CHRIS ARVIDSON

words and art
 

In conjunction with the Latrina Ekphrastic exhibit in the Charlotte Art League bathrooms, and, the latest monthly CAL exhibit in the gallery, we'll be having a book party that night. Refreshment, readings, book signings, all of it. Come on out. 

It's Here! My new book of poems. And already, UNC Charlotte colleague Mark West has written me up. Check that out here:  https://pages.charlotte.edu/mark-west/blog/category/storied-charlotte/ 

Click on the book box picture for a link to purchae the book, if you haven't already. Those of you who graciously pre-order THANK YOU and you should expect to be receiving your copies soon. If you want me to send you a bookplate for your book, just drop me an email (chris@chrisarvidson.com) and I will get it to you. Remember, I will write ANYTHING you want. No shit.

And, the events are starting to align as well. Here's what to mark your calendar for so far. Lots more coming:

BOOK LAUNCH:  Charlotte Art League Gallery, Friday, Feb 14, 6-9:00 p.m. 4237 Raleigh Street Charlotte. In conjunction with CAL's monthly exhibit opening AND the opening of my co-curated (with Janet Dyer) LATRINA EKPHRASTIC, an exhibit of words and art in the CAL gallery bathrooms. Wine will be drunk. Words will be performed. Books will be sold and signed. 

Wednesday Feb 26: Kakalak at Waterbean Poetry --  I'ill be reading along with others whose work appeared in the KAKALAK anthology just released. 9705 Sam Furr Road Huntersville 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Kakalak in Hickory Coffee: more details to come, same drill as Waterbean. 

Saturday April 26: 10-12:00 p.m. I'll be doing a workshop for Charlotte Writers Club. More details and sign ups coming soon.

Friday May 16: 5-8:00 p.m. Something we haven't named yet, but will be a poetry event at That's Novel Books at Camp North End here in Charlotte.

My next book, a poetry collection "Nobody Cares What You Think" from Finishing Line Press, is in last days of presale. Which means, if you love me at all, even just a teensy bit, please go on the publisher's website and order my book now. There are two good reasons to do this, 1. it's cheaper. 2. pre-sales determine my press run and royalties. See? A no-brainer. The book will be published in January and I'll get out and about with it come February. 

Presale prices end November 15.

Go to the website: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/nobody-cares-what-you-think-by-chris-arvidson/ to put in your pre-order. You can read what the wonderful good poets Darnell Arnoult, Jay Ward, and Phillip Shabazz have to say.

It has all begun! My next book, a poetry collection "Nobody Cares What You Think" from Finishing Line Press, is now in pre-sale. Which means, if you love me at all, even just a teensy bit, please go on the publisher's website and order my book now. There are two good reasons to do this, 1. it's cheaper. 2. pre-sales determine my press run and royalties. See? A no-brainer. The book will be published in January and I'll get out and about with it come February. 

Go to the website: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/nobody-cares-what-you-think-by-chris-arvidson/ to put in your pre-order. You can read what the wonderful good poets Darnell Arnoult, Jay Ward, and Phillip Shabazz have to say about it. And you can even leave a review. I KNOW you haven't read it yet, but you could gush on about how much you're looking forward to it ha ha ha ha. 

We in the Master Poetry cohort at Table Rock Writers Workshop refer to ourselves as the Free Nation of Shabazz. Yes, we are a cult -- in the best possible reading of the word. (We even have the shirts to prove it!) Our leader is Phillip Shabazz, poet and teacher extraordinaire. With a group of 10, which is A LOT for a poetry workshop, he led us through a week of fabulous creativity. We free wrote, shared and worked over poems, yapped about "the work" and read to our colleages at Table Rock, all in fine supportive form. It's intense, but fascinating and illuminating and energizing. Also, I am tired, but enriched. If that makes any sense. 

Oh JOY! Off to Wildacres and the Table Rock Writers Workshop, one of my most favorite weeks of the year. This year, I was in residence at Wildacres in May, and I get to go back again in the same year?  What's not to love?

I will be working in the Poetry Master Class group, which is actually, like most of Table Rock Writers Workshop, a cult. In a good way. I'm guessing maybe 75% of the 100+ attendees are repeat offenders. We revel in our concentrated writing time, the support, the reading, the writing, the total nerding-out of writer people. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. 

Look for a report, maybe a sample of what I work on, and pictures, soon. 

The move into my new studio space at Charlotte Art League is complete -- except for the vacuuming. It's the exact same size as my previous space, but the lighting is much better. I'm psyched. The grand reopening show for CAL will be Friday, July 12, 6-9:00 p.m. and yes, I'll have some work in there. 

I've got some ideas about new art I'm going to go after right away. So stay tuned. 

A flurry getting ready is going on in Chris writing-and-art-land. Charlotte Art League is being slowly but sure-handidly resurrected. I am among a handful of artists with studios in the current space who have hung in and waited out the patient process of reassembling the organization. The upshot is, I will be moving my studio into new space in the same building. We'll still be there, just in a smaller footprint. I'm going to continue to have my workspace/display space. I'll continue to be a volunteer on the gallery committee. And the next few weeks will entail all of that moving, reorganizing, etc. New monthly shows in the public gallery space will commence this summer. Calls to Artists for their work will begin again soon. You'll be invited to show openings in the near future and have the opportunity to see some of my new work. YAY!

Hopefully, I'll have this all sorted in time for a vacation and wedding up in Michigan. I'll pack up the paints and the writing notebook for that. Expect the relocated gallery and studio space to have lots of new stuff in it as a result. And it's time for the next poetry book to be shaped. Here's my tentative title:  Poetry Isn't Memoir: Come At Me.  What do you think?

Wonderful week at Wildacres. The picture above is the full moon shining in the woods and through the window of Azaela Cabin. I got two paintings done and major revisions and submissions on poems. I also did several hikes, some on my own, and one with my Charlotte walking posse, who were in the area for a quick weekend vacation and birthday celebration. The hikes gave me some much-needed confidence in my strength and capacity. Being there gave me time to think uncluttered with the stuff of daily life. A very inspirational week, as to be expected. At Wildacres -- the setting and the staff are incomparable. It is a huge honor to be able to do a residency there and I am very grateful.