Author: John Poplett
-
No Peacock Feather Required: the Luminance of “He”, a short story by Katherine Anne Porter
The story “He” is one peacock feather shy of a Flannery O’Connor story. Only it is a Katherine Anne Potter story and has its own luminance, not O’Connor’s sardonic delight in the grotesque. Nonetheless, in her story, Porter puts in play more than a smattering of religious artifacts and allusions. She refers to the “simple-minded…
-
4.83 Million Undecided Voters Bashed by Dante Alighieri
Now in 2024, a nail-biting U.S. Presidential election year, what does Dante Alighieri have to tell us about today’s 4.83 million undecided voters? After the Oct 1st vice-presidential debate, an ABC news journalist, huddling with a tiny sample of the evening’s 39 million viewers, kept circling back to one wishy-washy “undecided”, hoping against hope that…
-
En Plein Air: Tommy’s Story
On Atma’s maiden voyage, I parked the van in Santa Margarita, California to survey rock piles upon which artists had scratched, scrawled, and painted pictographs en plein air over 4,000 years ago; I parked the van in southern New Mexico on a lot next to Carlsbad Caverns, found the gaping opening that spiraled down in sweeping circles to the cold pit of…
-
Half-naked Man on Campus
Maureen Muldoon texted me a few days before a Voicebox planned evening of storytelling, asking me if I could fill in for a scratched performer. The theme song for the month, appropriately was “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. I said yes before knowing what I might possibly contribute. I thought Maureen might bite on…
-
The Unsettling Adventure of a Good Times Roller
Maureen Muldoon of Voice Box Stories will invite you to present live on stage at the monthly storytelling series she co-hosts with Cathy Richardson if you can pitch a story molded to the theme of a designated song. If you get the gig and go on to present, Cathy will climb the stage after you…