Arkansas Literary Festival: Three Events I’m Hyped About
by Bryan Borland
Blantantly copied and pasted straight from the Arkansas Times from their listings for Saturday, April 14:
Queer for You (Cox Creative Center, 3rd floor, 4 p.m.). Poets Bryan Borland (“My Life as Adam”), Nickole Brown (“Sister”) and Ed Madden (“Prodigal Variations”) will talk about building readership for work that addresses LGBTQ life. Borland, from Alexander, is editor of Assaracus, a quarterly journal of gay poetry; Nickole Brown, at one time an editorial assistant to Hunter S. Thompson, teaches at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and Ed Madden, an Arkansas native, is associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina.
Magazine (Oxford American, 5:30 p.m.). The editors of three of the most well-regarded — and read — literary magazines gather to give a behind-the-scenes peek into the process of assembling their publications. With Marc Smirnoff of the Oxford American, Heidi Julavits of The Believer and Marco Roth of n+1. Of added interest, n+1 has been critical of The Believer and McSweeney’s, the company that publishes The Believer, so mannered sparks may fly. Perhaps more compelling, the Oxford American will be serving free cocktails during the panel and afterwards at a reception that lasts until 7:30 p.m.
Pub or Perish (Lulav: A Modern Eatery, 7 p.m.). David Koon, the Arkansas Times’ own Mark Twain, once again wraps up Saturday night’s festivities by handing the mike to local greats, who’ll read before an audience prone to tears and laughter thanks to ongoing lubrication from the bar.
For more on these and other readings and panels, visit the Arkansas Lit Fest website.
In the space of a year I’ve seen your efforts spread like rumors, but more wholesome and deviant. Proud to associate.
Bryan, I will repeat what I wrote on that other post. I cnnaot explain how happy I am to see you and your project(s) grow. It is amazing and I am very thankful that I came across you, your words and your (though far away) friendship and support. In any sense possible you are one of the biggest influences on my and my writing (in some ways that I kept writing all these two years. you have always came to drop a wonderful word when I needed it). This poem is moving and touching and I love the way it ends; a reflective thought that is right in its place. I am looking forward to see this book and read it. I am sure it will trigger words and feelings inside me the same way you did before. What is poetry if not a trigger to the self. Be blessed(and keep flirting )D!