Working Class Stories
Join Frank Gioia and Barry MacDonald for a night of working class stories- from the streets of 1950s Brooklyn, to military service in Vietnam, to the grueling work of resurfacing asphalt driveways. These gritty stories share the experience of hard work, sacrifice, and not so idyllic life. Both Frank and Barry are published authors and veterans of the AMSS stage and are sure to deliver an interesting performance.
Teller bios:
Frank Gioia is a writer, actor and poet. His memoir, The Mercury Man: Remembering Brooklyn, is a collection of personal narratives about growing up on the streets of New York in the 1950s and his service in Vietnam in the 1960s. These are his recollections of coming of age in an earlier time and place, in a Brooklyn that no longer exists. Gioia’s book is published by Bordighera Press and used as a source for the study of the Italian diaspora. His work has also been published in The Artful Mind, the on-line journal, Ovunque Siamo and What Do You Want to Know, an Anthology of Veterans’ Voices. His book has been used in the writing project at Mule Creek State Prison and the MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has read his work in the Berkshires, the Twin Cities, Sacramento and the Sierra Foothills.
Barry MacDonald goes by the dharma name “Tekkan,” which means “Iron Man” in 13th century Japanese. Tekkan indicates a “settled practitioner of great determination.” He was given this name when he took Buddhist vows. He lived in Japan for 9 years, teaching English at the Berlitz Corporation in Kyoto. He practiced Zen at Hosshin-ji, a Zen temple in Obama — a small town on the coast of the Sea of Japan. He is the president of the Crack Walnut Branch of Twin Cities Poets and Writers Group. He has written 77 books. He was the featured poet in the 2022 volume of Startled by Laughter — New Poetry in Traditional Forms; and was in the top ten of 2,000 poets published by the first issue of Maplestaple in a literary contest in 2023. He has also been published in numerous anthologies, including Agates, Rewilding Hope, The Nations Underground — Writing with Our Ancestors, and Little by Little the Bird Build’s It’s Nest.
To register:
- Add the number of tickets you want by clicking the ‘+’ button
- Click the ‘Get Tickets’ button
- Note- After purchase, tickets & receipt may arrive in your ‘Junk Mail’ folder
