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Christopher Matthew Hennessy

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May 2008

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Christopher Matthew Hennessy's Blog

I have two upcoming readings I wanted to let folks know about. Both are during AWP (a national conference for writers). Both are group readings but both are filled with talented poets. I’m really excited. If you’re looking to see some exciting readings, I hope you’ll drop by!

#1 THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

QUEERTOPIA @ CLUB CAFE http://www.clubcafe.com/

I’m reading in a block of several writers at 7-8

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Christopher Matthew Hennessy’s books

Average rating: 4.11 · 44 ratings · 9 reviews · 4 distinct works

	Love-In-Idleness 4.19 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Our Deep Gossip: Conversations with Gay Writers on Poetry and Desire by Christopher Matthew Hennessy (Goodreads Author), Christopher Bram (Foreword), Edward Field (Goodreads Author) 4.17 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Outside the Lines: Talking with Contemporary Gay Poets 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2005 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love-In-Idleness by Christopher Hennessy (2011-10-01) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Christopher is Currently Reading

Christopher is currently reading

Dunstan Thompson: On the Life and Work of a Lost American Master

by D.A. Powell (Goodreads Author)

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Christopher said: " I am currently reading Dunstan Thompson: On the Life and Work of a Lost American Master. This is a richly constructed tribute (and something more complex than that at the same time) to Thompson, who was gay (though that too, it becomes clear, is more I am currently reading Dunstan Thompson: On the Life and Work of a Lost American Master. This is a richly constructed tribute (and something more complex than that at the same time) to Thompson, who was gay (though that too, it becomes clear, is more complex). The book contains beautiful photographs of the strangely handsome Thompson, actual clippings from Thompson's short-lived lit man Vice Versa, varied essays from scholars who have thought deeply on his work, and most importantly a folio of his work (his early book are said to be hard to get a hold of and are out of print). Thompson's WWII era poetry is something to experience! The editors are D.A. Powell and Kevin Prufer, so even if all of that doesn't make you want to check this book out, that should. Here's the basics:

"In the 1940s, Dunstan Thompson, a gay WWII veteran, was a darling of the Modernist poetry communities in New York and London and widely considered one of the most talented poets of his generation. In 1950, he all but disappeared. This book (which includes his poems and essays by various critics--among them Katie Ford, Dana Gioia, Edward Field, Jerry Harp, Jim Elledge, and Heather Treseler) examines his legacy, his poetry, and his eventual abandonment of his earlier gay identity in favor of a reinvigorated Catholicism. It's the first volume in Pleiades Press's "Unsung Masters Series" (Amazon)

Jim Elledge's the essay, I have to admit, was the piece I most interested in reading, especially seeing that he edited this book (which I want!!). His essay, "Dunstan Thompson's Beautiful and Butcher Beast, Unleashed and on the Prowl," theorizes that Thompson was trying to connect with both gay and non-gay readerships. Elledge writes, "Thompson is far more open in his view of the beloved than the times typically allowed, all too aware of the pros and cons of surrendering himself to another especially during times of way, all too aware of how any relationship with another soldier would, by necessity, be temporary. After all, the lover and his beloved are warriors whose very lives depended on their being focused on surviving battles and on killing others. Survival,that lovely euphemism for putting oneself first and others later, allows for carefree couplings---tricks, one-night stands---and for disregarding a sex-mate's feelings after orgasm." (Interesting to think about Thompson's work in light of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy!) It's Thompson's way of picturing the lover in "contradictory and in decidedly unsympathetic" as well as "his willingness" to portray the lover in "realistic terms" that Elledge says "hooked" him.

Also check out Clive James' "The Necessary Minimum: Dunstan Thompson slides out of the shadows," which contains this moment:

"From what thin biographical evidence exists, it is possible to conclude that Thompson was one of those gay male poets trapped between the urge to speak and the love that dare not speak its name. Auden escaped the trap by scarcely dropping a hint until the safety whistle blew decades later. But Thompson wanted to spill the beans, not just about Damon and Pythias and Richard II and A.E. Housman—whether named or merely alluded to, they all crop up during the poem—but about himself and his lover, evidently a fellow serviceman. Unfortunately he could spill only a few beans at once. There were limits to what he could say, and the result is a flurry of tangential suggestions, a cloud of innuendo." ...more "

Jul 29, 2010 07:53AM · see review

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message 1: by Ed

Feb 18, 2011 03:57PM

Thanks for adding me as a friend, Christopher. Appreciate it. Perhaps you might enjoy my promo vid for my first novel, FORBIDDEN STEPS. Just click on the link below and, once again, thank you for adding me.

Regards, Ed
Thought you might enjoy this promo video of my first novel, "FORBIDDEN STEPS".

Enjoy and have a great day, Ed Rambeau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c21_S...

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