Susan Isla Tepper has a Novella just out from Wilderness House Press titled GIRL UPSIDE DOWN. A twenty-year writer, she has penned 14 published books of fiction and poetry and 7 Stage Plays. Honors include 25 Pushcart Prize Nominations, a win in the Francis Ford Copolla Zoetrope Contest for the Novel (2003), Second Place Winner in Story/South Million Writers Award and more. Her stage play ‘The Crooked Heart’ concerning artist Jackson Pollock premiered on October 25, 2022, at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Adapted from an earlier novel, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Susan is a Brand Ambassador for The Galway Review.
http://www.susantepper.com

Lucian Freud While Painting

By Susan Isla Tepper

Did I want her through the brush
is not a bad question
I seem to chew its stem
after just a few strokes
She is extremely gorgeous even
bloated with child
There is a logical explanation
Sigmund would have
a thousand meanings for
my untidy behavior.

Did I want to put my hand in her.
Of course. Do I look like a fool?

Famous or otherwise
and god knows how much
men like that type.
Indeed.
Sigmund would be the first
to sign on the dotted line.

Dead, he’s making arguments
to the contrary.
Well, fuck that.

He may have been famous,
and my grandfather, but
what was that cigar
all about

he was in love
with that cigar

It tore him up
what was that all about.

**Digby Beaumont, Lucian Freud, after a self portrait by Lucian Freud, acrylic on paper**

Digby Beaumont is a self-taught artist. His artwork has been published extensively in collaboration with writers of fiction, poetry and music. His subjects include portraits, figures, urban scenes and still lifes. He aims to convey a subject’s character, as well as a good likeness. His pictures sometimes suggest elements of a story. He uses techniques of acrylic painting, pen and ink drawing, screen printing and mixed media. Digby is also a widely-published writer. His stories and poetry have appeared in more than 100 magazines and anthologies, including The Best Small Fictions. Previously, as a textbook author, he had numerous publications, including international best sellers.