Fringe 10: Live!

Our new issue is live and kicking on the site, and chock full of fine writing.

Aside from our anniversary issue, we seldom solicit work surrounding a single theme, although happy accidents do arise. The pieces in this issue employ alienation, either at the formal or topical level to expose a greater personal truth.

*There is something unsettling about Johhny's assertion, "You're a whore" in Nancy Lynn Weber's flash Sugar Cone, and something true about the narrator's obsession with the dirty body.

*In Jon Stone's poems, violence is juxtaposed with ordinary past time, exposing the savagery of our culture, and the queer way in which this violence satisfies.

* Laurah Norton Raines' short story, Twenty-Seven, has a protagonist who is psychically uncomfortable with her new status as housewife, a role which is both too-familiar to her and incongruous with her conception of herself.

*In Invisible War, Lea Povozhaev negotiates the cultural and political differences between her own middle-class American upbringing, and her husband's childhood in iron-curtain Russia, and the implications these differences will have for their son, Viktor.

* Nancy Bauer's piece The N-Word explains the ways in which we are alienated from language, and how Don Imus' insensitive comments have exposed a cultural climate of intolerance that we must, willingly or unwillingly, participate in.

* Peter Schwartz's art nicely compliments this issue, with black and white representations of shock and morbid interest.

Please enjoy this issue, and feel free to post reactions to it in the comments below.

Travelling Friends

Heather's post yesterday got me thinking about travel what it means to be open to new experiences. I spent the academic year of 2000-2001 abroad in England, and during that time I made several trips.

Perhaps the best trip I took was to Ireland, with a close friend who was also abroad on the same program. We spent a few days in Dublin, then headed to Kilkenny to spend a night. It was near Christmas, so there weren't too many other tourists about, but in our hostel we chanced across an Australian several years older than us, who had been traveling through Europe for several months and had rented a car.

Because he exuded kindness and gentleness, the two of us decided to hitch a ride with him, just to the next city. Five days, four towns, and one Irish breakfast later, we were friends.

The Aussie and I have continued corresponding over the following years -- he's been through Europe several times, worked for the Australian government, and now is doing charitable work in Cambodia (he keeps a wonderful blog about his experiences). Although we haven't seen each other in person, I feel like I know him, and am glad I followed my heart and got in that car.

Also in today's news, why we need more women on the Supreme Court...

And this one time, at band camp...

Imagine yourself happily packing a backpack, stuffing only the essentials (including two "Do not open until May 24th!!!" cards and a mysteriously wrapped gift) inside, passport in hand, ready to depart for your four day birthday vacation to Madrid. It's your 33rd, so naturally it feels like a big deal. And though you're slightly bothered that your phenomenal partner had not really been in the picture when you originally booked the trip, and thus is not going, you're never-the-less excited to head over to Prestwick and catch your flight with friends.

Now, imagine that one of those friends has invited Michelle from American Pie to join you.

I'm not going to whine and complain about how my long-awaited trip to Spain was turned into a circus by a 15 year-old in a 23 year-old's body...Instead, I am going to use it as an opportunity to share some insight on travelling abroad. I share this with an open heart to any and all who have never left their hometown or country, and just aren't aware.

1) Americans, thanks to Mr. Bush, are really not terribly loved anywhere outside of the US these days.
2) Even if you are not American, if you sound like one we get the blame for any idiocies you commit (likewise, you get our stereotypes, so be prepared).
3) Though it is terribly exciting to travel outside of your comfort zone, drawing attention to yourself in a foreign country--aside from being humiliating--is a safety hazard (this means that wearing big flags on your backpack or having your friend video-tape you dancing on sacred grounds is a no-no).
4) If you do not speak the language of the country you are in, eat whatever the waiter puts in front of you--because chances are, you're the one who got it wrong.
5) When promotional people call to you on the street ("Chicas, chicas, gratis cervesas..."), don't insult them by yelling at them, accusing them of trying to pick you up, or saying "I don't drink beer!" They really could care less whether you do or not. Simply, they want some pretty girls to sit in the taberna so that paying men will come on in.
6) Finally, understand that you are not on home ground anymore. The rules have changed--your tea might have milk in it if you don't specify otherwise, vegetarianism might be a rare occurrence, and not everything is going to have an English translation under it.

I know that it's hard sometimes, we live in our own little worlds and get our culture from the boob tube...but if we want to lose the stereotypes of being loud, arrogant, and assumptive, we Americans need to step up. The accusations come from decades of documented poor behaviour, and it's our duty not to perpetuate it. After all, really, are you going to a foreign country to eat pizza and burgers? To speak your native tongue? Why bother? Immerse yourself in the culture and see it as a learning opportunity. Lean into your discomforts.

(Oh, and Canadians--if you're dead set on making an ass out of yourself abroad, please make sure you have a nice big maple leaf on yourself so that some of the blame is deflected.)

The House of the Spirits

The last few weeks of my life have been tumultuous and so I found myself trying to escape my thoughts, to simply not harp on what plagued me 24/7. I decided a novel was just the thing to help me out, and after a trip to the bookstore, I selected Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits.

I'd never read Allende before, and was pleased to discover that this book interesting in form, style, and content. The novel follows several generations of the Trueba family, who live in an unnamed country in South America. There are three different types of narration:

-an omniscient third person, that details thoughts, habits, and actions of various family members
- a first person account by the family's patriarch, Esteban Trueba
- a mystery first person narrator whose identity is not revealed until late in the novel.

The various narrations occur in intermittent sections that had no pattern to them that I could see. Although the POV switches took a minute to get used to, they provide a richly complex picture of the Trueba family and of the political landscape of the unnamed country, which bears a certain resemblance to Chile (Isabel's uncle, Salvador Allende, was the first socialist president elected there). The book moves through capitalism, socialism, and fascism, representing advantages and disadvantages to each form of government, and Allende doesn't shy away from violence when it is necessary to the story.

I think Allende is truly a Fringey writer -- the political and the experimental come together organically in her work, and in this interview on her website, in which she explains that she likes being mainstream and considers herself a strong feminist!

Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits: highly recommended summer reading!

My First Review Copy

About six weeks ago I returned home from a long day of thesis work to find Stacey Richter's Twin Study in my mailbox. It was my very first review copy, and its receipt made me feel like I am a real publisher, a feeling I don't have often due to the surreality of printing work on the web. You can look for a review of Twin Study in a future issue of Fringe.

I am only four stories into the collection, and savoring every quirky phrase. But one phrase gave me pause, and it wasn't Richter's. Time's blurb on the back reads:

"Richter brings a wacky imagination to the gender wars...one of the more outlandishly imaginative minds in contemporary fiction."

Gender wars? It seems to me that Richter is capturing a certain reality of the world women live in, and I think that "gender wars" belittles her theme. It reminds me of one of the Guerilla Girls' action posters, Advantages of Being a Woman Artist, "Being reassured that whatever art you make it will be labeled feminine." But perhaps I'm being unfair. I'm sure Time has commended Cormac McCarthy and John Updike for contributing to the gender wars as well.

So far this is an excellent book, and those who haven't checked out Richter's website, where she hilariously fields questions from the peanuts, are missing out.

A two-bride bachelorette party

As little sister, it's my RIGHT to plan my older sister's bachelorette party, agreed?

Well in my case, it's not so easy. This wedding has two brides, and I just wasn't sure how to work it. Does my sister get her own bachelorette party? After all, this is the one day where the bride can be a little bit naughty with the blessing of her future spouse, so wouldn't it ruin the mood for me to invite my sister's future spouse to her bachelorette? But then again, doesn't my future sister-in-law deserve to be a little naughty, too?

Since I was stumped, I went to the number one authority on gay weddings and commitment ceremonies, TwoBrides.com, and to the TwoBrides' sister site GayWeddings.com. I checked the Family and Friends area and even located an area where I could submit my own question.

Just a few hours after I hit send, I got an email from Kathryn Hamm, whose straight mom founded the TwoBrides and TwoGrooms sites in 2000 to provide "mother-approved shopping sites for same sex weddings." Kathryn sent me a long, enthusiastic message, but the moral of the story was this:

"Get a little crazy with both brides in tow!"

So that's what I'm going to do. I'll have to give you all the details later, since this is a big surprise for my sister (who reads this blog sometimes), but keep your eyes peeled for an update.

Today, I am thanking my lucky stars for sites like TwoBrides.com, TwoGrooms.com and GayWeddings.com. Without them, people planning gay and lesbian weddings would be forced to muddle through with hetero-centered wedding sites and planning ideas. Kathryn and Gretchen Hamm have made it their mission to "provid[e] resources to same-sex couples who seek to affirm their life-long partnerships." And their recent partnership with K.C. David's GayWeddings.com has added a focus on "informing gay and lesbian couples of the best ways to help protect their relationships."

That's my kind of place. If you have a question about something as silly as the bachelorette party or something as serious as how to participate in a gay wedding when you feel uncomfortable with the idea, these sites (and their passionate founders) can help.

Reading at Grub Street

Last night Fringe, Quick Fiction, Redivider, and Black Ocean held a reading in Boston at Grub Street. The reading, hosted by Redivider, was the second in a series of seasonal readings put on by the Boston-based journals and presses.

The reading's theme was "Spring Fever" and all four readers delivered. Elisa Gabbert went first, reading some fine love poetry on behalf of Redivider -- her "Poem to KR" was a particular favorite. Next came Sarah Sweeney (work forthcoming in the August Fringe), who read several poems about Carolina, including a hilarious quadruple sonnet about lotto tickets and peach schnapps. After a short break, Megan Bedford read her short short out of the new issue of Quick Fiction, followed up by a nonfiction piece on teenagers mating in spring. Peter Jay Shippy, whose work is forthcoming in the first issue of Black Ocean's new journal Handsome, closed out the evening with a particularly hilarious pastiche of poetry, CSI, Jackson Pollock, and country town-meeting.

Each reader was also forced to read a Shakespeare sonnet that had been Mad-libbed by the audience.

Beer, wine, soda, and those delightful marinated olives that Adam Pieroni of Quick Fiction makes were consumed, and we all went home sated with culture.

Stay tuned for the summer reading in July, hosted by Black Ocean!