Let me tell you about Alex DiFrancesco: they have strong convictions about right and wrong, and they are a relentless advocate for the people they love. They’re brilliant, ethical, and won’t back down from speaking truth to power. And yet, they are also one of the most tenderhearted, thoughtful people you’ll ever encounter. When I first met Alex, they were living and working in the Catskills, recuperating from a messy divorce. Their days were spent baking pastries for a restaurant and devoting the rest of their time to writing. I remember wondering how they did it. How did they write through all that pain and anger and still create such singular works of beauty? And then, the more I got to know them, everything became clear: writing is not just something Alex does because they enjoy it; it’s something they must do. It’s how they process and explore the world, its people, and their own place within it.
Continue reading On Monsters and Mythology: A Conversation With Alex DiFrancescoVideo: The Economy
My husband Sean and I made this video short for a contest by online publication Mythic Picnic on Twitter. They are an experimental, creative, and fun group of people, and they put out some great content. Their contests welcome not only writing, but also multimedia submissions: everything from photography to comics to video. Â
I’m proud to say our video won the grand prize!
The video concept came from a discussion Sean and I had about the Republicans’ eagerness to reopen the economy in the middle of one of the biggest pandemics the US has faced since 1918. I made a joke that their spiel reminded me of one of those super-enthusiastic, manipulative drug company commercials, and Sean laughed and said “Write it up we’ll make a video!” So I did.
I wrote the 30-second script and asked my friend Gabra to record the VoiceOver. She’s a professional VO artist and I had to admit I heard the words in her voice while I was writing. Sean posted an open call on Twitter and Facebook for actors who might be interested in performing. Sean then edited everything together, created graphics, added music, and all the rest of that magical film stuff he does: and that was that!
This whole project honestly came together like a dream. It was such a good experience. For any writer and creative, I can’t recommend Mythic Picnic highly enough. They’re great to work with, and you should give them a follow on Twitter!
Thanks to everyone who shared their talents: Lauren Shaw, Kitty Ostapowicz-D’Ambrose, Amy Chace, Lisa A. Stockton-Wilson, Carolyn Notline Maher, Stacy Mize, Sarah Cuccio – Schoofs, Kristina Erikson, Brett Vanderbrook, Levi Wilson, M. Elizabeth Lee, Joe Brodsky, Allison Brooks, Raina Fraley, and all the roommates, family, and friends who helped with filming, snacks and love.
Actors Therapy
Amaryllis stood in the rain, squinting at the little blue dot on her phone that showed her location. The cracked screen was barely readable, and the rain didn’t help. It was the correct address all right, and nicer than where most auditions were held. The lobby was very warm and very posh, with doormen, a security desk, and turnstiles that allowed entry only when security pressed a button. She was shooed out almost immediately, directed to the side of the building to an entry in the loading dock. The doorman gestured with his chin to show where she should go; she didn’t even merit a point.
Read full story here: The Write Launch
Book Review for Life During Wartime by Katie Rogin
(Winston-Salem, NC: Mastodon Publishing, 2018)
Katie Rogin is an award-winning writer with a diverse oeuvre. She has written for both television and film, including ABC’s One Life to Live, and a short film In A Blue Mood, which she also produced and directed. Rogin’s essays, fiction and criticism can be seen in publications including Vice’s Tonic, The Rumpus, Sports Illustrated, and The Chattahoochee Review. Now, she has added “novelist†to her résumé.
Rogin’s debut novel, Life During Wartime, is a complex examination of the results of trauma, both mental and physical. The novel takes place in California in 2008. September 11 is still painfully fresh, U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the economy is teetering on the edge of financial crisis. The book considers wartime and its ramifications both literally and figuratively, and it shows how those involved in waging a literal war can be affected. Rogin’s characters are tough, and they show how surviving after trauma can be an act of courage or even sacrifice.
Continue reading Book Review for Life During Wartime by Katie RoginAn interview with Alex DiFrancesco on their forthcoming book, All City
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Alex DiFrancesco has had a busy year. Their essay collection Psychopomps was released by Civil Coping Mechanisms in February, and their novel All City is being released by Seven Stories Press on June 18. While both books are excellent, this interview focuses on All City. It is an important book, and very possibly a prophetic one. All City speaks for the people whose stories do not often get told, much less told with nuance and compassion.
All City takes place in a New York City of the near future. The chasm between the haves and have-nots is wider than ever, and climate change has sent superstorms of increasing violence to the shores of the city, tearing it down with wind and water. Those with the means always leave before the storms hit, but those without resources and means, those who have nowhere else to go, must remain and hold on to what they can by sheer force of will.
Continue reading An interview with Alex DiFrancesco on their forthcoming book, All CityBook Review for Sor Juana by Ilan Stavans
Ilan Stavans’s book Sor Juana: Or, The Persistence of Pop is a loving meditation on iconic seventeenth century Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, in particular her image and its omnipresence in modern Latinx pop culture. As a pop icon, Stavans says, Sor Juana shows up on everything from t-shirts to tattoos; tribute is paid to her in hip hop lyrics and operas, and her image even graces official government documents like stamps and the $200 peso note. “Along with Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and Evita Perón, she is ubiquitous,†Stavans says, and “firmly grounded in the pantheon of Mexican icons.â€
Book Review for Dixie Luck by Andy Plattner
Andy Plattner’s collection, Dixie Luck, is a stirring read right out of the gate, full of finely crafted short stories, as well as the novella Terminal, winner of the Faulkner Society’s 2016 Gold Medal for Best Novella. Plattner – a former horse-racing journalist – also teaches English and creative writing at universities throughout the south, including Emory College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Southern Mississippi. Plattner’s work has won multiple awards. His novel Offerings from a Rust Belt Jockey (2014), won the Castleton-Lyons Book Award as well as Dzanc Books’ Mid-Career Novel Award. His first short story collection Winter Money(1996) was awarded the University of Georgia’s Flannery O’Connor Award.
Dixie Luck is full of movement, both literal and figurative. Its characters are nomadic, yearning for and running from change. They search for understanding in the unreliable, for meaning in an oblique glance, and for hope in that next bet they place. Many of these tales are set in the world of horse-racing that the author knows so well. Plattner pulls heavily from both personal and journalistic experience, introducing us to people one might not otherwise meet had they not been part of the racing world themselves. Dixie Luck brims with tales of flawed, sometimes fragile people, the people who live outside the spotlight: gamblers, grooms, and jockeys.
Continue reading Book Review for Dixie Luck by Andy Plattner
BURLESQUE STRIPPED DOWN TO ITS COMEDIC ROOTS
Laughter is an important part of being human. We use humor to navigate unfamiliar territory and to make bad news more palatable. We use it as an outlet for stress and to make others and ourselves feel better. And of course, we use it just for fun. Is it any wonder that humor also plays a key role in burlesque?
“Burlesque’s far-back history is that of comedy,†said Paige Rustles, a burlesque performer from the Pacific Northwest, in an interview with Crixeo. “I think that using comedy in current-day burlesque is so important because it allows us to tackle big and important topics in a highly accessible way.â€
Early burlesque was more about lampooning or satirizing social and political figures. The acts also involved scantily-dressed ladies to add to the appeal of the show. The striptease, as we know it, came much later. Actors would perform skits featuring thinly-disguised caricatures of famous people. Even existing and well-respected literature and music weren’t safe. The Weird Als of the 17th century made fun of it all — and showed their ankles while doing it.
Continue reading BURLESQUE STRIPPED DOWN TO ITS COMEDIC ROOTS
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[REVIEW] The healing properties of 16 PILLS by Carley Moore
Carley Moore’s debut collection of essays, 16 Pills, is a therapeutic read, and while no book can boast being a panacea for the ills of modern life, this one comes close. Moore writes like her life depends on it. She dissects the stories of her life with intelligence and precision, and invites the reader to share in her examination. Feminist, political, funny, and irreverent, Moore’s essays are masterful, and show a true love of the form; the stories are deeply personal, while still tapping into shared human experience.
Continue reading [REVIEW] The healing properties of 16 PILLS by Carley Moore
ARTIST’S HYPERREALISTIC REPAINTS TURN CELEBRITIES INTO LIFELIKE DOLLS
Cyrus Bronock’s day starts just like anyone’s might: He rises early, brews some coffee, gets dressed, gives his still-sleeping husband a quick kiss on the forehead—Kamden is a college professor—and then it’s off to work. But here’s where his day diverges from the average nine-to-fiver’s. Bronock—known to his fans as Cyguy83—is a repaint artist who specializes in lifelike dolls. Specifically, he takes pre-fab 11.5 inch fashion and character dolls, strips off their assembly-line paint, then lovingly recreates them into astonishingly accurate one-of-a-kind representations of celebrities and musicians in some of their most iconic incarnations.
Continue reading ARTIST’S HYPERREALISTIC REPAINTS TURN CELEBRITIES INTO LIFELIKE DOLLS