The Pulaski Technical College "Psalm of the Sunflower" reading and book-signing is Tuesday, September 22 at 6:00 PM in the Campus Center Grand Hall. It is free and open to the public. Come and bring your friends!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
"Psalm of the Sunflower" launches at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
Pyramid Books, Art & Custom Framing and
The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center host the
PSALM OF THE SUNFLOWER
READING & BOOK SIGNING
with Author, Educator & Poet, Antoinette Brim
Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Mosiac Templars Cultural Center
500 West Ninth Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
This event is free & open to the public!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
New Interactive Online Journal Launches!
We are very pleased to invite you to read and interact with us through this new online Wising Up Anthology: Cold Shoulders & Evil Eyes: Steadying Gazes & Warm Embraces -Inclusion and Exclusion in Our Daily Lives. Enjoy poetry, fiction, and memoir by 20 writers with author commentary and discussion questions. Read more at http://www.universaltable.org/coldshoulderscontents/introduction.html.
My poem, She Waits, can be found here: http://www.universaltable.org/coldshouldersvvi/vwaiting.html.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Antoinette Brim to guest host Literary Nation Talk Radio
Antoinette Brim, educator and author of Psalm of the Sunflower (Willow Books/Aquarius Press) will guest host Literary Nation Talk Radio KABF on FM 88.3 Little Rock, AR and live on the internet at http://www.kabf.org/. The time of the broadcast will be noon CST/1:00 p.m. EST/10:00 a.m. PST.
Tune-in to hear call-in guest Nathalie Handal, educator and awarding-winning poet and playwright: http://www.nathaliehandal.com/biography.htm and call-in guest Bern Nadette Stanis, actress and author. Remember Thelma from Good Times? She will discuss her book, Situations 101: the good, the bad and the ugly: http://www.thelmaofgoodtimes.com/index.html and in-studio guest Dr. Michelle Wright, Speaker and Success Expert and top-performing national and international multiple award-winning corporate leader. Dr. Wright is author of Dear Success Seeker.
Antoinette Brim will be guest hosting for Patrick M. Oliver, Editor of Turn The Page and You Don't Stop (Essence Magazine Best Seller). He is also the founder of the Say It Loud! Readers and Writers Series, as well as, the host and executive producer of Literary Nation KABF FM 88.3 http://www.kabf.org/. Visit his website at http://www.speakloudly.com/.
Tune-in to hear call-in guest Nathalie Handal, educator and awarding-winning poet and playwright: http://www.nathaliehandal.com/biography.htm and call-in guest Bern Nadette Stanis, actress and author. Remember Thelma from Good Times? She will discuss her book, Situations 101: the good, the bad and the ugly: http://www.thelmaofgoodtimes.com/index.html and in-studio guest Dr. Michelle Wright, Speaker and Success Expert and top-performing national and international multiple award-winning corporate leader. Dr. Wright is author of Dear Success Seeker.
Antoinette Brim will be guest hosting for Patrick M. Oliver, Editor of Turn The Page and You Don't Stop (Essence Magazine Best Seller). He is also the founder of the Say It Loud! Readers and Writers Series, as well as, the host and executive producer of Literary Nation KABF FM 88.3 http://www.kabf.org/. Visit his website at http://www.speakloudly.com/.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
9 days until "Psalm of the Sunflower" releases!
Willow Books just received Psalm of the Sunflower from the printer! Preorders are being shipped! There is still time to get the pre-order special, but you must order by September 1st! Visit http://willowbookspoetry.com/antoinettebrim.htm or click on the "Books" tab of this site. Thank you for your support.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
In the Fullness of Time: On Writing with (in spite of/around/in between) Children
I can barely hear her. I am eager to hear every word she might say, but the children – my youngest son, my only daughter, and her best friend are singing along with Sponge Bob and Plankton at the top of their lungs. I am still straining to hear her, even as I entreat the children to be quiet. But, they playfully ignore me and continue singing. I am not angry because no one is whining that their inalienable right to respect as the oldest/youngest/keeper of the Corn Pops/Custodian of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch has been violated. These are happy sounds and I’ll take them.
And I’ll take this call here in front of my computer because we are talking about my book - searching it for errors, lest any make it through to the final printing. Hers are one of the seven sets of eyes that are proofreading and challenging punctuation and word order to the very end. I am eager to see my words through her eyes. I’ve looked at this manuscript for seven years now and it is easy to see past the words on the page, to miss what I’ve written because I know the back-story.
Read the rest of my blog at: http://renee-writinginreallife.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-blog-in-fullness-of-time.html , where I am guest blogging for writer, Renee Simms.
And I’ll take this call here in front of my computer because we are talking about my book - searching it for errors, lest any make it through to the final printing. Hers are one of the seven sets of eyes that are proofreading and challenging punctuation and word order to the very end. I am eager to see my words through her eyes. I’ve looked at this manuscript for seven years now and it is easy to see past the words on the page, to miss what I’ve written because I know the back-story.
Read the rest of my blog at: http://renee-writinginreallife.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-blog-in-fullness-of-time.html , where I am guest blogging for writer, Renee Simms.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
An Elusive Equilibrium or … The Myth of Balance
I am in search of equilibrium. It is a seemingly elusive phenomenon - intermittently appearing with its coolly erudite demeanor reducing all forces to zero, a happy peaceful state. Equilibrium demands stasis, some static balance that seemingly stops time and space. I figure if I can find this elusive equilibrium, then I can stop time and space and...
… write a poem, do the laundry, listen to each kid individually, solve their problems accompanied by the swell of 70’s sitcom music, listen to the President’s speech, grade a paper, do my own homework, and write a witty blog while brushing the beagle … every one of these things in that amazing moment when all things are balanced in my universe. Ahhh ... Equilibrium.
Much is being written about finding equilibrium or balance in our everyday lives. Especially, for women who are still trying to have it all - even after the Woman’s Liberation Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s found itself balanced by the return to Family Values of the 90’s. The excess of the 1980’s was fun. But, we awakened into a world of husbands, children, minivans and mortgages. And, the responsible thing to do with our BA, MBA and/or MFA is to work and earn. But, still cook and clean and rear the next generation who have come to expect and expect.
To prove our value as women, we feel we have to find the balance that enables us to do it all and do it all well. So, now we think, if there is no true equilibrium in our lives and families, it is because we have not found it. So, we continue to search for this equilibrium with all the fervor of a kid on a snipe hunt.
But, what if…the mystery of equilibrium is not the short moments of perfect balance we are sometimes able to achieve? Perhaps the gift is the wide swings that must be corrected in a universe that seeks balance. For instance, (hypothetically), there are times when the kids eat Lil Caesar’s pizza and drink generic soda for dinner while you work desperately to meet your work deadlines. You haven’t done laundry for a while so you pick up a couple packs of underwear from Wal-Mart, and since those distractions are taken care of, you are deeply focused on your writing/work/deadlines and thus, meet all of your deadlines delivering pure genius and intuitively wise work to your peers. Out of balance. No elusive equilibrium, but powerful accomplishment.
And then, having accomplished this, you take a few days off to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in July, cooking each kid’s favorite. You Netflix all of the family favorites and watch endless hours of High School Musical, even to the point of singing your heart out during the sing-along version. You wash the dog until every kid in the house is soapy and the dog is rolling over in the middle of your bed to dry herself. You don’t clean the overflowing trash can in your office. You skip the department potluck. You laugh so loud and long, you begin to snort. Out of balance. No elusive equilibrium, but you put very happy, tired kids to bed for a few nights in a row.
What might equilibrium look like? An adequately healthy meal (think lots of green beans) put on the table by a hurried, but adequate mother. Underwear washed and folded in the drawer. The dog dropped off at the groomer and you sit in the waiting area wildly typing your writing/work/deadline stuff into your PDA. You make a High School Musical date with your kids via Facebook. They giggle that you are on Facebook. Everyone is in bed by 10:00 p.m. You keep your promises. You make your deadline. Balance. You have attained the elusive equilibrium…
But somehow, equilibrium sounds so staid. Boring even. So adequate, but not ecstatically enjoyable on any account. The focus necessary to successfully ride the wide swing of controlled chaos makes for passion and intensity. Moreover, intensity and passion, brings … well, I will leave that to your imagination. This is not to say that things left to the last minute are done with greater passion and intensity than things well planned and thought out. I am suggesting that concentrated stretches of time when extreme focus is possible make room for genius. However, this stretch of concentrated time and focus is only really achievable when there is a moment of imbalance.
Now, in defense of equilibrium, underwear should be washed in a timely manner. Healthy dinners are important to good health. Yes, we all need a reasonable ‘norm.’ However, suppose the ‘norm’ is merely a touchstone – a marker to stray from and then return to time and time again.
Maybe, life is the sweetest during the wild swings in between equilibrium…
… write a poem, do the laundry, listen to each kid individually, solve their problems accompanied by the swell of 70’s sitcom music, listen to the President’s speech, grade a paper, do my own homework, and write a witty blog while brushing the beagle … every one of these things in that amazing moment when all things are balanced in my universe. Ahhh ... Equilibrium.
Much is being written about finding equilibrium or balance in our everyday lives. Especially, for women who are still trying to have it all - even after the Woman’s Liberation Movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s found itself balanced by the return to Family Values of the 90’s. The excess of the 1980’s was fun. But, we awakened into a world of husbands, children, minivans and mortgages. And, the responsible thing to do with our BA, MBA and/or MFA is to work and earn. But, still cook and clean and rear the next generation who have come to expect and expect.
To prove our value as women, we feel we have to find the balance that enables us to do it all and do it all well. So, now we think, if there is no true equilibrium in our lives and families, it is because we have not found it. So, we continue to search for this equilibrium with all the fervor of a kid on a snipe hunt.
But, what if…the mystery of equilibrium is not the short moments of perfect balance we are sometimes able to achieve? Perhaps the gift is the wide swings that must be corrected in a universe that seeks balance. For instance, (hypothetically), there are times when the kids eat Lil Caesar’s pizza and drink generic soda for dinner while you work desperately to meet your work deadlines. You haven’t done laundry for a while so you pick up a couple packs of underwear from Wal-Mart, and since those distractions are taken care of, you are deeply focused on your writing/work/deadlines and thus, meet all of your deadlines delivering pure genius and intuitively wise work to your peers. Out of balance. No elusive equilibrium, but powerful accomplishment.
And then, having accomplished this, you take a few days off to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in July, cooking each kid’s favorite. You Netflix all of the family favorites and watch endless hours of High School Musical, even to the point of singing your heart out during the sing-along version. You wash the dog until every kid in the house is soapy and the dog is rolling over in the middle of your bed to dry herself. You don’t clean the overflowing trash can in your office. You skip the department potluck. You laugh so loud and long, you begin to snort. Out of balance. No elusive equilibrium, but you put very happy, tired kids to bed for a few nights in a row.
What might equilibrium look like? An adequately healthy meal (think lots of green beans) put on the table by a hurried, but adequate mother. Underwear washed and folded in the drawer. The dog dropped off at the groomer and you sit in the waiting area wildly typing your writing/work/deadline stuff into your PDA. You make a High School Musical date with your kids via Facebook. They giggle that you are on Facebook. Everyone is in bed by 10:00 p.m. You keep your promises. You make your deadline. Balance. You have attained the elusive equilibrium…
But somehow, equilibrium sounds so staid. Boring even. So adequate, but not ecstatically enjoyable on any account. The focus necessary to successfully ride the wide swing of controlled chaos makes for passion and intensity. Moreover, intensity and passion, brings … well, I will leave that to your imagination. This is not to say that things left to the last minute are done with greater passion and intensity than things well planned and thought out. I am suggesting that concentrated stretches of time when extreme focus is possible make room for genius. However, this stretch of concentrated time and focus is only really achievable when there is a moment of imbalance.
Now, in defense of equilibrium, underwear should be washed in a timely manner. Healthy dinners are important to good health. Yes, we all need a reasonable ‘norm.’ However, suppose the ‘norm’ is merely a touchstone – a marker to stray from and then return to time and time again.
Maybe, life is the sweetest during the wild swings in between equilibrium…
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