Paul Austin

In poems that balance the lyrical with the narrative, Austin explores the inner life of a proud and reticent woman. This is a work of deep sympathy and real human feeling, painting a picture of a love that is as big and real as it is imperfect. Work, love, anger, and prayer are all made equally palpable in Austin's observant and lively verse. These poems are likely to remind you of someone whom you have loved and fought, someone you have cursed and blessed, and forgiven. There is no baloney here: Mother and Son is real art because it is the real stuff of human life.

--Benjamin Myers

From the poet's opening "note for hard times," the stage is set for these empathetic and positive-leaning poems, many of them performance pieces. The titles alone indicate this writer's interests and passions: to battle for social justice, to express outrage against hypocrisies and home-grown terror and to celebrate grace, love, and music as antidotes to the horrors and crimes of "those who govern."

Spontaneous Behavior lays out for actors at all levels, beginning to professional, how to shape a spontaneous performance unmistakably their own. Paul Austin draws on years of experience in his professional career as actor and director on stage, film and TV, and teaching at the Image Theatre in New York, to investigate the art and craft of acting. The workbook of detailed exercises offers techniques for creating character from pre-rehearsal to opening night.