Promoting Houston Writers, etc.
Time goes so quickly when you're busy like a bee.
So the main thing I'm trying to promote right now is this Houston Writers Festival I'm sponsoring in conjunction with the Barnes & Noble where I have my day job. Basic information:
Nearly 20 authors appearing throughout the day at 5000 Westheimer. Store hours: 9am-11pm.
Poetry readings, featuring 2008 Texas Poet Laureate Larry D. Thomas (http://larrydthomas.com/), will take place at 11:30am at Canyon Cafe (in the same shopping center).
Prose readings, featuring Katherine Center (http://katherinecenter.com/), will take place at 5:30pm, also at Canyon Cafe.
Children's books readings will take place in the store's Children's departement at 2pm.
It's going to be a lot of fun. And a lot tiring. Two weeks from today. I feel like there's much to be done, and yet, there's not much to be done at this point except wait until there's something to be done. You know? I find event planning to be like this. There's a flurry of activity, followed by a lot of waiting, followed by a lot of activity.
Mostly, though, it's going to be a lot of fun.
If you know someone in Houston, be sure to tell them about it. I hope it's the start building a more visible literary community here.
And if you're in Houston, your presence is greatly appreciated. (I'd like to say required, but I hate to sound pushy.)
A full listing of the authors to be present can be found at: http://neonuma.com/festival.html
Etc
I'm also busy with Fieldwork workshops. It's going especially well this session. There's six of us, so a small group, but it feels very comfortable. People are trying out a lot of different material and everyone seems energized by the feedback sessions---no small trick, for those of you familiar with feedback at workshops!
I've mentioned writing book reviews for OutSmart magazine, here in Houston. I don't have anything in the new, November issue, but I'll be reviewing the new Nureyev biography for the December issue. I'll even get more than 70 words to do it! It's space well spent. The biography is 800 pages---seems like it should get more than 70 words, eh? Not that I'm complaining either way. I'm really enjoying doing these small reviews. It's forcing me to read books I normally wouldn't have noticed.
I did want to say a few more words about the first review I wrote for them, however. The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue by Manuel Munoz is the book I reviewed because I just liked it a lot and thought it should get more exposure. But 70 words doesn't really allow for the depth of this book.
First of all, it's a short story collection, but the stories all take place in one town in southern California, and characters reappear throughout the book. If the book isn't exactly a novel, it's definitely a layered exploration of one community.
And here's the thing about Munoz's writing: He has no heroes, no villains, just people for you to identify with. He manages to get into the skin of the character who could easily be seen as a monster (like the father who pushes his overweight son to suicide or the man who is left to raise a kid his partner adopted but never wanted himself) and makes your heart ache for them. Gay characters, straight characters, men, women---it's as if Munoz has been all of them and proves the old adage: there are no villains, everyone thinks of him/herself as a sympathetic character doing the best they can.
One thing that Munoz does is he manages to pick up on subtleties and makes you notice them. I've learned about myself from reading Munoz stories. One thing he's especially adept at is handling the ambiguities between gay men and straight men. A little gay boy, for example, being taught by his sister, how men greet one another---and how he was doing it wrong. And that sounds like it was a lesson. It's not as if the sister said, "Men do this when they meet each other." But at the end of the incident, the little boy understands his sister had inadvertently told him who he is. It's just masterfully done.
This is Munoz's second short story collection. His first was Zigzagger and I found it only because it was published by Northwestern University Press, where I was working at the time. Both collections are worthy of space on your bookshelf. Gay, straight, male, female, Hispanic or not---Munoz has something to say to us all.
That's all for today. Onward to my lengthy list of things to do . . .
So the main thing I'm trying to promote right now is this Houston Writers Festival I'm sponsoring in conjunction with the Barnes & Noble where I have my day job. Basic information:
Nearly 20 authors appearing throughout the day at 5000 Westheimer. Store hours: 9am-11pm.
Poetry readings, featuring 2008 Texas Poet Laureate Larry D. Thomas (http://larrydthomas.com/), will take place at 11:30am at Canyon Cafe (in the same shopping center).
Prose readings, featuring Katherine Center (http://katherinecenter.com/), will take place at 5:30pm, also at Canyon Cafe.
Children's books readings will take place in the store's Children's departement at 2pm.
It's going to be a lot of fun. And a lot tiring. Two weeks from today. I feel like there's much to be done, and yet, there's not much to be done at this point except wait until there's something to be done. You know? I find event planning to be like this. There's a flurry of activity, followed by a lot of waiting, followed by a lot of activity.
Mostly, though, it's going to be a lot of fun.
If you know someone in Houston, be sure to tell them about it. I hope it's the start building a more visible literary community here.
And if you're in Houston, your presence is greatly appreciated. (I'd like to say required, but I hate to sound pushy.)
A full listing of the authors to be present can be found at: http://neonuma.com/festival.html
Etc
I'm also busy with Fieldwork workshops. It's going especially well this session. There's six of us, so a small group, but it feels very comfortable. People are trying out a lot of different material and everyone seems energized by the feedback sessions---no small trick, for those of you familiar with feedback at workshops!
I've mentioned writing book reviews for OutSmart magazine, here in Houston. I don't have anything in the new, November issue, but I'll be reviewing the new Nureyev biography for the December issue. I'll even get more than 70 words to do it! It's space well spent. The biography is 800 pages---seems like it should get more than 70 words, eh? Not that I'm complaining either way. I'm really enjoying doing these small reviews. It's forcing me to read books I normally wouldn't have noticed.
I did want to say a few more words about the first review I wrote for them, however. The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue by Manuel Munoz is the book I reviewed because I just liked it a lot and thought it should get more exposure. But 70 words doesn't really allow for the depth of this book.
First of all, it's a short story collection, but the stories all take place in one town in southern California, and characters reappear throughout the book. If the book isn't exactly a novel, it's definitely a layered exploration of one community.
And here's the thing about Munoz's writing: He has no heroes, no villains, just people for you to identify with. He manages to get into the skin of the character who could easily be seen as a monster (like the father who pushes his overweight son to suicide or the man who is left to raise a kid his partner adopted but never wanted himself) and makes your heart ache for them. Gay characters, straight characters, men, women---it's as if Munoz has been all of them and proves the old adage: there are no villains, everyone thinks of him/herself as a sympathetic character doing the best they can.
One thing that Munoz does is he manages to pick up on subtleties and makes you notice them. I've learned about myself from reading Munoz stories. One thing he's especially adept at is handling the ambiguities between gay men and straight men. A little gay boy, for example, being taught by his sister, how men greet one another---and how he was doing it wrong. And that sounds like it was a lesson. It's not as if the sister said, "Men do this when they meet each other." But at the end of the incident, the little boy understands his sister had inadvertently told him who he is. It's just masterfully done.
This is Munoz's second short story collection. His first was Zigzagger and I found it only because it was published by Northwestern University Press, where I was working at the time. Both collections are worthy of space on your bookshelf. Gay, straight, male, female, Hispanic or not---Munoz has something to say to us all.
That's all for today. Onward to my lengthy list of things to do . . .
posted by Neil Ellis Orts at 9:44 AM
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