April 2013
2 posts
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Contradiction and Community: A Talk with Dan... →
The poetic work of Dan Magers is challenging and engaging, beautiful and mysterious. A few weeks ago I wrote a short piece about one of Magers’ poems and, more recently, had the chance to speak wit…
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Blood Mask: On Room 237 or, Bonny Billy vs. Wendy...
This is our mother-brain: a synth, raga, and a donkey. It shed hair, hard pressed by the question that doppelgangers are hawks carving chairs to disappear. And this beard is how I growl, see nothing but “impossible windows” in the goat-light of a film clip.
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Here is the hotel where we strip rooms, luggage-stuffed organs, gutted screeches and a wave. This is not a lunar mission. These are not...
March 2013
28 posts
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JAMIE GREFE, RE JOHANNES GÖRANSSON’S HAUTE... →
Tarpaulin Sky gave me a beautiful page feature for the Meat Screams piece I did in regards to Goransson’s HAUTE SURVEILLANCE. Please click this post’s title for said page. Thank you!
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Goblins: an Essay
I am at the house—again—to ignore a bag of bread, shell casings; guests stare, gnaw the perimeter like trees that get tangled in your hair when I bring you cake. You are hungry, tossing potato sacks down stairs. Let us sit at the table and wonder, we can conjure how to stop time. Rum raisin is not my prayer. You would know this if you didn’t fall asleep on street corners or...
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“A dead man’s face can tell us better than anything else in this world how far...”
– Yukio Mishima (via quotecatalog)
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Meat Screams: An Attempt at Johannes Gorannson's... →
My thoughts on Johannes Gorannson’s HAUTE SURVEILLANCE: live at Eyeslit-Crypt.
Reblogged at Montevidayo
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THINGS: AN ESSAY (via Eyeslit-Crypt)
A new essay(istic) piece influenced by John Carpenter’s THE THING is up at my other home, The Eyeslit-Crypt. Read on, readers: THINGS: AN ESSAY
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The Maze
It wasn’t that I was a writer and you a wife or a good place for our son to play. It was none of this. I don’t speak of dark kitchens at night when you are asleep and I am at the edge of the window looking at windows upon windows—how hot night becomes when soaked in drinks from a locked cupboard or freezer. I should have spoken of axes and typewriters. Typing is not just the clack of the...
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THE CABIN OF YOUR LACE SLASHER
We enter the cabin—it’s often a cabin, a house of wood: lights dim, click off. This is how it begins. Girls play guns in the woods, stack stick-piles by the creek and summon fire in Shinto dirt. They stick fingers in the dirt—never like this, not a blood soaked ritual by the grave. It ends up like this. Shane is the first to go: lopped off legs, eyes gouged, hair torn, mouth...
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“I just realized that I never look at a painting and ask, ‘Is this painting...”
– Scott McClanahan, Crapalachia (coming 3/13 from Two Dollar Radio)
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TROPE MOUTH TWEET
trope: view from the eye-slats of latex, camera still w/breath, sharp on moving body as body moves from one side of the room to another.
— Jamie Grefe (@ShreddedMaps) March 15, 2013
night: remove hand from tomb vortex. it’s a whirl-spell, a cracked shell of light. when you reach the wet teeth, you will know oblivion.
— Jamie Grefe (@ShreddedMaps) March 15, 2013
Charred tips spattered...
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THE MASK OF SATAN: A LIST TO REMEMBER YOU BY
1. loop the sound of spiking the coffin lid 2. your black dress and european strings 3. an old tavern where you secrete time 4. priests pursue you under soft light 5. a doorway to the cavern of hate 6. sink asa in milan and i opened to: 7. godflesh stills of you at the stake 8. selfless eyes, barbara in black gown 9. run barefoot to the chamber, boil it 10. you’ll nail faces with mallet and...
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THE END OF THE BODY: A DISPOSABLE MICRO-ESSAY
the body or the tree around which it wraps or is enraptured as the way the body is entangled to the world. sink. or the pull. how your face as a point of non-entry, the point where i stop believing you could ever help me up out of the muck. i have fallen asleep in the yard again. i have had to breathe autumn in the yard again. and to think of the object of the body as a disappearance,...
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COLONY COLLAPSE: J.A. TYLER (LAZY FASCIST, 2013):...
[the beginning]
J.A. Tyler writes rivers of word-circles to wrap his woods around us, cloak words of life to keep us from leaving, to keep remembrance of how brotherly love felt before it left and how it feels to be alone. COLONY COLLAPSE is a love story: you are dying, your brother has suddenly left, you are forced to make sense of life, to find your brother in the woods. [the beginning:...
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THE BROWN BUNNY: A SHREDDED TEXT OF THANKS
Bud is in black suit, helmeted along the track. Engine jazz. A tank top and a towel. Load the van.
Profile closer than passenger, it’s grain. No matter the gas station girl, we are the focal point.
Gleam splattered bugs on windshield. A mailbox. Wood panels. I’ll kiss you with both hands in five minutes. Hurry to leave. I am a tail light like an empty mailbox or a highway. The blurred...
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SPRING BREAKERS AT WATER'S EDGE: AN ESSAY
1. I am in the shed singing, “Eternal Weekend.” It is nineteen ninety six or thereabouts. I have a jacket that reads, “Steve,” in cursive across the left breast, but that is not my true name. I am creek walking, staring white water and hot pink. I hear: sing of spring. Sounds wrap rust-wire around knuckles. Spread fingers. Let the blood streak dry on your leg. We are not finished. Friends come...
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Traumathurge →
Somewhere I speak Chloe Sevigny and Isabella Adjani to Arcturus. But in order to tear us apart, Gallo and Neill would have to project themselves like holographic vapors of transcendence. Here is the Traumathurge where we meet and become dirt.
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Flamboozled in the Beak →
A short piece composed in summer 2012 probably inspired by the works of David Ohle whose influence continues to bubble below the surface. I’m just hoping to capture one of those bubbles, maybe even let it shine for a bit off my teeth, cleanse this rot. Here is an excerpt:
“I’ve split buzzards to sing: bloated tissue, psychic cells quiver neon. Nothing solid to botch the...
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DARK MATTER by AASE BERG /// A REVIEW + THE... →
In trying to “review” DARK MATTER by Aase Berg, I fell into a zone described by Johannes Gorannson as “Overjoy.” Of the review itself, he says:
“This review is a very intense, affected reading of the text, describing the “stuff”, the “sheerstuff”, the overjoy stuff, the poetry that affects us intensively.”
If you are looking for a collection that...
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Battle Lion
Click to view Battle Lion: Jamie Grefe on GLOSSI.COM
This short magazine showcases six previously unpublished pieces and features original photographs from Michigan, Tokyo, and Hainan. The following pieces appear in this issue: “Sitting Fire,” “Fifth Folio: Production Notes,” “Knuckling Water,” “Apple Tongue,” “Battle Lion,” and...
February 2013
3 posts
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ELECTRIC DELIRIUM: A Collection of Lyric Essays
This collection began in a classroom where I was teaching Lee Thayer’s communication theory to high school students in Beijing. At the same time, I was steeping myself in fiction, eating up Robert Coover, Shakespeare, Eugene Marten, P.G. Wodehouse and more. And then the Players arrived, all of them, and you will meet them all. We spoke. They were rehearsing for a live show and I was privy to...
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Deerhead Puppets in the Forest →
What began as a lyric essay on purpose, lifemaking, communication, mindfulness and more, headed south, came unhinged and ended up in a moat with a damp man in the rubble. I consider this one of best, most personal, things I have written. Thank you for reading.
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Edmond Caldwell's HUMAN WISHES/ENEMY COMBATANT ///... →
I had the pleasure of reading this book by Edmond Caldwell and my thoughts about it can be read at Prick of the Spindle. If you have the chance to dive into it, your time and attention will be well rewarded.
January 2013
2 posts
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DIEGESES by D. Harlan Wilson /// A Review or... →
D. Harlan Wilson’s DIEGESES destroyed my Saturday evening in the best possible way. I wrote a review about it, but how can one write a review of a book that baffles all of one’s mental models? I suffered. I clawed my teeth out to bring you some words to somehow measure up to Wilson’s brilliance, but I have been known to fall flat and my face is now officially a smear campaign for...
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Possession (Notes for Zulawski) →
Zulawski’s film POSSESSION has been an obsession of mine for the last few years. About a year ago, enamored by lyric essays (esp. those of Lia Purpura and Brian Oliu), I set out to pay homage to an art experience that has given me so much return on my attention. This lyric essay is that payback. Does it do justice to the film? No. However, does it give us a fresh perspective on the film?...
December 2012
3 posts
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Joke Shards: Twenty Audio Episodes of Tragicomedy →
UPDATE: Jamie Grefe’s Shredded Maps: The Podcast is now using Tumblr, too.
I am happy to announce my new endeavor, a comedic podcast. Back in 2008 I ran a noise music podcast and believed in the medium from the get-go, but now in 2012, I feel how lucky we are to have so many engaging and interesting podcasts available, especially in the world of comedy—Never Not Funny, New...
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Corridor Three: the Loon Calls at Dusk →
This last summer, I worked on a short series of “Corridor” pieces and am happy to announce this new addition to the series in the latest issue of The Fiddleback. It is a piece at once inspired by Brian Evenson and Steve Erickson, but that might not come through. It’s David Lynch and video games and as romantic as a Harlequin masterpiece. Without further ado, please enjoy this...
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Obscurities of the Doom Horizon (A Novelette) →
One year in the making, I present to you “Obscurities of the Doom Horizon,” a romantic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi slasher novelette for your reading pleasure. It is built as a novel idea of forty eight interconnected stories. There are creatures dripping goo, brainwashing, crime, paranoia, hallucinations, true love, and much more. If this was a film, I would suspect a hybrid of Lynch and...
November 2012
2 posts
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In the End →
An “end of the world” piece with the charm it deserves. If this is how it all goes down, then count me in. I’m sure I still have a copy of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme around here somewhere. This is my second piece to appear in Untoward Magazine and a special thanks to Matt Rowan for making that happen as well as to Peter Markus for the English skills, and finally, to the late...
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The Other Side of Lucy's Lips →
This one came from a workshop/class with Stephen Graham Jones and I have to thank him for his editorial suggestions. Probably the scariest thing I’ve written, at least for me, but you’re the reader. I hope you like it. Thank you for reading.
October 2012
5 posts
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Pigs Gather in Snow →
For a limited time, this short piece is available at the marvelously macabre Thirteen Myna Birds. The pigs will be etherized.
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Raise Your Hand →
Thank you to Peter Markus for his editing wizardry. Without his guidance, this piece would not have been possible. Also, thank you to the fine folks at The Used Furniture Review for reading and for giving this guy the best Thursday morning he’s had in a long time. To my readers: my gratitude. Stick with me. It gets better.
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Die You Doughnut Bastards by Cameron Pierce... →
I am thrilled to review Cameron Pierce’s Die You Doughnut Bastards from Eraserhead Press. Bizarro fiction is a form that I’ve been steadily digesting these last few months and trying to learn more and more about. This collection has quickly made it to the top of my list and you’ll be doing yourself a favor by spending time with master Pierce and his collection of truly notable...
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Headcheese →
Oh, man. Such a good feeling to make one of my all-time favorite lit mags, THE BACON REVIEW—their one-year Anniversary issue to boot. Here’s their words about my piece, HEADCHEESE: “Into the fire. Jamie Grefe. Headcheesing. Don’t ignore the title. Don’t ignore the sensation you get when you read it again where it is, not so deep into the story. Again, and it might be...
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Pristine Touchability →
It takes me 1.5 hours to get to work—bus, train, bus—and usually I’m engrossed in some book or another, but at the same time, it’s hard not to simply look around at the distractions: television monitor, fellow passengers, flickering advertisements. The people around me most certainly look at me. I stick out, even blending in. This piece is not necessarily about this commute, but...
September 2012
5 posts
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A Pretty Mouth by Molly Tanzer (Lazy Fascist,... →
Molly Tanzer’s A Pretty Mouth is more than I can say, is more than I can properly digest without all these tremors and twitches. My review speaks more about the text. Enjoy. NOTE: This review has been reprinted at the gruesomely good, The Carnage Conservatory. Thank you, Emily.
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The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones (Lazy... →
Stephen Graham Jones’ The Last Final Girl is one of the best books I’ve read thus far in 2012. I wrote about it in all its slasher glory. Follow the link to read the review and do yourself a favor by tracking down this book.
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Livid Men, Violent Men →
My wallet was stolen on the bus. I sat down, smoked a cigarette, called my wife. We never found it. Stepped back on the bus, was in a different city. I needed to write this out and here is the meditation. I’m brainstorming ideas for a few novella length projects. This one has potential to be developed. Thanks to the EMPRISE REVIEW editors for making this one possible.
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unfisting →
Special thanks to Peter Markus for pointing me in a mighty fine direction. This one, “unfisting,” is live now at elimae alongside great pieces that you should be reading. I’ve been respecting elimae since I started sending out stories and have been flipping out over that old “Goat’s Eye” piece by Eugene Marten and some Brian Oliu—returning to them weekly...
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Ugly Mouth →
A new piece, Ugly Mouth, is up at HOUSEFIRE books. This piece was written using their homegrown constraints, which are always some of the best, most blissfully mind-warping constraints and the results—well, you’ll see—the results are this little tale about a heightened France and a woman we all know we will one day become. Maybe.
