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What is a Professor of Poetry? How can poetry be professed?

~W.H. Auden



Fishwife Tales

Fishwife Tales is an epic lyric sequence which details the life of a shape-shifting marine creature reminiscent of a siren, selkie or generic mermaid. My hope has been to use this mythic conceit to explore the clash and amalgamation of historic masculine and feminine natures in an emblematical domestic setting.


Fishwife Tales Paintings

Painters Aiko Green and Jinju Fong have painted two seperate series of works inspired by the Fishwife Tales. Aiko's paintings can be seen throughout this website.


To view Jinju Fong's paintings, click here.


Fishwife Tales Music

Musician/composer Sarah Eide and I have collaborated on several genre defying musical works based on the Fishwife Tales.


We have performed this work at numerous venues, including most recently: the 2010 Massachusetts Artists Collective Showcase, the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, the 2011 Salem Arts Festival and the 2011 Women Musician's Network Show. Getting so much positive feedback, we decided to go into the recording studio to create a full length album, bringing to the project a number of supremely talented musicians. The CD features the voices of several women, all from different backgrounds, bringing this story into a universal perspective. The Fishwife's story is more then her own story, but the story of all women of the present, past and future.


We're proud to say that Fishwife Tales has, over time, become a multi-media performance experience, including not only music and spoken word but also dance and visual arts. There are future plans for transforming Fishwife Tales into a musical, and the beginnings of this project are already evident within our debut CD.


To purchase our Fishwife Tales CD of art songs, accompanied recitations and rockballads, visit CDbaby or go to iTunes.


For more on Fishwife Tales music go to our Myspace Page. Or, for a sampling, click on the sound file below or the video clips further below:



Fishwife with Child poem by Jennifer Jean and music by Sarah Eide



Fishwife With Child (at the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, sung by Keren Or Tayar)



Fishwife Advent (at the Massachusetts Artists Collective Annual Showcase)



Begin Beginning (at the 2010 Salem Arts Festival)



Sea Legs (at the 2010 Salem Arts Festival)