erikwennermark.com » Lit

The Dastardly Tale...

erik — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:26:16 +0000

of Humberto Figueroa Urquiza, Evil Man of most high regard, is set to appear in October's killauthor. Look out for it!

I am Falun Gong (by Baby M)

erik — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:49:00 +0000

Found the following poem online in the midst of a google search (yeah, yeah, googling my novel). It shares the title of my book and is an example of why I found Falun Gong so fascinating in the first place.

In minds that have no consciousness
Innocent eyes that shine like stars......
Persecuted by poison tongues
That don't have the word 'humanity'
In their dictionary

You live free in a lie
While innocent souls die
For a belief that's existed
Throughout centuries

As I ache daily
Protecting my life
I am human like you
Your life like mine
Has the same breath
Yet my brothers wantonly
Killed by the evils in you

Barbaric practices
The world does not see
Who are you to tell me who I should be?
You must be blind of the lives you took
Cold hearts that need to be changed
Or maybe your deaf
As cries of death you don't hear

All we wish to be is free
free
free
free
to believe
to believe

Pulled by my roots like a flower
Unable to grow
You take away my faith
making me feel unsafe
too sad to shed a tear
The world's deaf ear
Needs to be heard
As others fight
I pray for hate to cease
And for love to flow

Human rights persecuted
Day in day out
By your inhumane ways
give me back my right
that enables me to have religious freedom
I AM FALUN GONG....

Zubyre Parvez

from Poemhunter.com

Almost Free Creative Writing Workshop

erik — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:26:55 +0000

For a mere $40 you can listen to me talk about contemporary short stories for 2 hours a week (four weeks starting Sep 13) at Open Books. I'm putting together a pretty lively syllabus now. Should be a fun class, here's the 'scrip:

What’s a story, anyway? Is a story, “Frank walked into a bar and…”? If so, that doesn’t sound all that interesting. Is there a better way to tell Frank’s story? Should we tell the story from the bartender’s perspective, or the cabbie that takes Frank home that night? Could Frank’s story be told just as well by a credit card bill or a court summons? That’s the type of question we’ll ask in this class as we explore a variety of forms, styles, and narrative devices in a search to find the best fit for our (and Frank’s) stories. It will be about breaking down conceptions of what a story “is” and finding out what it can be. We will generate new writing and read a variety of contemporary short stories in the process.

upstreet #6 Review

erik — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:48:52 +0000

upstreet #6 (the lit mag with "The True Story of Yu Tien") was reviewed in a recent New Pages. No mention of my story, but I take solace in these words: "Choosing which poems and short-stories to comment on is almost a random process; there is good variety, and the quality is consistent." Indeed. How come they didn't mention me????!!!!!

ps. In case you missed the million mentions, my novel I am Falun Gong, which Yu Tien is excerpted from, is now available for free PDF download.

The True Story of Yu Tien

erik — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:05:44 +0000

Newly released upstreet #6 has my story "The True Story of Yu Tien" closing down the issue (as I am wont). Coincidentally, with my release of the novel into the interwebs just the other day, this story is an altered excerpt from the book. Mag looks great, order it up!

I am Falun Gong PDF

erik — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:43:07 +0000

After much consideration I’ve decided to make the entire manuscript of my novel I am Falun Gong available online. I do this for many reasons, foremost that I wrote it to be read and I would hope that by making it available someone might get some enjoyment out of reading it. But I also do it because I am no longer sure if there is any meaningful difference between putting a PDF file online and going through the process of having the book published by more traditional means. Let’s be frank, I am Falun Gong is probably not a best seller and I am almost certain to get a similar financial reward (that is nothing) from either enterprise and at this point would just rather have the damn thing out there than languishing on my computer (as it has been for years) waiting to hear back from this agent or that publisher. And while it would be nice to have something I could hold in my hand, a tangible bound reward for the many years of labor I put into this book, I guess I can make do with its appearance on a Kindle or whatever else. So, without further ado, here tis, I am Falun Gong. Please feel free to make a paypal donation (in any amount) HERE.

Ha!

erik — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:45:22 +0000

A review of my story Jukebox Hero here.

2 new characters @ YKTV

erik — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:14:20 +0000

Meet Alonzo the Armless and Zuo Zhizang, two new characters at You Kill the Villagers. How 'bout a round of applause:

Meet Peg

erik — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:37:23 +0000

Your new friend at youkillthevillagers.com

Peg's story

Another download(able): Chai Vang

erik — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:14:31 +0000

PDF download for my story Chai Vang, originally published in the Baltimore Review. I became interested in Chai Vang's story shortly after "the incident" occurred and printed out several news articles about it. These articles sat in my folder for a couple of years until a class I was taking with Joel Brouwer at the University of Alabama called "Uses of History." Out the articles came and shortly followed the story; it is a favorite of mine.

For those interested, the Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino is a pretty great picture of a Hmong community similar to Chai Vang's.