On this day of love, I give you so many gifts. The first and biggest is this.
This is a project I worked on in 2010 and 2011 and these are some of the stories that came from that project. It’s a semi linked collection of stories where relationships are destroyed in a fucked up version of pay it forward. To get an idea of what you’re in for, check out “Quality Control“. Please buy a copy and listen to The National’s High Violet album while reading it.
PANKwas named as a literary heir by the New York Times. I’m floored and honored to be their Interviews Editor every issue. Also, shout out to Annalemma for making this list, as Annalemma was born in Orlando.
I have a poem in the debut issue of FeatherLit, which you can check out here.
Yesterday, I was supposed to teach a workshop on writing love poems. I got to the venue an hour early, set up, and my girlfriend and I waited for people to come. I left at 11:25 am after no one showed up.
There are several factors to consider, starting with the parking situation. There was some sort of event that caused parking to be a nightmare. However, any one, including us, could have made it there early enough without problems. Another factor to consider is the level of promotion of the workshop by the venue. They only started promoting it a few weeks out and did not get it listed in any of the papers for people to take notice. That should have been something I did as well, and I didn’t, even though I had a gut feeling the venue was not going to promote. Finally, the venue itself is a factor. Based on the show I went to last time involving poetry, there seemed more emphasis on music and doing things around the community instead of literature and while this is not a bad thing at all, it does create a barrier for any literary events or workshops that want to give that area of town and venue a crack. I would like to teach writing, as that is something I never have done before, but I will be looking for a venue that has demonstrated consistency and receptiveness toward literary events and workshops instead of an untested venue.
I’m not mad people didn’t show up, more disappointed. With these lessons learned, I hope I get a better turnout the next time I want to facilitate a workshop.
I did a flash essay for Heavy Feather Review‘s podcast, which you can listen to and read here.
There Will Be Words is this Tuesday. Hope to see you there. This is in a couple of weeks. If you’re at AWP, hope to see you there.
I just got back from participating in a fantastic edition of Culture & Cocktails. My fellow readers, Whitney Hamrick, Jocelyn Bartkevicius, and Nick Brown, killed it in various ways (I booked Nick for There Will Be Words in the future). I opened the night up with a set of all poems. Here they are.
Ashley Inguanta did a tremendous job with the booking and it was a great, great event. If you’re in Orlando or will be in Orlando, go. The next one is on March 9.
Tomorrow, February 11, is my love poem workshop Our Hearts Are Power Ballads. Starts at 11 am. Bring your favorite love poem or lyrics to your favorite love song, paper, something to write with, and an open mind. It’s free. Hope to see you there, Orlando.
Tomorrow, February 10, I’ll be performing here at 6pm $5 gets you in the venue and a glass of wine or beer. Pretty sweet deal.
Saturday, February 11, I am teaching here. Make sure to bring your favorite love poem or lyrics to your favorite love song, something to write with and something to write on.
Here is where you can relive or finally experience the first of many 15 Views of Orlando release parties.
This is me reading “Enrolling In The Human League”, which is in the first issue of the Heavy Feather Review, which if you haven’t bought yet, you should. It’s a damn fine issue.
It took me a week, but I’m finally, finally used to my new glasses.
Upgrade complete.
My eyes were a little worse this time and I found out from the optometrist that I have astigmatism in my left eyes. I would like to thank my parents for the faulty genetics (and a tank like immune system) . It’s been awhile since I’ve returned to the heavy framed nerd look but I fell in love with these frames when I saw them. Once it got the girlfriend seal of approval, these were meant for me.
This week is a busy one for me. Here’s the rundown where you can find me and listen to me read, talk, drink.
This Friday I’m part of Maitland Poets & Writers Culture & Cocktails reading series over at Germaine Marvel building: Maitland Art Center 231 W. Packwood Ave., Maitland. $5 gets you admission and a glass of wine or a beer (which is a sweet deal). Doors at 6. Readings are at 7pm. I’m reading with Kirsten Holt, Jocelyn Bartkevicius, and Nicholas Brown.
This Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm, there’s this
This will be a lot of fun. Just to let you know, I’m not the lecture type. This will be a discussion that requires active participation. You’ll be expected to take a little risk, which is required to write any love poem.
Also, we’ve got There Will Be Words on Valentine’s Day, a great place for a first or last date.
A big thank you goes out to the incredibly talented editor/writer Simon Jacobs for being the first to take advantage of my special, which I will now shamelessly plug on my own.
For $20, you get an autographed copy of Dodging Traffic, The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You is a Robot, and How Esmeralda Estrus Got Her Revenge and an original poem e-mailed to you. For $15, you get Esmeralda, Rapist, a mystery gift and an original poem e-mailed to you. Either way, you can wire the money over to senryujournalist at gmail dot com. All proceeds go to keeping me well stocked in Vitamin Jameson in Chicago, or to cure my terminal illness of sobriety, depending how you want to take it.
Finally, the fine folk at The Rusty Nail published five of my poems, which you can check out here.
Ronald Stowers was nice enough to record my poem during the slam I was in this past Tuesday. You can watch “The Genealogy of Irvine Welsh” below.
I’ve been working on my longest project yet and I don’t really have a deadline for it, taking it 500 or so words at a time. The current word count for it is about 15,540. Unlike some of the fiction I’ve written, I’m not mining anything from my life and surrounding it with out there concepts. I’ll be glad when I get the first draft done and start combing through it.
The project I’m currently working on spun out of a flash piece called From Jesus Christ, Boy Detective: Everything Must Be Slashed and WordPlaySound was nice enough to pick up the audio version (while red lightblubspicked up the text version). You can listen to it here and then I recommend listening to the rest of this podcast.
I won’t even talk about the bullshit shut out of Drive. I enjoyed the book tremendously and am actually not mad how the movie revised the story to a degree. The movie is gorgeous and one of the few movies I have bought on the day it comes out on DVD. (There Will Be Blood is the other).
Next week starts a deluge of shows. Here they are, linked for your pleasure.
Heavy Feather Review‘s first issue debuted last Saturday. When I got my contributor’s copy and read the poems in them, I realized that I can’t let superstition deny the want to craft a good love poem for the person I’m with. I won’t expand on this here, because I’m going to also do something special for Heavy Feather Review regarding the matter. This will also give me better insight when I teach my workshop on February 11.
“There’s necrosis in all of us,” writes J. Bradley in OUR HEARTS ARE POWER BALLADS, channeling the morose yet resigned monogamist in all of us. But as the hero of these sleekly compact poem explosions can attest, domesticity’s death dirge might not be incompatible with the seductive guitar riffs of an unburdened spirit: “I will not think of myself / in your arms as an autopsy / waiting to happen.” Can’t argue with that.
(You can watch the chapbook in its entirety here.)
The first huge literary event of 2012 in Orlando is coming on January 31. If you are in town, you should be here, seriously. I’ll be reading my story from the collection, “It’s A Hollywood Summer”.
I’m teaching my first workshop on Saturday, February 11 over here from 11 am to 1 pm and it is free. Here’s the copy I wrote for it:
Our Hearts Are Power Ballads
J. Bradley facilitates a workshop on how to tap your inner power ballad just in time for Valentine’s Day. All you need to bring is your favorite love poem or the lyrics to your favorite love song, paper, something to write with, and an open heart.
I teach adults for a living, but with processes and operating systems, never the process of writing. I’ve decided this year is the year I start really get out of patterns and comfort areas and this is a good start. I’m looking forward to helping people write heartfelt, honest, quirky love poems just in time for Valentine’s Day. I might UStream it for those would like to check it out but aren’t in Orlando to do so. If you’re in Orlando and you’ve got two free hours, come out.
Voting is still happening for the best of show for There Will Be Words. You’ve got until January 30 to make your voice heard. Go to the website and then vote here for your three favorite writers.
I’ve got two poems over at fwriction : review, which you can check out here.
Burrow Press was nice enough to let me write a guest post about the tenth anniversary of the Broken Speech Poetry Slamhere. Last night at Speakeasy when plugging the slam and its tenth anniversary show, the response was less than enthusiastic and my response back was essentially, “Seriously, fuck you guys. What have you done for ten years? Nothing.” I was half joking, half serious when I said it. It reminded me of the overall apathy that still permeates throughout Orlando about things other than local music. The fight goes on.
I’m going to cut back on my schedule of James Decatur posts to once a week since I’ve got more story ideas for We Will Celebrate Our Failures and I need that energy to get them out there.
First AWP conference in a little under two weeks. Starting to really get myself in fighting shape for the two off-site readings I’m in. I plan on two different sets of work and getting them on video, along with others at the readings. I must study the onsite events to see which ones I want to go to and which ones I can go sight seeing in lieu of going to. I am also cooking up some fun things to do for PANK(the new site design is beautiful) while I’m there involving interviews. The world will know what’s up my sleeve soon.
My latest contribution to For Every Year is up here. If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out my free e-chap My Hands Are As Thick As Dreams. They are some of the fine examples of the types of love poems I can write for you if you take me up on my offer.
Things I have read and enjoyed lately: Amelia Gray’s AM/PM & The Museum of the Weird, the poems I’ve received from my contributor wishlist for Ampersand Review vol 7.
I’m not writing a lot of love poems lately, not because I don’t want to but because I don’t need to. I’ve finally learned in a relationship that action is far more important than diction. However, that does not stop me from writing a love poem for someone in your life.
Starting now until February 14, if you purchase a copy of Dodging Traffic or a copy of any version of The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You is a Robot, I will write for you a love poem. It can be for you, your sweetie, for that someone special on the dl, or that person who has a restraining order on you. Forward your receipt to my e-mail address and you’ll have your poem in 3-5 days.
So, are you gonna let me write you a love poem or what?
