Yes, in contrast with my earlier rant, here’s something more uplifting (maybe I’ve been taken over by the spirit of Robert Mitchum), AKA my latest column from BitchBuzz. Yes, vagaries of the holiday schedules have given you a kind of “blue moon” from me (I’m mooning you?!). I tried to keep it from getting too…
Category: myth
Unikirja Reviewed!
Rie McGaha over at the Pagan and the Pen reviewed Unikirja and had some really wonderful things to say about it. In fact, I’m thinking my feet aren’t quite touching the ground: K. A. Laity has written a marvelous collection of stories that have the dreamlike quality of bedtime stories. I was mesmerized by these…
Review: Ponyo
My pal Peg convinced me to run off for a matinee this week even though I have a million and one things to do what with the approaching semester. We saw the latest Ghibli film, Ponyo. I love Miyazai’s films, so no surprise, I really enjoyed this one, too, though it doesn’t rate with the…
Guest Blogging at Sia McKye’s Thoughts over Coffee
Join me over at Sia McKye’s Thoughts…Over Coffee where I’m blogging about the difficulty of introducing my weirdly-titled short story collection, Unikirja, as well as Finnish folklore and mythology. Sia is a terrific blogger who hosts all kinds of writers and writing tips, so you would do well to bookmark her. I’ll be checking in…
Signing: Eastline Books TODAY!
Yes, it all begins at noon: East Line Books, Old Village Plaza, 1714 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY 12065 (Just north of Rt. 146 on Rt. 9 across from Snyder’s Restaurant, between Clifton Park Pizza and Captain’s Treasures). I will be playing my kantele off and on — and if that’s not enough of a…
A Taste of Unikirja: Palakainen
Here’s another taste from Unikirja, “Palakainen”. This one’s quite a bit different from the comic tale “Vipunen” because it’s based on a murder ballad from The Kanteletar. When I began to compose this story, I found it developed a peculiar rhythm to capture the feel of a ballad narrative, including the repetitions of phrases peculiar…
A Taste of Unikirja: Vipunen
In order to give people a little sample of my collection, Unikirja, today I want to offer one of the stories that previously appeared in print. “Vipunen” is based — oh, so loosely — on Runo 17 of the Kalevala. That runo has been interpreted in various ways, including musically by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis….
The Kalevala and Kanteletar
One of the difficulties involved in introducing my story collection Unikirja has to do with most people’s unfamiliarity with The Kalevala and The Kanteletar, the twin tomes of Finnish myth and folklore. The stories and songs that make up these collections are very old, but were gathered together in the nineteenth century as a surging…
Signing: Eastline Books
Just a quick note to let you know that I will be doing a signing for Unikirja May 30th at Eastline Books in Clifton Park, NY. The fabulous Robyn Ringler hosts many events at her independent book store and it’s a great place to browse — in fact, she’ll be having a big sale that…