Periodically Speaking

…but first a preliminary: A miserable cold, and the distracting uncertainty and fervent hope that overwhelm me while my loved-ones somersault through space—Oh, I know they’ll land on their feet; they’re quick and flexible, and know how to make the best of their luck, but still, I’m a natural worrier—have all conspired to interpret my saga about Jeanne, a fictional young mother, whose husband died suddenly and has now moved to Kansas where her sister lives. Not writing about her frustrates me, but she requires my best and brightest energies. So, maybe tomorrow, though on Wednesday I have promised to meet a friend undergoing medical tests at Mount Sinai hospital. Still, if you’re at all interested in Jeanne, her two-year old daughter Colette, her sister and boyfriend, I now know the whole tale inside out, because of so much sliding from waking to sleeping to waking—I’ve dreamed of them every other hour.

Meanwhile, listen to what’s coming up—for free—at The New York Public Library, thanks to The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses [clmp]. On Tuesday, October 9th, the group kicks off its Periodically Speaking reading series. Each event (the October reading is one of three) will present a fiction writer, a poet, and a nonfiction writer, each introduced by an editor from one of three fine literary journals.

First up is editor Robert M. Colley of Syracuse University’s Stone Canoe, introducing fiction writer Daniel Torday.

New England Review’s editor, Stephen Donadio then presents the poet Patrick Phillips. Following you’ll find VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly’s editor Erin McKean setting the stage for nonfiction writer Daniel Krieger.

If you haven’t heard of these writers, and I admit some are new to me, their writing has received the imprimatur of literary journals with a tradition for discovering great writers, often really great writers, whether they go on to greater fame or remain favorite voices to a smaller but astute and appreciative audience.

With literary arts competing on an ever more crowded stage, and the once nominal government support having dwindled…surely, you can imagine far it has dwindled…these magazines couldn’t exist unless they were superior publications. The editors, too, wouldn’t hold the title if they weren’t outstanding. And the writers? For a creative writer to impress such great journals and editors, and find the support of organizations like [clmp] and the New York Public Library, they have necessarily written memorable stories and poems and essays.

Periodically Speaking’s Program I will take place October 9, starting at 6:00 and ending at 7:30, in the DeWitt Periodicals Room, The New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street. Get there if you can, and the series coordinators ask you please to use the Fifth Avenue entrance.