a reading, a class, and a little punk rock
Dear friends, fellow writers, and former students,
A quick note to invite you to a reading I'm hosting, tell you about a class I'm teaching, and offer you a little punk rock for your listening pleasure.
A Reading
With my co-host Cristina Spencer, I'm gathering a handful of writers associated with the Bennington Writing Seminars (my MFA alma mater) for a reading on November 6, and your'e invited. The poet Mark Wunderlich, who's the director of the Bennington MFA in Writing program, will also be on hand to make some remarks and help pour the wine (and drink it, natch). It will be a fun and casual gathering at Alley Cat Books in San Francisco (3036 24th Street, from 7-9pm), patterned after a similar reading series in New York. I'm not sure this will actually become a series, but I'm at least looking forward to seeing what kind of audience turns out for an evening with a few of the talented writers coming out of Bennington. Did I mention there'll be wine? More information on Facebook (where else?): https://www.facebook.com/events/527202768096302/
Readers will include Marie Mockett (http://www.mariemockett.com/), Michelle Oppenheimer (@micaoppenheimer / https://twitter.com/micaoppenheimer), Rebecca Rubenstein (@rrrubenstein / https://twitter.com/rrrubenstein), and Jesse Woodward, and perhaps one or two others. I've included a few links to their essays and stories at the end of this email.
A Class
Over at the Writers Grotto I'll be teaching my fun class on writing about place starting next week. It's four Tuesday evenings (Oct. 29 - Nov. 19) in which we dive into great writing about places real and imagined. We read a ton of short passages by great writers in genres including literary fiction, nonfiction, travelogue, personal essay, and memoir, as well as poetry, science fiction, and fantasy, and tackle a series of place-focused writing exercises. One evening will also feature a Skype chat with Jennifer Acker, the editor-in-chief of The Common, Amherst College's literary magazine devoted to "a modern sense of place." For more information or to sign up, go here: https://www.sfgrotto.org/events/writing-about-place/
A Little Punk Rock
Other than the late 70s and early 80s when it emerged, there has probably never been a better time for punk rock. About 30 years ago, I was briefly a member of a Marin Country punk rock band called Sacripolitical. (No one quite remembers which summer it was that I was the bass player, but I'm in the picture, so it must be true.) I'm amused to tell you that we've gotten the band back together, and made our return to the stage with a lunchtime show a couple of weeks ago at College of Marin, the community college in the suburban county that spawned the band in the first place. There's a video of that gig on the band's new Facebook page, and you can also take a listen to the 1993 version of the band (sans moi) on Bandcamp at https://sacripolitical.bandcamp.com/releases. It's been a load of fun to be playing again, and pretty interesting to think about what it means to be punk rock these days (especially when we're practicing in the singer's living room with a view of the San Francisco Bay). In any case, we're going to at least play a few more gigs, so let me know if you'd like us to come play in your town—as long as your town isn't terribly far away from San Francisco.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading! Write me back if you like.
And here's some more material, from the Bennington readers. Enjoy!
An essay from Marie Mockett: https://lithub.com/our-fairy-tales-ourselves-storytelling-from-east-to-west/
An essay from Michelle Oppenheimer: https://www.themanifeststation.net/2017/12/17/kintsugi-golden-joinery/
A short story from Rebecca Rubenstein: http://usedfurniturereview.com/2012/11/08/some-case-studies-in-failure-by-rebecca-rubenstein/
Best to all,
Wallace
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Find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkWallace
At the Writers Grotto: https://www.sfgrotto.org/
On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/markwallace