R.P. Singletary - "Speak Softly Among Icebergs" - Elizabeth, or Ez, Pence
R.P. Singletary will discuss "Speak Softly Among Icebergs: our hours, and other media melting fast." He will be joined in conversation by Elizabeth, or Ez, Pence. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.
At the Co-op.
About the book: What is love but not grief, or grief--love? Oh, to linger in the time-stand-still!
A book of words FOR LOVERS meant to be read aloud, according to its publisher.
THE AUTHOR agrees. Its multiple voices and aching perspectives in the same page or paragraph fight against being boxed-in or Other-ed. Even and especially by traditional narrative story arc (do our minds work that way), A.I. algorithm (ditto), (insert other cute, buzz phrase), publishing house agenda, formatting.
IT'S 2026, post-9/11, a latest global pandemic, and the rest better left unsaid today. Oughtn't we slow down, read something new? Told in a different light.
And listen to what our future selves might tell us when they, too, lie awake at night.
As the novel's introductory note makes clear, "The year is 2121."
Who'll be here then? And doing what....
440 pages, sigh.
###
A grief-wrought creature comes to terms with the suicide of his only child and a subsequent marital demise. He tries any and nearly every aid possible to buoy his sanity: drugs, sex, talk therapy and family gossip; travel near and far (real+imagined?), church and family traditions; other occupations and more schooling; literary therapy: writing to vent and better understand the world he wonders, wanders should he live in--
Recalling his own childhood, the man settles on those formative years with the lesbian/gf Berry--what nearly ended with a pregnancy unresolved. A child born and given away.
MEANWHILE, he happens upon an inheritance, a trunk containing a long-dead family member's unpublished travelogue: centering largely on that man's own secrets, we explore the dead relation's escapades in the former Constantinople, a continent-straddling city of many names and conflicting histories....
IF "1" place can be so many, perhaps there's hope for me, our Main Man reasons in confession.
About the author: R. P. Singletary writes across genres as a rural America native and dabbles in other media. "SPEAK SOFTLY AMONG ICEBERGS" is his first novel, published Shakespeare Day 2026 by Atlanta-based indie press Parlyaree. www.rpsingletary.com | @rpsingletary, socially | His affiliations include Authors Guild and Dramatists Guild.
About the interlocutor: Elizabeth, or Ez, Pence is a writer, bookseller, and semi-professional churchgoer on Chicago's South Side. Raised in rural Michigan's Wesleyan-holiness churches, they are an ordinand at Hyde Park Union Church, a progressive American Baptist congregation. She holds a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary, a Red Card with the Industrial Workers of the World, and writes about trauma, theology, narrative, and everyday revolutions of the Spirit over at sybilonbigwater.substack.com.
At the Co-op.
About the book: What is love but not grief, or grief--love? Oh, to linger in the time-stand-still!
A book of words FOR LOVERS meant to be read aloud, according to its publisher.
THE AUTHOR agrees. Its multiple voices and aching perspectives in the same page or paragraph fight against being boxed-in or Other-ed. Even and especially by traditional narrative story arc (do our minds work that way), A.I. algorithm (ditto), (insert other cute, buzz phrase), publishing house agenda, formatting.
IT'S 2026, post-9/11, a latest global pandemic, and the rest better left unsaid today. Oughtn't we slow down, read something new? Told in a different light.
And listen to what our future selves might tell us when they, too, lie awake at night.
As the novel's introductory note makes clear, "The year is 2121."
Who'll be here then? And doing what....
440 pages, sigh.
###
A grief-wrought creature comes to terms with the suicide of his only child and a subsequent marital demise. He tries any and nearly every aid possible to buoy his sanity: drugs, sex, talk therapy and family gossip; travel near and far (real+imagined?), church and family traditions; other occupations and more schooling; literary therapy: writing to vent and better understand the world he wonders, wanders should he live in--
Recalling his own childhood, the man settles on those formative years with the lesbian/gf Berry--what nearly ended with a pregnancy unresolved. A child born and given away.
MEANWHILE, he happens upon an inheritance, a trunk containing a long-dead family member's unpublished travelogue: centering largely on that man's own secrets, we explore the dead relation's escapades in the former Constantinople, a continent-straddling city of many names and conflicting histories....
IF "1" place can be so many, perhaps there's hope for me, our Main Man reasons in confession.
About the author: R. P. Singletary writes across genres as a rural America native and dabbles in other media. "SPEAK SOFTLY AMONG ICEBERGS" is his first novel, published Shakespeare Day 2026 by Atlanta-based indie press Parlyaree. www.rpsingletary.com | @rpsingletary, socially | His affiliations include Authors Guild and Dramatists Guild.
About the interlocutor: Elizabeth, or Ez, Pence is a writer, bookseller, and semi-professional churchgoer on Chicago's South Side. Raised in rural Michigan's Wesleyan-holiness churches, they are an ordinand at Hyde Park Union Church, a progressive American Baptist congregation. She holds a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary, a Red Card with the Industrial Workers of the World, and writes about trauma, theology, narrative, and everyday revolutions of the Spirit over at sybilonbigwater.substack.com.
Where is it happening?
5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60637
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherThe Seminary Co-op Bookstores
