May 20th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #171 on May 20, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads the darkly compelling work of Yael van der Wouden in Déraciné Magazine: small towns, dead girls, fevers, curses, stories told and retold over generations, memories carried by scent. Does anything truly change?
May 7th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #170 on May 6, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads the dreamy work of Dina L. Relles, Jennifer Harvey, Eleanor Pearson, and Eva Papasoulioti from Monkeybicycle, Fictive Dream, and Syntax & Salt. What's remembered? What's forgotten? Souvenirs of a life, a phone line to childhood memories, a house of mirrors, breathing clay…these stories delve into what we hold onto and what we let go.
Apr 29th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #169 on April 29, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads a feast of good writing by Maureen Langloss, Tara Isabel Zambrano, Melissa Ragsly, Sudha Balagopal, C.B. Auder, and Damhnait Monaghan in Sonora Review, Lost Balloon, Split Lip Magazine, New Flash Fiction Review, Longleaf Review, and Jellyfish Review.
Apr 3rd, 2018 by secretlives
Show #168 on April 1, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads from Anna Lea Jancewicz's marvelous Widow |+| Orphan book "[m]otherhood." Sinister, funny, sad, painful, ghostly, corporeal, these stories write new definitions of what it means to be a mother, to want a baby, to not want one, to be an alien in your own body, to desire and dream and live both with and against what is expected of you.
Mar 27th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #167 on March 25, 2018…In which Mr. Bear offers a tribute to the life and words of Zachary Doss, 1984-2018. Daughters multiplying on a man's doorstep, a mysterious egg gifted by a hunter to his wife, a girl with too many arms: these stories are sad and strange and luminous and will leave you with a sense of wonder and heartache.
Mar 25th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #166 on March 18, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads excerpts from Leesa Cross-Smith's heart-hurting novel "Whiskey & Ribbons." Music, light, sorrow, faith, and the complicated bonds of family and love are all threads weaving together the stories of Evangeline, Eamon, and Dalton, characters who will take up residence in your heart and stay long after the last pages.
Mar 18th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #165 on March 11, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads the beguiling work of Jacqueline Doyle in FIVE:2:ONE, Spelk, A--Minor, 100 word story, Monkeybicycle, Flash Frontier, and Bluestem Magazine. New twists on Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood, mythological rivers, failed magicians, almost drownings — these stories blend ancient and modern magic, shining a sympathetic light on the human condition and elusiveness of dreams.
Mar 6th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #164 on March 4, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads from Allie Marini's Hyacinth Girl Press book "Southern Cryptozoology: A Field Guide to Beasts of the Southern Wild" and from Del Samatar and Sofia Samatar's Rose Metal Press book "Monster Portraits." Creatures strange, malevolent, frightening, yet also familiar, misunderstood, recognizable. Do we not all have monsters within and around us?
Feb 21st, 2018 by secretlives
Show #163 on February 18, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads Ouida's "The Ambitious Rose Tree" and Frances Hodgson Burnett's "My Robin." Gardens throughout the seasons, pride and vanity, love between a bird and human — these old-fashioned stories will charm you and possibly bring a tear to your eye.
Feb 14th, 2018 by secretlives
Show #162 on February 11, 2018…In which Mr. Bear reads about — you guessed it — characters named Jolene! Meet three of them in the work of Kathryn Kulpa, Jay Merill, and Beth Gilstrap from Jellyfish Review, Spelk, and Hot Metal Bridge. Bonus: Find out the backstory behind Dolly Parton's famous song.
