Nigeria

Jefferson Market Library 425 6th Avenue, NY,NY Saturday, September 30, 3pm   Ron will be reading from his latest novel Norman’s Cousin & Other Writings (Unsolicited Press, Portland, OR, June 2023). The engine for this selection of writings from Brooklyn and Manhattan (1974-the present) is story-telling, but beneath the plots lurk layers of madness and magic, as well as startling, genre-busting juxtapositions. For example, two related stories, “Buying a Car” and “Selling a Car,” are N.Y. City picaresques combined with technical automotive detail and the history of a marriage. Written almost three decades apart, these two stories mirror their times, from the 1970s recession to the wave of immigration that was a by-product of the war in Afghanistan Norman’s Cousin & Other Writings is full of allusions to literature and the other arts. “Simple” takes its title from Langston Hughes, and alludes to the history of rhythm-and-blues. “Carla, the Copy-Shop Girl,” . . .

by Philip Dacey (Nigeria 1963-65) • Peace Corps Volunteers, returned or current, who are turning their experiences into poetry and looking for appropriate publishing outlets, ought to know about WordTech Communications of Cincinnati, publisher of my most recent book. Owned and operated by Kevin Walzer and Lori Jareo, WordTech specializes in poetry, utilizes print-on-demand technology, but — and this is important — is not a vanity press. The publishers are determined to make poetry profitable for all concerned without requiring subsidization by the poets themselves. One sign of their seriousness is their ability to attract contemporary American poets who have a significant following already. Their list includes Barry Spacks, Allison Joseph, Frederick Turner, Rhina K. Espaillat, and Nick Carbo. Jareo and Walzer are in fact well aware of the automatic association of p.o.d. technology and vanity publishing. They aim explicitly at severing that connection, demonstrating by their own example that . . .

From creative writing at Leicester 2/25/23   Bobba Cass is a gay man, father and grandad. He grew up in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. where he benefitted from education for all, not just the selected. He now lives in Leicester. He has a liberal arts degree from Willamette University, and advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and De Montfort University. Transformative was Peace Corps and subsequent life in Nigeria, 1963-1967. In addition to travelling along the cadences of poetry, he has written a collection of creature fables for children in the series, From Gramps with Love, as part of Creatures Creatives Collective. He has completed three semi-autobiographical novels taking himself from childhood in Seattle to being evacuated from Nsukka, Nigeria at the beginning of the Biafran War. His new collection of poems is one of a series of limited editions of poems including four and twenty, fourteen and Leicester Skies. Websites are here and here. About naked by Bobba Cass naked is a collection . . .

  “I just had to live a long time,” Beloved Old Mission memories turned into children’s coloring book by Tim Carroll.   By Jessie Williams June 19, 2022   MAPLETON — As a fifth-generation Old Mission Peninsula resident, Tim Carroll has an abundance of stories about his home. “I’ve always been interested in the history of this place, and I love my roots,” Carroll said. Carroll, 83, is sharing his perspective on the Peninsula’s history in a new coloring book, Once Upon A Peninsula, which features stories from his boyhood on the Peninsula. The book, which includes coloring and other activities, features stories and pictures from the Old Mission Peninsula during Carroll’s youth. Once Upon A Peninsula was illustrated by local artist Yvette Haberlein, who previously illustrated “The Traverse City Coloring Book” project. Carroll is a regular presenter at Peninsula Community Library, hosting the monthly history-focused “Talk with Tim” program. . . .