"You're the one who made me this way:" Dennis Norris II reads "Daddy's Boy."
the last audio update, ways to find Forward now, thank you
Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for your support and love for the Forward anthology. We had our official launch party at AWP. While I can’t speak for everyone, for me, it was one of the most meaningful readings I’ve ever attended. Yeah, some of that is because this has been an intensive and sometimes-overwhelming process that has consumed a lot of time for me over the past months. But most of it was because of the kindness and grace and interest the audience was showing the readers. It was the way so many of the contributors were so excited to meet each other and listen to one another. It was afterward, seeing people exchange their contact information, commiserating with one another, and even talking about projects they could do together.
Let’s have one last reading, now. I’ve loved Dennis Norris II’s “Daddy’s Boy” for a long time. A million years ago when I was at SmokeLong, Rion Amilcar Scott chose it while guest-editing. It’s a story that’s bold, complicated, sexy, and at times, harrowing. It’s also a story that always reminds me of how much character-work, how much of a life can be built with a few words.
Dennis Norris II’s writing appears in The Rumpus, Apogee, SmokeLong Quarterly, and elsewhere. They have been the recipient of fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, Tin House, and Kimbilio Fiction, and they co-host the popular podcast Food 4 Thot. You can find more information at dennisnorrisii.com.
This is the last one of these recordings. Thank you, Bix Gabriel for coordinating the recordings.
Buying Forward
If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably already own Forward. But in case you still don’t have a copy, you can find it at SPD and Powell’s and if you’re in the Boston area, The Harvard Coop Bookstore.
You can also because it’s on SPD request that your local library stocks Forward and even your local bookstore can buy copies for you via SPD.
And if you have a copy and want to review it, we are on Goodreads.
Contributor Brags And Twitter Writing Competition
Contributor, Anna Cabe (“See Me”) has done a lot lately! She published “Say Mercy” in storySouth, On Hauntings: Rewriting the White Lady of Balete Drive" in Queen Mob's Tea House, "Carriers" "Portrait of My Mother as a French Bulldog"and "Snow White, on Finding a Pair of Iron Shoes While Spring Cleaning" in Rag Queen Periodical, and "Why should young Filipinos in the diaspora care about Martial Law?" in Rappler.
One of the people/organizations that made this possible is @mythicpicnic. Mythic Picnic is exploring the ways twitter can bring us literature. One way he’s doing this is beyond funding anthologies like Forward and the forthcoming Teacher Voice, by hosting twitter writing competitions. If you’re interested in potentially winning $100, their current competition is open 4/7-4/14. Learn more by going to their twitter feed @mythicpicnic.
We’re winding everything up on Forward. We’re going to do one last update at the end of the month, but then we’ll be going silent at least for a little while. Thank you again for all your support over these past months!
Megan