The Art of Tetman Callis

“I was committed for two weeks to a mental health hospital for depression and suicidal behavior. Two weeks doesn’t sound long, but let me assure you that time is, in fact, relative. Imagine, if you will, being driven off in the middle of the night, poked and prodded by a doctor, having everything about you […]

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“I write because I am irritable and impossible to live with if I don’t.” Yamini Pathak, Rattle 59 Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Tetman Callis Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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“Not since Watership Down has there been such a whimsical, original take on humanity in the form of beloved members of the animal kingdom. Franny & Toby is a gorgeously rendered tale of love.” – Suzy Vitello, author of The Empress Chronicles series http://silkyoakpress.com.au/?p=433 Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Identity Theory has published my story, “What Coy Said,” from my collection, Cocktails. http://www.identitytheory.com/what-coy-said-tetman-callis/ Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Gravel Magazine’s November 2014 issue has been published, and includes one of my stories — “Guys Come in Three Sizes.” http://www.gravelmag.com/tetman-callis.html Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Today I posted “Abrumpo” to the “Previously Published Stories” sidebar. It was originally published in NOON last March. Diane Williams, NOON‘s editor, provided the title, tightened up the last two paragraphs, and provided the final two lines. Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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It’s called Franny & Toby http://silkyoakpress.com.au/?p=433 Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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A story of mine called “A Dog by the Ears” was published last October in Robot Melon Issue 13. I have posted it slightly to the right as you face your computer monitor, in the sidebar called Previously Published Stories.   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Pif Magazine has published one of my very short pieces. http://www.pifmagazine.com/2014/03/desserts-for-the-reading-of-the-k-j-v/   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Trailer Park Quarterly Issue Four has been published. It contains one of my poems (“Supermarket”) and can be found at: http://www.sundresspublications.com/tpq/TPQ4.pdf   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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alice blue review published one of my stories, “The Tellings,” last June. I’ve added it to the Previously Published Stories sidebar.   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Fourteen degrees Fahrenheit at daybreak. The stairwell smells of dirty diapers and stale cigarette smoke. A man dressed several levels below stylish picks through the garbage bin behind a business. Three blocks away at three o’clock this morning, a man was shot to death on the street. The subjective impression of his last moments are […]

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The clouds relax, the snow shakes loose. Icy dandruff coats the shoulders of the roads. The sky is gray, the lake is green and still. Gulls threaten each other for scraps. A man stands on the breakwater, shouts at the lake, “Jah! Allah! Motherfucker Santa!” A commercial truck backs up on the street, its beeper […]

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Whenever a litmag/journal/site/publication/entity publishes one of my stories, I wait at least three months then post the published story to this site. In July, Knee-Jerk Magazine published “Dropping Back to Punt.” Now it is included in the Previously Published Stories sidebar.   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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The joggers and joggettes of Evanston gather in packs on grizzly November days and run south into Oniontown. At their head is the crier who clangs his bell and calls, “Stand aside! Stand aside!” The joggers and joggettes are young and slender and beautiful, their faces unlined, brows unfurrowed, their clothing new and unfrayed, well-styled […]

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When you are young and you move to a new place, you know you are going there to live. Everything there is fresh and very important. When you are older, past the mid-point of your life, and you move to a new place, you know you are going there to die, and you know it […]

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Mansions for sale up Evanston way Along Edgemere Court private drive three-point-five million a pop Thirty-five thousand a year to heat and cool Servants’ quarters around back Never been any slaves up here Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Squirrels in West Rogers Park are fat. Skin ’em and gut ’em and stuff ’em with cloves of sauteed garlic. Sprinkle with black pepper. Wrap ’em in foil. Set ’em to baking in the coals. They come out all juicy, the meat melting off the bones. The skulls can be dipped in clarified butter and […]

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Nine out of ten doctors will tell you that the crazy guy who gathers sopping newspapers off the sidewalk in the rain while talking to no one you can see about all the reading he now has to do is a crazy guy. He stops talking when people draw near, he’s not that crazy. He […]

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Issue 13 of Robot Melon was published today. It contains one of my stories, “A Dog By the Ears.” Here’s the link: http://www.robotmelon.com/issue13/tetmancallis.html   Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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Usually, when a piece of mine is first published someplace else, I post a notice here on my blog, with a link to the someplace else. I also post the notice and link on Facebook. Then, about three months later, I add a copy of whatever it was to my previously published works on this […]

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Hell in a very small place is directly beneath my feet. Las Hermanas de Las Dolorosas live if you want to call it living in the apartment below my soles. Their bickering ends only when one or both of them lose or loses consciousness. O to sleep and not to scream. They are up and […]

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A woman sat in a canvas folding chair by the lake. The day was still and water calm. Mist in the sky blurred the horizon. She held her wallet in her lap. She opened it and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, unfolded it, looked at it, a copy of her birth certificate. She […]

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The downstairs neighbors are having a bad day. Last night they had a bad night. Yesterday, at least during those parts of the day when I was at home, they were having a bad day. The night before last, etc. I try not to listen. (I want to listen!) I try not to press my […]

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Memo in the inbox at opening time today. From Divisional Headquarters, Department of Intimate Affairs: There will no longer be any fucking between the husband and the wife. Forms have been submitted, a closed-door hearing has been held (to preserve the privacy of all involved), and the decision has been reached. What little has been […]

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High over the lake on autumn afternoons gulls flutter flutter? They fly in lackadaisical manner, not in any formations or groups The angels this afternoon have been having a party and threw confetti Gulls flutter and soar and glide above the lake sidelighted by the afternoon sun, lifted by the breeze What do angels eat […]

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The city has flocks of big fat finches A factory on the far South Side that turns out Scottie-dogs dog after dog after dog The forges blaze through the night Fresh-cast dogs clatter onto the factory floor Released into the parks by vested City workers the Scottie-dogs chase finches pecking in the grass The big […]

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The police knocked on my door last night. I was pleased they weren’t looking for me. The doorbell rang and I got up and looked through the peephole. I told my wife, It’s the cops. I opened the door and they identified themselves. Hello, we’re Chicago Police. They wore uniforms, badges, guns, and bulletproof vests. […]

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I’ve lived my entire life afraid to live and afraid to die How does that become a poem? It doesn’t contain any metaphor No imagery No beautiful language It’s No, it’s not even that There’s a man in a room and a light is on. Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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