Marly Youmans's Blog, page 158

Mike-diary: an Asian Christ

Here's a bit of Lenten musing on religion in Asia, Christianity in particular. Like any discussion of religion flung out into the world, it will probably find a welcome and scorn in equal measure. Feel free to comment, either way! And thanks to those who have written emails about Mike's journal jottings--pleased to have some notes from interested novelists and readers.Dispatches from Indochine (3

Mike-diary: Cold Beer with The General

I just read Nhân Dân newspaper and Vietnamnet, and Hanoi seems to be fine--I was a bit concerned on waking to the fearsome earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The world is stirring again, and nature is not our friend, alas, but a force that destroys and breaks the heart.Here's another peek at Mike's adventures in Viet Nam. I am wishing that I had kept on an online travelogue when we were in Cambodia

Sundry bookishness & a confession

"The writer can choose what he writes about, but he cannot choose what he is able to make live." --Flannery O'ConnorI was planning to start my little series on writing and on publishing (two very different matters, luckily!) today, but I am still waiting on a response from one writer who flew off to California... So I think that I shall start the series next Monday, as that will give her time and

Mike-diary: The Ho Hoam Kiem turtle

Dispatches from IndoChine (March 6)The Ho Hoan Kiem turtle is dying.This event is national news here. The VN Yahoo homepage has photos of a rather tread-worn terrapin gracing its lead story. There is gossip on the street. He has died. Or, no, the People's herpetologists have devised a plan to save him. He has not been seen today, or he has been seen 3 times today, which is inauspicious. Or he has

Mike-diary: Birds of Hanoi

Last night our youngest wore his jammies and his bathrobe inside out in hopes of a snow day, and he got one with a vengeance. Several fluffy feet of flakes were piled high before the snowfall stopped. As we are now missing the absent Mike/Dad, who is plenty warm while volunteering in Vietnam, I'll post a little from his musings. He has moved on from Saigon to Hanoi.* * *The Birds of HanoiCompared

The Dream of the Rood at qarrtsiluni

I have another poem in the current issue of qarrtsiluni. I'd like to thank everybody who went by and read the earlier poems--especially all of you who left comments. What a mighty heap of remarks, all so interesting! This piece is a translation from the Anglo-Saxon with podcast of the wild, rich, decorative, and wondrous The Dream of the Rood. As always, I'm turning off comments here so the 'zine

Another peep at Clive's monograph

A beautifully designed and written book is a wondrous thing to behold and hold. Click on the image to see a larger one of this double spread of imprint page and title page for the upcoming Lund Humphries / Gray Mare collection of essays, Clive Hicks-Jenkins, already discussed here.(Except: I confess that mine is not an essay but a wild melange of fictive pieces, tiny stories, essay-like snippets,

Poetry month shenanigans and more

APRIL IS POETRY MONTH (THANK YOU, ELIOT)Dave Bonta will be doing a month of poetry reading--a book each day--for April, "poetry month." It's a good time to send him a book if you are a writer, and if you are a reader, he invites you to join in. Dave is one of the people I asked to participate in my upcoming series of posts on writing and publishing. (I have comments from four of the six writers I

Corey Mesler & more

Corey Mesler is one of the writers I consulted on my upcoming posts on writing and publishing--I asked him about the small press world from the point of views of writer and bookseller. You'll see him again later. But now he has a new interview up at Flutter. He is both poet and novelist, and Flutter asked him to put on his poetry hat. Here are a couple of bites from the pie:10. What is your

Upcoming series of posts on writing

I am postponing the little bloggy series on writing and publishing for a few days because I decided to get comments from other writers. It will ramble a bit and try to answer the questions people ask me with some musings on persistence, giving up, luck, doing what you want to do, home and the writer, print publishers, the internet and publishing, and other topics. I'll have some thoughts from