Writers, Artists Get Names in Lights

I used to dream that one day my name would be up in lights. The screenwriting Oscar would come shortly after. Although my name has made it to marquees and outdoor bulletin boards before, it’s never actually made it up in lights.

Until now.

The Baltimore Ekphrasis Project is a collaboration between LED Baltimore and The Light Ekphrastic, scheduled to run on the Baltimore LED Art Billboard in March 2015. Sixty-six Baltimore-area writers and artists were chosen to create new work inspired by the work of their partners. The project presents final written works as excerpts on top of art on the LED Baltimore Billboard, and in full in a special online issue of The Light Ekphrastic.

A launch party and reading will take place on Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at the University of Baltimore Student Center in the Bogolmony Room. Join the celebration! RSVP here.

 

Learn more at http://thelightekphrastic.com/ledproject.

 

Jagdish, Rammelkamp, Goodman, Solomon, Banksy in Syndic

Syndic Literary Journal is back with a great new issue to begin 2015. In the February issue (No. 12), you’ll find fiction, poetry, audio, and art.

 

Dive into the issue with “A Real Banksy,” photographed by Mel Solomon. Read or listen to fiction by Nitin Jagdish (“My Cab Driver”), Charles Rammelkamp (“The Locker Room”, and myself (an abbreviated version of “Live Cargo” from Tracks).

 

LeRoy Chatfield founded the original Syndic in San Francisco and published it 1958-1960. Fifty years later in 2010, Chatfield revived his Syndic Literary Journal and publishes it online at syndicjournal.us.

 

Enjoy Syndic No. 12 at http://syndicjournal.us/cover-syndic-no-12/.

Into the Canyon

“The greatest adventure is what lies ahead,” wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit. He could have been referring to my coming week—and I’ll probably feel somewhat hobbit-sized as I make my way into the abyss.

This coming week, I’ll be hiking the Grand Canyon. The plan is to hike from the South Rim down the South Kaibab Trail, across the Colorado River on a suspension bridge, and to stay overnight in the bottom of the canyon at Phantom Ranch.

Then comes the hard part: hiking the mile elevation over the seven-mile distance up Bright Angel Trail.

Of course, if my sure-fire strategy in Vegas goes well a couple days before the hike, I may opt for a private helicopter. Odd are, we’ll be on foot.

Here’s a video with some scenic views from the hiking trail.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhDBviFijI