&A event.

The joke is on them and it always has been.

Weekend reading suggestions?

2011-05-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

"This is no fucking character! This is my show, and I created it--not Matt, and not Carsey-Werner, and not ABC. You watch me. I will win this battle if I have to kill every last white bitch in high heels around here." For a highly revealing (and sincere) examination of sexism in the television industry: read Roseanne Barr's article in New York Magazine, "And I Should Know."

A short story, "We Are Magnificent," by Roxane Gay. Published in Dark Sky Magazine.

Read David Fishkind's debut post, "Watching the Twilight Zone," over at HTML Giant.

Issue No. 27 of Salt Hill looks incredible--featuring work from some of my favorite writers like Raul Zurita, Amy King, Arlene Ang, and many more.

Visit Magic Helicopter Press to experience the very recently released electronic book by Richard Chiem and Ana Carrete, Oh No Everything is Wet Now.

2011-05-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Very pleased to announce that the first chapbook from Radioactive Moat Press is now available for purchase. Ugly Fish by Feng Sun Chen is now available online for $5 (includes shipping).

You can read an excerpt from Ugly Fish [here] and [here]

And, as always, thanks to Stephen Tully Dierks for featuring Ugly Fish in Pop Serial today.

2011-05-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Feng Sun Chen's Ugly Fish, the first poetry chapbook from Radioactive Moat Press, is nearly complete.

Copies will be available soon for $5

Stay tuned!

2011-05-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

METRO: In your book, you mention that Eraserhead came together when you read a Bible verse: was it Old Testament or New Testament?

LYNCH: Honestly, I don't remember. I read it and shut the book. I think it could be Old Testament.

2011-05-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Roxane Gay talks "writers" in the latest interview over at /rm

2011-05-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ugly Fish from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

2011-05-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

"There are no, in my opinion, 'good' or 'bad' poems." Read my interview with David Fishkind in its entirety over at Radioactive Moat.

2011-05-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

I've spent the week revising an essay I've titled, "James Cameron's White Indian: Cultural Erasure and the Tendril-Phallus in Avatar."

"This essay seeks to deconstruct the moral logic behind Cameron’s Avatar plot as well as the logic employed by its characters. This essay will reveal ways in which the film condones and promotes a message of the forever superior white male, it will address the average white American’s quest for personal substance through an analysis of the film’s often sexualized brutality, flagrant concepts of domination, and arguably equally flagrant instances in which the phallus, or as I’ve termed it in regard to Avatar, the tendril-phallus, is utilized as a means of control."

Here's the bibliography (aka highly recommended reading):

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: Grove Press, 2005.

Anderson, Walter Truett. ed. “Faith and Freedom.” The Truth About the Truth: De-Confusing and Re-Constructing the Postmodern World. New York: Putnam, 1995.

Berkhoffer Jr., Robert. The White Man’s Indian. New York: Vintage Books, 1978.

Bordewich, Fergus. Killing the White Man’s Indian. New York: Doubleday, 1996.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Deloria, Phillip. Playing Indian. Yale University Press, 1999.

Deloria Jr., Vine. God is Red. New York: Putnam, 2003.

Nabokov, Peter. Native American Testimony. London: Penguin, 1999.

Said, Edward. “Orientalism.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001.

Sheckle, Susan. The Insistence of the Indian: Race and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century American Culture. Princeton University Press, 1998.

Washington, Jessie. “Avatar Critics See Racist Theme.” The Huffington Post. 11 January 2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/10/avatar-critics-see-racist-theme_n_418155.html

West, Lindy. “Sherman Alexie and Venison Potpie.” The Stranger. 12 January 2010. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/concessions/Content?oid=3209696

2011-04-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

The American Dream Archived

2011-04-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

This past wednesday evening was a fantastic one. Both equally passionate about their work and their literary activism, Ana and Amy were also two of the kindest people I have ever met. Together, they led a poetry workshop for the students of Slippery Rock University before celebrating the release of SLAB: Issue Six. The workshop focused on composing apostrophe poems in the vain of Frank O'Hara and Sylvia Plath and, due to some alterations directed by the two poets, the students' final products more closely examined the humanization of the American president as well as the removal of the American female from the concept of domestication.

Additionally, in regard to film, I did nerd-out (as I tend to do) during lunch. Luckily, Amy had just as many somewhat obscure titles to recommend as I did. After a lengthy discussion on controversial portrayals of women in films, great women directors, and woman-centered films, here's what we came up with:

Amy's recommendations to me:

A Question of Silence (1982) Written and directed by Marleen Gorris

Antonia's Line (1995) Written and directed by Marleen Gorris

The Savages (2007) Written and directed by Tamara Jenkins

Gypo (2005) Written and directed by Jan Dunn

My recommendations to Amy:

Raise the Red Lantern (1991) Directed by Yimou Zhang

Trois Couleurs: Bleu (1993) Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski

Ratcatcher (1999) Written and directed by Lynne Ramsay

Lunch concluded when we all decided we wanted a helping of chocolate peanut butter cake. Amy wanted to save her piece for later, but we could not find anything to wrap the cake in. No take-home box or non-fabric napkin of any kind in the place. Suddenly, Ana left the table saying she was going on a "top-secret mission." Moments later, she returned with paper towels and the next thing we knew--we had smuggled Amy's cake out of the building.

"Mission complete," Ana said. We laughed. "Poets steal cake!"

2011-04-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

I tried Korean rice wine yesterday and it was delicious.

2011-04-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

The sixth issue of SLAB will be available next Wednesday, April 20th. The new issue will feature new work from Thomas Patrick Levy, Heather Palmer, Brett Gallagher, Paul Siegell, Karla Linn Merrifield, Adam Moorad, Sally Derringer, Richard Chiem and many others.

The issue six release event is happening at the Russell Wright Alumni House at Slippery Rock University on Wednesday evening from 8:00 to 10:00 PM. To help celebrate, visiting writers, Ana Bozicevic and Amy King, will be reading their work--and I cannot begin to explain how excited I am about that!

The winners of the Elizabeth R. Curry Prize in Poetry will be announced as well, and a free copy of the newest issue will be given to those who attend!

Consider yourself invited!

2011-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

"I do not write the feminine, masculine, gay, straight, boi, girl, rich, middle class, American, violent, complacent, homeless, absolute or otherwise. I write beyond the determinable, which is not the same as the indeterminate."
-Amy King

2011-04-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

"To go local and cosmopolitan, be grounded and doubtful, knowledgeable of heritage and willing to abandon it completely--these are some things I hope can be accomplished by the American Poet. Let's."
-Ana Božičević

2011-04-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

My poem, "The Overturned Automobile," is appearing in the latest issue of University of Pittsburgh's Collision. I will be reading at the release party on April 21st. The event will be taking place in room 501 of the Cathedral of Learning (8:30 - 11:30 PM).

See you there!

2011-04-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sarah Rose Etter's Tongue Party (Caketrain Press, 2011) is now available for preorder!

Currently, you can get two single-author titles from Caketrain for only $12 (how great is that?!)

In the meantime, you should check out my interview with Sarah over at Radioactive Moat. Read the interview [here]

2011-04-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

I think David Fishkind notices a lot of things that you and I do not notice.

Tonight, I'd like to spontaneously recommend his '11 bad haikus' - they served as contribution #33 to New Wave Vomit.

His '11 bad haikus' are still one of my favorite contributions to Ana's colossal online journal. I like to think of his '11 bad haikus' as one piece. I don't know if that's how I should be thinking about the '11 bad haikus' though.

Like in most of Fishkind's works, I think you'll appreciate the way he enshrouds his readers in disquiet--a familiar and oddly humorous disquiet.

2011-04-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

"In 1870, a French ophthalmologist named Edouard Meyer included a series of photos in his textbook on surgery. The film of the era was too 'slow' to take photos of actual operations, so he staged photos using cadavers. In this photo, a clamp holds the eye open to show where a scalpel should be positioned to remove a cataract."

Credit: Dr. Stanley B. Burns

2011-04-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

David Sedaris by Cara Lynn Kleid

2011-04-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Above: Cara Lynn Kleid

2011-04-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

Artist, illustrator, and graphic designer, Cara Lynn Kleid, was kind enough to speed-sketch me tonight at the Anarchists' Ball at Artists Image Resource. Her only stipulation was to "not make a sexy face" during the sketching.

Thanks again, Cara!

2011-04-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

"While Christianity can project the reality of the afterlife--time and eternity--it appears to be incapable of providing any reality to the life in which we are here and now presently engaged--space and the planet Earth." -Vine Deloria, Jr., God is Red

2011-04-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

My latest Omegle poem via Internet Poetry.

2011-04-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

from Olaf Breuning's Marilyns (2010)

Breuning's Independence Day (1997)

Breuning's Smoke Bombs (2008)

2011-04-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Olaf Breuning has kindly added my blog to one of his blogdragons.

2011-04-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage (1973)

2011-03-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

I found the camera I damaged while in San Diego.

2011-03-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

"Ito invokes the mother body, the body as map site, as destruction site, as repetition module, as network of networks and of sound. She speaks freely of masturbation and of death in the same breathing, making poems that work not to core out some central heart, but that are the heart: beating, squirting, sound in face. If I had found these instead of Ginsberg at 16 I might not still be alive, which to me at 30 is a gift." -Blake Butler

LET PEOPLE POEMS: THE INTERVIEW

2011-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Shaun Gannon and DJ Berndt took some time to talk with me this past weekend. The topic? Apparently, the two writers are responsible for last week's lit scene craze, Let People Poems.

"I definitely didn't expect to attract as many people considered 'prevalent.' Like the first post was xTx, who is all over. And then Frank Hinton posted pretty quickly, too. And then the Internet Poetry bros also got into it pretty quickly. So I was surprised to see it embraced by a lot of writers I admire," said Shaun.

Additionally, Shaun and DJ plan on continuing LPP as long as its readers continue to contribute.

"I'll keep paying for the domain and keeping that gate open as long as people are coming in," said Shaun.

Read the full interview [here]

2011-03-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

PUPPET: Charles is dead, in so many words, and this figure is his reliquary, and it is I, indulging in magician mode, who has dubbed any whinnying and purrs and growls you have hallucinated in between his tight, immobile lips. For instance, let's see, what shall I have him say now ... Oh, yes.

-Dennis Cooper

2011-03-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

2011-03-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

"I'm a big Steinbeck fan--and, for me, America is more an atmosphere and feeling than an actual place."
-Lars Von Trier

2011-03-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare (1781)

2011-03-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

Just Let People Poems!
Just let them.

2011-03-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Check out my Omegle poem over at Internet Poetry.

And thanks to Steve Roggenbuck for including my screenshot in Internet Poetry.

2011-03-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Bri Scala is responsible for curating the selection of photography appearing in the latest issue of Radioactive Moat.

2011-03-14T16:09:00.001-07:00

Issue Four of Radioactive Moat has officially gone live!

The new issue features work from Feng Sun Chen, Brett Gallagher, Shaun Gannon, Chandler Lewis, Natalie Lyalin, Jan Michellardi, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingde, Dalenna Moser, and Crystal Wood.

Check it out [here]

2011-03-10T10:46:00.001-08:00

2011-03-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

"Martin Arnold's Shadow Cuts (2010) observes the happy end of a cartoon film by rewinding it. Depicted by flickering images, the eyes of Mickey and his companion Pluto are gradually disentangled from the characters, sometimes the eyes--or the characters--even disappear completely. Temporary blind characters on the screen are faced by temporary blind viewers, whose perception fractures in the dark phases of the projection."

Shaun Gannon: Major Archbishop of the First Church of Bowie

2011-03-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

2011-03-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

2011-03-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Spent a few days in rainy Pittsburgh with Bri. Due to rainy Pittsburgh, our options were suddenly very limited.

2011-03-07T16:21:00.001-08:00

It's never too late to loop loop.

A film adapation of Tao Lin's Shoplifting from American Apparel

2011-03-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

2011-03-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

Feng Sun Chen's chapbook of poetry, Ugly Fish (May, 2011) is the first print publication forthcoming from Radioactive Moat Press.

Look for a special excerpt from Ugly Fish in the upcoming issue of Radioactive Moat (March 14th).

2011-03-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Didi Menendez has featured three of my poems, "Bedroom Chain," "The Black Heart-Wall," and "The Fire That Consumes All Before It" in the latest online edition of MiPOesias.

You can read them or 'listen' to them.

2011-03-01T22:01:00.001-08:00

"When you go on a very personal journey, in the end you hit all the political points that you didn't think you would. It's true. And I think by utilizing the personal, you achieve more because audiences sense that your initial inspiration was not just to do an anti-war film. When you are honestly personal, an audience feels less manipulated." -Ari Folman

2011-03-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Waltz with Bashir (2008) Directed by Ari Folman

2011-02-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

I thank Karen Zemanick for not only reading my blog, but for doing every thing she can to raise awareness of VIDA, the AWP Women's Caucus, and most significant: various feminist writers consistently working toward a much-desired goal of equality within the literary community.

Read her article, "Conversations on Gender and Publishing"

2011-02-28T16:44:00.000-08:00

2011-02-26T16:06:00.002-08:00

Ashes and Diamonds (1958) Directed by Andrzej Wajda

2011-02-26T16:06:00.001-08:00

"Life is dangerous." -from Ashes and Diamonds

2011-02-26T12:02:00.001-08:00

2011-02-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

Given recent news headlines, I'm left to recall Isabelle Adjani's unsettling performance in Possession (1981). While failing to find anything that even resembles an Andrzej Żuławski interview in which he discusses Possession, I instead found a short blurb designating the film as a "video nasty." Yeah, I had never heard of the term either, so I thought I'd share it.

I'm pretty thrilled about the forthcoming issue of Radioctive Moat. Thank you to all who submitted!

2011-02-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

/rm no. 4 is coming: 3.14.11

2011-02-20T11:19:00.001-08:00

Allison Schulnik's Hobo Clown.

2011-02-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

2011-02-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

"Our task becomes, like Barthes', to discern the hidden messages inscribed in code on the glossy surfaces of style, to trace them out as 'maps of meaning' which obscurely re-present the very contradictions they are designed to resolve or conceal." -Dick Hebdige

2011-02-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'd love to be shut down by one of these.

2011-02-15T19:56:00.001-08:00

2011-02-14T07:50:00.001-08:00

2011-02-13T21:42:00.001-08:00

Bleu: Trois Couleurs

2011-02-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

2011-02-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

"Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one." -Krzysztof Kieslowski

VIDA: The Count 2010

2011-02-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Finally had the opportunity to meet Amy King at AWP this past weekend (I thought she was wonderful). Regrettably, I had no idea about the VIDA and the Men Who Love Us reading that took place last Thursday. It sounds like I definitely missed out (Johannes Goransson, Terrance Hayes, D.A. Powell, etc).

King was involved in a panel regarding the development for a Women's Caucus for AWP (something that has never existed within the AWP conference), which I chose to attend. The discussion quickly triggered responses regarding the absence of a Queer Caucus as well. Ultimately, the question raised seemed to be this: does the diversity of the AWP conference reflect the diversity of the greater literary community?

Preceding this panel, King had asked AWP conference director, Christian Teresi, the following: "On a technical note, you acknowledge the diversity of the literary community as a whole; do you think the conference should somehow represent or include that range in proportionate ratios, and if so, how does AWP attempt to be inclusive? In other words, how do you go about selecting panels? Does AWP actively seek to attract and solicit participation from nonmainstream literary communities? How do you determine the number of panels?"

For the full interview, find it [here]

King, as well as other members of the panel (Lois Roma-Deeley, Patricia Smith, Cheryl Dumesnil, Anna George Meek, and Katherine Arnoldi) reminded the audience that "collective feminism" is something important when trying to achieve something like a Women's Caucus for AWP. This reminder was perhaps provoked by a woman sitting near the back of the room who claimed that she felt many of the female panelists at AWP were much more "engaging" because many of the male panelists "read from a pamphlet" while many female panelists "did not." This reasoning was, of course, quickly dismissed by the panel and the discussion moved along.

It is difficult for me, or any male who genuinely identifies as a feminist to justify the reasoning behind such identification. I am not a woman and I have not faced the discrimination many women constantly face and I realize this. But can I not be an ally? Can I not simply identify as a person who agrees with the concept of feminism?--that I believe discrimination is immoral? In my opinion, the major and only occasional opponent for males that identify as feminists is the feminist that comes across as more anti-man than feminist. Certainly, it is easy for me to understand the reasoning behind anti-man feelings--especially after one looks over VIDA's most recently collected publishing data (which I have posted below). I did not take the "read from a pamphlet" comments seriously, mainly because there is always at least one person attending an AWP panel who has nothing but absurdities to spout. Or book pitches.

I'm just a larger fan of the feminist who realizes males can be allies too.

A second opponent would be the male that views the male-feminist as weaker or, as bizarre as it might sound, views the male-feminist as a "weakness" that causes harm to some sort of overall masculine construct. It's as if there's an unspoken idea regarding the preservation of masculinity.

As one of three white males who attended this panel, I was thankful for the panel's call for efforts of collective feminism and I am incredibly supportive of the creation of such a caucus. Some of the goals of the caucus include:

-to expand networking opportunities for women writers
-to recognize the contributions of women writers nationally and internationally
-to enhance understanding of the relationship between gender and creative writing
-to expand literary and cultural dialogue to encompass all genres of writing
-to advocate for equity in creative writing for all

Finally, here is a [link] to VIDA: The Count 2010.

Time for a change, yes?

2011-02-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Very eager to begin reading Killing Kanoko.

Very pleased to own a second book by one of my favorite writers, Aase Berg.

More recently, think about how many folks get livid at the idea of Dave Eggers stomping around writing blithely positive books about small epiphanies?

2011-02-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Above is an excerpt from Tao Lin's short story, "Sasquatch." This short story appeared in Volume 34 of Mississippi Review (2006), which I own.

The story went on to later appear in Tao Lin's Bed.

You can find the story in its entirety [here]

Or you can just read it in a copy of Bed.

I posted this excerpt for three reasons: 1) I like the story 2) The story (in some ways) is 'stylistically' unlike anything Tao Lin is currently writing (not that this is necessarily a bad or good thing) 3) I think the excerpt from "Sasquatch" can fit in with what Peter labels as 'trickery.' Lin's writing style in Bed is not itself trickery, but its existence prior to his more recent novels is necessary for Peter's claim of 'trickery.'

People have criticized/demonized Lin for his "minimalist" style. This style involves sentences that are much different in comparison to the sentences in "Sasquatch." However, themes are consistent within Lin's stylistic metamorphosis:

"This wasn't sadness . . . "

Should we call it a stylistic metamorphosis? Perhaps not. Perhaps Lin is just playing with our hearts. Perhaps we are just lost in his game.

Alleged fans of Lin have (very recently, in fact) claimed they are bored with Lin's "minimalist" style. However, I think "Sasquatch" proves Lin's capabilities are obviously vast and that those capabilities generate unpredictable consequences. He is very aware of his actions (I think)--all of which seem to come with specific intent (I think).

But "Sasquatch" was an early work by Tao Lin.

What does that matter?

Well, 'cause he doesn't write like that anymore. Or as of late.

While "Sasquatch" does not read like Richard Yates, it does not necessarily imply that the quality of Lin's work has declined. Tao Lin is now.

Both "Sasquatch" and Richard Yates exist now.

We don't know, won't know, what Tao Lin will write / will not write "anymore."

'Now' demonstrates Lin's versatility. Art is subjective, person. A writer with multiple styles (that happen to exist simultaneously 'and' now) is not deserving of such quick labeling via other writers. There is nothing wrong with simultaneity. Trickster or not, Tao Lin is the archnemesis of the binarian.

I am afraid of simultaneity.

I think Lin has had a huge impact on the way

[ blank ] perceive(s) [ blank ].

Trickery, yes. Trickery is just as evident as sincerity in Lin's work. Do I think Lin gives a damn when some 16 year old hipster cheerleader posts "happy birthday--eeeee eee eeee changed the way i identify as a hipster" on his Facebook wall?

No.

Do I think Tao Lin is most likely laughing at the 16 year old hipster kid that posts that?

Possibly. I'm sure he appreciates his fandom, but I'm sure there's a great percentage of subcultural youths that are only purchasing books like Shoplifting from American Apparel (or anything by Chuck Palahniuk) because stores like American Apparel are still hiding said materials in pant legs or in between piles of onesies.

Gee, this book will undoubtedly accentuate my body as well as my visible chest hair.

I don't even know if you can still purchase copies of Shoplifting from American Apparel from American Apparel.

Do I think readers are supposed to consistently enjoy Lin's writing?

No. But that's not really for me to decide.

Here is an interview that I think most people should read.

2011-02-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

The cover image for SLAB No. 6 was unveiled this weekend at AWP. The new issue (which will be available in April) will feature writing from Thomas Patrick Levy, Heather Palmer, Brett Gallagher, Paul Siegell, Adam Moorad, Karla Linn Merrifield, Sally Derringer, Richard Chiem, and many, many more.

Lit Party at the Black Cat. (Amelia Gray rocked that house!!)

2011-02-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

Standing in front of the Black Cat with Joe Hall, Daniel Bailey, Shaun Gannon, and Derrick Mund.

Oh my goodness . . . Shaun Gannon is pointing his finger.

Blake Butler takes the stage.

Patrick Somerville.

Tao Lin.

Amelia Gray Reads Some Threats from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

OH NO!!

2011-02-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

It was really awesome seeing Adam Atkinson and S.E. Smith again at AWP this weekend. The inaugural issue of OH NO is equally awesome. Combined, the awesomeness is unparalleled.

(There are equations that prove this.)

Beecher's Magazine and Publishing Genius host a reading at a zoo in Washington, D.C.

2011-02-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

Chloe Cooper Jones alongside friendly lit-zoo tour guide, Adam Robinson.

Mike Young (Zoo Reading) from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

Colin Winnette reads a piece about a baby cheetah.

Alec Niedenthal exclaims, "parental advisory!"

Blake Butler (Zoo Reading) from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

Stephanie Barber reads a piece inspired by sea otters.

Amelia Gray and Michael Kimball.

Timothy Willis-Sanders says "cat pee" a lot.

"When I write, I am neither male or female. I am everyone else that is writing. Including those who have influenced me."

2011-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

Song For His Disappeared Love is an incredible publication from Action Books that I very recently purchased. There are no words to describe what I felt when I heard Raúl Zurita read from his book during a panel at the AWP conference.

In regard to gender-based oppression, Zurita noted that any government in existence that uses a person's gender/identity as a method of limiting that person is absurd. During his closing remarks he said, "Absolute pain erases the distinction between man and woman."

The first publication from Radioactive Moat Press:

2011-01-31T21:33:00.000-08:00

Brett Gallagher's Loop Loop Endogenous Nightscape provides a massive noise-alphabet that confronts human-made spaces and even their link with an etymological beyond. This anti-narrative seemingly aims to estrange via darkness, illustrating both realities and non-realities. Readers will crave light when engulfed in Gallagher's nighttime parade of "wordish barrages." Only when consumed by the rippling dusk of these poems will readers receive an offer they can't refuse--a magnificent light at the end of an equally magnificent tunnel.

Loop Loop Endogenous Nightscape is an echapbook from Radioactive Moat Press. The publication features illustrations by Elizabeth Arnold.

This is only the first in what is sure to be a great line of forthcoming electronic and print publications from Radioactive Moat Press.

Bri and I will be announcing our selection for the first /rm print publication very soon.

Stay tuned. There is certainly more to come.

2011-01-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the supremely talented Jesse Draxler (Radioactive Moat's Issue Two Cover Artist). Art Nouveau Magazine just named Draxler 'Artist of the Week.'

The book trailer for Brett Gallagher's "Loop Loop Endogenous NIghtscape." Feat. Illustrations from Elizabeth Arnold

2011-01-29T10:49:00.001-08:00

Loop Loop Endogenous Nightscape from Paul Cunningham on Vimeo.

2011-01-28T20:26:00.000-08:00

2011-01-28T20:19:00.001-08:00