Elvis Descending

I am psyched to have a piece in the Spring/Summer issue of the long-running Arty zine, run by Cathy Lomax. This particular issue is devoted to all things Tennessee Williams. It’s filled with beautiful art – some made by Lomax, some existant, and essays about Tennessee Williams (his life, his work, there’s a piece on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, there’s a piece on his collab with Anna Magnani, there’s a piece on Barbara Loden). I wrote about the Elvis-Tennessee-Williams-Orpheus-Descending connection – which very few people clocked – but Baz Luhrmann sure did because he ended his Elvis film with it. He literally closed with the connection I (and only a few others, that I am aware of) made. Jeremy Richey and I both caught the nod to Williams in the final moments in Baz’s film. It’s a deep DEEP cut. Would have been nice if a mainstream outlet wanted me to write about the Elvis movie. You’d think it’d be a no-brainer, right? Apparently not. So I finally got to write about it in this beautiful zine! And honestly I prefer it that way. Fuck the mainstream. Look how beautiful my article looks! I gasped at the artwork, a 1913 gouache by Giocama Bolla (my piece is about the bird motif in Williams’ work):

Some other pages:

UK people can purchase online, and there’s a way to contact them for issues (or a subscription) on the main page there. You can read Cathy’s intro – “Seductive, Thrilling & Morally Deplorable… Why We Love Tennessee Williams” – at the first link above. When I pitched my idea to them, I had no idea Cathy’s love of Elvis. This was a good fit!

 
 
Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account. And I’ve launched a Substack, Sheila Variations 2.0, if you’d like to subscribe.

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