In Descant 160, the Hidden City issue: Vịnh Mốc: Life Underground

I am so pleased to have my piece Vịnh Mốc: Life Underground appear in Descant Magazine’s Hidden City issue.

With its  beautiful, mysterious photo by Jeremy Kai, I think this issue has one of the best-looking literary magazines covers I have seen.

Vịnh Mốc: Life Underground is a personal essay about the  community of people who lived
in almost three kilometres of tunnels in Quảng Trị province, Việt Nam, during the years of heavy U.S. bombing. It is also my story of bringing people to see this subterranean place.

The pages of Descant 160: The Hidden City are filled with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photos and artwork that explore hidden and unexpected places. Suzana Vukić writes about Montreal’s Griffintown, Yasuko Thanh’s haunting piece takes place in Vancouver, and Jeremy Kai photographs Toronto’s underground. Việt Nam is well represented, appearing not only in my essay, but also in Manny Trinh’s lush, bright paintings of the landscapes of his childhood.

Descant has posted an introduction to this issue along with the table of contents, images and three excerpts. A selection from Vịnh Mốc: Life Underground appears at the bottom of the post.

The launch party for Descant 160 will be on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave., Toronto, Ontario.

Six contributors  (Ron Charach, Maureen Hynes, Cara-Lyn Morgan, Jim Nason, Sarah Pinder and Kilby Smith-McGregor), will be reading, along with this years’ Winston Collins/Descant Poetry Prize winner, John Lee. It promises to be a great evening.

 

More News about Breakfast Under the Bodhi Tree

Kitchen Gods Under the Bodhi Tree

For those who’ve been wondering what breakfast under the bodhi tree looks like, I’m pleased to announce that Prism International has published some of my  photos on their website. The photos accompany my essay Breakfast Under the Bodhi Tree, which appears in Prism‘s  Food+Drink Issue.

Hope you’ll stay tuned for more news on my forthcoming book, of which the piece published in Prism is the title story.

Kitchen Gods under the Bodhi Tree

This is the wall surrounding the altar at the foot of our bodhi tree, of which a small section of the trunk is visible to the left. All those small rectangles on the top of the wall are kitchen god statues. There are more at the base of the tree.

Today is the 23rd of Tet, a week before the Lunar New Year and the day the kitchen gods fly up to report to the Jade Emperor about each family’s activities in the past year. Last night, we cleaned their altar and put out fresh golden chrysanthemums, and mangos draped with votive money to encouarge them to give a good report for our family. A positive report will ensure that the coming year will be a good one.

According to legend, the gods leave at midnight. People in other regions of Viet Nam believe the kitchen gods fly to heaven on golden carp, and release carp into waterways to ensure that they will have steeds to ride, but this is not a custom in Hue.

Before the break of dawn this morning, my father-in-law was outside burning the offerings. Then we placed our miniature kitchen god statue on a clean plate and brought it out to the altar under the bodhi tree by the river. Each year, the old statue is replaced with a new one. Some people replace the entire altar. All day today, people in our neihgbourhood have been doing the same, and the collection of statues, old flowers and altar decorations under the tree is still growing.

The walled altar is for the souls who died away from home during the Tet Offensive of 1968, although not everyone in the neighbourhood agrees. Some say it is for the wandering souls of all important local people who died away fom home. Those who can’t be given a funeral at home, whether because they were abroad or because they were MIA, as well as stillborns and babies lost by miscarriage, cannot be honoured with an altar inside the house. Hence there are outdoor altars everywhere in the country. Nestled in niches of the gnarled trunk of our tree are several more small altars for people who died in traffic accidents nearby and for other souls of this neighbourhood.

23rd Tet is considered to be the first day of the Tet holidays, and the next week will be filled with ceremonial “eating the end of the year” (an tat nien). On the 30th Tet, we’ll have the most important ceremony of all: we’ll make offerings to see the old year out and the new one in. The following day will be the first day of Tet.

Breakfast Under the Bodhi Tree

The view from under my bodhi tree on a misty morning

Anyone who has been following me on this blog or on Twitter knows that I’ve been working on my book Breakfast Under the Bodhi Tree, about travelling and living in Viet Nam, for some time now. Several of the essays have already been published. A couple of days ago, Issue 51.2 of PRISM International came out and the title piece of my book is included among the many fine short stories, essays and poems. PRISM has dubbed 51.2 “The Food and Drink Issue”. I haven’t received my copy yet, but with food and drink as the subject, it may just turn out to be my favourite PRISM issue yet.

Under the bodhi tree is where I drink coffee and eat breakfast almost every day these days. My essay is all about the friends, family and neighbours I meet there each day, the two women who prepare the food and coffee, and the bodhi tree itself. Hope you’ll pick up a copy of the issue and join me in my favourite place by the banks of Hue City’s Perfume River.

PRISM will also be posting a selection of my photographs on their website soon. Stay tuned for details!

Good News Comes in Threes

It’s been an exciting week. Today, I had the temporary cast for my fractured radius removed and a new one put on. It’ll be another five weeks of struggling to do the simplest things, like buttoning my jeans, opening bottles or washing under my right arm with my right hand. The new cast is even more restricting than the old one.

Just when I was feeling frustrated because it takes so much longer to write now (no dragging and dropping etc.) I received three pieces of great news in less than 24 hours.

Prism Issue 51.2

First, I found out that Issue 51.2 of PRISM International has just been released. I’m pleased to announce that the title story of my forthcoming book Breakfast Under the Bodhi Tree is among the stories published in this issue, and it’s in fantastic company with stories and poetry by Sarah Selecky, Fiona Tinwei-Lam, Evelyn Lau and others. The giant peach on the cover is the work of photographer and artist Maleonn. Prism will also be featuring a number of my photos of my beloved bodhi tree on their website.

I then learned that my weird and nondual story Mindswitch has been accepted for publication in Impossible Spaces, a forthcoming British anthology from Hic Dragones. The story had been looking for a home for over two years. Several editors said they enjoyed it but it wasn’t right for the particular issue. A couple said they’d very nearly accepted it. It is a weird story with an even weirder ending. I finally decided to alter the ending in a minor way and submit it again. That’s when I saw a call for submissions that seemed like a perfect match. I almost changed the ending back but decided not to.

A good story may have to knock on several doors but eventually, it will find a loving home. Never give up!

I was also pleased to learn that a story by Margrét Helgadóttir, a talented fellow writer, will appear in the anthology too.

My third piece of good news arrived this morning:

I’m looking forward to receiving my copy of Issue #47. Looks like it’s packed with great writing.

30 Days: a day in the life and a bunch of photos

I started the day with a long walk around the citadel. A fog rolled in, so when I took this photo of a group warming up in front of Hue’s flag tower, I could only just discern the flag in the mist. As if by magic, you can see the silhouette of the flag if you tilt your screen back.

Between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m., the streets of Hue abound with people walking, jogging and excercising. Sometimes I’m outside by 5 for a walk with my mother-in-law. We walk to the Phu Xuan Bridge, do some stretching and excercises, then return by the Truong Tien Bridge. It takes us an hour. Today, I arose late and headed out on my own.

The fog began to lift and the flag appeared. The tower was built in 1807, during the reign of King Gia Long. After various repairs and renovations over the years, it now stands about 17.5 metres high, from the lowest of its three bases to the tip of the flag post.

These are two of the gates that lead in and out of the citadel.

The frangipani trees are just starting to flower. Their fragrance is intoxicating.

I walked back by this quiet road rather than the busy Tran Huong Dao. When I arrived home, I had breakfast under my beloved bodhi tree, then playedwith our new puppy for a while.

That’s the last time my wrist looked normal. I slipped on the rain-slicked step and fell with my full weight on my wrist, fracturing the radius. Sigh.

That’s the fracture to the left beside the C in my watermark. I’ve always found X-rays rather fascinating. Love the view of all the bones in the hand. Then I received my very own health booklet for keeping records of hospital visits and treatments in Vietnam. Now I really feel like a local person.

.

The silver lining is that I’m receiving all kinds of attention. Maybe too much. People are making coffe for me, presenting me with my favourite fruit, and constantly asking if I need anything.

Did you know you can tell how many sections are inside a mangosteen by counting the petals on its base? Thi s one has six petals and when I cut it open, I found five small and one large sections. Sometimes there are only five, and less often, seven. If I had to choose one fruit to eat for the rest of my life, I might choose these purple-shelled treasures.

It’s taken me a few hours to edit these photos and write this post all with one hand, but it has been a good distraction and I think I’ve gone well over 30 photos in less than 30 days. Will devote the remaining days to looking at others’ posts.

Eight more 30 in 30 blogs:

• Solange Noir, daily photos
• Jennifer, daily photos
• Evelyn Jackson, daily photos
• Sue Borgerson, a daily verse building to a 30-verse poem
• Dorothee Lang, daily video moments
• Andy, daily photos
• Hilda Oomen, daily paintings
• Lynda Bruce, daily paintings

30 Photos: Day 23 – More from My Alley

My alley isn’t all that long, the road is choppy, and viewed as a unit, it’s nothing special. Through a mindful eye however, the details make it special and beautiful. I love the simplicity of this scene, the spare colour palette, the vibrant green of the leaves and their yellow undersides, the turquoise of the cart and the moss on the bricks.

Unfortunately, someone left a fingerprint on the lens of my camera, which I didn’t notice until I’d already taken a bunch of photos and was viewing them on the computer screen. I almost didn’t post this because of it. On the other hand, that slightly blurry area in the middle adds a mysterious light to the photo. I wonder if anyone would believe that it was an intentional effect.

***

It’s not too late to join our creative 30 in 30 group. Just start posting a photo, painting or other artistic endeavour every day and leave your link in the comments. I’ll gladly add you to the blogroll.

Eight more 30 in 30 blogs:

• Solange Noir, daily photos
• Jennifer, daily photos
• Evelyn Jackson, daily photos
• Sue Borgerson, a daily verse building to a 30-verse poem
• Dorothee Lang, daily video moments
• Andy, daily photos
• Hilda Oomen, daily paintings
• Lynda Bruce, daily paintings

30 Photos: Day #21 – New Puppy

Look what I can do!

Look Mom! I can do it on my own!     ***     Honest, it wasn’t me!

This little feller is new to our household. He arrived a week ago, and he is only now old enough to get into trouble. At first we had to feed him with a spoon, and he walked like a drunk. I felt it was too soon for him to be away from his mother, but by the third day, he was doing just fine. Now he climbs right into a bowl of rice with finely chopped meat all drizzled with broth and chows down. His bed is a big carton lined with blankets. It has a hole cut into the side so that he can climb in when he wants, but like a baby in a crib, he likes to try to climb over the sides. He can’t yet, but it won’t be long. He already likes to chew on flip-flops and is quickly learning other shenanigans.

I am Superpuppy!

***

It’s not too late to join our creative 30 in 30 group. Just start posting a photo, painting or other artistic endeavour every day and leave your link in the comments. I’ll gladly add you to the blogroll.

Eight more 30 in 30 blogs:

• Solange Noir, daily photos
• Jennifer, daily photos
• Evelyn Jackson, daily photos
• Sue Borgerson, a daily verse building to a 30-verse poem
• Dorothee Lang, daily video moments
• Andy, daily photos
• Hilda Oomen, daily paintings
• Lynda Bruce, daily paintings

30 Photos – #20 – Walls of Moss

Lichen and ferns
lichen and ferns
flourish upon the alley walls

I never cease to be fascinated with this wall of moss and ferns in my alley. I walk or ride past it up to a dozen times a day and I can’t resist taking yet another photo each time I notice something new: a turn of leaf, a tiny flower inside a dark niche, the way the light falls at different times of day. I’ve taken dozens of photographs of this wall, and the neighbours must surely think I’m crazy by now. (They may be right…)

***

It’s not too late to join our creative 30 in 30 group. Just start posting a photo, painting or other artistic endeavour every day and leave your link in the comments. I’ll gladly add you to the blogroll.

Eight more 30 in 30 blogs:

• Solange Noir, daily photos
• Jennifer, daily photos
• Evelyn Jackson, daily photos
• Sue Borgerson, a daily verse building to a 30-verse poem
• Dorothee Lang, daily video moments
• Andy, daily photos
• Hilda Oomen, daily paintings
• Lynda Bruce, daily paintings

30 Days 30 Photos: #19: At the Elephant Temple – 2

Offerings for a Brave Steed

There are two of these, one to each side of the main elephant temple.

The scene was awash in bright sunlight and I took several shots, some overrexposed to bring out the dark interior and others underexposed to show the details of the pink face of the structure. I prefer the more dramatic feeling of the lower exposure, with just the face and trunk of the elephant emerging from the shadows. My family likes the brighter version.

***

It’s not too late to join our creative 30 in 30 group. Just start posting a photo, painting or other artistic endeavour every day and leave your link in the comments. I’ll gladly add you to the blogroll.

Eight more 30 in 30 blogs:

• Solange Noir, daily photos
• Jennifer, daily photos
• Evelyn Jackson, daily photos
• Sue Borgerson, a daily verse building to a 30-verse poem
• Dorothee Lang, daily video moments
• Andy, daily photos
• Hilda Oomen, daily paintings
• Lynda Bruce, daily paintings