Cherry Bomb

Cherry Bomb 6.13: BOMB VOYAGE

2011-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

Cherry Bomb has reached its final detonation! Our last reading in the series, BOMB VOYAGE, featured poet Douglas S. Jones and fiction writer Caitlin Horrocks. There were stars and balloons, and punch, and a dance party.

Grand Rapids, thanks for two years of most excellent literary readings and turnouts. We've been honored and humbled to be a part of this city, and though Cherry Bomb is no more, it's been a good run. Thank you.

The Final Detonation

2011-05-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

We're just three weeks away from the very last Cherry Bomb, and we've got quite a show in store for our swan song. Join us on Monday, June 13th for a grand finale of fiction, poetry, spiked punch, and awkward slow dancing.

Our featured reader of the night is Caitlin Horrocks, local professor and nationally noted fictioneer. She'll read from her hot-off-the-press collection, THIS IS NOT YOUR CITY, and impress us all with her noted beatbox skills. OK, maybe not the beatbox. But her fiction est incroyable. Also on the bill is Kalamazoo poet Douglas S. Jones, author of the fantastic chapbook NO TURNING EAST.

After that, we push back the tables of the Bar Divani ballroom and get our prom on. That's right, Bombers, we're going to have ourselves a CHERRY PROM. So dress smart, rat up your hair, and get that curfew extended.

Who knows? You might get elected Prom Queen!

Cherry Bomb 4.4: CRUELTY

2011-04-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

We Have Signage!

2011-03-21T12:20:00.001-07:00

April is the Cruelest, We Mean, Awesomest, Month

2011-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

As promised: more on our April line-up. Joining fiction writer Darrin Doyle are W. Todd Kaneko and Randy Wyatt. The whole shebang goes down on 4.4, so be sure you swing by the back room at Bar Divani and check out these guys:

Featured poet W. Todd Kaneko lives and writes in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he teaches at Grand Valley State University. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. He doesn't drive a racecar, he doesn't practice law in New York City or Hawaii, and he doesn't know Jeet Kune Do. Admittedly, he would be a lot cooler if he did at least one of these things. But he writes.

Before finding his way to writing, he played music in Seattle where he also worked as a graphic designer and illustrator. His stories and poems can be seen in Puerto Del Sol, Crab Creek Review, Portland Review, Southeast Review, Blackbird, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. His current projects include a couple of poetry manuscripts, a book of stories, some hypertext fiction, and other nonsense of that sort.

*

Featured playwright Randy Wyatt is a director, playwright, literary manager and improv coach. His plays include Sonata Blue (Coda Theatre Project), The Face of the Earth (ArtWithin), 9x9x9 (The Flowershop Project), Said and Meant (Whole Art Theatre), Mint (Kennedy Center American College Theatre Fest Region 5), and many others. His plays for children include Brave Little Tailor; Rising Sun, Rising Moon; and Intergalactic Chuck. His adaptation Alice in Wonderland (and back again) was produced by Magic Circle last year and won the first ever Grand Award for Theatre for Young Audiences. Randy's work has been published by Heinemann, Applause Publishing, Smith & Kraus, and Playscripts, Inc., and commissioned by Magic Circle Theatre and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. His plays have been published and produced internationally, most recently at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and an all-girls school in New Zealand.

He earned his MFA in Directing from Minnesota State University in Mankato and is a member of the Playwright's Center in Minneapolis as well as the Literary Managers and Dramaturges of the Americas. His recent directing credits include These Shining Lives, Nevermore, Life is a Dream, Any Other Name, Writer 1272, Sun Stand Thou Still, Guys and Dolls, Esperanza Rising, Hecuba and Dimly Perceived Threats to the System. He currently serves as the Literary Manager for Actor's Theatre of Grand Rapids and is the Theatre Program Chair and Assistant Professor of Theatre at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

April is the Cruelest Month

2011-03-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

... But not when it brings you another Cherry Bomb!

We're back on 4.4: CRUELTY with three writers for you: playwright Randy Wyatt, poet W. Todd Kaneko, and headlining fiction writer Darrin Doyle. More on the cocktail and other folks soon, but for now, to get you thinking about April things:

Darrin Doyle is the author of the novels The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo (St. Martin’s Griffin) and Revenge of the Teacher’s Pet: A Love Story (LSU Press). His short fiction has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Cottonwood, Night Train, Puerto del Sol, Harpur Palate, The Long Story, and other journals. He believes in Bigfoot, enjoys playing stringed instruments, and teaches at Central Michigan University. Learn more about him at www.darrindoyle.com.

Cherry Bomb 1.31: 131

2011-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Cherry Bomb 1.31: 131!

2011-01-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

Just four short days until Cherry Bomb 131 blows up! Come out for a night of fiction-y goodness, a signature cocktail named for past reader Matt Frank, Michigan-themed lounge tunes courtesy of Ellie G., and help us christen Bar Divani as the new home of Cherry Bomb!

About our readers:

Hazel Foster studies fiction and poetry in Grand Rapids, MI, recently (though not before the contest deadline) graduating from Grand Valley State University with a B.A. in Writing. Her next endeavor: an MFA in Creative Writing. Google her. Her work has appeared both online and in print.

Hazel's fiction piece, "Milkweed, Bowling, and the Japanese Bomb," was chosen by Matt Bell as the winner of the Michigan Student Bombers writing contest, and she'll be reading alongside Matt on Monday.

Matt Bell is the author of the fiction collection How They Were Found, published by Keyhole Press in October 2010, as well as three chapbooks, Wolf Parts (Keyhole Press), The Collectors (Caketrain Press), and How the Broken Lead the Blind (Willows Wept Press). His fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Hayden's Ferry Review, Willow Springs, Unsaid, and American Short Fiction, and has been selected for inclusion in anthologies such as Best American Mystery Stories 2010 and Best American Fantasy 2. His book reviews and critical essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, American Book Review, and The Quarterly Conversation.

He is also the editor of The Collagist and of Dzanc's Best of the Web anthology series.

He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife Jessica, and online at http://www.mdbell.com/.

And Then There Was a Poster

2011-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Contest Winners, Bar Divani, and Other Shout-Outs

2011-01-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011, CB fans! We're back with a couple of announcements to kick off this month right:

1. Announcing the winner of our first annual Michigan Student Bombers Writing Contest ... Hazel Foster! Her fiction short story, "Milkweed, Bowling, and the Japanese Bomb," was contest judge Matt Bell's choice for first place.

We received over fifty notable entries, and we'd be remiss in not mentioning the honorable mentions Matt chose:

Honorable Mention (Poetry): "Why I Don't Talk About My Mom," Kelsey Winkler
Honorable Mention (Non-Fiction): "Little White," Logan Priess

Once again, thanks to everyone who entered. Narrowing down the entries was a difficult task indeed, and we're grateful that so many mitten undergrads sent us work.

2. Announcing a new site of detonation ... in 2011, we'll be holding our Cherry Bombs at Bar Divani, on Ionia in downtown Grand Rapids. Corez was good to us, but in the wake of their recent closing, we'll be moving from Cherry Street to Ionia Street. We're still Cherry Bomb, however ... Ionia Bomb just doesn't have the same ring. And there's no theme song.

We'll be posting more info about Bar Divani soon, including directions on how to access the swanky secret room where we'll be setting up camp.

3. Announcing ... this shout-out from former Cherry Bomb reader and novelist Zoe Zolbrod. We're blushing! We are charismatic! We thank Zoe for her kind words.

*

There's more in the pipeline for the next few weeks, cats and kittens, including information about Hazel and Matt, our featured cocktail, and photos of our new digs. Stay tuned!

Calling All Michigan Student Bombers!

2010-11-10T01:16:00.000-08:00

Cherry Bomb is pleased to announce its Michigan Student Bombers Writing Contest! One Michigan undergraduate writer will be selected to read with fiction writer extraordinaire Matt Bell at Cherry Bomb: 1.31.

How to Enter
Any undergraduate enrolled in a Michigan college or university is eligible.

Submit in any of the following genres:

Poetry: 3-5 poems
Prose: up to 15 pages
Drama: up to 10 pages

Manuscript Guidelines
Each entry must include a cover page with the following information:

Author’s name
Title(s) of Work(s)
Genre
School
Phone Number
E-mail

Author’s name should not appear anywhere else on the manuscript.

Please double-space prose and drama manuscripts. Prose writers may include multiple pieces, up to 15 pages; please start new pieces on new pages. Poets may single-space, but only one poem per page. Please number pages and fasten together. Manuscript title page does not count toward total page limit.

Entries may be mailed to the following address:

CB Michigan Student Writing Contest
c/o Elena Passarello
326 Lake Ontario Hall
Department of Writing
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401

or e-mailed as a single Word doc/PDF (cover sheet should be the first page) to:

cherrybombgr@gmail.com
subject line: Michigan Student Bombers

Contest Deadline
Entries must be received by 12.15.10.

Winner must attend Cherry Bomb 1.31: 131, held on 1.31.11 in Grand Rapids.

Runners-up will be announced on the Cherry Bomb web site in January.

Questions?
Please query cherrybombgr@gmail.com with any questions before submitting manuscripts.

About Matt Bell

Matt Bell is the author of the fiction collection How They Were Found, published by Keyhole Press in October 2010, as well as three chapbooks, Wolf Parts (Keyhole Press), The Collectors (Caketrain Press), and How the Broken Lead the Blind (Willows Wept Press). His fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Hayden's Ferry Review, Willow Springs, Unsaid, and American Short Fiction, and has been selected for inclusion in anthologies such as Best American Mystery Stories 2010 and Best American Fantasy 2. His book reviews and critical essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, American Book Review, and The Quarterly Conversation.

He is also the editor of The Collagist and of Dzanc's Best of the Web anthology series.

He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife Jessica, and online at http://www.mdbell.com.

Cherry Bomb 11.8: HOT DISH

2010-11-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

Hot Dish, Indeed

2010-10-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

Two short weeks until HOT DISH, our second Cherry Bomb of the season! September's GRILL was too hot to think about scarves and casseroles and early sunsets, but it's October now. With yellow leaves and wet windshields and butternut squashes in mind, we bring you two poet/nonfictioneers:

Richard Terrill is the author of Almost Dark (University of Tampa Press, 2010). Terrill's previous collection of poems, Coming Late to Rachmaninoff, received the Minnesota Book Award for poetry, and his memoir Saturday Night in Baoding won the Associated Writing Programs Award for nonfiction. Terrill's essays and poems have appeared in journals including North American Review, Tampa Review, Iowa Review, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, and New Letters. He has taught as a Fulbright professor in China, Korea, and Poland, and currently teaches writing in the MFA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Of his work, Robert Dana said: "The rich weight of Richard Terrill's poems is unmatched in the poems of any of his contemporaries."

Christina Olson is the author of Before I Came Home Naked (Spire Press, 2010). Her poetry has appeared in Gulf Coast, Mid-American Review, Puerto del Sol, and Hayden’s Ferry Review, and her creative nonfiction appears in Brevity, Black Warrior Review, Wake: Great Lakes Culture and Thought, and The Best Creative Nonfiction Volume 3. Originally from Buffalo, New York, she is currently a visiting assistant professor of writing at Grand Valley State University.

Of BICHN, Clifford Olson called to say: "I've read about half--at least half--of your book. It's pretty good! And I'm not just saying that because you're my daughter. Insightful, intelligent, witty."

All this and a collection of re-envisioned Minnesotan casseroles await us on November 8th, so mark that calendar and get ready to dish!

Coming Soon to a Casserole Dish Near You

2010-09-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Cherry Bomb 9.13: GRILL

2010-09-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Season Two kicked off with not one, not two, but four (yeah, we skipped three--you got the idea) blazing-hot fictioneers who blew in from the Windy City. We had couples fighting over a barbeque, took a jaunt to Thailand, hop-skipped-jumped to the red light district of Amsterdam, and wrapped it all up with a look at what the post-apocalyptic populations living in a drained Lake Michigan are up to. There were a few Asian Carps, too--not the fish that keep giving boaters black eyes, but the kind served up by the good-looking bartenders of Corez Neighborhood Eatery and Bar, and there was a full house. We're glad to be back, Grand Rapids, and we hope to see you in November, when it's Almost Dark with Richard Terrill, who reads with our very own CBer Christina Olson. Keep your eyes peeled* for posters!

*ewww, and ouch

GRILL Heats Up

2010-08-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

In the words of one grillmaster: Yeah!

As 9.13 approaches, we bring you some light web reading--interviews, videos, reviews, and at least one playlist from our featured GRILL authors. So freshen up that cup of organic, fair-price, free-trade (aren't you a good person!), recline your fancy Steelcase chair, and prepare to navigate the web for a little while:

Davis Schneiderman talks about Drain, deconstruction, and throwing a first edition Moby-Dick into Lake Michigan.
Gina Frangello sits down with a tough interviewer, Gina Frangello, and talks nipples on trains, mother-in-laws, and the great writer debate--publish big with New York, or publish small everywhere else?--in a self-interview at The Nervous Breakdown.
Cris Mazza is one of the stops for Rain Taxi, where the "cartography of narrative" (love that phrasing) and layers of storytelling are dissected via two of Mazza's more recent works.
Zoe Zolbrod reveals the playlist for Currency over at the Largehearted Boy blog, where John Denver brushes up against Asian Dub Foundation in one hell of a mash-up.

You've got three weeks to catch up on your required reading--but don't worry, kids, because there's a featured cocktail waiting for you as your reward. Stay tuned for more on our GRILL libation ... and keep reading.

GR-ILL Equals Grill**

2010-08-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hey! Grand Rapidians! Get ready to GRILL.

But we have been grilling, you say. We have been swimming in the lake and we have been eating charred chicken breast and hamburgers ever since you left us in May. We have even been cleaning the grill off after each use, instead of maybe wandering off in search of another Founder's IPA and not taking the time to brush off the little charred bits of American cheese still hanging from the grates.

To which Cherry Bomb says yes, yes, this is all fine. But we're bringing you a different type of GRILL in September. In six short weeks, Cherry Bomb is bringing four--count 'em, four--stellar authors from that big city to the west. You know, the one with big shoulders? On the lake?

So wipe the SPF30 from your hands and take a moment right now to mark your calendar, because September 13th is going to be huge. Coming all the way from Chicago, ladies and gents, we have:

Gina Frangello is the author of a short story collection, Slut Lullabies (Emergency Press 2010), and a novel, My Sister's Continent (Chiasmus 2006). She is also the co-founder and Executive Editor of the indie press Other Voices Books (www.ovbooks.com) and editor of the Fiction Section of the popular online literary collective The Nervous Breakdown. Her short fiction, freelance journalism and reviews have been published widely in venues including Fence, StoryQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, the Huffington Post, the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune. She teaches at Columbia College Chicago, and was the faculty supervisor of the inaugural online issue of TriQuarterly.

A long time ago, Zoe Zolbrod backpacked around Southeast Asia for the better part of a year. When she came back, she started writing about it. Her new novel, Currency, is set in Thailand and inspired by her experiences there. She works as a textbook editor in Evanston, IL, where she lives with her husband and their two children.

Davis Schneiderman used to write all the time before he had two awesome little children and before he started to run Lake Forest College Press / &NOW Books and before becoming Chair of the English Department at Lake Forest College and before everything when the days seemed long and he had uninterrupted hours to read long, fat books like Don Quixote and Tristram Shandy. Now Davis lives in Highland Park, IL, with his wife, Kelly Haramis, and his two daughters, Athena and Kallista, and his cat, and he ate for breakfast, along with Athena, a bowl of cheerios with cut bananas, while Kallista seemed uninterested in eating until like a half hour later Davis served her three frozen soy sausage links and then she are and then all was well for a little while especially since his novel, Drain, just came out from Northwestern University Press.

Cris Mazza is a native of Southern California, and her writing struggles to come to terms with that and why she's not there anymore. More than half of her 15 books are California settings, more specifically San Diego. Her latest, Trickle-Down Timeline, looks at the "Regan 80s" in California. She's a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently she lives 50 miles west of Chicago where, in her other identity, she trains her dogs for performance events.

Program your smart phones, set your alarms, or write it old-school with INK on the CALENDAR (far out!). You know the drill by now: we make the fancy cocktail, you show up and bring a friend or two. Stay cool, GR.

**GR + ILL = GRILL. Get it? Yes. You get it.

The End, of Season 1

2010-05-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

You could have stayed in on Monday and watched the finale of "Law & Order." Or you could have stayed in, mourning the end of "Lost" and "24." But we're so glad you came out to Corez instead, and helped the fifth Cherry Bomb (and last of the season) go out with a bang.

We were huge--seventy-five in attendance. The Dead's Man Hands and other libations flowed freely. Emma Ramey made us laugh, Ander Monson took us to the world's largest ball of paint, and Curtis Eller jumped from table to chair and back again, referencing the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Joe Lewis in between banjo twangs.

It was a very, very good night. We bid a farewell to a few Cherry Bomb regulars, including our darling volunteers Kelsey and Karla, but we hope to see even more new faces in the fall, when we start all over again. In the meantime: have an iced coffee, sit out in the backyard, and we'll see you in September. Cue the Bobby Vinton!

p.s. Cherry Bomb will not be sealing any letters with a kiss this summer. Yuck.

First the Times, Now the Bomb

2010-05-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Where do you go when-- as is the case for Ander Monson-- you've been lauded in the NY Times* for your new book and its companion website, or-- if you're Curtis Eller-- when your vivacious mug has graced the Gray Lady's pages?

You come to the Bomb, natch! So make sure you're at Corez as well, this upcoming Monday at 630pm, for drinks, jokes, and nationally recognized badassery.

See you there!

*reviewed in the Times by nonfiction's enfant terrible,
David Shields,** no less

**yes, Shields is about 30 years away from being
any kind of enfant, but he is bald like a baby...

Two Weeks Till the Bomb!

2010-05-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Button Up

2010-05-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Maybe you think your lapel looks naked. Or maybe you prefer to express your wide-ranging artistic and musical interests in button form. Either way, we have you covered. Cherry Bomb now has not one, but two fancy buttons for sale!

(click on the image to enlarge)

What's that, you say? You'd like to see what these buttons might look like on a reluctant dog's foot?

Buttons will be for sale, along with our featured readers' books and other goodies, at the ever-growing Cherry Bomb merch table. So bring your ears, your thirst, your deep and abiding love of the banjo, and a couple extra bucks to WILD CARDS on the 24th!

Ante Up!

2010-05-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

We're three weeks away from our fifth detonation: WILD CARDS. It's the last one of the season! Highlight, circle and bedazzle the 24th of May on your calendars, because that's when we're bringing you three killer performers-- one nonfiction, one poetry, one banjo-- and a cocktail so good, it could've killed Wild Bill Hickok.

Essayist, poet, and fictioneer Ander Monson comes back to his former city to read from his latest nonfiction project, Vanishing Point, a dizzying collection of essays on writing, the self, and Doritos. The winner of the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, Monson has been published in The Best American Essays 2008 and The Best of Creative Nonfiction II. He runs DIAGRAM magazine, a kickass online entity that recently celebrated its tenth year of life. Check below for a video of Ander unleashing his awesomeness on an unsuspecting airport carcass.

Curtis Eller, the ringleader of his own American Circus, is also from Michigan, though he left a few decades back for the wormhole carnival ride that is his own imagination. Known throughout the east coast as "New York's Angriest Yodeling Banjo Player," Eller and his trusty mustache have performed songs about runaway circus elephants, convalescing penny songwriters, doomed lady pilots, and dead silent film stars, all around the globe. Look below for a video of Eller strutting his stuff, and make sure you take a gander to his latest album, Wirewalkers and Assassins.

Emma Ramey is originally from Seattle, but our fair city snagged her several years back. Ramey's latest Chapbook, A Numerical Devotional, is just out from New Michigan Press. An editor at DIAGRAM magazine, Ramey's poems have appeared in Octopus, Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics, the Mississippi Review and 42 Opus.

And don't forget to save room for Corez's newest tailor-made creation, The Dead Man's Hand, bartender David's take on the New Orleans Obituary Cocktail. Crafted expressly for the wild (Card) at heart!

See you at 7pm on the 24th...

Michigan Wild Cards, Part Two

2010-05-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Curtis Eller at home and around Coney Island:

Michigan Wild Cards, Part One

2010-05-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ander Monson at the Wrong Airport:

Flying High

2010-03-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

March went out like a lamb--a lamb that read essays about falcons and Texas, drank Bahamanian cocktails made with gin and coconut milk, and took us through a hapless Michigan schoolteacher's kidnapping. We had our largest turnout yet (fifty-eight people in attendance!), we debuted our Cherry Bomb book table (featuring works from featured and previously featured readers) and we were even out before the sun set. You have to love March.

Thanks to Ashley Butler and David Turkel for the amazing readings, to David's cast for lending their voices, to the fine folks at Corez who open their bar and venue to us, and to our volunteers, Kelsy and Karla. Look closely, and you might just see how they like to roll at the book table. (HINT: It's with wine. Wine, and a fat bank.)

See you in May, when we're back with Ander Monson. He's sort of a lamb and a lion, as you can see. But he looks dynamite in green.

Are We [Up] There Yet?

2010-03-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

Turkel photo credit

The month of March may be winding down, but it has one last roar in it. Cherry Bomb brings you UP THERE on the 29th, featuring essayist Ashley Butler and playwright David Turkel.

Texas writer Ashley Butler published her debut collection, DEAR SOUND OF FOOTSTEP, with Sarabande Books in November. She's published short work in Ninth Letter, jubilat, Gulf Coast, Creative Nonfiction and POOL. One Ashley above is the real Ashley; the other is a computer-generated image. We'll let you guess which one will be present on the 29th.

Local playwright David Turkel has had nearly a dozen professional productions up and down the Eastern seaboard. A cast of local actors will read a selection from his 2007 play A KEY TO THE FIELD, the story of a hapless Michigan schoolteacher's wild ride up into the Upper Peninsula and off the grid. Some people think David resembles a young Johnny Cash. It's all in the hair, we think.

It promises to be a relaxing flight, so recline that seat back a full quarter-inch and order our featured cocktail, Sky Juice. Unlike some major airline's libations, this one will only set you back five little dollars. Thank you for flying with Cherry Bomb this week! We look forward to traveling with you in the future.

Cherry Bomb 3.29: UP THERE

2010-03-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's the time of year when the piles of gray slush are melting away to reveal--well, all the garbage someone left there last fall, yes, but also tiny green buds pushing their way toward light, and even the occasional crocus. And as if spring weren't exciting enough, Cherry Bomb is back with a late March event for you all--Cherry Bomb 3.29: UP THERE.

This time around we're featuring essayist Ashley Butler and the Michigan premiere reading from Grand Rapids' (and Corez's) very own playwright, David Turkel.

Per usual, everything's blowing up at Corez Wine Bar, 919 Cherry Street SE, at 6:30 on Monday, March 29th. In the meantime, if you're wondering--this is not our featured Ashley Bulter, and this is not our featured David Turkel. However, if you write a brief essay in which you describe the post-modern implications of neurology on role-playing video games, particularly those of a sandbox nature, and support your claims with evidence, and keep it all under 500 words ... well, we'll give you a prize. Or a sad look. Or something. Alternately, you can just show up for what promises to be a good night.

And pssssst! Did you notice we have some fancy new signage? Our sincerest thanks to W. Todd Kaneko, who has graciously provided us with a real logo and fancy posters. More about Todd here, and see more of his Web design here.

Hoopla!

2010-02-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

What can we say? Pair a mohawked fictioneer with a hula-hooping burlesque dancer, and February isn't so cold after all (of course, a cocktail known as the Hoop LA! doesn't hurt, either ...).

Cherry Bomb 2.8: HOOPLA

2010-02-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, you find yourself uttering the phrase, "Well, that was pretty much the best literary reading/hula-hoop performance I've ever seen." And if you are really lucky, you stepped out onto Cherry Street last night, watched a few errant flakes melt into the cobblestones, and said exactly that.

Thanks to Ben Drevlow and Audria Larsen, our fearless readers/performers/hoopers; thanks to Corez Wine Bar and David and Daniel for keeping the crowd warm; thanks to our fearless volunteers Karla and Kelsey; thanks to you, for coming out.

Catch you on the flip side--by which we mean March 29, when Cherry Bomb 3.29: AIR will blow up. Stay warm, and keep hooping.

You Know, For Kids! (kids 21 and over, that is...)

2010-02-07T16:17:00.001-08:00

Announcing the cocktail special for Cherry Bomb III: "The Hoop LA!" Straight from the Savoy Hotel's 1930 "cocktail book," this sweet kick in the pants involves Cognac, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau and lemon juice. And it's historical! Think of it as nonfiction for your mouth!

David, Hottest Barman in Grand Rapids (TM) will stir you up a Hoop LA! for just $6 American.

See you tomorrow night at Corez for three-pronged hoop-tastickness!

Sheep, Hoops, Fire

2010-02-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

As the date of Cherry Bomb 2.8: HOOPLA draws near, we drop in on our featured performers to see what they're up to:

Benjamin Drevlow is the author of the short-story collection Bend with the Knees and Other Love Advice from My Father (New Rivers Press, 2008). He cannot hoop fire, but he is the only man in his family with ten fully operational and intact fingers. You should ask him about his sheep.

photo credits (in order): Jonathon Clay (1&2), Terry Johnston (3), Holly Degarmo (4) & Tim Motley (5)

Audria "Miss Audacious" Larsen is a hula-hooper extraordinaire and member of Super Happy Funtime Burlesque. She can also, as demonstrated above, strike a mean pose and hoop fire. Can you hoop fire? No, no you cannot. We did not think so.

*

In addition to our dynamic duo, this month's Cherry Bomb will also bring you a special (and themed) surprise, so check back soon to see who else will be joining. Or, heck, just find out on the 8th, when HOOPLA ensues. Carhartts and bustiers optional.

Cherry Hoop. Hoop Bomb. Hoopomb.

2010-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

... So it's winter. And our brain is broken and we can't quite come up with the zany combination title. The world hardly needs another Brangelina--or, shudder, Bennifer. What the world does need, however, is hoopla.

Particularly hoopla that brings you the dynamic pairing of one large mohawked man who reads self-depreciating fiction about life on (and off) the basketball court and one admittedly coordinated hooper of a whole different kind. So draw a big red circle (which, incidentially, looks like a hoop) around Monday, February 8th, and come out to hear Benjamin Drevlow and Audria Larsen. We'll let you guess who is who.

Cherry Bomb 11.16: GOOD FOOD

2009-11-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

They read, you came. There was wine, poetry, a nearly full house. A Mexican wrestling mask may or may not have been donned at one point. The fine folks of Corez kept the Barolo flowing. The incomparable Matthew G. Frank and Keith (K.P.) Liles took us from the only mosquito in Phoenix to vineyards of Italy to the Marx Brothers Cafe in Anchorage. Thanks for coming out, and we'll see you in February ...

We Got Wine Flu (too soon?)

2009-11-13T07:43:00.000-08:00

Just three short days until GOOD FOOD. And here's a late-breaking surprise.

Corez wine czar (and Cherry Bomb alumnus) Mike Dombrowski will be opening three bottles of incredible Barolo for folks to sip as we listen to Matthew Frank read about...Barolo!

He'll also offer a mini-tutorial on this particular type of wet grape. A two-or-so-ounce pour will be just five thin bucks. So pad your wallet for a glass or two (if you're of age, natch).

I just read some on-line wine rag that Barolo is "a chewy wine" (which means that the vintners are all Wookies, of course).

See you on the other side of the weekend!

Frank you, Masked Man!

2009-10-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlebombs, a poem by Matthew G. Frank.

Is it November 16th yet?

THE BOMB IS BACK!

2009-10-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello, G-rap. Did you miss us?

Hope you'll join us in three short weeks for the second Cherry Bomb. This Bomb's theme? GOOD FOOD. On the menu:

KEITH (KP) LILES, perhaps the only sommelier-poet in the state of Alaska, will read fresh pickings from his debut poetry collection, Spring Hunger.

MATTHEW G. FRANK, poet, gourmand and nonfictioneer, will read from both his new book of poems, Sagittarius Agitprop AND his forthcoming "food memoir," Barolo, about two seasons picking grapes and eavesdropping in the tiny wine town of Barolo, Italy.

Also be on the lookout for a very special (and themed) surprise.

Cherry Bomb 6.24: ISLANDS

2009-07-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

The first bomb--ISLANDS--has come and gone. Thanks to everyone who spread the word, came out, and opted to spend a few hours on Cherry Street. If you missed it--live vicarously via the slideshow above. And we'll see you in the fall!

(Pssst! Can't view the above? See the photos here)

In Keeping with the Theme

2009-06-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

The first Cherry Bomb of the season, ISLANDS, debuts tonight. We even managed to get Mother Nature to show her support--right now it's a steamy 94 degrees in Grand Rapids. The event will be hot. The temperature is sizzling. Concidence? We think not.

So come on down, grab yourself a refreshing cocktail, and let the readers take you away. Beats "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" any day.

CB on the Radio

2009-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Early commute? Can't sleep? Stuck with an analog TV and no way to watch The Today Show?

Tune in to GR's own WYCE (88.1 FM) on Tuesday, June 23rd at 7:40AM. Founding Cherry Bombers Christina and Elena will discuss all things CB, live and on the air. (There's also a listen online option on the website, if you're beyond the broadcast pale).

Elena will try to get the DJ to play "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" by the Ohio Express. Christina will try not to punch the DJ in the crotch. For these reasons, it is not to be missed.

The radio explosion happens just 36 hours before the first Bomb, Wednesday 6/24 at 7:30pm!

Potent Potables

2009-06-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

This just in: two Cherry Street staples will bring their beverages to our first Bomb!

As if the literary bill for ISLANDS wasn't enough of a draw, now Rowster's coffee and Corez wine bar will have coffee and libations for sale during the show. Look for celebrity barmatrix Brittanie and Kurt, GR's most discerning kaffinator, behind the counter at the App Gallery. Anything they pour will, of course, fit our ISLANDS theme. So bring an extra buck or two to get your whistle wet.

See you in a week!

Islands in the Bomb.

2009-06-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Attention, Grand Rapids: Cherry Bomb's first evening, ISLANDS is two weeks out! Mark your calendars, clean out your ears, maketh your hearts pure.

In the meantime, some pre-reading rally music:

See you at the Richard App Gallery on Wednesday, June 24th!

The Island of Hanick and Diemer

2009-06-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

This time last year, Riley Hanick and Lydia Diemer lived on the island of eastern Iowa, which was surrounded by miles of unprecedented floodwater. The year before that, they were touring the island of Macau. Don't you feel like you know them already? No? Well, here's more.

RILEY HANICK graduated from the nonfiction writing program at the University of Iowa in 2008. He has written essays, music reviews, and a translation that have appeared or are forthcoming in Seneca Review, eyeshot, No Depression, and Sonora Review. He is currently researching a book he often thinks is about breathing, concrete and Jackson Pollock's Mural. It has the working title Gravel Ends and he hopes to finish it this fall, if the world is still here. He also hopes to someday make seventy-five dollars an hour while he sleeps.

LYDIA DIEMER completed her MFA in Printmaking in 2005 from the University of Iowa. Her work uses print as the ground of incisions, as a material to bridge two and three-dimensional spaces and textures. It has been mounted and recombined in relation to immediate and disparate surroundings that have included Mexico, Germany, Omaha, and Los Angeles. She sometimes cuts stalks of rhubarb from the ground with a kitchen knife, drapes the leaves across long patches of grubby weeds and carries them like firewood to the kitchen, placing bundles into bags and onto the doorhandles of friends.

In the summer of 2007 we traveled to Hong Kong and Macau for just over one month. Our chapbook, "Haishi: An Essay," is the result.

The Island of Sean C. Lewis

2009-06-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

Nationally-acclaimed solo performance artist and playwright Sean Christopher Lewis comes all the way from Philladelphia to read for Cherry Bomb: ISLANDS. Read about him here. There will be a quiz later.

BIO: SEAN CHRISTOPHER LEWIS is the inaugural recipient of the Rosa Parks Award for Social Justice in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center. A former NNPN Emerging Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, he has toured his critically lauded solo shows I WILL MAKE YOU ORPHANS (Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Available Light 01 Festival, Equinox Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Center for Independent Artists, Galapagos Art Space, Hyde Park Theatre, TIXE Arts Center, Bowery Poetry Club) and THE GONE CHAIR (Penn State University’s Cultural Conversations Festival, Openstage Harrisburg’s Flying Solo Festival, Riverside Theatre).

His other plays include MILITANT LANGUAGE (National Premiere at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Halcyon Theatre of Chicago, Bang and Clatter in Cleveland and Theater for the New City in NY) and THE APERTURE (Cleveland Public Theatre). He has been a playwriting fellow at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and has had his work developed at the PlayPenn New Play Conference, Lark New Play Development Center, Orlando Shakespeare Festival’s Harriet Lake Festival of New Work and at the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University. A noted actor, he has worked Off Broadway at the Pearl Theatre, in NYC at La Mama ETC, regionally with companies like the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and mostly recently in the feature films GOD COUNTRY and BLOOD FANTASY.

KILLADELPHIA:
In the Summer of 2008, it was often said that Philadelphia had "more bodies than days." The city was in the midst of a murder epidemic that put it on par with some third world countries. Determined to take an unflinching look at the causes of the crime rate and its effect on the community, playwright Sean Christopher Lewis introduces us to the inmates of Graterford Prison - men employed to beautify the city even as they serve out life sentences. The voices of the prisoners, their victims, Mayor Nutter, local rappers, conservative talk show hosts, trauma surgeons, and the citizens of the City of Brotherly Love crowd the stage to say their piece. Played by Lewis, a performer described by the New York Press as “explicitly authentic”, these voices combine with a shocking document of life in America’s toughest town. The stunning result is Killadelphia: mixtape of a city.

Hello, Daddy. Hello, Mom.

2009-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

CHERRY BOMB's first reading drops in five short weeks! On the bill:

AN ISLAND of CASINOS, of CLOUDS, and of INTIMACY.
Essayist Riley Hanick and Artist Lydia Diemer read their chapbook about the island of Macau (which is not to be confused with the Island of Macauly Culkin).

AN ISLAND of STREETS, of WALLS, or of THE SELF.
Playwright Sean Christopher Lewis performs a scene from Killadelphia: Mixtape of a City, on penetentiary life in the Keystone State.

AN ISLAND of LIMBO CONTESTS and SHRIMP COCKTAIL.
Mike Dombrowski, the Mitten's coolest wine expert, tackles a classic (and very funny) essay on cruise ships by David Foster Wallace.

There will also be music, libations, at least one double entendre about the pruvis avium, and, hopefully, chairs.

Stay tuned.

Killadelphonic

2009-05-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

For Killadelphia, Sean Christopher Lewis interviewed convicts and victims of his native city, which recently saw nearly 150 murders in a single year: