M. Allen Cunningham

Rilke & Lou: Cunningham Reads from Lost Son (2006 Radio Recording)

Fri, 30 May 2025 21:50:44 GMT

In this long-lost recording made for KQED San Francisco (circa 2006), M. Allen Cunningham reads from his second book Lost Son, a large experimental narrative about Rainer Maria Rilke. At age twenty-one, while living as an obscure, penurious poet in Munich, Rilke met Lou Andreas-Salome. She would quickly become one of the most important people in his life, and would remain one of his most profound influences. This excerpt begins with their meeting, and renders the young Rilke in his most unrestrained Romantic phase. It was an important early stage of his poetic development, but Lou would ultimately guide him into deeper artistic and intellectual waters.

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The Chisel & The Stone: Cunningham on Rilke

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:54:43 GMT

In this audio clip from a 2006 interview, M. Allen Cunningham speaks about Rainer Maria Rilke and the novel Lost Son.

(Music: "Lights Out" by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of Free Music Archive)

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Scherzo Series, Ep.11: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 16:00:28 GMT

This is the eleventh installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

TWITTER
VIDEO GAMES
VIRAL
WINDOW
YOUTUBE
ZENITH

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep.10: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 16:00:58 GMT

This is the tenth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

REALITY TV
RIOT
TECHNOPOLY
TRENDING NOW

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep.9: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:45:30 GMT

This is the ninth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES (televised)
PROPAGANDA
PROTESTS
PSEUDO-EVENTS
QUIZ SHOWS (scandals)

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 8: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 19:23:02 GMT

This is the eighth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

MEME
MOVIES
OJ SIMPSON
PANDEMIC
PRESENTISM

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 7: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 05:52:09 GMT

This is the seventh installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

INTRAVIDUAL
JFK ASSASSINATION
MARSHALL MCLUHAN

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep.6: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 21:23:48 GMT

This is the sixth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

IDEOLOGY
INSURRECTION (Jan. 6th, 2021)
INTERNET

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep.5: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 21:06:28 GMT

This is the fifth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

FACEBOOK, ETC.
FILTER BUBBLE
GERALDO BRAWL
GLOSSARY

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 4: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:42:36 GMT

This is the fourth installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

CONTENT (noun)
CONTEXT COLLAPSE
DARK WEB
DEEP FAKE
DYNAMOS

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 3: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:35:35 GMT

This is the third installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

BINGE
CANCELLATION (so-called)
CLINTON SCANDAL

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 2: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:27:40 GMT

This is the second installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

ALGORITHM
ARTIST AS KOOK
AUGMENTED REALITY

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Scherzo Series, Ep. 1: Definitions from a Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:16:33 GMT

This is the first installment in the Scherzo Series, which brings you short readings from the A-to-Z "Scherzo: A Glossary of Spectacle & Bewilderment (with Anecdotes) Compiled on Behalf of the Imaginative Mind," found in Cunningham's new book We Are Guests of Ancient Time.

The terms defined in this installment are:

ADAPTATION (Book to Film, or Book to Limited Series)
A.I.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

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Prelude (One)

Sat, 04 May 2024 01:16:15 GMT

The first prelude from Cunningham's book We Are Guests of Ancient Time: Essays & Variations on the Imagination, Memory, Seeing, and Media).

(Music by JWC)

Learn more about this book: https://www.atelier26books.com/we-are-guests-of-ancient-time.html

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Reading, Seeing, and Self-Forgetting

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 19:01:48 GMT

An audio excerpt from M. Allen Cunningham's talk "Reading, Seeing, and Self-Forgetting," delivered recently in an undergraduate creative writing course. Cunningham considers what a creative writing course can and cannot achieve, and explores the imaginative value of honing one's perceptions by "going beyond the edges" of one's own identity, perspectives, imagination, and discipline. One springboard for this lecture is Ali Smith's Artful, an assigned book for this course Other touchpoints include Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul Cezanne, Harold Bloom, C.S. Lewis, Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, James Baldwin, Michael Oakeshott, and Lynda Barry. (NB: Cunningham's particular discussion of Rilke originates with Letters on Cezanne, edited by Joel Agee, and draws on the observations in Agee's introduction to that book.)

Visit www.MAllenCunningham.com to learn more about Cunningham's work as a writer, teacher, and publisher.

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From The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 01:53:44 GMT

A reading from John Ruskin's The Stones of Venice, Vol. III, Chapter 11 (1853)

MUSIC:

"A Simple Blur" by Blue Dot Sessions, courtesy of Free Music Archive

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Lenny on Ludwig

Sun, 05 Feb 2023 02:19:17 GMT

"This music is not only infinitely durable, but perhaps the closest that music has ever come to universality."

Voice: Leonard Bernstein, Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna (1970)

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Bloom Speaks

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 06:20:48 GMT

"I did not know what 'Information Retrieval' was and I did not wish to find out."

Voice: Harold Bloom, Interview (2000)

Music: "Glacier" by SalmonLikeTheFish, courtesy of Free Music Archive

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M. Allen Cunningham Lectures on Mrs. Dalloway for Creative Writers

Sun, 03 Apr 2022 05:26:23 GMT

Originally posted May 14, 2020, the 95th anniversary of the publication of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway: M. Allen Cunningham's lecture on Woolf's great novel, originally delivered to Creative Writing students at Portland State University.

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From Kepler by John Banville

Sun, 03 Apr 2022 04:13:56 GMT

A reading from John Banville's novel Kepler, with music.

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M Allen Cunningham Reads from His New Book Q&A

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 23:57:29 GMT

Cunningham describes his book Q&A and then reads three short sections (which happen to feature a few "F-bombs", FYI).

Inspired by true events, bold in the forms with which it evokes an agitated, media-soaked half century in America, Q&A urgently reimagines the misunderstood quiz show scandals in light of our own time, as a moment of cultural reckoning whose reverberations we feel all around us today: in reality television, TV politics, the triumph of incoherence, and the pandemic problem of how to be real in a world of screen-induced self-deception.

This reading was performed via Zoom. View the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B57vdvR_XU.

www.MAllenCunningham.com

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Loon Checkers - from Thoreau's Leaves: the Thoreau Podcast

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 20:59:28 GMT

Have you heard THOREAU'S LEAVES? Produced and hosted by M. Allen Cunningham, it's an immersive, atmospheric podcast dedicated to the celebrated and lesser-known works of Henry David Thoreau, one of America's greatest voices. Here's a sample episode for your enjoyment: "Loon Checkers" (subscribe at anchor.fm/thoreausleaves, or wherever you get your podcasts).

More info at:
www.thoreausleaves.com

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M. Allen Cunningham Presents PERPETUA'S KIN at Powell's Books

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 07:00:14 GMT

During this event at the fabled Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, Cunningham discusses his fourth novel PERPETUA'S KIN. A sweeping story of five generations in one American family, PERPETUA'S KIN spans much of North America, from the 1820s in Iowa to the American south during the Civil War to World War II San Francisco. In a structured presentation, Cunningham describes the story's origins, his research, the themes and characters, the influence of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and why this novel was 11 years in the making. He also reads short selections from the book. The event includes an audience Q&A. It was recorded on a rainy night in November 2018.

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In the Atelier: Measures of Success

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 19:00:17 GMT

Have you heard IN THE ATELIER, the creativity podcast produced and hosted by M. Allen Cunningham? Here's a sample episode for your enjoyment: "Measures of Success" (subscribe at anchor.fm/in-the-atelier, or wherever you get your podcasts).

In this Episode:

How does a writer know whether or not they are "a Success"?

Mentioned in this episode: Netflix; Dreamworks; Carnegie Hall; New York Times Bestseller list; midlist author; awkward party conversations; shelving at Barnes & Noble; being on Oprah

Music: "Ohio" by Low Light; "Second Smile" by LMOP; "Rising Up" by OFRIN; "Once and For All" by Ian Post
(All music used courtesy of the artists through a licensing agreement with Artlist)

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Variations on a Beginning

Sun, 09 Aug 2020 17:24:05 GMT

Cunningham's autobiographical essay, with musical accompaniment and slightly abridged.
"Variations on a Beginning" was originally published in complete form in The Timberline Review, Issue No. 3 (summer/fall 2016). You can read the full essay here: https://medium.com/@M_A_Cunningham/variations-on-a-beginning-685d3b1cd7e5

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The Artist of Kouroo

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 23:11:06 GMT

A reading from WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau (with musical accompaniment: "Sails" by Rodello's Machine)

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From PARTISANS

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 06:54:56 GMT

A reading from PARTISANS: A Lost Work by G.P. Leed
http://www.atelier26books.com/partisans.html

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The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Wed, 16 Oct 2019 05:26:22 GMT

A reading from Virginia Woolf's THE WAVES, with music. (Bach Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, Sarabande)

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Three Paragraphs by Annie Dillard

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 03:33:45 GMT

A reading from Annie Dillard's memoir An American Childhood
Music: "The Fire" by Imogen Heap

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Right Click

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 13:31:38 GMT

Please prove you are not a robot - Say "OK, Google" - Everyone's watching - Your identity is not confirmed - Click here to agree to our terms and conditions - Right click.
(Music: J.S. Bach, Missa brevis in A)

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Interview with a Recluse by M. Allen Cunningham

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 06:15:59 GMT

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Perpetua's Kin: The Harvest Taught Him

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 20:22:24 GMT

M. Allen Cunningham reads from his novel PERPETUA'S KIN (coming 2018). www.MAllenCunningham.com

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In Ludwig's Room

Mon, 21 Aug 2017 01:02:51 GMT

A visit to Ludwig van Beethoven's rooms in Vienna, a mere 209 years after the composer steps out.
(Music: http://apple.co/2fXhXky)

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