Marion Blackburn

writer

In writing, as in art, the struggle is the meaning.

Info (at) marionblackurn.net
Greenville, NC
ph: 252.931.0728

Home

WELCOME.

That's Mayberry, the Walker hound, who died in April. These days, I share my home with Martha, a Polish hound, Dewey & Geppeto, the beagles; and Hildie, Garbo and Poppy, the felines.

Here's Martha

Marion Blackburn is a freelance and creative writer. She is presently working on a novel, The Curing Season, along with short stories.

She also serves as the District 3 representative for the Greenville, N.C. City Council.

In March, 2012, she completed her second marathon. Read about her first, at Medoc Mountain State Park, in her "Existential Thoughts from a First Marathon."

Excerpt from her novella, "Unsealed," is below.

Return to the Trail of Tears in Archaeology magazine.

A Cure for August and Barbecue commentaries

Cover story on the new ECU School of Dental Medicine in East magazine

Janice Faulker in the summer 2011 issue ofEast magazine

Jim Hunt's Ms. Fix-It

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Public radio commentary

My Running Year on Public Radio East

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Battlefield surgeon, back from the war

Cover story, East Magazine

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Novella in progress: "Unsealed"

Into the place between sleep and awareness came details, images, feelings and signs sent to this day from the one before. I am Delia Legrace. This is my bedroom. It is Wednesday. That is my alarm clock. What did it mean, Delia Legrace. What time it is, what day is it. Who is here, asleep upstairs. I am alone. A dog is breathing, a cat is at my feet. The sunlight is crisp, like autumn. What is the date.

The thoughts she fell asleep to, music and colors in her mind, sadness and anger, transcendence and weightlessness, left their traces, impressions she would have to figure out. Maybe. Maybe this morning. She would lie still until she knew. Clearly. As clearly as a morning long ago when it was summer and she grabbed seersucker shorts and shirt and ran down the stairs without thought.

-- from "Unsealed," by Marion Blackburn

The Curing Season

A first section of my novel in progress has been posted as a pdf. Email comments to info@marionblackburn.net.I am working on the second installment. The excerpt also appears on my blog.

GEPPETO IS ON FACEBOOK!

In 2009 a gentle, humble Walker hound came into my life, earning the name Mayberry for a relaxed style straight from an old country store. On this page, he shared his adventures with me, my two beagles, Dewey and Geppeto, and the cats.

Last weekend, suddenly but without suffering, he left me. I held his head while he took his last breaths.

I interred him privately along with an apple since he loved them so much, and a plastic egg found on the street by his best friend, Leah (Fashion Lady), since he always retrieved colorful objects on our walks. I read from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. What else could I do for my best friend.

On this page you have shown how much you loved Mayberry, caring about his misadventures, disasters and thunderstorm anxiety; and his appetite for carrots, peanut butter bones, naps and treats. Your affection for him touches me deeply. I am so sorry to share this news with you.

He brought me goodness and humor. He generously gave love, loyalty and affection – when he wasn’t getting in the recycling, that is. Sharing apples, waiting for him to roll in the grass or watching him proudly carry another carton home after a walk gave each day such happiness.

In his honor, my beagle Geppeto is going to carry on this page’s updates. I’m sure Dewey (the Stubborn Beagle) will help.

And because Walker hounds are such amazing, noble friends I will share Mayberry’s lifelong message --

...If you love a ugly old hound dog an give him a soft bed, some pnut buttr bones an treats. An dont get mad at him when he strews the trash but let him get in your closet during thunderstroms. An forgive him for pullin books off your shelf from time to time, but remember he didnt mean to do it – any of it -- youll have the best friend ever you could never imagine...

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Atamasco lily at Medoc

Hiking at Medoc Mountain...

KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI

This Polish director's works probe human nature, give us sadness and joy, always shadowed by melancholy ...

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Visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama online

www.dalailama.com

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Audio Postcard from Public Radio East: Marion and her sister run in the Komen Race for the Cure

COMMENTARY: Strangers in the Night

A feature profile on the late writer David Foster Wallace examines the complexity of this serious writing talent for our times. ______________________________________________

JACK KEROUAC: THE MYTHICAL SCROLL

As part of his own journey as a writer, Kerouac dispensed with traditional narrative process and in a single burst of literary activity wrote the novel in about three weeks in 1951. He typed it onto 120-feet of taped paper sheets; together his manuscript forms a a scroll that reflects the seeming infinity of blacktop leading west. Legend has mistakenly registered it as an episode of first-draft brilliance, but Kerouac had been working on drafts for years. Nicknamed “Memory Babe” because of his prodigious recall, he likely had the entire novel scripted in his mind before sitting at the typewriter that April day in New York. Indeed, he obsessed over writing. The act of writing, like Sal’s act of traveling, allowed Kerouac to find the ethereal.

-- from an article by Marion Blackburn

The 120-foot long manuscript of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" was on view in New York, along with notebooks, novel outlines, notes, paintings and sketches that show Kerouac's complexity as a writer and artist. U-Tex Austin exhibit here. Image: New York Public Library, Berg Collection, Jack Kerouac Archive. Reproduced courtesy of John G. Sampas, legal representative of the estates of Jack and Stella Kerouac. 

MYTHIC MILES Part One & Part Two

PUBLIC RADIO EAST diary of Kerouac in New York

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ON THE SAFFRON PATH Special section A three-part audio diary of Marion's journey to see the Dalai Lama in Atlanta, which aired on Public Radio East. Download here.

A blossom, a man, a promise

These are low-resolution pdfs of the article, "A Blossom, a Man, a Promise - Seeing His Holiness the Dalai Lama Brings Hope" which appeared Jan. 6, 2008 in The Daily Reflector.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Audio from His Holiness, 14th Dalai Lama

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My mother, the stripper

Raising a Cannon from Queen Anne's Revenge

Former blog is here

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Marion Blackburn is a writer whose creative projects include short stories, essays and a novel in progress. Professional projects include magazine and feature writing, brochures, marketing and narratives. She serves as a member of the Greenville, N.C. City Council

For short stories, click here

For Fiction Daily, click here

A special section on Jack Kerouac

A special section on His Holiness the Dalai Lama

For professional projects, click here

For Public Radio features, click here

For Marion Blackburn's City Council Web site, click here

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