Lucy Anderton (poetry, ’05): Lucy’s poems “I’m sorry I have to put it this way, but,” and “Toward the single point of slipping” appear in the fall 2012 issue of Beloit Poetry Journal.
You can also listen to Lucy reading some of her poems online at Spoken Word Redux.
R. Dwayne Betts (poetry, ’10): Dwayne’s poem “Post Racial, or Why My Timberlands Are Still Unlaced” appears in the latest issue of TriQuarterly:
Post Racial, or Why My Timberlands Are Still Unlaced
troubled by
news reports
about what Obama’s
candidacy means,
his sleight
of hand mastery
of invisibility, a skill
that lets him be
black and post black
on the same stage—
…[Keep Reading]…
Dwayne is the author of A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison
Joe Schuster (fiction ’91): Joe will be attending the Sewanee Writers Conference as a Walter E. Dakin Fellow. He is the author of The Might Have Been: A Novel
Bryan Furuness fiction, ’08): Bryan’s short story “Evolution” appears online at Used Furniture Review:
Evolution
Deciphered from cuneiform, this is the earliest known example of a break-up letter.
Dear Lucy,
What’s up? Not much here. You’re probably wondering why I’m writing a letter. If I know you—and after sharing your cave for a month, I think I do—you’re probably scratching your cute temple like what the heck? Ock LAUGHS at letter-writers, then says something witty like, “Make yourself useful,” before tearing off their arms and carving the wristbones into spearheads.
Well, that was Old Ock. New Ock has a different perspective. No doubt you’ve noticed that I’ve been standing more upright lately. Those few vertical inches have changed my worldview. Literally. Instead of looking at cracked mud and mammoth scat and your breasts, my view soars over treetops, stars, and your breasts.
New sights put New Ock in mind of big and distant things. The horizon. The future. The whole deal between men and women.
Ah, but listen to me go on. If Dr. Ur was looking over my shoulder, he’d say I was “practicing avoidance.” Then again, if Dr. Ur was looking over my shoulder, he’d find himself suddenly armless. Ha! …[Keep Reading]…
Bryan is the author of The Lost Episodes of Revie Bryson
Mike Puican (poetry, ’09): Mike’s poem “The Lawyer Objects to Metaphoric Language” appears in the summer/fall 2012 issue of TriQuarterly.
The Lawyer Objects to Metaphoric Language
Show me the fireball of desire, the scarlet carpet of untamed horses,
the roar of stone lions. Present the evidence! he says,That fish spawn in tree trunks, that starlings
fly through the sleep of schoolchildren!The judge glances at her watch. She thinks of her lover’s body
touched by the morning’s sun. She could use a cigarette...[Keep Reading]…
You can listen to Mike read his poem aloud at TriQuarterly Online.
Beverley Bie Brahic (poetry, ’06): Beverley’s poetry collection White Sheets
Poems from White Sheets have appeared in Poetry, The Southern Review, Field, Literary Imagination, Notre Dame Review, The TLS and elsewhere.
WHITE SHEETS
Airstrike hits wedding party—breaking news
The empty laundry basket
fills with molecules of light.
She stands beside it, arms falling
into the aftermath of the task.
Gesture is a proto-language
researchers say: the same circuits
light the brain when a chimp
signals help me please (hand
outstretched, palm up) as when
human beings process speech.
In the cave the hunter figure
mirrors his spear’s trajectory
towards the deer it will never,
of course, attain. The woman
sees nothing untoward. Her body
bars the spattered something
in the middle distance, though all
of this is right up close: the shed
they’ll use to dress the meat, the plane
geometry of white sheets
on a line. The world is beautiful,
she thinks, or feels, as deer
sense something coming
and move out of range. Beautiful,
the woman thinks, and lifts
the laundry basket to her arms—
beautiful, and orderly.
Beverley’s translation of Apollinaire’s poems, The Little Auto is also available from CBEditions.
Laurie Saurborn Young (poetry, ’08): Laurie’s poem “Draught” appears in the latest issue of The Collagist:
Draught
Much happens every day until it disappears.
I dream I am the sound of a hand
pulling a bell. Get me to the waterNietzsche said, but every
one thought it a joke...[Keep Reading]…
Laurie is the author of Carnavoria
Katie Runde (fiction, ’12): Katie’s new piece “Extra Lives” appears in the latest issue of the Foundling Review:
I want to grow up moving from town to town.
I’ll always be the new girl, and the third grade teacher will spell my name wrong, “Chrissy” instead of “Christy,” and the eighth-grade guidance counselor will give me someone else’s schedule by accident, so I’ll have to go around and return all the books I got on the first day, except the Earth Science book Mrs. Meinhardt gave me since Mrs. Meinhardt happens to still be my teacher in my real schedule just like she was in the wrong one. I’ll lose one irreplaceable thing every time we pack and unpack again: my adjustable ruby-colored birth stone ring in Tallahassee, my cat Gonzo in Phoenix, the Eiffel Tower keychain my Aunt Susan brought back for me when we leave Spokane. I’ll ride in the middle seat of the U-Haul, the vinyl and soaked-in-smoke smell of the front seat making me sick. I’ll listen for the radio to turn to static and for the pop in my ears as the U-Haul struggles up the hills...[Keep Reading]…
Patricia Eakins (fiction, ’77) will read July 20 with Mikhail Horowitz at the Liberty Free Theatre in Liberty, NY, as part of their First Hearings Series. The reading will take place at 7:30 pm, and reservations are encouraged. Visit the theatre’s website for more information, or contact them directly.
Liberty Free Theatre
109 S. Main Street,
Liberty, NY 12754
(845) 292-3788
Patricia is the author of The Marvelous Adventures of Pierre Baptiste: Father and Mother, First and Last
Matthew Olzmann (poetry, ’09): Matthew’s poem “‘Nothing Gets Through to You, Jackass'” is currently online at Body:
“NOTHING GETS THROUGH TO YOU, JACKASS”
When Catullus says it,
it sounds more eloquent
than when I say it:
Nothing gets through to you, jackass...[Keep Reading]…
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