Names of the States, a poem to Welcome Deb Haaland Lucille Lang Day’s poem “Names of the States” reveals how the original Indigenous names of their lands remain embedded to this day in the names of the states of the United States of America. At the same time, her poem, expressed with a hopeful and sensitive […]
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.
Refusenik is available as a paperback and an ebook from Amazon.com. From the end of the war in Vietnam, through the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, the world transformed many times over and carried me with it. As I went through those decades, these poems rose to the top and I wrote […]
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.
It is always uplifting and inspirational for me to interview Valerie Haynes Perry, an interesting and buoyant author and motivational writing coach. A prolific writer, Valerie has published three novels, Tanner Blue, Painted Deserts and Members. In addition, she released a book of short stories, Music for the Dream, Seven Short Stories, and three motivational writing books, Listen Out Loud, Write the Book You Want, and Write, Read, Listen . She now has expanded into writing vignettes, Qpid and Them, and Unilogue. In this interview we discuss her journey from writer to writing coach and how she takes her own advice as an author. Reading out loud and listening to your own voice are fundamental to her coaching. She says that writing itself is the teacher. She encourages writers to respect their craft and master basic skills through continued writing until they reach the point where they can break the rules and follow their own intuitive journey.
In our discussion, Valerie tells about her newest work which departs from her usual handling of characters and plots. She wanted to write about a relationship between a self and a higher self without falling into interior monologue. Valerie created a form she called “unilogue”, as a opposed to “dialogue”, because the conversation exists within one person. She adopted a writing technique called automatic writing which allowed her to write intuitively. Unilogue is deeply set inside nature. In this episode of Literary Dialogs, she reads excerpts from Unilogue. As a poet I appreciate the poetic language describing beach, water, air and the interplay of these basic elements with the self.
In Valerie Haynes Perry’s work as a writing coach, she relies on word of mouth to let interested writers know about her on-going monthly writer’s circles. Writers find her supportive and encouraging and they recommend her to others. She maintains four on-going monthly writing circles, two are closed cohorts and two others open to new members. Writers can contact Valerie on her website contact form.
Readers can find Valerie Haynes Perry’s novels dealing with non-stereotypical African American characters inside intriguing plots through through the links provided above on this post and on her website, valeriehaynesperry.com.
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This post was originally published on ninaserrano.com.
Literary Dialogs with Nina Serrano Featuring Valerie Haynes Perry Valerie Haynes Perry, author and motivational writing coach, reads from her latest book and discusses her journey from writer to writing coach and how she takes her own advice as an author. It is always uplifting and inspirational for me to interview Valerie Haynes Perry, an […]
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.
Santa Cruz County poet Dena Taylor new book Exclamation Points is a poignant memoir in verse. In response to her publisher’s (Kate Hitt of Many Names Press) request for a poetry manuscript, Dena reviewed her poems, written over a lifetime, ordered them chronologically and wrote her marvelous bitter sweet book. This is my second interview with Dena. The first interview was about her book written with her daughter, Becky Taylor, called Tell Me the Number Before Infinity.
In this current Zoom reading and interview, Dena reads poems written as a young mother, an empty nester and a grandmother, sharing the telling moments of the bitter sweet poignancy of life. As Jory Post, publisher and co-founder of phren-z literary magazine noted in her review:
“In Exclamation Points, Dena Taylor cracks open her heart, invites us to sit with her under a family tree of mothers and fathers and daughters and grandkids. With a mind required to observe and share everything, we watch her daughters grow with rainbows, mosquito bites, … and disability placards. A daughter says, “She’s glad I’m there. Saying it more than once.”… Taylor carves the memory of her parents with a deft blade. “The time since he died is full of things I want to tell him,” she says of her father. And of her mother, “I would give both my breasts to keep you here.” Sprinkled with whiskey, weed, and wine, Taylor’s fearless approach to living a full life showcases the depths of love, grief, and remembrance. In “Don’t Forget” she says, “Savor everything, be glad you were born, be very glad.” This road map Taylor has crafted with eyes wide open, welcomes us as passengers on her unique journey.”
Exclamation Points is published by Many Names Press and is available through books stores and on line.
About Nina Serrano: Nina Serrano is a well-known, international prize-winning inspirational author and poet. With a focus on Latino history and culture, she is also a playwright, filmmaker, KPFA talk show host, a former Alameda County Arts Commissioner, and a co-founder of the San Francisco Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Oakland Magazine’s “best local poet” in 2010, she is a former director of the San Francisco Poetry in the Schools program and the Bay Area’s Storytellers in the Schools program. A Latina activist for social justice, women’s rights, and the arts, Nina Serrano at 86 remains vitally engaged in inspiring change and exploring her abundant creativity. For more information go to ninaserrano.com or contact her publisher at estuarypress.com. For more detailed information about Nina see About Nina on her website.
About Estuary Press: Estuary Press is the publisher of Nicaragua Way. It is also the home of the Harvey Richards Media Archive, a repository of photography and video documentaries of various social change and political movements during the 1960s and 1970s. Contact Paul Richards (510) 967 5577, paulrichards@estuarypress.com or visit estuarypress.com for more details.
MEDIA – For photos & interviews: Paul Richards (510) 967 5577; paulrichards@estuarypress.com
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This post was originally published on ninaserrano.com.
Dena Taylor Reads from Her Book Exclamation Points A Poignant Memoir in Verse Santa Cruz County poet Dena Taylor new book Exclamation Points is a poignant memoir in verse. In response to her publisher’s (Kate Hitt of Many Names Press) request for a poetry manuscript, Dena reviewed her poems, written over a lifetime, ordered them […]
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.
I am excited to announce that my father’s book of cartoons “World Out of Order” by Joe Serrano is now published and available in ebook and paperback from Estuary Press.
My father, Joe Serrano, was born in Columbia in 1912 and emigrated to the United States at age 9. He quit school in the eighth grade to go to work to help support his widowed mother and little sister. Even as a very young school boy, he drew cartoons, letting his classmates see them for a penny a peak. Always thinking about metaphysics, the meaning of life, and the nature of God, he drew the humors of everyday living into cartoons. Now over a hundred years since his birth, his cartoons resonate with the new realities of the 21st Century as if they were created just yesterday.
It was a long journey to the publication of World Out of Order. As a child, I was always aware of my father’s cartoons, even before I could read. He sat with pen and ink in hand drawing on a board.
In 1945, when my brother, Philip Serrano, was born after WWII, my father left his wartime draftsman job and declared himself a full time free lance cartoonist. The drawing board became a drawing table in a dedicated corner of my parents’ bedroom. It was equipped with drawing pens, pencils, brushes, a big stack of white paper, India ink and a stash of erasers. A guillotine paper trimmer (still in use in my home today) and a large powerful magnifying glass completed his drawing studio space.
Over the years he expanded to a whole room for his work where he conceived and drew 22 rough drafts a week to send out to magazines and trade journals. He would check his mailbox daily for acceptances and rejections then draw up the final drafts. He did this in New York, Massachusetts, and California for 47 years. When he died in 1987, the following day, in the mail came an acceptance of one of his rough drafts from a magazine he’d submitted to earlier. My life long friend, the artist Beryl Landau, kindly drew the finished version for him. He was able to end his career on a triumphant note with its publication. My brother and I and our spouses, Elizabeth Hickey Serrano and Paul Richards, gathered up all his files and stored them in Phil and Liz’s garage.
After my mother died in 1989, the four of us went through my dad’s cartoons and sorted them with hopes of making a book. That was already 30 years ago and then we forgot.
When my brother died, three years ago in 2017, the forgetting got worse. But the subject of my father’s legacy reawakened this year when I wrote a Father’s Day poem titled “Poem for My Father with Love From Your Daughter” which is in the preface of the book. I read the poem on the radio. Paul realized it was time to publish the book. We looked in our computers and everywhere for the cartoons, and not surprisingly could not find them. Fortunately, my sister law, Liz remembered and brought them over in a blue plastic covered bin filled with cartoons drawn on paper.
I could hear Paul laughing out loud as he was scanning, sorting, and editing hundreds of brilliantly drawn pictures with short humurous captions. Using just a few flowing black and white lines, my father captured settings, personalities, relationships and complex situations.
Although these cartoons were created long ago from 1945 to 1987, they still tickle our funny bones. Joe was a very modest and shy man. He would be so surprised and pleased that 33 years after his passing his works are now collected to be enjoyed at a time when the world needs to laugh more than ever.
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Selected Cartoons by Joe Serrano World Out of Order is now Available in Paperback and Ebook from Amazon and kobo (ebook only) Sixty cartoons because we need a good laugh. I am excited to announce that my father’s book of cartoons “World Out of Order” by Joe Serrano is now published and available in ebook and paperback from Estuary Press. […]
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.
This post was originally published on Estuary Press.