Open Mic Blog

SEVEN: PAUL MARTIN

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:13:00 -0400

Paul Martin and his golden retriever, Lainey

* * *

Paul Martin suspects that most English teachers harbor a secret (or not-so-secret) desire to write because they spend so much time reading and admiring the great writers of our history. He is no different and throughout his teaching career has continued to write and publish short stories, which have appeared in magazines as diverse as The Cosmic Unicorn and Dogwood Tales and has won recognition from West Virginia Writer’s Inc. and Writers Digest to Glimmer Train. His short fiction was recently published in Seeking The Swan, the 2009 anthology of winning entries from West Viginia Writers, Inc. annual competition.

His debut novel, underthebridge.com, is about the collision of two worlds: a homeless fugitive from a successful dot-com enterprise versus the kindness of a mysterious and wise farm family from Sinking Creek, Virginia.

Zoe Ferraris, author of Finding Nouf, a 2008 LA Times Book Award winner said this about Martin's novel:

"Underthebridge.com is a brilliant piece of storytelling that manages to be both deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny. Paul Martin turns his sharp wit on the ruination and rebirth of a dot-com businessman who finds refuge with a struggling country family. The story's twists keep you turning the pages, while its characters breathe an incredible vitality into every scene. this deftly-handled, deeply humane book will linger with you long after you've finished."

Discover SEVEN intriguing facts about Paul Martin. He will take questions for the next two days so take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and make him welcome!!

SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

~Paul Martin

1. I don't care for country music, but I once danced with recording star Louise Mandrell.

2. When I was six, I shot a BB gun for the first time, aimed at a telephone line and killed a bird. I cried all day. . . and could do so now just thinking about it.

3. After midnight one summer night in 1987 (and after a couple of shots of tequila) a friend and I stood on the plaque that marks the convergence of the state lines of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. I have since found out that the plaque was inaccurately placed and has been moved. I feel cheated.

4. I dislike fresh green beans but like canned ones. A sacrilege in Appalachia.

5. In 1971 my draft lottery number was--get this--ONE.

6. I caught a baseball thrown into the stands by an Oakland A's player. It was intended for some kid behind me who had been screaming for one all game. When the kid cursed me, I kept the ball.

7. I was on the Huntley-Brinkley Report for shaking hands with LBJ.

underthebridge.com

may be purchased on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/underthebridge-com-Paul-Martin/dp/0976342367/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280012192&sr=1-1

Paul Martin was born in Los Angeles, California, a long, long time ago, but moved to Huntington, West Virginia, in time to receive both his formal and formative education among the hills, valleys, creeks, and rivers of this unique place. He graduated from Vinson High School and was awarded both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Marshall University where he specialized in creative writing.

After a foray into journalism as the editor of a weekly newspaper, he began a 3 month stint as a substitute teacher at Cove Gap Elementary in Kiahsville, WV. This “temporary” position in 1977 jump-started a career as an English teacher that has included Fort Gay High School, his alma mater of Vinson High, Spring Valley High, and Marshall University, and continues to this day. In 1990 he was named English Teacher-of-the-Year by the West Virginia English/Language Arts Council, and in 1996 he received an Ashland Oil, Inc., Teacher Achievement Award.

In 2001 he was awarded the Fellowship For Fiction by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and in 2009 his first novel, underthebridge.com, was published.

He has completed a memoir about his teaching experience at Cove Gap and is currently working on his second novel.

He continues to live, work, and write from his home in Huntington, cheered on by his wife Debbie, his 2 stepchildren, and 4 blessed grandchildren. Oh yeah, and his dog, Lainey.

What book are you reading?

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:26:00 -0400

What book are you reading now?

Click on the Answer Garden link below and tell us. It will form a "word cloud" from the responses =)

What book are you reading now?... at AnswerGarden.ch .

Who inspired you?!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:28:00 -0400

c 2010

Who or what inspired you to become a writer or a teacher of writing (or both!) and changed your life forever?

BOOK & WRITER BUZZ

Sat, 29 May 2010 22:24:00 -0400

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS

OR UPCOMING WRITING-RELATED EVENTS!

IT COULD BE A BOOK, A MAGAZINE, A JOURNAL, A READING, A WORKSHOP, A CONFERENCE, ETC., ETC. PROVIDE A LINK SO WE MAY READ MORE AND POSSIBLY PURCHASE THE PUBLICATION OR ATTEND THE EVENT.

CELEBRATE THE PUBLICATIONS AND EVENTS OF YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES HERE,TOO.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO POST A SHORT EXCERPT FROM A WORK IN PROGRESS FOR READER FEEDBACK, FEEL FREE. PLEASE READ MY VERY FIRST BLOG POSTING FOR MORE INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES.

I PLAN TO MAKE BOOK & WRITER BUZZ A REGULAR FEATURE AND HOPE THAT MANY OF YOU WILL SHARE YOUR SUCCESSES WITH US AND LEND CONSTRUCTIVE EXPERTISE TO THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE SOME FEEDBACK ABOUT THEIR WORK.

SEVEN: PHILIP ST.CLAIR

Fri, 21 May 2010 13:07:00 -0400

Philip St. Clair

Kentucky native and prize-winning poet, Philip St. Clair has a keen and unique vision of life. His poetry will disarm you, make you reexamine what it is to be human. From haunting family poems to his chapbook, Divided House which is devoted to the life and death of Abraham Lincoln, St. Clair's poems are powerful, unsettling, and memorable.

Joe Napora said this about St. Clairs's work: "Acid Creek depicts language of the blood clot working toward the brain of children of the working class. This wonderful and frightening exploration of the language of family, its power and pain, is the legacy of Industrialism, where the most vital thing alive is the dead and dying."

Discover seven revealing facts about Philip St. Clair. He will take questions for the next two days so take advantage of this opportunity and make him welcome!!

SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

~Philip St. Clair

1. I didn't go to my senior prom. I've never been to any of my high school reunions.

2. I joined the Air Force in 1961 and was sent to Florida twice during the Cuban Missile Crisis

3. Favorite female movie star: Giulietta Masina (Nights of Cabiria, La Strada).

4. Favorite "guilty pleasure" movie: Repo Man.

5. The funniest sequence ever filmed is the kitchen scene in Fellini's Amarcord.

6. I reload my own ammunition.

7. I don't own a cell phone.

Philip St. Clair is the author of four books of poetry: Acid Creek (Bottom Dog, 1997), Little-Dog-Of-Iron (Ahsahta, 1985), At the Tent of Heaven (Ahsahta, 1984), and In the Thirty-Nine Steps (Shelley's, 1980). His two chapbooks are Divided House (Finishing Line Press, 2005) and number 176 in Pudding Press' Greatest Hits series (2003). Among his awards are grants and prizes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Bullis Prize from Poetry Northwest. His poems have appeared in many journals and magazines, including Beloit Poetry Journal, Gettysburg Review, Harper's, Ploughshares, Poetry Review (London), and Shenandoah. St. Clair was raised in northeastern Ohio and currently resides with his wife Christina in the Appalachian mountains of Carter County, Kentucky. He is Professor of Humanities at Ashland Community and Technical College in Ashland, Kentucky.

www.finishinglinepress.com

Features Acid Creek by Philip St. Clair

www.smithdocs.net

Poets House & Bill Murray

Tue, 04 May 2010 16:08:00 -0400

:cool:You have to watch this short video clip about the construction of the beautiful new Poets House at 10 River Terrace in New York City.

Actor/comedian Bill Murray reads a few poems to some of the construction workers and jokes around in between. He even manages to elicit applause after reading "I Dwell in Possibility" by Emily Dickinson.

http://therumpus.net/2010/05/bill-murray-reading-poetry/

Most Memorable Line?

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:50:00 -0400

To celebrate National Poetry Month 2010 post the best line or phrase from a contemporary poem that you think will be remembered a hundred years from now. The poet may be published or unpublished, young or old.

* Update *

Listen to Maria Shriver, journalist and First Lady of California, read her favorite poem by Mary Oliver. Others have contributed clips of their favorites, too.

Maria invites everyone to share a virtual reading on this site. I did. :)How about you?

http://www.womensconference.org/celebrate-national-poetry-month/

SEVEN: EDDY & CHRISTINA

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 -0500

Edwina Pendarvis and Christina St. Clair, gifted writers and co-authors of Between Two Worlds: A Biography of Pearl S. Buck (translated by Berlin Fang), stand near the home where Pearl Buck was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia.

Buck won the Pulitzer for her novel,The Good Earth, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. This captivating new biography has just been published in Shanghai, China in both English and Chinese.

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press

http://www.sflep.com/

We're so lucky to have Eddy and Christina standing by for the next couple of days to answer your questions about them and their new book. Ask away!!

~SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME~

                     Eddy Pendarvis

1. One of my most treasured souvenirs is a holly leaf from the garden of the cottage where Thomas Hardy was born.

2. I witnessed a murder when I was six months old—my mother’s mother was shot by a man who had gone crazy because his wife had left him.

3. One of my roommates kicked Jack Kerouac out of a party at our house.

4. My favorite “eating alone” food is spoonfuls of peanut butter and marshmallow cream out of the jars.

5. I learned how to read from comic books (Little Lulu is still my favorite).

6. One of my fondest memories from college is sitting with two or three friends on top of a dragline, talking all night—we did this fairly often; there was a lot of construction near the university. It was in Florida, and the pine trees with Spanish moss made beautiful silhouettes against the night sky.

7. When I was lucky enough to spend a week in China, I was surprised to find that I felt really relaxed and at home there (and I hardly ever feel relaxed and at home). This was in the mid-1990’s and the outskirts of Beijing still seemed “countryish,” with wide streets and the only outside lights being those 1940s-looking strings of colored Christmas-tree lights.

Born in Floyd County, Kentucky, Edwina (Eddy) Pendarvis lived in coal country in eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia until her family moved to Disney country in Florida. Back home again by the time she was thirty, she earned her doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky and then taught at Marshall University for almost thirty years. Her most recent poetry collection is Like the Mountains of China, and her most recent prose collection is Raft Tide and Railroad, a family memoir, mostly about her uncle, Donald Johnson, a “coal baron” and breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Both of these books are available from Blair Mountain Press http://www.blairmtp.com/www.blairmtp.com/Welcome.html.

Eddy has co-authored several books on education; and in addition to the Pearl Buck biography, co-authored with Christina St. Clair, she’s written biographies of William Faulkner and Jean-Paul Sartre, published in dual-language editions by the Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Eddy is currently shirking responsibility by reading science fiction novels about the colonization of Mars.

~SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME~

Christina St. Clair

1. I was born at home and named after Christina, the neighbor who helped my mother deliver me.

2. When I was ten, I often rode my bicycle on a busy road to a horse stables in London where I mucked out the stalls.

3. I left home when I was fifteen to live in a bedsit near Honor Oak in London.

4. When I was sixteen, I sold American newspapers in Pigalle, a racy suburb in Paris, home of the Moulin Rouge.

5. I used to gallop my mare, Baby Doll, amongst white-tailed deer in fields bursting with Queen Anne’s lace.

6. I once rescued a black snake that was badly tangled in deer netting by cutting away the nylon strands that were choking it.

7. I used to have a labyrinth in my backyard that I built from bamboo poles and twine.

Christina St. Clair has been a shop girl, a chemist, a pastor, and an au-pair girl. She moved to Kentucky in 1996 to pursue her dream of becoming a published writer. Since arriving in Kentucky, along with getting degrees in philosophy, spirituality and women’s studies, she has won an award for young adult fiction and has won several writers’ retreats. She has published essays, articles and fiction.

Visit Christina's website at http://dawsoncreekpress.com/christina_st_clair

Irish Poet: PAULA MEEHAN

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:42:00 -0500

For me there's nothing better than a poem by Paula Meehan unless it's an opportunity to hear her read. In Ireland. In a loft room above Bewley's Cafe. To experience live, the power and passion of her words. To watch the audience react, talk back, and cheer.

I shelve my copies of Paula's books between Theo Dorgan and Akhmatova. The perfect banquet, I think.

* Listen to this extraodinary three-part documentary created by Elaine Crowley and get to know Paula. Play it when you have a moment of solitude. http://www.vimeo.com/7539391

* Read this special issue about Paula's work in An Sionnach edited by the scholar, Jody Allen Randolph.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/an_sionnach/v005/5.1.randolph01.html

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/an_sionnach/v005/5.1.randolph.html

* Visit Paula's website at www.paulameehan.com.

* Buy one of her books, especially her latest, PAINTING RAIN, from Wake Forest University Press.

http://www.wfu.edu/wfupress/catalog.php?p=productsMore&iProduct=108&sName=Paula-Meehan--Painting-Rain-(paperback)

SEVEN: ZOE FERRARIS

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:12:00 -0500

My good friend, Zoe Ferraris, debut novelist and winner of the prestigious 2008 LA Times Book Award for her literary mystery, Finding Nouf, is my latest featured writer. Out of her fascinating list of seven (see below), I only knew one!

Zoe's second novel, City of Veils (Little, Brown), will be released this August. She has agreed to stop in and answer some of your questions over the next couple of days. Please make her welcome!

Seven Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

~ Zoe Ferraris

1. I ran away with the gypsies when I was sixteen.

2. My great-great-uncle, Walter Gibson, created and wrote “The Shadow.”

3. My literary guilty pleasures are memoirs by special forces soldiers.

4. I got married in a halal meat market.

5. When I was younger, I loved Ireland so much that I changed my name to Dublin.

6. Over the past five months, I have fallen in love with horse racing.

7. When I was seven, I thought the Pledge of Allegiance was “to the republic/ for witch-it stands,” and I knew exactly what a “witch-it” stand was – a small shack where an old woman sold candy corn and broomsticks. I had never actually seen one, but they were part of the republic so they had to exist.

* * *

Zoe Ferraris lived in a conservative Muslim community just after the Gulf War with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinian Bedouins who had never welcomed an American into their lives before. Her first novel, Finding Nouf, won the LA Times Book Award and an Alex Award. A follow-up novel, City of Veils, is coming out in August 2010. She received a writing MFA from Columbia University and currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky. Visit her website at http://www.zoeferraris.com

Writing Project & MU

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:04:00 -0500

For all my teacher friends K-13 in every discipline from West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, I have great news. If you apply to the Marshall University Writing Project's Summer Institute by March 1, 2010, and are accepted, you will receive 6 hours of graduate credit, a stipend, and a course that will transform your life.

Here's a link to the Three Bridges website where you may find more information and apply online: http://www.muwp1.org/threebridges/

I have the honor of being the MUWP's writer in residence so I hope to meet you this summer.

Testimonials from fellows who have graduated from any NWP program are encouraged to comment!!! Tell us what state and school you represent and how the NWP has influenced your teaching and your life.

Snow: Garrett County Maryland

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:55:00 -0500

SEVEN: MARC HARSHMAN

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:41:00 -0500

Acclaimed picture book writer and poet, Marc Harshman shares seven intriguing facts about himself. He has graciously agreed to answer questions for the next two days. If you are a Harshman fan, a teacher, or an aspiring writer, please comment or, better yet, ask Marc a question!

SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

~ Marc Harshman

1. I recall that a favorite passion in childhood was picking wild strawberries along the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in eastern Randolph County, Indiana.

2. My family had a pet pig named Polly, a full-grown Hampshire sow with whom, I am told, perhaps apocryphally, I would be left alone in the south lot of the farm. I was told she was a good baby-sitter.

3. Once took guitar lessons from Rick Zehringer in the rural farm town near where we both grew up. He, along with his brother Randy and two other local boys, would form The McCoys and record “Hang on Sloopy.” Rick would later change his name to Derringer and continues to have a notable career in music.

4. I value William Bronk, George Oppen, Gael Turnbull, Lorine Niedecker, and Jean Follain as notable modern influences upon my poetry.

5. During the 1980s I raised approximately twenty different kinds of heirloom beans, discovering, as well, one I named Aunt Millie’s Goose-egg Bean.

6. My first publication was an article in the old denominational magazine THE DISCIPLE describing a summer spent working in the inner-city of Akron, Ohio, circa 1973-4.

7. I once spent five weeks living in a restored 17th century carriage house on the grounds of the 11th Century ruins of Bronllys Castle in the Black Mountains of Wales. It was here, along with my wife, Cheryl, that I wrote RED ARE THE APPLES [Harcourt, 2001].

* * *

Raised in rural Indiana, Marc Harshman has lived his adult life in West Virginia where, for many years, he taught in a three-room country school. Periodical publications of his poems include The Georgia Review, Wilderness, Shenandoah, Marginalia, 5 AM, and The Progressive. He is the author of three chapbooks of poetry including LOCAL JOURNEYS (Finishing Line). His poem, “In The Company of Heaven,” recently won the Newport Review flash fiction contest. He is also the author of eleven children's picture books including THE STORM, a Smithsonian Notable Book for Children and Parent’s Choice Award winner. Visit his website at http://www.marcharshman.com

SEVEN: SHARYN MCCRUMB

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:28:00 -0500

Award-winning Southern writer Sharyn McCrumb launches my new series: Seven Things You Probably Don't Know About Me.

Sharyn will be stopping by over the next couple of days to answer some of your questions. Spread the word!

SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

~ Sharyn McCrumb

1. I once had a pet fox.

2. I speak and write some Arabic. My Danish is better.

3. I have sat in Tennessee's electric chair.

4. I collect Wedgwood and Irish armorial silver.

5. I buy most of my clothes from Japan.

6. I was taught to shoot a .12 gauge shotgun by a NASCAR driver.

7. I am a distant cousin of Wilma Dykeman, Del McCoury, Frankie Silver, and a real Oregon deputy sheriff named Spencer Arrowood.

* * *

Sharyn McCrumb is an award-winning Southern writer, best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels and for "St. Dale." Forthcoming novels are "The Devil Amongst the Lawyers" (Thomas Dunne, 2010) and "Faster Pastor" (Ingalls Publishing Group, 2010), the latter co-authored by NASCAR driver Adam Edwards. In 2008 Sharyn McCrumb was named a “Virginia Woman of History” for Achievement in Literature. Visit her website at http://www.sharynmccrumb.com.

One Dream/Resolution/Goal for 2010

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:26:00 -0500

c Yasmina Ferraris 2008

1) Write one of your dreams, resolutions, or goals for 2010 on my blog. Share this website with your friends and challenge them to post, too.

2) List three ways to make your dream happen.

3) Begin today.

4) Report back to "Open Mic" in January 2011, and tell us about your journey.

The Cliffs of Moher

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:05:00 -0500

c 2000

Prepare to be transported to Co. Clare in Ireland.

Hang on for the ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTvul25Pok8

My Top 12 Picks for Xmas 2009

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:15:00 -0500

*Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton (graphic novel)

*The Hocus-Pocus of the Universe by Laura Gilpin (If you're lucky, you might find a used copy of this older poetry collection)

*Peter Pan and any other book by Robert Sabuda (pop-up books)

*Painting Rain by Paula Meehan (poetry collection by Irish poet)

*Story by Robert McKee (how-to for screen writers and novelists)

*Entering the Stone by Barbara Hurd (non-fiction)

*Like the Mountains of China by Edwina Pendarvis (poetry collection)

*Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris (award-winning novel)

*Seeking the Swan winning entries from the West Virginia Writers, Inc./ Competition, 1996-2006

*underthebridge.com by Paul Martin (novel)

*Family Matters: Poems of Our Families, edited by Ann and Larry Smith (poetry anthology)

*Any book written by Cynthia Rylant! (beloved children's writer with over 200 books, starting with When I Was Young and in the Mountains)

* * * * * * * * * * *

*** What are your must-buy books for Christmas this year?!

Eva Cassidy: Fields of Gold

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:25:00 -0500

It's time for a musical interlude from one of my very favorite singers.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGwDYBWEDSc

When Are Songs Poetry?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:29:00 -0400

I just listened to this Seattle radio (KUOW) interview posted on POETRY DAILY http://kuow.org/program.php?id=18653about about whether song lyrics can ever hold up as stand-alone poetry without the music.

Poet, Karen Finneyfrock, discusses HELPLESS by Neil Young, JUST LIKE HEAVEN by The Cure, and SWEETEST DECLINE by Beth Horton.

What are your favorite song lyrics?

Favorite Quotes?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:31:00 -0400

What are some of your favorite literary quotes?