Tuesday, January 31, 2017

now what?

For those of you unfortunates (myself included) who have finished What Belongs to You and want more, Garth Greenwell has a wonderful homepage with links to other Bulgarian stories and to anecdotes about the composition, revision, publishing etc of his novel. There are also worthwhile non-fiction pieces, such as his Buzzfeed article on "How I Fell in Love with the Beautiful Art of Cruising."

Update: Greenwell had a fairly successful career as a poet before he ventured to Bulgaria and prose. The Beloit Poetry Journal published several of his poems. "Portrait with Hood and Bindings" is particularly striking.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Bookmen DC and a "Moonlight" connection...

Last June we discussed Tarell Alvin McCraney's 2015 play, Choir Boy, which most attendees agreed was powerful and moving.  (If you weren't with us for that discussion, I encourage you to check out the book for yourself.)

This year's Oscar nominations were just announced and "Moonlight," directed and adapted by Barry Jenkins from another McCraney play (that has never been staged, alas), is up for eight Oscars, including best picture, director and supporting actor and supporting actress.  The film is still playing in area theaters, and I can't recommend it highly enough!

Friday, January 20, 2017

"Our Caribbean" is still worth a visit...:-)

We wrapped up our yearlong exploration of Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles (Thomas Glave, editor), one of our three third-Wednesday anthologies from 2016, this past Wednesday.

I want to thank Keith Cohen for his expert facilitation of those discussions, and encourage those of you who were unable to attend those sessions to consider reading the book, or at least dipping into it.  Like most anthologies, it is uneven, both in the writing and coverage; but, on balance, I think I speak for those of us who read it when I say it was worth the time we invested.

Because the book is somewhat expensive (though used copies are available and affordable), I would be happy to lend my copy to anyone who wants to take a look before committing to a  purchase.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

"Falsettos" Re-Viewed


The scene, acted with beautiful simplicity … affected me as no other in the theater this year….