David Parker Jr. – writer. photographer. imbiber

David Parker Jr

Writer. Photographer. Imbiber.

About

"It takes a while, but a man can grow accustomed to anything, even his own grave."

David Parker Jr. is a graduate of the University of New Orleans MFA program and his work has appeared in Fwriction: Review, Gris-Gris, The Exquisite Corpse, Louisiana Literature, Maclean’s, The Nation, Art Voices Magazine, Foam Magazine and more. His fiction and creative prose have been anthologized in Gravity Fiction, Soul is Bulletproof and Louisiana in Words. His photography has appeared in Foam Magazine, Zoomer Magazine and Fodor’s New Orleans travel guides.

As an event coordinator, Parker has worked with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival for more than ten years as a site coordinator, editor, grant writer and contest judge. He is a co-founder and director of the Ernest Hemingway Contest & Celebration at the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans festival (the New Orleans running of the bulls), and is a producer with NOLAFugees Press & Productions.

He lives in western North Carolina with his family.

Novel and Fiction
Journalism and Essay
Editing and Manuscripts
Photography and Design

Sneak a Peek

Tim Thomas exercises a far more disciplined and subtle art form: voyeurism. From Romeo to Cyrano de Bergerac, the classics are filled with famous voyeurs, and now, using a pair of high-end Swarovski Optik binoculars, Tim Thomas can join that auspicious fraternity by peering into dozens of homes in the high rise condominium property across the street from his own building. From his perch on the seventh floor . . .

Tim Time

Published in Fwriction: Review

We keep track of time, even though there is no sunset or sunrise this far underground. There is only night here, hellish, hot and humid, but our foreman Pedro Alavar marks the hours carefully, using his wrist watch or the small clock in the rescue chamber. “Mario,” he says to me as he stands in the eerie light of electric lamps with his bare chest and dirt-streaked face. “It is time to feed Don Cortez his supper . . .”

Feed the Head

Published in Gris-Gris

And there it is. This moment. Suspended in the air in front of me. A robber in pantyhose leaning over the table to point a gun at my four-year-old daughter in the middle of a diner while the Big Bopper starts belting out “Chantilly Lace” on the juke box. It’s one of our songs, our boogie music, and I’m burning and tight, seized with terror. In my mind the fear smells like piss and vinegar, and I struggle with the urge to grab the gun held in front of me. I can take it from her easily. This woman is shaky and shrill. I am angry and quick . . .

Tim Time

Published in Exquisite Corpse

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches, the New Orleans public school system was devastated. A major U.S. city vanished beneath oil-slick waters, and nearly the entire population was carted away in buses, trucks, helicopters, cars, trains and whatever else could roll toward Houston, Atlanta or Little Rock. By the time the city reemerged, the State of Louisiana and its governing educational committees had vanquished the New Orleans Public School (NOPS) education system, fired all teachers and staff, and reorganized around the idea of charter schools . . .

New Orleans Public Schools: Still Under Water?

Published in The Nation

He steers his single-engine Cessna Skyhawk along the edge of the marshland, pointing out landmarks and features, and two things become immediately clear from this bird’s-eye view: the beauty of the landscape, and the vulnerability of this exposed stretch of coastline. Islands of green and gold marsh grass glow in the evening light, criss-crossed by sparkling bayou waters. Meanwhile, just out in the Gulf of Mexico, a massive oil sheen rests upon the surface of the water, stretching as far as the eye can see, as a result of the catastrophic BP oil spill. “That sheen’s not the problem,” Suckow says. “It’s what’s underwater that’s so dangerous . . .”

We Need All The Help We Can Get

Published in Maclean’s

New Orleans has long been famous for its two-legged predators – the muggers, burglars, pimps and gang bangers – but in the wake of Hurricane Katrina it has become a choice destination for another type of predator – the winged raptor. Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrin Falcons, Cooper’s Hawks. They have been turning up around the city in increasing numbers, lured by the open spaces of blighted neighborhoods . . . .

Raptor City

Published in NOLAFugees.com