Odd Words

So I didn’t exactly forget to write a column but I was just tired when I got home last night, still a bit worn out by last weekend. I promise I’ll get back to my notes and flesh out some of the Tennessee Williams Festival pieces soon.

The level of excitement around the cover and other aspects of Haruki Murakami’s long awaited novel 1Q84 is approaching a frightening, Harry Potter-esque level of frenzy but hell: if the book goes on sale at midnight I’ll probably be there in line.

Here on Toulouse Street we are big fans of David Simon’s. Here is a genuinely odd and thoughtful homage to The Wire, considered as Victorian social novel. Perhaps you have to be trapped in the gulag of academia to fully appreciate this but go on over for the illustrations if nothing else.

Its a quiet week on Bayou Woebegone with only a handful of events worth touting.

§ Tonight 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series proudly presents poet, artist, and activist HERBERT KEARNEY, followed by an open mike by under the gentle supervision and derision of Jimmy Ross.

§ Also tonight, Join Room 220 as we partake in the second installment of the Happy Hour Salon Series at Antenna Gallery. Brad Richard and his dad, Jim, will discuss the latter’s influence on Brad’s writing, a theme he explores in his new book, Curtain Optional.

§ Poets Dave Brinks, Gina Ferrara and Lee Grue will read from their work Saturday, April 2 at 2 pm at the Latter Memorial Library.

§ As a policy, I normally don’t post events at the Metairie Barnes & Nobles, especially New Orleans-based initiatives that use B&N for fundraising (as my son’s charter school has), but for NOLAFemmes I’ll go ahead and post it: There will be a signing of the book In the Land of What Now this Saturday at the Metairie Barnes and Noble this Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. This is the book that served as the blueprint for the movie Flood Streets. This event is the first Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation book fair and 20% of the proceeds will go to to LCEF, which awards grant money to local artists like Helen Krieger, the author of In the Land of What Now and producer of Flood Streets.

§ Also on Saturday and also at Barnes & Noble (ah, hell, people gotta sell books) Chin Music Press author Tracey Tangerine will be signing Buddy Zooka in the French Quarter and Beyond from 3-5 pm. CMP is of course the wonderfully bibliophile publisher of Where We Know: New Orleans as Home featured on the right. This late addition to the listings is also part of the LCEF event.

§ Poet and comedian Chris Champagne will do a one night performance of his show Race Track Tales next Thursday, 4-7 at The Steak Knife Restaurant on Harrison Avenue in Lakeview.

One last thought: The Academy of American Poets at Poet.org will feature a guest poet every day in April for National Poetry Month. To get in on this, you’ll have to follow their Twitter feed.