Knife Switch December 31, 2014
Posted by The Typist in A Fiction, cryptical envelopment, New Orleans, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.1 comment so far
Or, The ritualistic use of tobacco and whiskey in modulating irregularities in pharmacologically induced states of a socially integrated and productive equilibrium perceived by the subject as happiness.
Z-z-z-z-z-Zap. The knife switch (sparks optional). Too drowsy to read at 8:30 p.m. Prisoner-in-the-spotlight wide awake at 10:30 p.m. 
One whiskey, two whiskeys, three whiskeys, snore. The addition of Buproprion to an SSRI regimen to combat a lethargy born of a crisis in the ability to give a fuck is not indicated if significant sleep disturbances occur. Such disturbances lead to a reliance on coffee (praised be its name) to overcome the loss of sleep resulting in an aggravation in sleep disturbances. Don’t drink so much coffee is not included in the detailed, agate-type instructions and cautions.
Socially integrated. Forget Integration of the Self, the once Holy Grail attainable by psychotherapy or a whispered, $300 personal mantra.
‘Selfhood’ or complete autonomy is a common Western approach to psychology and models of self are employed constantly in areas such as psychotherapy and self-help. Edward E. Sampson (1989) argues that the preoccupation with independence is harmful in that it creates racial, sexual and national divides and does not allow for observation of the self-in-other and other-in-self.
The very notion of selfhood has been attacked on the grounds that it is seen as necessary for the mechanisms of advanced capitalism to function. In Inventing our selves: Psychology, power, and personhood, Nikolas Rose (1998) proposes that psychology is now employed as a technology that allows humans to buy into an invented and arguably false sense of self. In this way, ‘Foucault’s theories of self have been extensively developed by Rose to explore techniques of governance via self-formation…the self has to become an enterprising subject, acquiring cultural capital in order to gain employment’,[23] thus contributing to self-exploitation.
Integration, then, into what? My current state of disintegration–indicated by the inability to give a fuck, by anti-social tendencies bordering on agoraphobia relieved only by occasional atavistic, narcissistic forays into barflyism–is unlikely to be relieved by anything short of a trip to Room 101. Some breakthrough is required but in my current state of disinsurance it will have to be a breakthrough of my own making.
There are a million doors in the naked city, exterior and interior, almost all of them painted in a uniform palette of whites . How then to find the one that may be opened by the application of the correct bottle (larger or smaller), by incantation (Speak, Friend) or by kicking the fucker down? What lies beyond it, in the magical land where old dogs learn new tricks? (Everybody’s going to be happy/That means you and me, my love). Or is consideration of this possibility simply another trap set by society to keep us moving along (nothing to see here; you’ll be late for work), a new flavor of savior on a stick?
In the event of an emergency, are you able to fill in the blank seat-back card in the pocket in front of you and execute what you have written?
Enter Title Here December 27, 2014
Posted by The Typist in cryptical envelopment, New Orleans, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.Tags: Nothing
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Some days demand nothing, not a vacuum but an absence of structure. At the holidays in particular there comes a point where a day of aimless amble, perhaps a ramble through Cansecos for a few necessities; all the chores stored up for this expensive long weekend started but left unfinished, at least for today. It is raining. There is a hangover involved, and out too late mesmerized past sense by music. I slept until one, my careful attention to keeping myself on a reasonable schedule when I must get up at 6:30 a.m. most days but have no office where I must appear except as an icon on a screen; that’s shot all to hell. That is where the nothing began: nothing as tangible as the sink of dirty dishes or stepping over the scattered winter clothes on my floor but an abstraction, a one not a zero or a two. A nice, round number, admimiting no possibility of the computation of an endless irrationality. I debated coffee versus pillow, a day of black emptiness but decided I ought to try to get back on something like Corporate Standard Time. The house cleaning I began to late yesterday (as I lingered over a book I wanted to finish) can wait. I might file a few of the carefully stacked papers, clean off the kitchen table, pass a Swiffer over the freshly mopped floor where I spilled coffee grinds this morning. Or I might not. I have other books to linger over. The grey overcast is a lullaby of listlessness, relieved only by the pool of lamplight at the couch. A new book, the Kinks anthology I received for Xmas, grown children who do not demand to be taken out into the snow or to the theater for some Xmas release, no demand to make Barbie talk or battle to conquer the Pokemon universe. Those days are long behind me. Nothing ventured, nothing gained: nothing true about that statement. A careful review of the mix of “See My Friends” by headphones, the new book of poetry from the book club I just rejoined. Nothing ventured, something gained: composure, an easing of the infernal spring inside my head, yesterday’s escape from Beckett’s The Unamable, my own compelling or distracting voices stilled by the overwhelming presence of the narrator’s voices. The only voice today is recognizably my own, relaxed enough for the first time in uncountable time to simply share my thoughts here, the pinnacle of the day. That and perhaps a piece of pie.
The Unnamable December 26, 2014
Posted by The Typist in cryptical envelopment, literature, New Orleans, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.Tags: Malloy, Malone Dies, Samuel Beckett, The Unamable
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Three Novels: Molloy / Malone Dies / The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Malloy? By all means yes. Malone Dies? Unquestionably. Read it soon. The Unnamable, well, unless you recognize that voice, unless that voice of imagination and uncertainty, curiosity and fear is unceasing in your head, that voice springs out of your dreams and into full stream the moment you awake, then proceed with caution. This way madness lies. If the narrator stills your own voice, replaces you own neurotic fantasy dystopia with The Unnameable, bringing with it the calm of insomniac familiarity, strengthens your resolve to not surrender to the utter certainty of despair, this last book may, perhaps, but not certainly (one can never be certain) be suitable for you.
Odd Words December 26, 2014
Posted by The Typist in books, Indie Book Shops, library, literature, New Orleans, NOLA, Odd Words, Poetry, publishing, Toulouse Street.add a comment
This quiet holiday week in literary New Orleans:
& Thursday at 6:30 pm the Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library hosts The Fiction Writers’ Group is a support group for serious writers of fiction. The group does not focus on poetry, essays or nonfiction. Events consist of critique sessions from group members, author talks and writing exercises. Free of charge and open to the public. Registration is not required.
& Every Friday The Rhyme Syndicate presents a spoken word open mic at Dish on Haynes Boulevard hosted by Hollywood. Doors at 8. Admission $7, $5 will college ID. Music by DJ XXL.
& This Sunday at 3 pm The Maple Leaf Reading Series features an Open Mic.
& Monday at 5:30 pm the Robert E. Smith branch of the New Orleans Pubic Library hosts a free and open creative writing workshop.
& At 7 pm the Latter Memorial Library features local author Carolyn Kolb discusses her latest book New Orleans Memories: One Writer’s City.
& Susan Larson, the former book editor of the former Times-Picayune newspaper and member of the National Book Critics Circle hosts The Reading Life on WWNO (89.9 FM) on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. She features interviews with authors of local and national interest. Watch Odd Words on Facebook and Google+ on Tuesdays for a complete list of her guests and features.
& Every Tuesday night get on the list to spit at the longest running spoken word venue in New Orleans at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club hosted by African-American Shakespear. Doors open at 7pm and the Mic pops at 8pm. It is $5 to get in.
A Child’s Christmas in Wales December 25, 2014
Posted by The Typist in cryptical envelopment, New Orleans, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.Tags: A Child's Christmas in Wales, Dyland Thomas, Xmas
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Matthew 25:40 December 24, 2014
Posted by The Typist in cryptical envelopment, New Orleans, NOLA, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.Tags: Merry Fucking Xmas, William Burroughs, Xmas
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The old version of A Junkie’s Christmas has been taken down from YouTube due to multiple copyright violations by the poster, and the new one cannot be embedded here because there is no commercial partnership between WordPress and YouTube.
I think this perfectly embodies the entwined spirits of modern Capitalism and Xianism.
The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6kHN92Yv48
If you wish to keep X in your Xmas, there are still shopping hours left to get yourself a whip and drive the cashiers out of the nearest department store.
Odd Words December 17, 2014
Posted by The Typist in Book Stores, books, bookstores, Indie Book Shops, literature, New Orleans, NOLA, Odd Words, Poetry, Toulouse Street.add a comment
This week in literary New Orleans at least one list is getting shorter. Your’s could get shorter, too; just stop by one of your locally-owned, independent bookstores. Just because B&N is close to Lakeside doesn’t mean you have to shop there.
& Thursday at 5:30 pm Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop hosts Mamie Gasperecz, Executive Director of Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, presents Luxury, Inequity & Yellow Fever: Living Legacies and the Story of Old New Orleans. The book pairs majestic photographs of the Hermann-Grima and Gallier Historic Houses with captivating historic accounts, offering us a direct connection to the turbulent times of New Orleans’ Golden Age. The new book by acclaimed photographer and author, Kerri McCaffety, features 152 pages of beautiful photographs and intriguing history that reveal intricate details about 19th century New Orleans—a time of wealth, romance, slavery, hurricanes and disease. In addition to the Hermann, Grima and Gallier families, McCaffety explores the lives of many who passed through these noteworthy homes, including slaves, Free People of Color, the ladies of The Woman’s Exchange and those currently keeping the legacy of the houses alive.
& Thursday at 6 pm brings the All People Open Mic Poetry Circle at Playhouse NOLA, 3124 Burgundy Street. 6-7 Mingling, Refreshments (BYOBeverage and food to share if you’d like) and Signing In. 7-10 PM Open Mic Alternating Hosts. No featured readers, No book signings. All People, all the time ! Contact POETRYPROCESS@gmail.com for more information..
& Thursday at 6 pm the Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library hosts the Sci-Fi Writing Group. James Butler, a writer of science fiction and fantasy (especially steampunk), leads a workshop to encourage the creation of these genres by local authors. Open to all levels. Free of charge and open to the public. No registration
& Thursday at 7:30 the Love Lost Lounge hosts a Performance of Galway Kinnell’s Book of Nightmares, rare performance of Kinnell’s 10 poem cycle and tribute to a great American Poet 1927-2014. For his 1982 Selected Poems he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry[1] and split the National Book Award for Poetry with Charles Wright.[2] From 1989 to 1993 he was poet laureate for the state of Vermont.
& Every Friday The Rhyme Syndicate presents a spoken word open mic at Dish on Haynes Boulevard hosted by Hollywood. Doors at 8. Admission $7, $5 will college ID. Music by DJ XXL.
& Saturday at 7 pm Andy Young and Khaled Hegazzi celebrate Andy’s poetry collection, All Night It Is Morning, (Lavender Ink / Diálogos Press), with an evening of wine, Egyptian food and poetry (not necessarily in that order) at Faubourg Wines.
& This Sunday at 3 pm The Maple Leaf Reading Series features an Open Mic.
& At Octavia Books Sunday at 3 pm there will be a a signing with E2 – photographers Elizabeth Kleinveld & Epaul Julien – featuring IN EMPATHY WE TRUST. This unbound boxed book includes twenty of the world’s most iconic art images – such as Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring; Rembrandt’s Jewish Bride; and Whistler’s Mother – remade with a photographer’s twist.
& At 7 pm Sunday oin José Torres-Tam,a for the final performance reading of the year to celebrate his debut book of poetry “Immigrant Dreams & Alien Nightmares” at the cozy Faubourg Marigny Art & Books, at 600 Frenchmen Street.
& Monday at 5 pm Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop hosts a listening party for the premier of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens on BBC Radio We’ll provide some snacks and drinks and listen to the radio old school. While you’re in, if you’re a Neil Gaiman fan, pick up your copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane so we can win a signing from Neil himself!
& Susan Larson, the former book editor of the former Times-Picayune newspaper and member of the National Book Critics Circle hosts The Reading Life on WWNO (89.9 FM) on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. She features interviews with authors of local and national interest. Watch Odd Words on Facebook and Google+ on Tuesdays for a complete list of her guests and features.
& Tina Freeman, whose photographers grace the pages of ARTIST SPACES, will be on hand at Octavia Books to sign and/inscribe copies from 1:30-2:30 on Tuesday.
& Every Tuesday night get on the list to spit at the longest running spoken word venue in New Orleans at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club hosted by African-American Shakespear. Doors open at 7pm and the Mic pops at 8pm. It is $5 to get in.
Wednesday is Xmas Eve, and I’m guessing none of the regularly scheduled events are going on. The next Odd Words listing will appear on Friday, Dec. 26.
Dec. 13 / Family Portrait December 16, 2014
Posted by The Typist in Toulouse Street.2 comments
I’ve shot several weddings, portraits and promotional posters; head shots, events, second lines and red-carpet openings; today, though, was the first time anybody ever asked me to shoot a funeral.
Pam Folse and Sandra Bohne, along with their brother Mark Folse, decided they wanted some nice portraits of the entire extended family when everyone was together for the funeral of their mother, Elaine. A mutual friend got us in touch, and this morning I carried my camera bag up to the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Mid-City.
Quite frankly, I was a little nervous about the prospect of shooting the attendees at a family funeral service. I don’t even feel comfortable at the weddings of strangers, half the time, let alone the day on which an entire family is mourning the loss of their 91-year old matriarch. Her three surviving children, though, were generous with their sharing…
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30 Century Man December 11, 2014
Posted by The Typist in A Fiction, cryptical envelopment, The Narrative, The Typist, Toulouse Street.2 comments
The video is a complete waste of your time: full of sound and worry, signifying nothing. I created it a few years ago Christmas after spending an entire day watching a House marathon, an activity for me that is not far removed from standing on a ledge throwing pigeons at the fire department while shouting gibberish.
Perhaps it’s not a complete waste of time. Not of mine, at least. Despite any desire to vanish into Africa or the South Pacific, I am not that likely to jump the next freight west to search for the ghost of Charles Bukowski in the sun-shocked underworld that is L.A. Maybe it’s just something I needed to get out of my system, a swollen psychological boil painfully anticipating the sitz bath of annihilation.
If this video speaks to you in some way, it may not be too late to get help. I find the drug stores in New Orleans among the finest in the world. You traverse the liquor aisle to reach the pharmacist.
Odd Words December 10, 2014
Posted by The Typist in Book Stores, books, bookstores, Indie Book Shops, library, literature, New Orleans, novel, Odd Words, Poetry, Toulouse Street.add a comment
This week in literary New Orleans:
& Thursday at 6 pm Garden District Book Shop hosts Ron Drez’s The War of 1812: Conflict and Deception: The British Attempt to Seize New Orleans and Nullify the Louisiana Purchase. At the climax of the war-inspired by the defeat of Napoleon in early 1814 and the perceived illegality of the Louisiana Purchase-the British devised a plan to launch a three-pronged attack against the northern, eastern, and southern U.S. borders. Concealing preparations for this strike by engaging in negotiations in Ghent, Britain meanwhile secretly issued orders to seize New Orleans and wrest control of the Mississippi and the lands west of the river. They further instructed British commander General Edward Pakenham not to cease his attack if he heard rumors of a peace treaty. Great Britain even covertly installed government officials within military units with the intention of immediately taking over administrative control once the territory was conquered. According to author Ronald J. Drez, the British strategy and the successful defense of New Orleans through the leadership of General Andrew Jackson affirm the serious implications of this climatic-battle.
& Thursday at 7 pm The Fiction Writer’s Group meets at the East Bank Regional Library of Jefferson Parish. The Fiction Writers’ Group is a support group for serious writers of fiction. The group does not focus on poetry, essays or nonfiction. Events consist of critique sessions from group members, author talks and writing exercises. Free of charge and open to the public. Registration is not required.
& Every Friday The Rhyme Syndicate presents a spoken word open mic at Dish on Haynes Boulevard hosted by Hollywood. Doors at 8. Admission $7, $5 will college ID. Music by DJ XXL.
& Freedom Writing for Women of Color is tentatively scheduled for Friday from 7-10 pm at Who Dat Coffee Cafe at the corner of Burgundy and Mandeville in the Marigny. For info on this program, email: poetryprocess@gmail.com.
& Saturday at 11:30 am Maple Street Book Shop features Story Time with Miss Maureen. She’ll read How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss, illustrated by David Catrow.
& When Santa’s knocked out cold by a Jack-in-the-Boxer’s walloping punch, deli owner Murray Kleiner reluctantly agrees to take his place. The suit doesn’t fit, Murray smells a bit like pickles, and there’s no way he can remember the names of all those reindeer. But with the help of a pushy elf and an eager-to-believe young boy, Murray finds out that even though he’s not big enough to fill Santa’s suit, he’s got more than enough heart to get the job done
& On Saturday from 1-3pm, come out to Exhibit Be for #BlackPoetsSpeakOut, a community poetry reading featuring local Black poets responding to the nationwide assault on Black lives (ExhibitBe will be open from 12pm-4pm). “We are Black poets who will not remain silent while this
nation murders black people. We have a right to be angry.” This event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and one the last times ExhibitBe will be open to the public.
& Also at 1 pm Saturday a T(w)een Writing Workshop will be held the New Orleans Public Library Norman Mayer branch. No matter what kind of writing you do or even if just think you’d like to, join us 2nd Saturdays in the Teen Room to talk about and share (if you want to) your stories, poetry, scripts, or comics.
& Saturday brings ColdCuts presents: CHRISTOPHER SHIPMAN and VINCENT CELLUCCI to Kajun’s Pub at 5:30 pm. About the series: Cold Cuts is a poetry reading interested in performance and a performance interested in reading poetry. Each reading will consist of 3 – often on the theme of 2 poets and a 3rd weird thing: the performative. But we encourage all our poets to perform and all our performances to poet. We like to showcase our TENDER LOIN writers, and we like to showcase local artists.
& Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm brings Wit and Wrath: The Life & Times of Dorothy Parker, a one-woman show by Claudia Baumgarten, directed by Diana Shortez. This literary icone invites you to spend a leisurely hour with her and promises you will be entertained by her her sharp wit and charming manner. At Tasseology, 1228 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd..
& This Sunday at 3 pm The Maple Leaf Reading Series features John Gery’s and Carolyn Hembree’s MFA Creative Writing students at UNO in a group reading.
&Sunday at 5 pm Richard Ford comes to the Garden District Book Shop to read from and sign Let Me Be Frank With You. A brilliant new work that returns Richard Ford to the hallowed territory that sealed his reputation as an American master: the world of Frank Bascombe, and the landscape of his celebrated novels The Sportswriter, the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner winning Independence Day, and The Lay of the Land. In his trio of world-acclaimed novels portraying the life of an entire American generation, Richard Ford has imagined one of the most indelible and widely discussed characters in modern literature, Frank Bascombe. Through Bascombe—protean, funny, profane, wise, often inappropriate—we’ve witnessed the aspirations, sorrows, longings, achievements and failings of an American life in the twilight of the twentieth century. Now, in Let Me Be Frank with You, Ford reinvents Bascombe in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In four richly luminous narratives, Bascombe (and Ford) attempts to reconcile, interpret and console a world undone by calamity. It is a moving and wondrous and extremely funny odyssey through the America we live in at this moment. Ford is here again working with the maturity and brilliance of a writer at the absolute height of his powers.
& Wednesday at the Latter Memorial Library A Book Club Named Desire meets. Adults meet to discuss a local classic every fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 pm. For more information, contact Toni at tlmccourt@hotmail.com.
& On Wednesday Esoterotica’s local provocateurs are not only bringing you a holiday show with original erotica to keep your warm through this festive season. We are also hosting an Arts Market with Sensual Art & Sexy Sundries from very talented locals. So join us for a sexy good time, plus a great opportunity to shop local this season and finish up you gift list with some really unique, fun and frisky items. We’ll see you there!
& At 8 pm Wednesday it is the final performance for 2014 of Poetry & Music at BJs’ Blood Jet Series at BJ’s at 8 pm. This Wednesday’s featured readers are Laura Goldstein and Toby Altman. Goldstein has published poetry and essays in the West Wind Review, Denver Quarterly, American Letters and Commentary, Tenderloin, How2, Jacket2 and other fine publications. She has six chapbooks, including phylum from horse less press and let her from dancing girl press. Her first collection of poetry, loaded arc was released by Trembling Pillow Press in 2013 and awesome camera is her second full-length collection. She teaches Writing and Literature at Loyola University and is the co-curator of the Red Rover Series with Jennifer Karmin. Altman lives in Chicago with his dog and friends. He is the author of two chapbooks, Tender Industrial Fabric (Greying Ghost, 2015) and Asides (Furniture Press, 2012). He is writing a verse play called Arcadia, Indiana which is about language, grief, gender violence, homoeroticism, environmental destruction, capital, the subversive fecundity of traditional form and genre, and the weird deadness of the avant-garde.
& Every Wednesday at 8 pm at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse there is an hour-long open mic poetry night (or fiction night; whatever you want to read really!).
Odd Words December 3, 2014
Posted by The Typist in Book Stores, books, Indie Book Shops, literature, memoir, New Orleans, novel, Odd Words, Poetry, publishing, reading, Toulouse Street, Writing.add a comment
This week in literary New Orleans:
& Moira Crone will be at Maple Street Book Shop December 4th at 6PM to read from and sign her new book, The Ice Garden. Ten-year-old Claire adores her brand-new baby sister, but her mother doesn’t feel the same. Trapped in the suffocating culture of the small-town South in the early 1960s, Claire’s mother tries to cope with her own mental illness and all the expectations placed upon a woman of her class. While Claire’s father remains too dazzled by his beautiful wife to recognize the impending dangers, Claire is left largely on her own to save herself and her baby sister—with mesmerizing and shocking consequences. Moira Crone is the author of five books of fiction, including stories, and novels. She lives in New Orleans. Her works have appeared in dozens of anthologies and over forty magazines and journals
& Thursday at 6 pm Room 220 is pleased to present a Happy Hour Salon with poets Andy Young and Sara Slaughter at the Press Street HQ (3718 St. Claude Ave.). The event will celebrate new publications by both poets, and they will be reading from these works. Andy Young’s debut poetry collection, All Night It Is Morning, cuts across geography, politics, language, and culture. Raised in Appalachia, rooted in New Orleans, and now part of an Egyptian-American family with whom she spent the last two years in Cairo, her poetry presents an outward-looking American perspective that reflects a life with one foot each in Western and Arab cultures. Using the aubade, the traditional form of lovers parting at dawn, to anchor the book, Young employs a wide variety of forms to poetically navigate post-Katrina destruction, the tumult of the Arab Spring, and myriad points—personal and political—in between and beyond. The book’s cover, a graffiti mural by Alaa Awad (now destroyed) that led the way to Tahrir Square, is a work both ancient and modern, urban and agrarian, beautiful and horrible. This captures the spirit of the book, steeped in mourning and hope and a belief in the voice of the people. Sara Slaughter will read from her first chapbook, Upriver, published by Press Street and featuring woodcuts by Layla Ardalan. Slaughter lives in New Orleans where she teaches Creative Writing at Lusher Charter School. Her work has recently appeared in New World Writing, The Cortland Review, and PANK.
& Thursday at 6 pm Garden District Book Shop features Christopher Buehlman and The Lesser Dead. New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody—he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city’s sidewalks. The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It’s almost too easy. Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.
& Octavia Books hosts Dr. Laura Kelley joins us to discuss and sign THE IRISH in NEW ORLEANS at 6 pm. In this well-researched volume, historian Dr. Laura D. Kelley tells the colorful, amusing and often adventurous history of the Irish in New Orleans. From “Bloody” O’Reilly in the 18th century to the great churches and charitable organizations built by the Irish Famine immigrants in the 19th century to the Irish-dominated politics of the 20th century, as well as Irish dance, music and sports, the author introduces the reader to a hitherto untold story of one of America’s most historical cities. The book also includes essays by Betsy McGovern recalling her involvement in the city’s Irish music scene and Terrence Fitzmorris who discusses wakes and funerary practices of the Irish. The lively and readable text is beautifully illustrated with photographs by Carrie Lee Pierson Schwartz that convey the continuing vibrancy of the Irish community of the Crescent City.
& Also on Thursday at 6 pm Award-winning local author, journalist, and lecturer, George Gurtner, will discuss his most recent book, Cast of Characters, colorful true stories of life in and around the Big Easy, at the Nix Library. The book is titled after Gurtner’s column that he wrote for New Orleans magazine for 35 years. His first book was Historic Churches of Old New Orleans
& Tuesday at 7 pm the East Jefferson Regional Library hosts the SciFi, Fantasy and Horror Writer’s Group. James Butler, a writer of science fiction and fantasy (especially steampunk), leads a workshop to encourage the creation of these genres by local authors. Open to all levels. Free of charge and open to the public.
& Friday night at 5:00 pm Octavia Books hosts a children’s book event. Miss Holly will present the Good Night, Sleep Tight (Safe from Snow) Story Hour featuring The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson.
& Every Friday The Rhyme Syndicate presents a spoken word open mic at Dish on Haynes Boulevard hosted by Hollywood. Doors at 8. Admission $7, $5 will college ID. Music by DJ XXL.
& Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, a holiday started by author Jenny Milchman in order to instill a love of bookstores in children. We’ll have snacks and a special story time with Miss Maureen at 11:30am. She’ll read Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson & The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak. Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, young Harold draws himself a landscape full of wonder and excitement. Full of funny twists and surprises, this joyful story shows just how far your imagination can take you. Harold and the Purple Crayon has delighted readers of all ages for over fifty years. A #1 New York Times bestseller, The Book With No Pictures is an innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Novak. You might think a book with no pictures seems boring and serious. Except… here’s how books work. Everything written on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. Even if the words say… BLORK. Or BLUURF. Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY. Cleverly irreverent and irresistibly silly, The Book with No Pictures is one that kids will beg to hear again and again.
& Saturday at 2 pm the Poetry Buffett returns to the Latter Memorial Library. Poets Ralph Adamo, Laura Mullen, and Andrea Young read from their work.
& Sunday at 3 pm Room 220 presents José Torres-Tama Performance Reading / Book Signing for Immigrant Dreams & Alien Nightmares, a debut collection of performance poems & other verse by Torres-Tama.
& This Sunday at 3 pm The Maple Leaf Reading Series features an Open Mic.
& Sunday at 7 pm at the Shadowbox Theater SLAM New Orleans hosts its last open mic and poetry slam of 2014! This will be our final qualifying show before the 2015 semi-finals and finals in January. Poets, there are two qualifications for competing in January’s semi-finals: A. You must compete in at least TWO slams during the 2014 season. B. You must place in the top two (out of poets who have not previously placed in the top two earlier in the year) in at least ONE slam during the 2014 season.
& Monday at 5 pm at the East New Orleans Regional Library New Orleans Spoken Word Artists will present monthly workshops that include poetry writing and performance, with the goal of building community through writing and strengthening students’ written and verbal communication skills.
& Susan Larson, the former book editor of the former Times-Picayune newspaper and member of the National Book Critics Circle hosts The Reading Life on WWNO (89.9 FM) on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. She features interviews with authors of local and national interest. Watch Odd Words on Facebook and Google+ on Tuesdays for a complete list of her guests and features.
& Dannielle Owens-Reid and Kristin Russo have created a very important resource, THIS IS a BOOK for PARENTS of GAY KIDS. Join the discussion on Tuesday, 7-8 P.M., at the Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ. Written in an accessible Q&A format, here, finally, is the go-to resource for parents hoping to understand and communicate with their gay child. Through their LGBTQ-oriented site, the authors are uniquely experienced to answer parents’ many questions and share insight and guidance on both emotional and practical topics. Filled with real-life experiences from gay kids and parents, this is the book gay kids want their parents to read. Canadian author Vivek Shraya will join the authors AND will give a reading from from his book, GOD LOVES HAIR, a compilation of short stories following a tender, intellectual, and curious child as he navigates complex realms of sexuality, gender, racial politics, religion, and belonging. Octavia Books will be on site with copies of the book.
& Every Tuesday night get on the list to spit at the longest running spoken word venue in New Orleans at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club hosted by African-American Shakespear. Doors open at 7pm and the Mic pops at 8pm. It is $5 to get in.
& Tuesday at 7 pm the East Jefferson Regional Library hosts an Author Event! Magic in a Shaker, with Marvin Allen. Marvin J. Allen will discuss his new book, but he’ll also talk about two other subjects: the history of Prohibition; and Christmas cocktails. Allen is the bar manager and bartender at the Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar. Voted New Orleans Magazine’s Bartender of the Year in 2005, Allen has been behind the counter for more than 20 years. A member of the United States Bartenders’ Guild, he is a USBG certified spirits professional. Allen’s emphasis on classic ingredients and fresh tastes have earned him several honors: his Southern Comfortini won second place in the Tales of the Cocktail contest in 2003, and in 2004 his Blushing Southern Belle earned honorable mention in the same competition. Allen also placed in the 2010 42 Below Vodka competition with his Peanut Butter and Jelly Martini. A recipient of the 2010 City Business Culinary Connoisseur award, Allen has been an “adopted native” of New Orleans for more than 25 years.
& Wednesday at the Latter Memorial Library A Book Club Named Desire meets. Adults meet to discuss a local classic every fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 pm. For more information, contact Toni at tlmccourt@hotmail.com.
& At 8 pm Wednesday it is Poetry & Music at BJs’ Blood Jet Series at BJ’s at 8 pm. This Wednesday’s featured readers are Tim Earley and Jessica Comola.
& Every Wednesday at 8 pm at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse there is an hour-long open mic poetry night (or fiction night; whatever you want to read really!).
or at these independent New Orleans bookstores:
Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans 