April Lindner

One of the highlights of spring 2015 was a visit by my old friend and collaborator  Gerry LaFemina .  Gerry read from his poetry and fiction for a rapt crowd of students at Saint Joseph's University  and he answered our many questions about his life as a writer, an advocate for poetry, and a punk rocker. Gerry also treated us to a preview of his latest project--one that's especially thrilling to a poet-slash-music enthusiast like myself. Yes, that's Gerry on the cover! The first in a projected series of anthologies inspired by classic albums, Clash By Night gathers poems responding to specific songs on The Clash's seminal album  London Calling .  For instance, this classic-- --which inspired this poem by George Yatchisin: Clampdown It wasn't the socialism--I had the Gang of Four for that. Plus who doesn't want  to chuck work, especially when there's rock 'n' roll, a chance to chant with our chosen likeminded young ...

Self Portrait with Underwood Behind Glass Sometimes writers just need to be with other writers--to obsess about craft, to get moral suport, fresh inspiration, and feedback on our works-in-progress.  And sometimes we just need to take a few days out from our distracted lives and go someplace else . For instance, Frostburg, Maryland: View from the Coffee Shop A sleepy mountain town near where Maryland meets Pennsylvania meets West Virginia, Frostburg is home to Frostburg State University and, for four days each summer, to the Nightsun Writer's Conference.   This year's Nightsun faculty included Marion Winik (nonfiction) and Clint McCown (fiction): Poet Bruce Weigl : Science fiction writer Brenda Clough : And, representing YA fiction (with occasional forays into poetry), me. In between craft sessions, workshops, and readings, participants could grab a latte and a little outdoor writing time at this charming coffee shop :  ...

Glitz and glam: chandelier at John Varvatos on the Bowery One of my major life regrets: I never saw a show at CBGB --though I lived very near New York City in the 1980s.  My excuses are boring and involve being a broker-than-broke grad student in Yonkers where the buses stopped running at 11 p.m.  CBGB closed its doors in 2006, and despite how large it looms in my imagination , I was pretty sure I'd forever missed my chance. Like The Ramones CBGB is no more A few years ago I even popped into the high-end John Varvatos boutique which stands on the hallowed ground CBGB used to occupy.  I got kicked out for taking cell-phone pictures of its punk-rock posters and the stage now used to display men's shoes.   Last Thursday night, though, I was miraculously granted a do-over when Jesse Malin threw a concert at John Varvatos.  The doors opened and I hurried deep into the grungier-than-thou darkness, straight to the stage--or as close to it as I cou...