Festival of Books

The 2011 LA Times Festival of Books begins today at 10:00 a.m. and continues through tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. at the University of Southern California.  The Festival is a wonderful opportunity to mingle with hundreds of authors, attend panel discussions with best-selling novelists and industry experts on writing and the publishing business, and participate in writing [...]

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Drafting Perfection

It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my memory, but to suspend the action of the pen till I had given the last polish to my work.  ~ Edward Gibbon, historian and author of The History of [...]

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Easter Day

The silver trumpets rang across the Dome: The people knelt upon the ground with awe: And borne upon the necks of men I saw, Like some great God, the Holy Lord of Rome. Priest-like, he wore a robe more white than foam, And, king-like, swathed himself in royal red, Three crowns of gold rose high [...]

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Literary Forum – Giuseppe Conte

As part of the 2011 John Fowles Literary Forum at Chapman University, Italian novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright Giuseppe Conte will be reading excerpts from his work on Monday, April 25.  Conte was born in Imperia and earned a degree in literature from the University of Milan in 1968.  His novels include Il terzo ufficiale (The [...]

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Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver shoon; This way, and that, she peers, and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees; One by one the casements catch Her beams beneath the silvery thatch; Couched in his kennel, like a log, With paws of silver sleeps the dog; From their shadowy cote [...]

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Last Spring

Fill yourself up with the forsythias and when the lilacs flower, stir them in too with your blood and happiness and wretchedness, the dark ground that seems to come with you.   Sluggish days.  All obstacles overcome. And if you say: ending or beginning, who knows, then maybe – just maybe – the hours will [...]

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What Would I Do Without This World

what would I do without this world faceless incurious where to be lasts but an instant where every instant spills in the void the ignorance of having been without this wave where in the end body and shadow together are engulfed what would I do without this silence where the murmurs die the pantings the [...]

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Beyond Words

Last month, a few of my Chapman peers and I attended the Sigma Tau Delta International English Convention in Pittsburgh to read our original essay and fiction submissions.  Most of my friends and I had been invited to read last year, as well, and enjoyed being veteran presenters among the throng of first-time attendees.  The week [...]

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Literary Forum – Paolo Giordano

As part of the 2011 John Fowles Literary Forum at Chapman University, Italian novelist and physicist Paolo Giordano will be reading excerpts from his work on Monday, April 11.  Giordano was born in Turin in 1982.  He is the recent recipient of Italy’s premier literary award, the Premio Strega, as well as the Premio Campiello Opera Prima [...]

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National Poetry Month

Since its inauguration by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, April has been recognized as National Poetry Month, so now is the perfect time to reflect on the richness of poetry and the many ways it enhances our lives.  Literary journals and websites offer an abundance of suggestions for celebrating poetry this month; I’ve [...]

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