Grief, A Beautiful Place to Visit

An essay I wrote last year about grief is up at The Good Men Project. I'm glad to finally see it in "print." It's here.

What Kind of Person Are You?

I have a new essay up on The Nervous Breakdown about race, creative writing programs, and the importance of imagining across racial boundaries.

In related news, this video is really funny:

Ten Books

Over the last year or so I have read a lot of books. There have been a relative few, however, that I loved unequivocally, that have stayed with me, informing the way I view the world and operate within it. They are:

Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
Open City by Teju Cole
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Notes from No Man's Land by Eula Biss
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
The Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson
The Gift by Lewis Hyde

Besotted With Music

This is exciting: Sherman Alexie has agreed to blurb my little self-published book of poems!

His quote: "Alex Gallo-Brown’s poems are the sad and beautiful tales of a lost son, lost father and, yes, lost generation. But these poems are fun and smart. Flooded with imagery and besotted with music. I love them."

LOG

The Healing Center in Seattle, a grieving community my mom has been a part of since my dad died in October of 2007, was kind enough to invite me to give a reading next month (it's happening Saturday, April 27th). They've posted a version of the introduction to The Language of Grief on their blog in anticipation. It's here if you want to take a look.

Story Chairs

Well, this is pretty awesome. One of my poems ("Where our fathers are") was included as part of Tina Hoggatt's "Story Chairs" project, opening soon at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery in Seattle. The idea, from what I understand, is that gallery-goers will be invited to sit in one of two chairs, which will in turn play an audio recording. When the visitor stands, the audio ceases; when they sit, a new piece begins. There are 32 pieces of writing in all. Mine is one of them. (You can actually listen to a writer named Will Rose read my poem on this website. Do it. It's a trip.)

Needless to say, I am very excited about this. For all you Seattle people, there's an opening on Wednesday, March 27th, from 5:30-8 pm. I won't be able to be there, living as I do in Atlanta these days, but I hope some of you will serve as my proxy.

Pizza Delivery Poem

I have a "new" poem (I wrote it years ago) up at Loose Change, a literary magazine produced by the great Atlanta arts non-profit WonderRoot. The issue's here if you want to take a look.