White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo is a great place for White people to start, learn a little humility, and start building stamina for grappling with race and racism. I learned a lot while experienced many head-smack moments and moments of shame while reading this short, accessible, blunt, and necessary book.
Author: Richard Leis
Richard Leis (he/him) writes poetry and fiction. He lives in Tucson, Arizona where he teaches workshops at The Writers Studio and works for HiRISE, a team at the University of Arizona with a camera in orbit around Mars.
Condemning J.K. Rowling and Her Transphobic Views
I condemn J.K. Rowling and her continuing transphobic views, including her recent social media posts and response to the backlash.
Submission Opportunity: 2020 SFPA Poetry Contest
The 2020 SFPA Poetry Contest runs from June 1 through August 31, 2020 and is open to both non-members and members.
h+
Richard designed, developed, and maintained the original h+ Tucson website as well as the expanded h+ website for multiple chapters and new transhumanist-related content, including a gallery of transhumanist art, links, and other resources.
Painbow
Richard Leis created Painbow after he witnessed and experienced two incidents of discrimination. His idea was to briefly describe each situation, include the hurtful statement itself, and provide a short response.
RADIO Frontier Channel
RADIO Frontier Channel was a podcast from Frontier Channel hosted by Richard Leis in 2005 that included science and technology news and interviews with scientists at the University of Arizona.
Frontier Channel
The Frontier Channel website edited by Richard Leis provided news and commentary about the "Great Frontiers of cyberspace, outer space, the ocean, and destinations in between."
Flashpocalypse Short List
My flash fiction story "The Canal" was shortlisted for The Molotov Cocktail's latest quarterly flash contest: Flashpocalypse!
Review: Lightspeed Issue 120 (May 2020)
Lightspeed’s May 2020 issue includes stories by some of my favorite authors, and some new favorites.
Review: In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland
At 94 pages, In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland is a quick read, but be warned that the mounting tension might require an occasional break to catch your breath. You’re going to need the oxygen: the final third of the book, when the breathless pace escalates and characters become even more desperate, becomes unputdownable.
Review: Cricket Hunters by Jeremy Hepler
Cricket Hunters subverts the usual tropes and nostalgia of coming-of-age horror by reaching for something even darker in this tale of friendship and rivalry
Review: Midnight in the Graveyard Edited by Kenneth W. Cain
I have definitely been in the mood for ghost stories, and Midnight in the Graveyard, the first anthology from Silver Shamrock Publishing, delivers the ghostly goods!
Review: Phreak by JE Solo
Phreak often worked against my narrative expectations with its fragmented, time-jumping, and vignette-style approach, and in the process delivered a singular character whose clear and deeply felt recollections warn us how close we are to delivering a similarly bleak future to the next generation. You’ll want to get your hands on this novel as soon as possible.
Review: How We Broke by Bracken MacLeod and Paul Michael Anderson
This little novella full of big revelations and emotions really got to me.
Review: Snow by Ronald Malfi
The rapid pace doesn’t get in the way of good details and atmosphere; I felt the cold, eeriness, and rising tension along the way. What they encounter is creepy as hell and led to heart-pounding horror and heartbreaking deaths.
Review: We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk
It took me several pages to adjust to the direction Kirk takes later in the novel, but I was rewarded with an unexpectedly humane, emotional, and satisfying ending. Despite its challenges, We Are Monsters left me with a lot to enjoy and think about.
On a Successful 2020 Tucson Poetry Festival
Thank you to members of the board, featured poets, and attendees for a successful and sustaining 2020 Tucson Poetry Festival.
Tucson Poetry Festival Featured Poets Reading and Open Mic, April 18-19, 2020
The 2020 Tucson Poetry Festival will include workshops, a reading by the featured poets, and an open mic.
New Poem: “Witch House” in Eye to the Telescope Issue 36
"Little girls in white dresses skipping rope / & chanting singsong in slow motion we stole / from an 80’s horror film."
Poets and Workshops at the Tucson Poetry Festival, April 18-19, 2020
When Director Melanie Madden suggested the theme for this year's annual Tucson Poetry Festival—"Poetry to Sustain Us"—none of us on the Board could have predicted how even more necessary this sustenance would become in 2020.
