You know the feeling...being riveted by the thump of the bass and that "blue note" that gets your feet to involuntary tap, tap the floor...and then your fingers and thumb start to drum the table....your body eventually gives up and succumbs... you enjoy the movement and do not want the feeling to stop. Raymond Nat Turner, Photo by Lisa Brennan 5/28/2015 Welcome to the world of this jazz poet...his world.  Raymond Nat Turner! Enjoy video clip #4, "Medicine Man," performed by aaduna featured guest poet and spoken word artist, Raymond Nat Turner at aaduna's annual spring fundraiser, "In the Spirit of the Harlem Renaissance...Revisited 2015"  held at Theater Mack,     Auburn, NY on May 28, 2015.   The event was supported by Poets & Writers and the New York State Council on the Arts.  https://youtu.be/luaob58zq8s * * * * * Raymond Nat Turner, NYC poet, is the artistic director...

aaduna has a presence in the following countries as of June 15, 2015: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Belarus, Bohemia, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Phillipines, Poland, Portugal, ROMANIA, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam This info is not necessarily tooting our horn but just an attempt to keep it R...

aaduna, Inc. rocked Auburn , NY as it celebrated the fifth year of publishing aaduna , an online literary and visual arts journal at a festive fundraising affair at the Cayuga Museum ’s Theater Mack.   The event featured New York poets and writers from the upstate Auburn region who were joined by creative colleagues from the New York City downstate area.   The affair recognized the spirit and ambiance of the Harlem Renaissance.   A related aspect of this celebration was a poetry workshop conducted by Raymond Nat Turner at Auburn High School sponsored by the Harriet Tubman Boosters in conjunction with the Booker T. Washington Community Center.   Turner was one of the featured performers at the evening’s fundraiser, and aaduna, Inc. helped to facilitate the workshop’s planning.   This workshop was funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc., with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Govern...

How often have you had to tell someone that it was a “D” and not a “B?” While some of you may know Mel B (Melanie Janine Brown) from her Spice Girls involvement, as well as her judging on America’s Got Talent television show, Melvin Douglas is crafting a name for himself in other creative endeavors.   A former aaduna contributor in poetry (fall 2012 issue,) he returns to aaduna with an exhibition of his photographic work in the forthcoming spring 2015 5th anniversary issue.   Melvin has a keen “eye” for the nuances of the urban landscape and captures the essence of words through a different medium that prompts reflection and questions from the viewer.   Here is an image from his pending exhibition in aaduna : "Red Doors" by photographer, Melvin Douglas (c) 2015 Melvin Douglas, who in aaduna staff circles is graciously referenced as “Mel D” causes no confusion for us over whether it is “D” or “B”.   You will see why in a few days....

Back in the Eighties, Kool & The Gang taught many people how to party with their song “Celebration.”   How and when to celebrate has been a rich and dynamic ancestral tradition among many people and cultures worldwide. aaduna will give you a glimpse of one aspect of that rich tradition through the eyes of Peter Nakhid .   A multi-faceted New Orleans based photographer and documentarian, Peter will exhibit his work that centers on celebration, legacy, and tradition.   Here is one visual image from his exhibition featured in the forthcoming spring 2015 issue just to get you curious.     (c) 2015 Peter Nakhid, Congo Square, New Orleans See much more of Peter Nakhid’s photographs…soon in the spring 2015 issue of aaduna . Help us build community... aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks

Desi or more formally Desiree is not the Desi more formally known as Desiderio who played the husband (Ricky) of Lucy Ricardo in the situation comedy series, “I Love Lucy.” Desi St. Amant is a poet whose poems of power and enlightenment will generate reflection, understanding, and appreciation for the things in life that many of us take for granted. Seneca Lake State Park, Geneva, NY (c) April 2015, Photographer, Lisa Brennan Here is a teaser from her soon to be released poem, “Every Spring” With each winter comes a shedding a sort of forgetting of the year’s growth, labored through love. The pained drop of each shriveled leaf from this grand tree— a quiet, steady loss of a once effortless strength— piles on the ground, baring a collection of affections that have since gone dry. It stands, determined, with its exposed branches stark against the pale, chilled sky, waiting…. for absolution amidst the rain. "Spring Tulips,"...

We always like names that are mysterious enough that you really don’t know what that name actually represents.   Let’s be real…I mean is Kat Kruse the name of a luxury yacht, a hip boutique hotel in a fun city, a destination spot in the Caribbean, the name of the latest after hours club for the trendy set, a modernistic tattoo etched across someone’s lower back? Knowing that this is aaduna , you probably surmise that the name is somehow connected to a literary or artistic genre. Well, in aaduna's forthcoming issue, you will find out all about Kat Kruse. Here is an excerpt from her fiction work, "Rashad Sees the Future" to whet your appetite: A respected neighbor had read Rashad’s palm when he was two. The seer proclaimed loneliness, obesity and longing, though no one ever told the boy. At sixteen, fair-skinned and surrounded by friends, his parents shipped him off to America to live with a cousin. They wanted to spare themselves the pain of watching his f...

The vibrancy…the whoops and hollers of the audience mingled with bursts of spontaneous applause, slightly embarrassed by the raucous laughter and high fives obscuring the view of the stage…the raw gut-wrenching energy that rips through your brainwaves and tosses hot coals on the fire that is raging in your heart and soul…the passion of the poet spitting verses that takes you back to the basics of human understanding and relationships…. aaduna remains committed to presenting spoken word artists whose love of language is matched by their ability to weave words and formulate human situations into complex statements about Life. Several months ago, a member of the aaduna family ( Christine Green, poet/writer and driving force and soul behind  Words on the Verge, a reading series convened in Brockport, NY) created the pathway for aaduna to meet poet, novelist, and spoken word aficionado and playa, Tearz.   This young master of intertwining and interlocking words and phrases...

Well for the uninformed, it is in Minnesota and you should google it for more geographical information.   I only know where it is because one of the featured poets in the fall-winter 2014 issue resides in that city.   Once my colleagues and I read her poems, I just had to know how a place that was not on my radar screen or known via aaduna’s breadth of reach could produce a poet whose work overflowed with poignancy, focus, narrative control, and command of her craft.   Oh, I have not mentioned her name yet…oops.   It is Jennifer Wolfe.   And I suspect you will enjoy her work; just knowing the titles can make you anxious to read her work: “The Moon I,” “Motherchild” “ To The Men and Women in the 3 rd Ring of the 7 th Circle of Hell”   So, I now know where Shakopee is… thank you Jennifer! The fall-winter 2014 issue is coming in early 2015...we just have to be difficult with our timeframes...sometimes...we just want to ke...

“The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America…. The Pushcart Prize has been a labor of love and independent spirits since its founding. It is one of the last surviving literary co-ops from the 60's and 70's.” aaduna nominated the following four fiction writers for the 2016 round of The Pushcart Prize:  (Click the individual titles below to view work) B. Lynn Carter                  One Wild Ride  Millie Chapman                Peony Shelby Settles Harper        Peyote Spirit  Michael Murray                Stage Fright  aaduna nominated the following two poets for the 2016 round of the Prize: ...

aaduna contributor, TD Flenaugh   (photo provided) For the sports minded person, you may think I am referencing a new football blog that keeps pertinent statistics on touchdowns, who made them and where and how those achievements influenced the finality of a game.  Sorry. I am referring to writer TD Flenaugh whose short story is in the current issue of aaduna, and who recently took the time to have a chat with me. Check out our Conversation.  Enjoy! CLICK HERE for TD Flenaugh interview on aaduna! aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks    

The wait is over!   Breakout the Champagne! ~ Photo by:  Lisa Brennan, aaduna visual art editor/website manager   aaduna Volume 4/Issue 2 Cover Art "Untitled," oil on canvas, by Judita Pamfil (c) 2014 The aaduna 2014 summer issue, Vol. 4, No. 2 is now available. Visit www.aaduna.org and enjoy! aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates ! @aadunaspeaks  

Here are a few unedited [mostly] excerpts from Gillick , Murray , and Backer …three intriguing writers coming to the aaduna readership in the summer 2014 issue:   from Matt Gillick’s “Swim Practice” Dad was supposed to pick me up on time but he didn’t.   He was late again. He’s always on time right at five.   Mom said he sometimes took a long time putting on his green clothes and be late for his flight when he left.   I kind of wished he lost them so he could stay longer and tell me jokes.   They’re funny jokes like: “J.P., what happens to a…”   I forget the rest but I always laugh at the end.   The way he tells jokes is funny but I’m not laughing at him.   He just tells them well like I knew I would understand if I were smarter.   Mom told me not to laugh at kids at swim practice, so I laugh at them in the locker room.   One of them cried and I felt bad and I stopped for a bit.   She didn’t come back so I couldn’t say so...

"My Reaction to Despair Volume I" - Digital Book by Jeffrey Lee Graham, aaduna featured artist Volume 4, Issue 2    The aaduna family continues to mourn the tragic passing of Robin Williams, a stellar comedic and dramatic talent and exemplary human being. We do not believe or support pandering or hitching our wagon to a situation that should remain private and sacred. With that said we are taking the rare position to share our decision and behind the scenes talk as we decided to publish an intriguing piece of creative work. Our decision-making timeline is critically important for our readership. On March 29th, Mr. Graham submitted his work to aaduna, and Keith Leonard, our submissions manager, responded, “…I find your work to have a residual power, lingering presence and intriguing affect and have sent it on to our visual arts editor, publisher and a few other reviewers. [Yeah, I jumped started the process.]” On March 31st, Keith once again communicated with Mr. Gra...