“Anyone who goes against the pace of the grind culture is living as an outlier and a risk-taker.”
Tricia Hersey
Personal Essays:
I’ve written 11 books of personal essays since 2016. This Fall, my keystone book, which opens the series, was named as a “Notable Book” in the ShelfUnbound Indie Book Awards. All of these books are available for free, here, via the drop-down menu above, and in paperback and Kindle form, at cost, on Amazon.com via my Amazon author’s page link, above.This Fall, Last Spring, First, Summer, In Dreams, and Quantum Reading are also available as audiobooks here and/or on Audible.com.
Poetry:
I’ve written 7 books of poems since my wife passed in 2015, starting with Li Po-ems, the book that opened the floodgates. I also include 2 others that compile poems I published individually earlier in my career. It’s all here for free, in PDF form from the drop-down menu at the top the page, along with audiobooks for most of them. Paperbacks and Kindle versions are available at cost on Amazon.
Scholarly Books:
I published two scholarly books during my career as an English professor. The first, Writing/Teaching, which won the College Composition and Communication Outstanding Book Award in 2002, explores the teaching of writing in the context of cultural and historical ideology. My second book, Re-reading Poets, documents my life-long love of poetry via the many specific poets who have made my life deeper and more livable. The publisher owns copyrights on these books, which are available at their cost via the usual online venues. I provide more information about these under the “Scholarly Books” drop-down, above.
Essays and Talks:
I published numerous articles and book chapters during my career, the major ones (from the 80s and 90s, when articles rather than books were the primary vehicles for scholarly exchange) are available here in PDF form. I also include several more recent stand-alone essays, my favorite talk, and the first essay I wrote after my wife passed, which opened the portal to all the rest of this work.
YouTubes and Songs
I have no notable musical talent or experience. After my wife died I began to play guitar and sing (all covers initially) for emotional release. I recorded many, many cover albums to share with family and friends. Then, all of a sudden, I began to binge-write my own songs, recording 8 full albums, archived now for free at https://paulkameen.bandcamp.com/ This burst lasted for about three years, then stopped completely. I have no way to account for it aside from the sometimes strange effects of trauma on creative production.
I do include here a few of my current favorites among the many cover albums I’ve recorded over the last 8 years, including an album of sweet songs with me playing my new ukulele.
During the pandemic I created a number of YouTube series, some combining photos I take on my walks with songs I cover as soundtracks, one with me reading my own poems, a few at a time, once a week over a six-month period, all to share with family and friends. Here is a link to that site: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGc0sDl44WnOI9hjIBTenJg