Atomic Heart: Recent Episodes
Atom Alicia C
An introspective stream of consciousness concerning the struggles and sparks that graze the brain of an anxious writer who reads you a bit of prose and poetry. www.atomicheart.fm
100 Side B - Big thanks to those who contributed to this ten years ago: Fan club members Ginice Chow and Marie Jost + Recording artists Brenda Lo, John Woo, and Eliza Chan.
Soundtrack: American Pie / 追族 / 不羈的風 / 側面 / Thousand Dreams of You / 癡心的我 / 想你 / 何去何從之阿飛正傳 / 少女心事 / 誰令妳心癡 / 只怕不再遇上 / 春夏秋冬 / 怪你過份美麗 / 我願意 + intro piano bit by Janice Crunch
100 Side A - I don't know how I got here but here I am. No poems to share today, just a stroll down the memory lane with Leslie. The stars have lined up and I have nothing else to give you. The feature was my initiative, produced in 2013, my first year working full-time at RTHK. As for Atomic Heart, it's my baby, my sanctuary, but I'll be away for a bit. The century is a good place to pull back and regroup. Please check in again come autumn, when the weather is cool again and the urge to spin becomes irresistible. Long sleeves and scarfs and all. Can't wait. I post stuff on IG every now and then @AtomAlicia
099 - Tables are laid out for the speaker who's been given pictures of another speaker he thinks he's supposed to know. I wonder how long we can play this and still find it interesting. The horse kept moving in Emma Jeremy's 'the horse could die'. I followed with a draft of my own as the excavation of poetry from fiction attempts that went nowhere continues. I mentioned last week's reading. My poems are set to appear in Where Else: an international Hong Kong poetry anthology. That's the link to pre-order. Super thankful. Other than that, the weather here remains crispy, as is my I don't know what. This is Atom Alicia C. Thank you for holding space (while I hold my breath into the next century). I don't know how you got this far, you dreamspeak sputnik.
098 - The other night I wanted to tell a story. The next morning I decided I didn't want to. Do you tell it, or do you keep it drifting on the surface of your heart ocean? I bring you 'Instructions' by the Irish poet Eavan Boland. I follow that with a quick angry draft of my own. This is Atom Alicia C. I'll be reading at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival this weekend. Thank you for holding space for my process.
097 - On being in more than one place at a time as well as not following the news. What if the first bird I see outside my window becomes the headline of my day? On this detour into 'not being there', I give you Mary Rueful's 'Receiving News of the Devastation of My Mind' from her book Trances of the Blast. I also share my latest draft, two sections of a longer poem excavated from past attempts at surrealist, plotless fiction. This is Atom Alicia C. I don't know how I got here but I thank you for holding space for my process.
096 - Because fear is a four-letter word. How did we get here? What are some things that have always been there for us? Featured poem: "Some Roads in Iowa" by Jill Osier from the collection From published by Bull City Press. I also read a revision of my poem "Seventeen". My headspace is dominated by poetry and a desire to weave my own. This is Atom Alicia C. Thank you for holding space.
095 - How he's been living outside his body since his seventeenth year and how that sounds in a poem amongst other ponderings including what to say to someone if you like their poem and read it out loud without asking their permission. This is Atom Alicia C. Thank you for holding space for my voice.
094 - Tuning down the self-doubt while working on the texture of my poetry. Three frames and a poem excavated. A bit more rambling than usual. Must be the cold of January. Bliss. This is Atom Alicia C.
093 - Back on the chariot. At odds writing about writing. If only to deliver this messy middle as authentically as possible. Tiny steps, inches off the ground, infected by the bubbly warmth of progress. Bliss. This is Atom Alicia C.
092 - Back from my first trip to Taiwan in eight years. Lots to confront. Three new poems to share, each inspired by a song performed by Cantopop singer Anthony Wong during his recent concert series at Legacy Taipei. I was there both nights. In this episode, you'll hear a slice of the following songs: 下一站天國 >> 忘不了的你 >> 下世紀再嬉戲 >> Each juxtaposed by an English prose poem written by yours truly. The three songs left an impression. I took a tangent off of them and wrote the poems after I came back to Hong Kong. Sounds were taken from my iPhone 13 mini, a Christmas gift I got for myself. Anyways. This is Atom Alicia C. Elbow on the table, a hand in the air, scratching for a new direction. Writing and publications and all, you know. Bliss.
089 - A few drafts scribbled on a Friday late afternoon at Cafe Golden in the hours before it closed for the day. I took up a table next to the owner who was resting. 'I haven't seen you in a while,' she said. Being recognized... kinda threw me off, espcially when I was just dragging myself out of the imaginary cave. As for this episode, I'm only reading my own stuff. Keeping it simple, for now. This is Atom Alicia C.
088 - Started from a photo of my shadow posing on the sand, the taker being me standing on the beach in a place called Momochi. More thoughts swirled as a song drifted into my head, how heaven is more than where the sky meets the shore, how it could be just around the corner, or in that corner over there, the one you didn't know existed. The voice behind the song is holding concerts in a place not far from where I am. All this, as I roll into the thickest part of November. Three frames and a bit of a song this time. This is Atom Alicia C. Sometimes I post here. The website is about to come back. So there.
087 - I'm not good at gatherings. I started up the slope then straight along the flat pavement with clusters of bright yellow leaves on either side of me. Would I mind people reading me? Would I mind even more if they were to read that younger self of mine? This is Atom Alicia C, reminiscing the sounds from a lost cassette. Bliss. I post on IG occasionally, though I'd rather we meet analogue.
086 - Vacant mall. Beds on display. Not sure where the pond comes from. This is my drawing board, my playground, a detour through the early-morning psychosis with a pen in hand. This is Atom Alicia C, contemplating the layers of distances draped over our bodies.
085 - Is it possible to go through life without desiring to be understood? I kinda started there, and was most fond of the moment I was having kimbab on a bench overlooking the swings and slides. Reflecting on my swings and misses, and the times I took it straight down the middle. Atom Alicia C is a writer and a baseball fan.
084 - So I found myself inside the campus of Baptist University for the first time since 2019. It offered me three frames, and the crumbs that dropped onto the table when I ripped them off the dotted lines. This is Atom Alicia C, trying to move objects with my gaze.
083 - Written at Cafe Lab in a hidden corner of Cheung Sha Wan just outside the Caritas Hospital. Another stroll through the caffeinated psychosis, staring at buildings and chairs that glide. How much longer can I do this for? Inhale. Exhale. Eat. Rest. Write again. This is Atom Alicia C. Yes, I’ve been distracted by all the audio recording options out there of late but I’m over it, for now. Bliss.
082 - A slowed-down intro with patches of green and purple out of nowhere. NFTs are hard to digest, even when I'm the only one in the gallery. I just have to believe you when you say you'd come and stay awhile. Plastic sheets. Revolving doors. Where do they come from? I've long been told to show and not tell. The truth is I don't want to sell. Not in the traditional sense, at least. I want to show. Show first, at least. Then you can decide, and so can I. I'm Atom Alicia C and I think I'll stop here. For now. Stay for a bit, if you're here already.
082 - A slowed-down intro with patches of green and purple out of nowhere. NFTs are hard to digest, even when I'm the only one in the gallery. I just have to believe you when you say you'd come and stay awhile. Plastic sheets. Revolving doors. Where do they come from? I've long been told to show and not tell. The truth is I don't want to sell. Not in the traditional sense, at least. I want to show. Show first, at least. Then you can decide, and so can I. I'm Atom Alicia C and I think I'll stop here. For now. Stay for a bit, if you're here already.
081 - On reading, being read, and not having read. The things that happen to us when the spines of books stare back. What are you reading? What books await you? What about the forgotten ones that remain on your shelf? Anxiously yours, Atom Alicia C. I'm occasionally on Instagram while my website is still being renovated, as is the upper left corner of my brain.
081 - On reading, being read, and not having read. The things that happen to us when the spines of books stare back. What are you reading? What books await you? What about the forgotten ones that remain on your shelf? Anxiously yours, Atom Alicia C. I'm occasionally on Instagram while my website is still being renovated, as is the upper left corner of my brain.
080 - The door. The omnipresence of dying. Saying goodnight to things that have their eyes closed without me noticing. How do you hold yourself physically? And when was the last time you had to do that, to bring yourself in? This is Atom Alicia C. I'm occasionally on IG but you can also write me via atom@atomicheart.fm
080 - The door. The omnipresence of dying. Saying goodnight to things that have their eyes closed without me noticing. How do you hold yourself physically? And when was the last time you had to do that, to bring yourself in? This is Atom Alicia C. I'm occasionally on IG but you can also write me via atom@atomicheart.fm
079 - What if I miss the faces of strangers just as much - if not more - than being able to breathe fresh air directly? What does it do to me mentally if I'm denied access to your expressions? As usual, we have umbrellas, random desks, and various forms of emphemeral human warmth. I'm Atom Alicia C. The website remains under construction but I occasionally show myself on Instagram. But more often I'm hiding even when I appear to be here. Bliss.
077 - What's the best thing you can do for others? What if my best thing is giving you space? Come on in. Lost potential and all. Feel the dead air. See the dots. I'm the unusual host and this is my house. I'm sometimes on Instagram @AtomAlicia, but I'm more of an emailer: atom@atomicheart.fm. Dare I imagine we could do snail mail later. Bliss.
076 - A new direction, in this business of winning. Three frames and a poem. The milkshake diner, the green ice, and rocks shaped for bodies to rest on. What's your place? Tell me. And how do you stay on top of your game? I'm Atom Alicia C. Sometimes I'm on Instagram @AtomAlicia as I wait for my website to return. Bliss.
075 - Do you have a morbid fear of being hit by a car? Do you recall the last anxious passenger you saw on the subway? And how important is it for you to be a good storyteller? Or are you a poet? I throw all these at you from Room 75. I'm experimenting. I'm Atom Alicia C. The website is under construction but the Instagram account is here. Bliss.
074 - How does your online persona compare to the real you, and how much of that 'real you' do you really want to show to the online public? I confess to the addictiveness of web design and I read you a draft of my recent fiction piece tentatively titled 'Pineapple Stars'. My website is currently under construction, but I'm occasionally on Instagram @AtomAlicia. Thanks for listening. Bliss.
073 - When was the last time you took an artistic leap of faith? How much do you trust yourself amidst all the critical voices surrounding you? Do I need to distinguish between prose poetry and flash fiction? Do I need a label? And have you been to Mel Lastman Square? Today I read from a blog entry written at the Square 14 years ago when I was living in Toronto, Canada. [Happy Canada Day!!] That scene of the couple circling the fountain actually found its way into one of my short stories. Anyways. I'm occasionally on Instagram but a bit more permanently at www.atomicheart.fm though the site is undergoing some transition and renovation. Do we connect? Wish you plenty new discoveries as July approaches. I'm Atom Alicia. Bliss.
072 - It's me speaking on a rainy day I've decided to take a break from reading my blog. Not offering anything but my voice and the way I am now. If anything resonates and you'd like to let me know, feel free to write to atom@atomicheart.fm. Here's my website and I occasionally post on IG. I'm Atom Alicia. Bliss.
071 - Giving the idea of a shape-shifting future me a gentle nudge, I wonder if I can get off the swamp and paint again. I also wonder how useful it would be to differentiate 'mourning' from 'grieving'. The day I wondered if I was infected by narcissicism, a new friend said I should keep voicing my ideas. So here I am. I'm Atom Alicia C. I read from the blog again. 'Melancholy, black pen,' the pieces is called. I post sporadically on Instagram. The website is the more permanent home, if there is such a thing.
070 - When was the last time you disclosed a big project idea to someone and end up not doing it? What about the time you actually did it? How did that feel? I read you a series of fragments I had written on a random morning at Hap Coffee near my workplace. I also continued the trend of reading from the old blog. 'When the night is calm and unattached' is the name of the piece written and posted in February 2012. This is Atom Alicia C. Find me on Instagram or, better yet, my website, Atomic Heart dot FM. Bliss.
069 - To liberate oneself from the text... Is it as simply as speaking one's thoughts rather than writing them out? Are my eyes playing tricks on me when I'm staring at the text? Again I've read from the old blog, a piece posted in 2008, something random about a potential breakthrough that punctures the soul. I'm still intact. It's snowing cotton outside the studio. Learn more about my works on www.atomicheart.fm or find me on Instagram. It's the perfect day for a walk. And yes, I will cultivate my garden.
068 - Can words be lifted out of their pages by a genuine voice? Do you pay attention to the pedestrians on the opposite pavement, especially when they appear to know you from another lifetime? Today I read a piece I wrote 15 years ago. The melancholy has tilted a different way but the more I revisit the old scribbles the more I tilt back to the way I had started. My website is here and I'm also on IG. Bliss.
067 - At what point in your life was the carefree artist replaced by boxes and rules? Would you rather have the carefree artist or the battle-tested, still-striving scribbler of sentences that hope to withstand the passing of time? Would you rather write about cupcakes? This is my garden. I grow poems, amongst other things. This is Atom Alicia C. There's some stuff about me here.
066 - How do you channel self doubt? Is it better to suppress it or acknowledge it? I bring you an existentialist scribble from 2008 on a day I claimed to have discovered the joy of staying home and doing nothing. I'm on IG and here on my website. Bliss.
065 - Would you revisit a piece of work created by a younger version of yourself and in the process reconnect with the person that's been inside of you all along? And so I read from the old blog, first time ever on this show. This is Atom Alicia C. This is my garden www.atomicheart.fm
064 - What good are we if all we can do is one thing each day. To do one thing well, each day, and that's all. What thing would that be amongst all the things that each have their own way of finding a place on our to-do list. What if I burn the list and brew tea with whatever that's left. What if I don't feel tired. What if I do. What if I'm here. What if I'm not.
063 - The unpolished lines may come across as rather bitter. Wrote them during a workshop that reminded me of the need to be more detached than I already am. If anything resonates, let me know by writing to 💌 atom@atomicheart.fm or check out www.atomicheart.fm to learn more about the stuff I've been struggling with. Lie down. Be your own best friend.
062 - The quarantine episode. The self-isolating writer submitting to an online journal for the first time and reading you his submitted piece. This is Atom Alicia C. You can check out my website www.atomicheart.fm or write to 💌 atom@atomicheart.fm. I don't want to leave home.
061 - Seeking solace in a world about to explode. I bring you the poem "Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower" by Rainer Maria Rilke. I'm Atom Alicia C. You can find me on Instagram @AtomAlicia or check out AtomicHeart.fm for my latest projects. You can also write to atom@atomicheart.fm. Hope to share with you some of my own writing next time.
060 - Amidst the mid-February gloom, I bring you a wintry prose poem by the Canadian writer Anne Carson, a piece inspired by Hegel. As for me, I'm still exploring as to how I can best present myself to you on this platform. Hopefully next time I can read you a bit of my own writing. I'm I'm Atom Alicia C. You can follow me on Instagram @AtomAlicia or check out AtomicHeart.fm for my latest projects. You can also write to atom@atomicheart.fm. Tell me your dreams, or nightmares.
059 - Atomic Heart returns with a prose poetry piece I had written on my birthday. My plan for 2022 is to write a book of prose poems. I've been obsessed with the kinds of possibilty that this art form promises. The program has taken on a new look. New music, new graphics, the same voice behind the mic. I'm Atom Alicia C. You can follow me on Instagram @AtomAlicia or check out AtomicHeart.fm for my latest projects. You can also write to atom@atomicheart.fm. Cheers.
058 - Do you recall the moment you first felt a genuine sense of affirmation as an artist? Do you recall the experience of finally being seen? I speak to you with a heavy heart on the day the non-profit news outlet Stand News was forced to shut down following a raid by police - another blow to press freedom in Hong Kong, another indication of an insecured government. Another batch of the Tat Ming fanzine '89 09 12 21' is in the process of being printed. Follow me on Instagram @AtomAlicia for updates. You can also send an email to atom@atomicheart.fm if you want to respond to my question up top.
057 - Some success and serendipity for me at this year's Hong Kong Art Book Fair. I keep Ithaka always in my mind. Such is the mood. Find me on my website or on IG
056 - Are you being seen they way you want to be seen? What about in your childhood, and from those supposedly closest to you? If being seen is important, how are you making it happen? Today I read from my upcoming book 'I Know I'll Never'. Find me on my website or on IG. Bliss.
055 - A metaphor that describes the blissed-out writer who's come of age, plus a sharing that should have happened but didn't. I didn't realize I had so much to say. Not only that, I also read from 'Fragments from a Revisit of Stories Unfinished', a book I published in 2019 and have been meaning to rewrite. I'm here on IG and here on my website. Bliss.
054 - I've been so preoccupied with my three ongoing book projects so I figured I'd tell you a bit about them here. They are tentatively titled '89 09 12 20', 'Forty-One Frames' and 'I Know I'll Never'. An excerpt from 'I Know I'll Never' has been selected for publication in Volume 4 of Canto Cutie. Pre-order your copy here. Meanwhile, the 'Incarnation' photography exhibition featuring my prose poems is still on until the end of November. Do check it out. Find me @AtomAlicia or on my website. Cheers.
053 - I have yet to feel secure on my writing road and may never will, which is fine. Though it'd help if I get some personal items out of my system in the form of books. Seatbelts fastened. Punching the air. Today I read 'The Wind' by Ana Bozicevic. The 'Incarnation' exhibition which features ten of my prose poems is still on, as is the seatbelt sign. Find me here on my website. Breathe.
052 - I rush. I set deadlines. How do I explain this? I don't know. The exhibition 'Incarnation' is on until the end of November. Do pay a visit and see my prose poems on display amongst other amazing works. On this episode I read the prose poem 'Stainless Colours' by Mureall Hebert published on Issue 18 of Sundog Lit. Find me on IG or here on my website. Bliss.
051 - Is exposure without concealment the ultimate embodiment of real art? In the act of hiding oneself, where do you draw the line between beauty and deceit? This, as I was feeling less than natural behind the mic. Announcement: Ten of my newest prose poems are being showcased - both in text and audio - at 'Incarnation', a satellite exhibition of the 2021 Hong Kong International Photo Festival. Find out more on the IG page of HK Life Model Club. Also on this episode, I read the poem 'Tracery' by Sheila Dong. It appeared on Issue 22 of Whale Road Review. As for me, you can find me here on my website. Bliss.
050 - How do thoughts acquire colour by having them spoken out loud? How does the act of talking out loud to oneself sustain itself? Why do we even bring this up on the half century mark of Atomic Heart? On this milestone episode, we pay a revisit to Rilke. What keeps me going? What keeps you going? Write me at atom@atomicheart.fm. Breathe.
049 - How do you go about finding that person who helps you get better as an artist? Does that person exist in your life? When was the last time you told this person you are grateful for their company? On this evening, I read from Bill Callahan's epistolary novelette 'Letters to Emma Bowlcut'. Let me know what you think. Write me at atom@atomicheart.fm. I'm also on Instagram and here is my website.
048 - How do you tune that voice of judgment inside your head? What if it were to serve you? Here I am, speaking to you a day before the Trial Market event where I'll be presenting my latest book of fiction, 'Stars With Evil Eyes'. Again, I read you an excerpt from the book. You can connect with me simply by writing. The email is atom@atomicheart.fm. The website is here.
047 - What if, as a writer, I'm actually more of a listener, observer, and painter, rather than someone who has a lot to say? A dreamweaver, how about that? I have no message to deliver in a world saturated with revelations. Such is the mood as I prepare for the publication of 'Stars With Evil Eyes', my second book in as many months. It will be available at the Trial Market on September 18. Send words to atom@atomicheart.fm or visit my website. Breathe.
046 - It's pedal to the metal as I've been scribbling towards my forthcoming book 'Forty-One Frames' and today I read an excerpt from this book, a piece that I wrote literally hours before speaking on this program. I'm also happy to announce that my latest book 'Anxious Headlights and Parallelograms' is now available at the ACO Bookshop. You can find me on my website or on IG.
You can also email me here: atom@atomicheart.fm
Bliss,
Atom C
045 - What should I call the things I'm creating? Do I have to give them a label? Could there be a more accurate or 'definitive' definition of the things we create? Such is the convoluted mind in these dog days of summer. Check out my latest book 'Anxious Headlights and Parallelograms' by browsing my website or just write me at atom@atomicheart.fm
044 - Why is it okay to sell your own burgers but not your own fiction? What is this twitch of insecurity and is it unique to writers? Are there other representations of insecurity felt by artists of other disciplines? Today I read an excerpt taken from Chapter 2 of my upcoming book 'Stars With Evil Eyes'. Limited copies of 'Anxious Headlights and Parallelograms' are now available for purchase. Drop me a note - atom@atomicheart.fm | Thanks for tuning in, Atom C.
043 - Does your happiness come with a certain weight to it? How heavy is your happiness? Here's a sneak preview into 'Anxious Headlights and Parallelograms'version 2.0. The book will be launched at the Duk Duk indie book fair at The Mills on Aug 7. Today I read from the book 'Mister Spare' by Martijn int'Veld. Here's my website and Instagram page. Let me know if anything from the show resonated with you. Connect with me - atom@atomicheart.fm | Thanks for tuning in, Atom C.
042 - How do you cope with the kind of discomfort that threatens to derail your creative goals? What kind of discomforts are you living with and how do you go about trying to make them comfortable? Today I read one of my own prose pieces written for an upcoming photography exhibition. The project is tentatively titled 'Incarnation'. The Duk Duk book fair at The Mills is on Aug 7. That's me speaking with other contributing artists at the launch of Canto Cutie Vol. 3. Learn more about them @cantocutie. Let me know if anything from the show resonated with you. Here's my website. Thanks for listening. - Atom C | Connect with me - atom@atomicheart.fm
041 - How do we catch up with lost time? Should we be stunned if there comes a point in our lives when we realize it's just not impossible to read all the books that we've been meaning to read? On top of this, I read an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Stars With Evil Eyes. I'll be reading at the launch of Canto Cutie Vol 3 this weekend: Saturday July 10th 9 PM EST (USA) / Sunday July 11th 9 AM HKT (Hong Kong). Learn more about @cantocutie. Atomic Heart will appear at the Duk Duk indie book fair at The Mills in Tseun Wan, Hong Kong on Aug 7. That's all for now. Cheers, Atom C | Connect with me - atom@atomicheart.fm | My website is here.
040 - What's your world and how would you define it? At what point do we realize we are indeed trapped in our own respective universes? Today I read from Chapter 1 of my forthcoming book, 'Stars With Evil Eyes'. More about the book fair I'll be entering in August. Connect with me through Instagram or email - atom@atomicheart.fm. My website is here. Cheers all, Atom C
039 - To self-publish or not to self-publish? I read from my upcoming book 'Acrobat'. Here's the link to the indie book fair I'll be attending on August 7 at The Mills. My website is here. Connect with me - atom@atomicheart.fm
038 - Atom C reflects on June 4 and the state of Hong Kong. He reads from his own prose piece tentatively titled 'many worlds collide'. It will be collected in an upcoming publication of prose works and fiction inspired by the music of Tat Ming Pair.
037 - New music! As for the questions... How do I talk about myself while trying to engage with the invisible you? How do you get a lift in your creative journey? What gives you a boost? I read from a piece titled 'the blade of my left brow pink' which I've recently submitted to Canto Cutie. This is the book fair I was talking about. Visit www.atomicheart.fm | Cheers all~ Atom C
036 - What kind of content do I want to produce in a world that's saturated with content? How do I want to use this platform? Atom C dreams out loud once again about the dream that he's trying to construct. He's exploring, considering different options, ways to let the light come through the veil. No reading today. Just a mid-air spin-around. Back with more later. Visit www.atomicheart.fm
035 - What if Atomic Heart was a spoken blog? Atom C takes a stroll down the blogging memory lanes. He also ready an excerpt from the experimental work 'This Poem is a House', by the Canadian writer Ken Sparling. Visit www.atomicheart.fm
034 - How do you write about the place you call home? From which angle do you try to capture the place? What do you hope to do for your home by way of your writing? Today I read 'The Lonesome Dream' by the German-American poet Lisel Mueller. Connect with me by visiting www.atomicheart.fm
033 - Why does destiny take so long to actualize? Atom C dreamspeaks on the 'added time' he's been given while living off the back end of so-called 'lost time'. He read 'Ithaka' by the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy. Check out my place or write me at atom@atomicheart.fm
032 - Atom C brings up his alter ago. The poem 'Canopy' by Emily Berry fits the mood. My place is open and you can always write me at atom@atomicheart.fm. This episode is dedicated to Alicia.
031 - A shoutout to my former poetry mentor A.F. Moritz who introduced me to the poems of Octavio Paz. Today I gave a try to reading Paz's famous poem 'The Broken Water-Jar'. My place is here and you can write me here: atom@atomicheart.fm
Cheers~ Atom C.
030 - Do I have to write about family? How do you write about that? Instead of writing the thing, can I take the emotion and dress it up with words that match the thing shivering inside? This was the first time I read a Paul Celan poem out loud, even though I once had a girlfriend who collected his poetry books. I think I did okay. Anyways, here's my place and you can write me if you want atom@atomicheart.fm. Cheers, Atom C.
029 - Yes, I'm learning to eat poetry. While clicking around my favourite online literary journals, I was struck by 'Here is the Logic I Have Maintained in Observing My Home' by the Emilie Menzel, and decided to read it to you. Here's my place and you're free to write me: atom@atomicheart.fm | Wish you well, Atom C.
028 - I've recently learned the word 'ekphrasis'. In the spirit of studying poetry, today I read you '13 ways of looking at a Blackbird' by Wallace Stevens. My place is here and you can also write me at atom@atomicheart.fm | Cheers, Atom C.
027 - How do I write in my native Cantonese and do I identify as an Asian-Canadian writer? 'Night Ferry' is a delicious piece by Phoebe Wang. Her poetry contains a healthy portion of lexical gems. I love her works. Anyways, here's my place. -Atom C.
026 - Breathe. I came across 'August in Waterton, Alberta' by Bill Holm while reading Annie Lamott's 'Bird by Bird'. Can I hear failure? I think I do. In the early mornings, awake and lying in bed with the windows slightly opened. Anyways, here's my place. To your own self be kind. -Atom C
025 - How do I collect words as a poet? This is what I was thinking when I read you this poem by CK Williams. Find me here.
024 - Where do I stand between poet and fiction writer? As I stand on this grayish pond, I came across this Margaret Atwood poem in which she pays tribute to Raymond Chandler. Where do they stand? Anyways, here's my place. Be well.
023 - Where are you going? A question we ask ourselves the same way it was asked by A.A. Milne. Find me here. Be well.
021 - Sherwood Anderson doesn't have the most garnished prose but his exploration of loneliness truly resonates.
020 - From now on we will read you prose pieces from masterpiece short stories. And yes, it might have been after reading 'Dubliners' that decided solidly to write a short story collection.
019 - I wrote this ahead of a dinner date... to put into words the anxiety I was feeling about how best to present myself. Sometimes I'm here and I do check my email: atom@atomicheart.fm
017 - This piece was written on Oct 1, 2020. It recounts a moment that happened to me during last year's pro-democracy protests.
My place is here and I love reading emails: atom@atomicheart.fm
Cheers,
Atom C
016 - Atom C reads a love letter documenting the triumphs and struggles of a day in the writer's life.
This is his place and this is his mail box: atom@atomicheart.fm
015 - Atomic Heart is back. Atom plans to resume the program with a more authentic delivery. As always, it‘s a work in progress. The experiment aspect is never lost. Home is here.
014 - Inspired by the old airport and the broken bridge that leads towards it. Inspired, also, by remnants of Orhan Pamuk following the end of a relationship.
013 - What does the romantic temperament say to the face of tyranny? This piece doesn't answer the question. It was inspired by a song that called up an image of the moon. It's another piece from the collection of 17 pieces titled 'If You Happen To Be Swimming in the Same Ocean'
012 - Victoria Harbour is the (sadly cliched) image that comes to mind when most people think of Hong Kong. That‘s where we go
“I found that what I had desired all my life was not to live - if what others are doing is called living - but to express myself.” - Henry Miller
011 - It happened in mid-October last year when I started scribbling away this piece that's become the opening piece to a collection of 17 pieces titled 'If You Happen To Be Swimming in the Same Ocean'. Or should I call it 'drowning'?
010 - This is Dream 11 of 17 from Atom C's collection of surrealist pieces to be published in print later this year. Enioy.
009 - Part of an exercise where I loop a song and start writing from the image that conjures itself. Part of a collection of 17 pieces soon to be given a title.
007 - Time distorted. This is the fifth piece of the collection of 17 pieces which yours truly has yet to give a title to.
006 - Because lines often start parallel till one fails to keep up. This is a piece tentatively titled 'Autumn Colours', the second piece of a collection of 17 pieces tentatively titled 'Kaleidoscopia'. Stay tuned.
005 - This is a piece tentatively titled 'Bridge to Nevermore' which narrates an encounter that occurred in Tseun Wan on a February evening.
004 - Thoughts on moving and the writer's obsession with public housing buildings and the washed clothes that flutter outside their windows. A tribute to Block 22.
003 - What does it mean to be an artist during such anxious times? And on top of that, how does it feel to be carrying a longtime project that has yet to complete itself? Is the end point somewhere above us, or hiddden in the obscure corner of a rearview mirror?
002 - Atom C narrates a day supposedly charged with meaning only for random things to happen out of nowhere as things often do.
001 - Atomic Heart returns as your host Atom C kicks things off by reading from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Atomic Heart started as a radio program on CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto, Canada. Its first incarnation ended in 2015, and now we’re back.
Connect with Atom C:
atom@atomicheart.fm
www.atomicheart.fm
000 - Christine Sinclair is the world's top scorer with her 185th goal, passing Abby Wambach. This is a random test.