Sherry Chandler

Kathleen Driskell

Next Tuesday, as part of the Kentucky Great Writer Series, Jim Tomlinson, Cecelia Woloch, and Kathleen Driskell will read at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Last night at Leatha Kendrick’s Eclectic Living Room, we discussed the works of these writers. Jim’s Nothing Like an Ocean, Cecelia’s Carpathia, and Kathleen’s Seed Across Snow, from which we discussed the poem “To the Outdoor Wedding.”

I was reminded of this YouTube video of Kathleen reading the latter as part of the InKY Reading Series. I thought I’d put it up here today as a preview of coming attractions. It’s the last poem in this set.

Thanks to the folks at InKY for their video series, who are having an open mike night for National Poetry Month on April 9 — that’s Friday night. Check it out. Go read.

They call it stormy Monday

It’s George Washington’s birthday, Google is playing Big Brother (a move that seems somewhat hypocritical, given Google books), Dick Cheney is still bragging with impunity about his war crimes, The NYTimes says millions of the unemployed will go for years without finding jobs, and last week’s snow has been replaced by this week’s drizzle. Seems like a good time to go play with the Code Organ. Thanks to Dave and Terry.

I should remind you of a couple of good readings this week in the local area.

Holler Poets Reading Series 22 is scheduled for Wednesday February 24th at Al’s Bar, 601 North Limestone, Lexington. Featured readers are Leatha Kendrick and Brett Eugene Ralph, music by underground legend Paul K. open mic begins at 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday, February 25th at 7 PM, Carmichael’s Books, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, will host an event with authors Bob Hill and Jim Tomlinson that will be part reading, part reunion and plenty of fun. Longtime Courier-Journal columnist and author Bob Hill and award-winning Berea writer Jim Tomlinson will discuss their work and the unlikely paths that led two high school classmates from a small town in Illinois into writing careers that would converge in Kentucky decades later. The event runs from 7:00 – 9:00.

For other local reading events, check out the Kentucky Literary Newsletter.

Nothing Like an Ocean

Back before I went travelling all over the southeastern mountains, I took time to read Nothing Like an Ocean, Jim Tomlinson’s new collection from the University Press of Kentucky.

I consider Jim a personal friend. We are craftsfair widow[er]s together. When, in the story “Overburden,” Ben and Sarah load her artwork in an aging van and set off across country for an arts & crafts fair, wondering whether the van will, in fact, last out the trip, I say yes! I know that journey. So I may be inclined to be prejudiced in Jim’s favor. Still, this is a collection of merit that I would recommend to anyone.

In an interview at The Short Review, Jim has said:

Character desire brings a story alive.

Jim is adept at creating character with a hunger. From Ben, the novelist of “Overburden,” to Lynette, the working class motorcycling mother in “A Male Influence in the House,” Nothing Like an Ocean is peopled with characters pursuing their dreams in spite of all manner of difficulty.

One of the most vivid stories in the collection, “Angel, His Rabbit, and Kyle McKell,” throws together a young woman with artistic aspirations (photography), an Iraqi war vet trying to come to terms with his horrible war injuries, her Hispanic boyfriend and Victor, his prize rabbit. Even the rabbit wants a freedom that he isn’t prepared to for.

I sat beside Kyle on the couch and let him show me his injured arm. He talked about the attachments, the muscles and nerves involved, the finger numbness, all the ligament damage. I tried not to be squeamish. He traced things with his finger as if he could see inside. He kept talking about that injured arm in expert ways. He knew how it all worked together. He knew it like Angel knew cars.

“My father wants to hear nothing about wounds,” Kyle said. “He wants to hear about good deeds, what he thinks I was doing there. My mother leaves the room if I even mention the arm.”

“Or the leg?” I was more than a little curious about that.

He finished his beer. “She can’t handle any of it,” he said, handing me the empty.

The rage, the deep life wounds, are all there in Jim’s stories, smoothly revealed in beautiful prose and sharp dialogue, but there is also often that little bit of mischief, that probing curiosity, the drive of desire.

As Orgrease Crankbait states it:

Jim is a masterly writer; his stories come smooth to the reader but it is obvious that good honest labor, with a dose of pain and compassion has gone into creating them. As writer to a writer, and my knowing full well what it takes to get where he has got in his writing, I am sincerely impressed.

This is damned good stuff.

See also, a review at Largehearted Boy

Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky

I recently discovered that the University Press of Kentucky has done a series of video podcasts, Darkhorse, featuring their various authors.

I met a young man from the Press, Mack McCormick, last Friday night at Jim Tomlinson’s reading who said they have hired a very talented media artist named Siobhan Byrns. Ms. Byrsn has redesigned their website and instituted the video series.

I will say that the web design seems much improved to me and these videos are a great addition.

The Darkhorse video I’ve embedded here features Thomas Barnes, author of Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky, on a tour through the Red River Gorge. It’s a beautiful film but sad because Barnes predicts that global warming will take away what is left of Kentucky’s mixed hardwood forests and we will be left with something more like Georgia.

Watch it.

Just some stuff

Jim Tomlinson will be reading from his latest collection Nothing Like an Ocean this Friday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers here in Lexington. The reading begins at 7:00 p.m.

Over in Louisville, the InKY Reading Series will present Kathleen Driskell reading from her now collection Seed Across Snow and Mitchell Douglas reading from his likewise new collection Cooling Board.

Or, if the weather is bad and you just want to cuddle with your CPU, check out Allison Joseph’s Rondeau Roundup, a blog for the exploration, appreciation and publication of the rondeau, rondel, roundel, rondeau redouble, rondolet, triolet, and ballade.

A second act

Here’s a nice profile of Jim Tomlinson in the Courier-Journal

Jim Tomlinson’s new career might be the perfect example of how life’s second acts sometimes fulfill dreams deferred.

After decades as an engineer — designing precision tools for manufacturing and electronic sensors used in auto equipment — Tomlinson quit in 1999 and began writing full-time. Three unpublished novels, short stories and rejection letters by the dozen piled up in his Berea, Ky., home.

Then a funny thing happened. Tomlinson’s debut collection, “Thing Kept, Things Left Behind,” won the prestigious 2006 Iowa Short Fiction Award, a prize known to kickstart the career of many a young writer.

Only this literary novice was then 64 years old.

Since I am coming up on my 64th birthday, I’ll take heart from Jim’s experience.

Jim’s second collection, Nothing Like an Ocean, can be ordered now from University Press of Kentucky.

This n That

I thought you might like to have a look at these dogwood leaves in the late afternoon sun. I took the photo on the 29th through my (newly washed) bedroom window and, because the light was low, the lens was slow, and because I was holding the camera, we get the blur. But I like the colors and the sort of impressionistic look of it. There’s also a little reflection from the desk lamp in the window to add some oddity to the light.

The light is very yellow as the sun goes down these days. You can see it on the photo of Bert I posted on Halloween, too.

In case you’re looking for a way to get away from “the pre-election roar,” here’s a message from Jim Tomlinson:

Ohio author Kyle Minor and I will be reading next Monday (election eve), November 3 at the Jessamine County Public Library in Nicholasville.

They tell me that gas is cheap in Nicholasville ($1.99/gal), and the weather promises to be beautiful. So I hope you’ll make the drive over, get away from the pre-election roar, fill up your gas tanks while in town, and stop off at the library for the reading. Kyle, who is one of the best young writers on today’s literary scene, will also be offering a brief craft session after the reading. So please do come by.

I’ve copied details below from the JCPL website.

Best-

Jim

================================================

Date:
November 3, 2008

Time:
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Location:
Jessamine County Public Library, 600 South Main Street, Nicholasville, KY, 40356
Meeting Rooms A & B

In this three week How-to series, we will learn about the writing process from some of Kentucky’s brightest talents. Each program will include a book signing with the author.
Session 2 will feature Berea author, Jim Tomlinson and Ohio author, Kyle Minor.

This program will also include a writer’s workshop segment.

Jim Tomlinson is the author of “Things Kept, Things Left Behind”, a collection of stories chosen by George Saunders for the Iowa Short Fiction Award. His work appears widely in the literary journals, and has been shortlisted for Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery Stories. A winner of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Sewanee Writers Conference, Tomlinson lives in Berea with his wife, fiber artist Gin Petty. He has recently completed work on a second story collection and is now hard at work on a novel.

Kyle Minor is the author of “In the Devil’s Territory”, a collection of short fiction. His recent work, fiction and nonfiction, appears in The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers, and Best American Mystery Stories 2008 (edited by George Pelecanos.) Random House named him one of their “Best New Voices of 2006,” the Columbus Dispatch named him one of their “20 Under 30 Artists to Watch” in 2007, and he was a three-time awardee in The Atlantic Monthly’s annual writing contest. He teaches at the University of Toledo.
Copies of both author’s works will be for sale at this event.

This program is open to all ages and no registration is required.

If you’re looking for something to do on Election Night besides huddle over the tv and curse the slowness of the count, Kentucky Coffeetree Café, 235 W Broadway in Frankfort offers an alternative:

Tuesday, November 4 – Get out and vote before the polls close at 6 pm and then head down to the Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe to watch the results while enjoying great music. Thanks to Jeff Ellis, we have quite the line-up of musicians performing, starting at 6 pm. Hear the talents of singers and songwriters Jeri Katherine Howell, Marcus Brothwell, Jonathan Keeler, Danny Hess, Ann Macfie, Jeff Ellis, Jordon Ellis, the acoustic group “Lean Menu”, and many more. After 11 pm, there’s an open jam session for everybody who’s still awake while we watch the last results come in.

We’ll keep an eye on both local results and the general election.

Open doors to everybody. No charge.

Most importantly – get out and vote!!

So grab your guitar and/or your fiddle and join the fun!