Friends -- Looking towards the USA celebration of Thanksgiving tomorrow, there has been a gradual build-up in gratitude practices on social media and elsewhere. In my Jewish spirituality learning group – called a chavruta – we’ve been talking about it too. In that group I admitted something embarrassing: this gratitude stuff grates on me. It … Continue reading my gratitude problem
Author: Stephanie Barbé Hammer
Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a prose writer, magical realist, and a committed, intermittent poet. A 5-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize she has published work in Hayden's Ferry, Pearl, CRATE, Rhapsoidia, NYCBigCityLit, the East Jasmine Review, Apeiron, Inlandia, Literary Alchemy and the Bellevue Literary Review among other places. Her fabulist novel _The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior_ appeared in March 2015 with Urban Farmhouse Press. Her poetry collection _How Formal?_ was published in 2014 with Spout Hill Press and her prose poem collection _SEX WITH BUILDINGS_ was published in May 2012 by Dancing Girl Press. Stephanie is addicted to teaching; she taught composition for the first time ever at Edmonds Community College. She is currently managing editor for SHARK REEF literary magazine and trying to make something happen with her second novel manuscript.
October 26th 2020 — Choose
Dear Friends of the Unreal -- I have put off writing my blog entry for October because I haven't known what to write. I have kept on hoping that some piece of fiction, some work of cinema or television, or even some experience would be something I could share to distract us from the events … Continue reading October 26th 2020 — Choose
An excerpt from my story at THE BRIDGE, Volume 2
Friends -- Sometimes, a story that you struggle with becomes the story that soars between countries, becoming part of an international conversation, bridging readers and writers from far away communities. That's what happened with my story "Nothing Like Chongqing." Inspired by my actual trip to China, this magical realist tale was one that I labored … Continue reading An excerpt from my story at THE BRIDGE, Volume 2
New Story! an excerpt from A QUIET AFTERNOON
Friends of the unreal -- Imagine my delighted surprise to have a piece included in this lovely speculative anthology as -- once again -- the rule breaker story. This time, time though, my hybrid prose poem/flash fiction is the most "realist" of the group (which is pretty hilarious). Here is the beginning of "12 Attempts … Continue reading New Story! an excerpt from A QUIET AFTERNOON
lamentations/celebrations/lamentations — attempt #2
Friends -- as we reach the end of July of this strange, unreal feeling year, I am experiencing with renewed force the power of the Jewish holiday known as Tisha B' Av. Tisha B'Av commemorates the fall of Jerusalem Temples 1 and 2, but in a larger sense, it commemorates the totality of Jewish catastrophes. … Continue reading lamentations/celebrations/lamentations — attempt #2
“a revolutionary moment”
Dear friends -- I'd like to invite you to take a look at my introductory essay to the Summer Issue of SHARK REEF literary magazine, an online journal that I've had the honor to work with for several years. The link to my essay is here: "Better" Better yet, (what is better than better? just … Continue reading “a revolutionary moment”
uh…. what day is it? a May greeting
Dear friends -- Somehow May has been a blur and a whirl. I'm teaching two writing classes and taking 2 classes, but somehow I am beginning to finally not know what day it is. I think it's a combination of the laundry piling up and realizing that it is unlikely that I will be able … Continue reading uh…. what day is it? a May greeting
Argue with your mother, recite a poem, experience a moment of grace: Ruth Klueger at Auschwitz
Dear friends of writing and reading – Today is Yom HaShoah, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Holocaust. A long time ago, before I converted to Judaism I taught college courses on the literature of the Holocaust. It was during this time that I got to know a friend of a friend, the scholar … Continue reading Argue with your mother, recite a poem, experience a moment of grace: Ruth Klueger at Auschwitz
March 2020 What would Camus say?
In this now surreal and dystopian 2020, this magical realism blogger turns, not to a magical writer, or a realist writer, but to a writer who was arguably an absurdist or an existentialist. Or maybe both and neither. Yup. Albert Camus. I guess alot of us are thinking about Albert Camus because of his famous … Continue reading March 2020 What would Camus say?
and… read something
Friends -- while we're gearing up to write we can also read something. Read something by a friend or a stranger. Read something by a stranger who became a friend. A couple of weeks ago I received a copy of Gloss, the new poetry collection by Wendy Barker. It's fantastically good. I met Wendy at … Continue reading and… read something
