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Erik Bitsui

@erik.bitsui

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https://www.instagram.com/p/DehZQ49CqU4/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&obrf=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== by @erik.bitsui

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2 days ago

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4 months ago

SATURDAY
Come Join Us For A Grand Ave Time! by @erik.bitsui

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6 months ago

@noazbookfest
@cinderskies_readings
@annex_cocktail_lounge
So
This is happening
Far Out
I hope to see you there! by @erik.bitsui

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7 months ago

Sixth Sixth Sixth Attempt
A Leather Charm!

Vegas, Your Beloved Sonny Boy Is Coming Home To Roost At @spherevegas

See You Soon! by @erik.bitsui

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7 months ago

🌟Twisted Tongue’s Best American Essays Noninations🌟

Take a gander at these gorgeous nonfiction works in issue 1 of Twisted Tongue!
🔗Link in bio🔗

Born in Santo Domingo and raised on Long Island, Francisco Martínezcuello writes about the aftershocks of war, memory, and belonging. His work appears in Hippocampus Magazine, Split Lip Magazine, River Teeth: Beautiful Things, Hobart Pulp, The Line Literary Review, and Collateral Journal. He’s a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow and an Into the Fire Writing Retreat Scholar.

Monica Prince (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Activist and Performance Writing at Susquehanna University and the author of four poetry collections, most recently, Roadmap: A Choreopoem. Her creative focus includes choreopoems, performance poetry, and social justice.

Erik Bitsui, a Navajo from Blue Gap, Arizona, has an MFA from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Bitsui’s first book, Mosh Pit Etiquette, Volume One: Secrets of a 21st Century Navajo Headbanger, was published in November 2023 by Tolsun Books. Hostiin Bitsui lives with wife and two daughters in East Flagstaff.

John Janelle Backman (she/her) writes about gender identity, ancient spirituality, the strangeness of karma, and whatever else comes to mind. She has published in Catapult, Typehouse, HerStry, and Braided Way, among other places, with a piece forthcoming in The Iowa Review. Her essays have made several contest shortlists and earned a few Pushcart nominations. Find Janelle at www.backmanwriter.com. by @erik.bitsui

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10 months ago

🤘Rough Rock Monday Morning by Erik Bitsui🤘

Read the rest of Erik’s piece in issue 1 of Twisted Tongue!
🔗Link in bio🔗

Erik Bitsui, a Navajo from Blue Gap, Arizona, has an MFA from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Bitsui’s first book, Mosh Pit Etiquette, Volume One: Secrets of a 21st Century Navajo Headbanger, was published in November 2023 by Tolsun Books. Hostiin Bitsui lives with wife and two daughters in East Flagstaff. by @erik.bitsui

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a year ago

@twistedtonguepress
@gradychampion
@panteraofficial
@slayerbandofficial
@sepultura

Author photo by Hattie Loper/Arizona Daily Sun

Happy Pub Day!
My new essay is now up
"Rough Rock Monday Morning"
Check it out at
https://www.twistedtonguepress.com/issue-1/

AND
Happy Vet's Day!

#moshpitetiquette #navajowriter #navajopoet #dinewriter #dinépoet #tolsunbooks #dinepoet #teacheressay #pantera #slayer #slayerjersey #moshpit #albuquerque #roughrock #roughrockhighschool #navajorez #navajoreservation #bluegap #bluegapboy #gradychampion #dimebag #dimebagdarrell #philanselmo #guitarpick by @erik.bitsui

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a year ago

@tolsunbooks
@petehsu
@mookluke
There Is A Man
By Pete Hsu
Jackalope Chaps, 2021

There Is A Man was the first ever Tolsun book I ever bought. David Pischke, editor and co-founder of Tolsun Books, suggested it when I asked for a recommendation.

Pischke said, “Pete Hsu’s book is so good."

David wasn’t wrong.

Before I begin I gotta say, There Is A Man brings out the magic of chapbooks and independent publishers. Chapbooks are a great size, short and to the point. And chapbook writing is concise and clean. Tolsun Books is very smart to publish chapbooks.

There Is A Man is separated into three sections, three separate pieces that stand alone. Within each section, we see Hsu exercising on the page. Each section uses a different writing style–and Hsu doesn’t hold back on any punches. Hsu studies each style on the page.

The first section was about a 2nd Amendment Utopian World. Damn! It was funny as hell then scary as hell then it was jarring and then SCARY again and FUNNY as hell again! By the end, I sat for a while just thinking about it.

Hell Yeah! Thanks for that alone, Hsu!

There Is A Man is economical with the page. Even word choices are selected wisely. And if there’s repetition, there's a damn good reason why.

There Is A Man is a book for writers. As I read, I felt like I was watching Hsu lifting a barbell. I watched Pete doing Clean & Presses–I wanted so bad to join him! As I read, I could see what he was doing and I WANTED TO DO THE SAME THING.

I wanna read more of Hsu’s books!
Thanks, Pete, for the inspiration!
And thank you, David Pischke, for the recommendation AND founding such a kick ass small press!

Oh yeah, a shameless self-promoting side note, I shouldn’t neglect to say: I am a fellow Jackalope! My first book, Mosh Pit Etiquette: Secrets of a 21st Century Navajo Headbanger was published by Tolsun Books in 2023. The mascot of Tolsun Books is the Jackalope. Tolsun Books published chapbooks along with longer works.

#navajoheadbanger #moshpitetiquette #bluegapboy #bluegap #chapbooks #tolsunbooks #tolsunbooksauthor #navajowriter #dinepoet #navajopoet #dinewriter #dinépoet #bookreview #ozzyblessyouall #longliveozzy #smallpress #independentbooks by @erik.bitsui

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a year ago

I just submitted a new piece for publication!
We shall see what they say
I guess I'm using this killer pic from the renown artist @shawnteorion whenever I submit something new!
#navajowriter #dinewriter #moshpitetiquette #bluegap #bluegapwriter #roughrockhighschool #pantera #SLAYER #stormtroopersofdeath by @erik.bitsui

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a year ago

The Whiskey Kittens are READY
Let The Madness Begin!

Drummer: Jessica Simmons
Guitarist: Luke Simmons
Bassist & Vocalist: Erik Bitsui

We're FIRST on the lineup! by @erik.bitsui

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a year ago

Sad to say:
We laid my dear mum, Polly Bitsui, to rest on Friday 11 March 2025
Polly was born on 12 September 1944
She loved Don Williams, George Strait, pecan pie, and a good burger
She was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago
My sister and I took turns taking care of her between Glendale, AZ, and Flagstaff
My mother & I spent a lot of time laughing and cruising around Flagstaff and nearby casinos
Polly couldn't remember what happened 7 minutes ago but she could recall a phone call that took place in 1968
So she told stories about family and reservation life from the 1940s, 50s and 60s
I could still make my mum laugh, and she could still make me laugh -- a lot of her stories I would say, "Oh No!" and I would laugh, and she would say, "I Know!"
For the last few years, we had Zero Disagreements, Zero Arguments
She loved cruising with me in Flagstaff to drop off my wife, Cindy, at work and dropping off her grandkids at school -- then she would light up when I said we are going to Twin Arrows Casino
She was laid to rest next to her mother, Marcella Tulley, and my two uncles, Felix and Francis Tulley, were close by as well
My mother passed away in Glendale on Monday 7 March 2025
Thank you to all who expressed their condolences and offered donations by @erik.bitsui

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2 years ago