Monday, August 10, 2015
Those radio waves must have had a strong impact, as Mulvaney-Stanak has made a career in sound. As DJ Llu, she’s been spinning tunes for more than 15 years at nightspots all over Burlington. She hosts a weekly show on the University of Vermont’s radio station, WRUV (and used to host Seven Days’ podcast “Tour Date with DJ Llu”). And she’s the development and outreach coordinator for VCAM, Burlington’s community media-making organization, where she’s involved with audio and video projects of all kinds. But, she says, “My first love is, first and foremost, radio.”
Already a fixture on Soundcloud, Mulvaney-Stanak and a small group of like-minded radio enthusiasts have used that website to share a short audio piece that seems like it could be a transmission from the future of radio. Team WBTV-LP (see below for that acronym’s significance) — which consists of Mulvaney-Stanak, Rob Henkel and Tiffany Lee — has created a radio piece titled “Tattoo a Unicorn on Your Forehead” as their entry into an online radio competition called the Radio Race. You can hear their entry below.
Tags: radio , radio race , WBTV , WBTV-LP , KCRW , Llu Mulvaney-Stanak , sound , audio , community , Image , Web Only
Thursday, July 30, 2015
With its upcoming second annual Woodblock seminar series, Oplerno is applying the same disruptive model to that bulwark of traditional university life, the academic conference. Woodblock is free for all participants and, since it takes place online, does not require any costly travel or lodging arrangements.
Moreover, though the conference will convene for a daylong session on Tuesday, August 4, it is not circumscribed by time. Its half-dozen multimedia sessions will live on in perpetuity online.
Tags: oplerno , education , higher education , woodblock , conference , rob skiff , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 12, 2015
Where are you going to find a literary event that showcases picture-book authors, a best-selling steamy romance writer, and more "literary" types? In Vermont, of course. Specifically, in Greensboro, where the Green Mountain Arts Alliance & Residency's Writers' Forum will happen from August 11 to 20.
This isn't one of those expensive writing conferences where you can meet publishing professionals and pitch your book to them. It is an event where you can pay $10 to $15 for a workshop with local best seller Anne Stuart or kids' author Natalie Kinsey. Readings over the two weeks carry the same price (actually a suggested donation), with an all-access pass available for $50.
And it (almost) all happens in a tent.
Tags: writer , words , literature , reading , vermont , andrew liptak , lev grossman , the magicians , green mountain arts alliance , geek mountain state , ra press , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 17, 2015
Brigantine Media, a small publisher based in St. Johnsbury, is betting on both. On Monday, the company announced its new Publish or Perish Writing Contest. The prize? A publishing contract with a $2,000 advance on royalties. The requirements for entry? A manuscript and a marketing plan. The contest's "twist" is that both are weighed equally. Acquisitions editor Neil Raphel says to "Think 'American Idol' crossed with 'Shark Tank.'"
Every writer who's ever looked at Google ads knows that "writing contests" are as common as dodgy publishers eager to put out your book. Both tend to have one thing in common: They want your money.
Tags: brigantine media , publish or perish , publishing , book , author , writer , contest , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Forney lives in Seattle and teaches cartooning at that city’s Cornish College of the Arts. As she was packing her suitcase for the trip east, she took a few moments to speak by phone with Seven Days about her work.
SEVEN DAYS: What’s the occasion for your visit to Vermont and New Hampshire?
ELLEN FORNEY: I’ve known [CCS cofounder] James Sturm since he lived in Seattle in ’93. He was the art director of [altweekly] the Stranger, and that was one of my first jobs as a cartoonist/illustrator. When I started teaching at Cornish College for the Arts in 2002, he was a huge help in my putting together my curriculum. And I still haven’t been out there, so I feel like my visit is long overdue.
SD: You said that writing Marbles took a lot out of you. What did you mean by that?
EF: The story of my bipolar disorder was a story I hadn’t really told before Marbles. I wasn’t “out” about my disorder. So, gathering the materials for the book and then putting it out into the world just took a lot of emotional, social and professional energy. I had never done a full book before — most of my work I would consider graphic essays. So even logistically it was new.
Going through a lot of really difficult and often painful experiences, you kind of push those things under the rug as you go on about your life. Delving into them can be very depressing.
Tags: comics , ellen forney , marbles , memoir , center for cartoon studies , cartooning , bipolar disorder , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Upon learning that Alda would be speaking about his work with his eponymous Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, my mind flashed back to an episode of “M*A*S*H” that has always stuck with me.
In “The Moon Is Not Blue,” an episode from the show’s 11th and final season, Hawkeye and B.J. Hunnicutt administer pills to one Corporal Bannister for the treatment of his diminished self-confidence, and to Corporal Klinger for his inability to cope with a torrid heatwave. In both cases, the “medicine” is just sugar pills, placebos given by sneaky doctors to unwitting patients. Clueless, both Bannister and Klinger report that the pills perform as advertised.
I think that, even though I was only 9 at the time, I remember the episode relatively well because it was the first time I learned of the placebo effect, a concept that astonished me.
Tags: alan alda , communication , lecture , M*A*S*H , science , university of vermont , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
In 2008, renovations to the bottom two floors of the building enabled Catamount's leaders to "really make a huge leap for ourselves by having this wonderful facility, but also evaluating who we are and what we do," says executive director Jody Fried.
Now entering its 40th year — the official anniversary is in May — the Northeast Kingdom's primary arts hub is gearing up for a celebratory year. It even has a flashy new anniversary poster (see above) designed by the nationally recognized digital-arts pioneer Laurence Gartel. A native of the NEK, he was recently named the official artist of the 57th Grammy Awards.
Tags: catamount arts , jay craven , jody fried , katherine french , green mountain film festival , poem city , arts , northeast kingdom , vermont , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 19, 2015
What better time to read — or write — than during winter doldrums? Two events planned for the end of January could inspire you to get your butt off the couch and come meet likeminded literary folks.
The pulp-style poster (right) for the latest installment of the Vermont Speculative Fiction Writer's Series certainly gets the blood pumping. This reading series is a great way for SF and fantasy fans to meet local published writers in their genres — such as Brian Staveley, whose latest epic fantasy The Providence of Fire is just out from Tor. Kirkus compared him to George R.R. Martin in a starred review.
The next reading, called "Vermont Stories of Imagination!" happens on Saturday, January 24, at noon at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier, and features writers with track records in publishing short (and long) speculative fiction: Sean-Patrick Burke, F. Brett Cox, Kane Gilmour, Mike Luoma, Aimee Picchi and Ginger Weil. More details here.
Tags: christopher lehmann-haupt , andrew liptak , brian staveley , geek mountain state , books , literature , stephen kiernan , science fiction , fantasy , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Funded by and named for the Kavli Foundation — a trust dedicated to "advancing science for the benefit of humanity" — the award consists of a $3,000 prize that Dobbs will collect at the AAAS conference in San Jose in February 2015. Founded more than 150 years ago, the AAAS is one of the oldest and most respected of all American science foundations; the organization also publishes the journal Science.
"The Social Life of Genes," which was originally published in the journal Pacific Standard, investigates the ways in which organisms' social environments affect the expressions of their genes. In its treatment of genetics as a branch of social science, the essay suggests new and controversial avenues for the study of heredity.
Tags: david dobbs , science , journalism , science journalism , award , prize , kavli , montpelier , Image , Web Only
Monday, November 3, 2014
Galway’s fade into spirit is as instructive as his poetry. I last saw him on August 7 at the Vermont Statehouse for a celebration of his life and art. He was frail and, sadly, nearly uncommunicative when asked for closing remarks. His son came to his side and said the thank-yous Galway was struggling to say. He already had that faraway focus that spoke to me of his impending journey to another place.
I used to play tennis with Galway at Lyndon State College and in St. Johnsbury. I’m very competitive. When playing doubles with Galway in the mix, I could lighten up and enjoy the game and give up caring about the outcome. But when he and I played singles, I took it personally. I attacked the net and put those games away quickly. He was always surprised to see how much more effective I was as a singles player than as a doubles player. I didn’t have the nerve to say that was because I have always wanted to write a better poem than he, or at least one that competed in the same arena. I never could. I never did. So I turned to prose.
Tags: poetry , galway kinnell , vermont , poet laureate , Image , Web Only