Brad & Darlyn Kuhn to read at Second Sunday

June 1, 2025 Darlyn Finch Kuhn Leave a comment

For seven years, Darlyn and Brad co-directed the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival. Come to Happy Medium and hear them read their work! The first half of the reading will feature Brad and Darlyn reading separately from their individual books. The second half will bring the sizzle as they read their call-and-reponse poems from Three Houses.

Brad and Darlyn Kuhn, founders of the PR & Marketing firm Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC, have ghost-written more than a dozen books together over the past twenty years, but their favorite collaboration so far has been Three Houses, a novella in verse, written in 2005 to celebrate their passionate meeting and subsequent marriage in the little house in Orlando, Florida where Jack Kerouac wrote The Dharma Bums.

Brad Kuhn has been a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, and Orlando Business Journal. He has been honored with several Telly Awards for video journalism for the Beacon College series, A World of Difference. He is an award-winning poet and the author of I Hate My Banker, a tongue-in-cheek business book. His latest book, Dirty Work, co-authored with Captain Richard Vaux, chronicles Vaux’s secret mission to “steal back” a 727 hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.

Darlyn Finch Kuhn, a retired journalism instructor at UNF and a retired composition instructor at FSCJ, is the author of the poetry and short-story collection Red Wax Rose. Her novel, Sewing Holes, a coming-of-age story set in Jacksonville, won the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Award, presented by the Florida Writers Association. Her poems have been featured on NPR and read by Garrison Keillor on The Writers’ Almanac.

Celebrations, JaxbyJax, Scribblers Sharing Info

Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore to direct JaxbyJax

September 27, 2024 Darlyn Finch Kuhn

We’ve got news! Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore is the new Director of JaxbyJax XI.

One thing to love about the Jacksonville writing community is the way its members step up to serve the community when needed. Life happens, and recently Brooks Decker (after working hard to make sure the applications for the 2024 JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival were solicited, received, and in the hands of capable anonymous judges, plus coordinating the venue location plans) has made the difficult decision to pass the torch to another young, energetic Jacksonville writer – Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore.

Kathleen Shelton Gilmore began hosting and organizing poetry open mics in the spring of 2017. She has been an active member of the literary community, hosting events at venues such as Chamblin’s Uptown Books and Rain Dogs. She is the founder of the spoken word poetry open mic What’s in a Verse (formerly Kes Poetry Night) and the creator of Blue Monday Literary Zine. She worked for Hope at Hand facilitating workshops for teens, and assisted in the 2019 Jax Poetry Festival. Kathleen studied English and Creative Writing at the University of North Florida. She is an avid reader of poetry, inspired by Anne Sexton, bell hooks, and Denise Levertov. She is happiest rummaging thrift stores, estate sales, and hanging out with her family. Kathleen just completed her first chapbook titled Sticks, Stones, and Charlatans, which is set to release at the beginning of October 2024 by local independent publisher, City Bus Print.

With many thanks to prior directors Tim Gilmore, Jo Carlisle, Brad Kuhn, Darlyn Kuhn, Erica Saffer, and Brooks Decker, Kathleen Shelton is eager to make the 11th annual festival fresh and exciting for writers, readers, and lovers of literature alike. Stay tuned for updates as they happen.

Kathleen can be reached via email at jaxbyjax@yahoo.com

Check the website for updates: https://www.jaxbyjax.com/

What's Happening

French Dirt Available on Audible

August 1, 2024 Darlyn Finch Kuhn

Ever cried over a tomato plant? You will. And you’ll love it!

French Dirt is now available as an audio book from Audible.

Publisher’s summary

A story about dirt–and about sun, water, work, elation, and defeat. And about the sublime pleasure of having a little piece of French land all to oneself to till.

Richard Goodman saw the ad in the paper: “SOUTHERN FRANCE: Stone house in Village near Nimes/Avignon/Uzes. 4 BR, 2 baths, fireplace, books, desk, bikes. Perfect for writing, painting, exploring & experiencing la France profonde. $450 mo. plus utilities.” And, with his girlfriend, he left New York City to spend a year in Southern France.

The village was small–no shops, no gas station, no post office, only a café and a school. St. Sebastien de Caisson was home to farmers and vintners. Every evening Goodman watched the villagers congregate and longed to be a part of their camaraderie. But they weren’t interested in him: he was just another American, come to visit and soon to leave. So Goodman laced up his work boots and ventured out into the vineyards to work among them. He met them first as a hired worker, and then as a farmer of his own small plot of land.

French Dirt is a love story between a man and his garden. It’s about plowing, planting, watering, and tending. It’s about cabbage, tomatoes, parsley, and eggplant. Most of all, it’s about the growing friendship between an American outsider and a close-knit community of French farmers.