The Return of HWM

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There are very, very few punk bands that I listen to anymore. I don’t even find myself going to shows anymore, mostly because I don’t have the time or the extra money to drive two hours to Philly or NYC to see bands. That said, I was ecstatic when I learned months ago that one of my all-time favorite indie/punk bands, Hot Water Music, was going to release a new album, after eight long years. This is the band whose iconic flame and water logo is tattooed on my left arm. This is the band I drove to Atlanta for because it was one of the only reunion shows they played a few years ago, on New Years Eve.

I’ve always liked HWM because they’ve pushed the boundaries of what punk rock can be, especially on their first few albums released on No Idea Records.  For fans, the dueling vocal style of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard is unforgettable on those early LPs. HWM was also unique for injecting intricate guitar riffs and complex bass and drum patterns into their songs, as opposed to the boring power chord style of most punk bands.

The other day, the new HWM album, Exister, was delivered to my doorstep. I ripped open the box and placed the needle on the record. I’ll admit that I was nervous because like other fans, I had high expectations built up in my mind of what I wanted the album to sound like. Mostly, I wanted the band to return to its roots, to that distinct post-hardcore sound of the first few albums. Instead, the new album is similar to the band’s last few records released on Epitaph Records, one of the largest indie labels in the world. It is pure punk rock, fast and hard, with chugging power chords and roaring vocals. All of that said, I was just happy to hear this foursome churn out new music and a new album that is indeed packed with energy.

There are some tracks on the album, especially “State of Grace” and “Exister,” that will be staples at the band’s shows for years to come, if they decide to continue on and use this album as a refreshing new start to their long career.

I am sure some longtime fans will gripe the new album isn’t at all like the early LPs on No Idea Records. But why not just be happy HWM is back? They plan to do a full-blown tour, and it’s likely a lot of those old tracks will be in their setlists. I’m sure their shows will still be a stellar experience. I have never seen any band bring the energy that HWM brings to a live setting. Fans erupt into sing-alongs to every single song in the setlist. I look forward to seeing them play to packed clubs yet again, this time with a proper new album to showcase.

Upcoming NEPA Readings

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We had another successful reading at New Visions Studio and Gallery tonight! The packed audience was attentive and engaged, and I’m appreciative of Anne Henry, David Elliott, Gary Ryman, Bethany Marie, Patricia Florio, and Tom Blomain for sharing their prose and poetry. Though the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is not as populated as other areas, we do have a blooming and supportive art and literary scene in the area. Time after time, the New Visions Writers Showcase, Prose in Pubs, Vintage Theater Open Mics, and other literary events draw good crowds. Clearly, there is a group of people in this area hungry for poetry.

In the next few weeks, there are some other literary events to check out. On Thursday, May 17 at 8:30 p.m, The Vintage Theater is hosting a memorial reading for local poet Jennifer Diskin, who lost her battle to cancer a few months ago. Writers are encouraged to read one of Jennifer’s poems, or share a poem inspired by her. During the reading, donations will be collected to build a scholarship in Jennifer’s name for the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program, where Jennifer earned her M.A. She was a staple in the writing community for years, and I had the privilege of reading with her twice before she passed away, one time at a Wilkes alumni reading, and another at Prose in Pubs.

On Friday, May 18, Art SEEN Gallery, located at Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, will host its monthly poetry reading. The event begins at 8 p.m., and it will include an open mic.

On Thursday, May 31, the Library Express Bookstore in the Steamtown Mall will host its open mic poetry night. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.

Ph.Ds on Food Stamps

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The Chronicle of Higher Education just published a fascinating article about the number of people with graduate degrees currently living off of food stamps. You can read the full article here. The article proves how much deep budget cuts to education have  a severe impact on everyday people, including folks that spent years getting an M.A. and then Ph.D., but then struggle to survive.

The article tells the story of two part-time teachers, Melissa Bruninga-Matteau,a 43-year-old single mother with a Ph.D. in medevial history. The article states, “Her take-home pay is $900 a month, of which $750 goes to rent. Each week, she spends $40 on gas to get her to the campus; she lives 43 miles away, where housing is cheaper.”

However, she does not blame the colleges where she teaches for the pay, but rather the cuts to education that impacted the school where she teaches. The article goes on to say,” In Arizona last year, Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed a budget that cut the state’s allocation to Yavapai’s operating budget from $4.3-million to $900,000, which represented a 7.6 percent reduction in the college’s operating budget. The cut led to an 18,000-hour reduction in the use of part-time faculty like Ms. Bruninga-Matteau.”

The article also highlights the plight of Elliott Stegall, a white, 51-year-old married father of two. He teaches two courses each semester in the English department at Northwest Florida State College, in Niceville, Fl. He recalls the first time he ever stepped into the welfare office: “The first time we went to the office to apply, I felt like I had arrived from Eastern Europe to Ellis Island. The place was filled with people from every culture and ethnicity. We all had that same ragged, poor look in our eyes.”

Over the last 10 years, the number of people on food stamps has skyrocketed. There has been an increase of 17 million in 2000 to 44 million people in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Web site, and as the article proves, there are a variety of people now in need of food stamps, medicaid, and other welfare programs, including teachers.

The article doesn’t make clear any solution to his problem, but there is an election in the fall. Though a lot of the governors that were elected in 2010 still have some years left in office, their positions on education could change if they faced more opposition in the state house and senate. A lot of these Republican governors enjoy party majorities, so they are left unchecked. But what would happen if they did have more opposition? They certainly would not be able to ram through budgets similar to that of Jan Brewer’s.

New Visions Writers Showcase Returns

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After a very successful installment of the New Visions Writers Showcase in March, which featured slam poet William James, the Writers Showcase will return on Saturday, May 12 at 7 p.m. with a line-up of three prose writers and three poets. Once again, the event is free and will take place at New Visions Studio and Gallery, located at 201 Vine Street in Scranton.

The event will feature readings from Anne Henry, Gary Ryman, Bethany-Marie Gagas, David Elliott, Patricia Florio, and Tom Blomain.

Here is some more info about each reader:

Anne Henry recently completed her M.F.A. in creative writing from Wilkes University, and she is currently conducting a creative writing workshop for adults in a continuing education program and runs summer workshops for teens. As she searches for an agent for her memoir, she is also hard at work on her novel, Truth Be Told.

David Elliott is a professor of English at Keystone College, and a longtime member of the Mulberry Poets and Writers Association. He is the author of a book of haiku entitled Wind in the Trees, and the collection Passing Through. His work has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies.

Gary Ryman is the second of three generations of firefighters, and the author of the book Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family. He is a past chief of the Scott Fire Company in Lackawanna Count, and he is currently completing his MA in American History.

Bethany-Marie Gagas is currently finishing her Master’s of Teaching degree from Marywood University, and her poetry has appeared in local journals.

Patricia Florio is the author of the book My Two Mothers. She is also a travel writer for stripedpot.com. She graduated with an M.F.A. from Wilkes University, focusing on creative non-fiction. Currently, she lives on the Jersey Shore and conducts a reading series there. In 2012, she was a Normal Mailer Fellowship finalist.

Tom Blomain is the current president of the Mulberry Poets and Writers Association, He is the author of Gray Area and the forthcoming collection of poems Blues From Paradise (Foothills Publishing). He is producer of Graffiti, a poetry and music program on Electric City Television, for which organization he serves on the Board of Directors. A graduate of Keystone College and Dickinson College, he resides in the Hill Section, and is currently working on a collection of original songs with his group, Nobody Fancy.

Hope to see you there!

Fiction Gets Snubbed

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In mid-April, the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, covering photography, journalism, poetry, and non-fiction, but for the first time in 35 years, no award was given to a fiction writer.  According to an article by Publishers Weekly, this was the first time the board did not grant an award to a fiction writer since 1977, and only the ninth time this has happened since 1918, when the prize was first awarded.

The article also mentions that the fiction finalists were Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf), and The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown).  Susan Larson, Maureen Corrigan, and Michael Cunningham were the fiction judges.

After researching this a little more, I could find no reason why a fiction award was not given out. Is it some sort of reflection  and statement on the state of the American novel and contemporary American fiction? Maybe we’ll never know, but Larson did tell NPR that she and the author jurists were “shocked and angry” that the fiction category was not granted an award.

As for poetry, Tracy K. Smith won for her collection Life on Mars. Smith just turned 40 and currently teaches at Princeton. Her book was published by the well-known indie publisher Graywolf Press.

For a full list of the winners, click here.

A Little Treasure in Binghamton

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More and more, independent bookstores are becoming an endangered species, thanks to Amazon and some other factors. But last night, I had the pleasure of partaking in a reading at a great indie bookstore as part of the launch party for the new issue of Harpur Palate, in which my poem “After Work” appears. RiverRead Books in Binghamton is located at 5 Court Street, right in the downtown, and only minutes from the SUNY Binghamton’s campus, if you’re traveling by car. Each section of the store is fairly expansive, and they have a section dubbed “slightly used books” in which you can find some classic literature and also some more contemporary works for a cheap price.

From what I observed last night, RiverRead Books is also a vital part of the community, hosting several events beyond the Harpur Palate launch party. If you are tri-state area writer, I suggest trying to book a reading there with local writers. Last night, we had around 70 people at the reading, including many college students, but I think the bookstore also worked hard to promote the reading.  If you are in semi-close proximity to Binghamton, I recommend visiting the bookstore and supporting the local business.

You can learn more about RiverRead Books by visiting its website here. To check out Harpur Palate, click here.

What Should M.F.A. Programs Be Teaching?

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Lately, I have been doing some research into M.F.A. programs, other than the one I attended, and what these various programs offer. I am doing this because more and more students I had or currently have in creative writing classes are asking me about the value of an M.F.A. and what such a degree will offer. I do think a lot of the low-residency programs are cash cows that will accept almost anyone and don’t have to worry about paying faculty full-time. But I also believe there are strong M.F.A. programs with faculty that care about the students and generally want to help them enhance their writing skills and expand their knowledge of literature. I got a lot out of the M.F.A. program I attended at Wilkes University. It certainly widened my scope of literature, and it improved my writing.

That said, I think M.F.A. programs need to consider what they are promising students. A lot of students come out of the programs hoping to immediately land full-time jobs in academia, and for the final few semesters, certain M.F.A. programs only offer a teaching track. But full-time positions at the college-level are scarce, and they’re becoming even rarer due to budget cuts across several states. It also seems like most openings now require a Ph.D. So perhaps M.F.A. programs should offer alternatives, other career choices, such as publishing, or even freelance work. There are several freelance jobs out there that can earn a writer income. Another aspect of the writing process M.F.A. programs should consider teaching more is the business of publishing and signing a contract. It is true most M.F.A. students generally want to strengthen their writing skills and learn about influential movements in their genre of study, but they also want to publish. They want to see their name in print and get a book out there.

As I was doing research, I came across a blog post that argues M.F.A. programs do not do enough to teach young writers the business aspect of publishing, especially the issue of contracts, cover letters, agent letters, etc. Because of that, sometimes young writers get swindled and sign a poor contract.

Here is a link to the blog post. The post was published in November 2010, after a story about defamed author James Frey, who was visiting Columbia and other universities and basically getting M.F.A. students to sign contracts to help him with a book packaging/marketing project. The article points out that before these students interacted with Frey, who became famous after lying about incidents in his memoir, they should have had classes on understanding publishing contracts.

The blog post serves as a reminder that a lot of M.F.A. programs should broaden their course material and give students access to information about the nature of the publishing business, especially if some students are more interested in publishing than teaching.

Harpur Palate Launch Party

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If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, you should celebrate National Poetry Month by checking out the Harpur Palate Launch Party.

Harpur Palate is a journal run through the graduate English program of SUNY Binghamton. Its past issues have included new and established voices, including Sherman Alexie. This event will feature readings by four contributors to the new issue, including  William Cordeiro, Anna Catone, Benjamin Nadler, and I,  as well as the winner of an intern-sponsored writing contest.

Refreshments will be served, including wine, cheese and cracker platters, and desserts including a chocolate fondue fountain. This event will be held at RiverRead Books in downtown Binghamton, on Court Street. It starts at  7 p.m.

Blogs as Literature?

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Recently, the editors of the New York Times posed an interesting question on their blog, Paper Cuts. Are blogs literature? The question was posed in response to the latest book by the Portuguese novelist José Saramago’s entitled The Notebook, a collection of blog posts he created from September 2008 to August 2009, encouraged by his family and friends. According to the Times, The Notebook is mostly a collection of mini essays, shorter than most journalism articles. By the end of their blog post, the editors answer their own question by stating that no, blogs are not literature. They base their conclusion on a belief that most blog posts are “too topical” and “too fleeting” to count as literature. Their write-up concludes by stating Jose gave up on blogging after about a year because he started a new novel and wanted to dedicate all of his time to that.

A lot of the blogs I have come across offer interviews with other writers, blurbs about various readings, and responses to magazine and journal articles, and of course, politics. But are there any well-known writers out there that use a blog to post sweeping, riveting narrative essays or short stories? Are there poets out there that post finished work on a blog? I have always hesitated to do so because I am more interested in sending that work off to journals, and some editors will not touch a poem if it has appeared anywhere else, including on a blog.

But as blogging continues to grow in popularity, will how we blog change? Will writers use this particular medium to post drafts, revisions, and finished products of a longer work? Will they gather various blog posts and publish them as a collection that will be considered “literature?” The experiment did not work for José Saramago, but could it work for another writer one day?