a sad day for sad birds

Another Review

2012-02-02T10:32:00.001-05:00

My review of James Grinwis's Exhibit of Forking Paths is now up at NewPages. You can read it here.

Another Poem + A Book

2012-02-01T15:59:00.003-05:00

When I made my post earlier today, I didn't realize the new issue of Scythe was going up today too! You can read the issue here.

*

I realize that there are only two people in the world who read my blog who I'm not friends with on Facebook, so I thought I would share this here too. My next full-length collection of poems, the manuscript formerly known as The Way It Is, will be published by Coconut Books in early 2013.

Two Poems & a Review

2012-02-01T14:35:00.003-05:00

Today the second issue of ILK went live. It includes two poems of mine alongside work by Erika Brown, Josh Fomon, Joshua R. Helms, Lauren Leavitt, Carrie Lorig, Ted Powers, Nate Pritts, Gregory Sherl, Janey Smith, Marcus Speh, Nick Sturm, Paige Taggert, Elena Tomorowitz, and Joshua Ware. You can read the issue here. Thanks Caroline & Chris for including me!

Also, my review of One Sleeps The Other Doesn't by Jacqueline Waters is now up at The Rumpus. You can read it here. There's also a new poem by Jacqueline.

While I Was Away...

2011-12-28T08:31:00.004-05:00

My list of "10 Albums of the Year" was included in Frontier Psychiatrist's "Best of Everything" lists. You can find it here.

Also, a new issue of Country Music, which includes a couple pieces from False Spring, went up. There's also new work by a lot of wonderful poets. You can read the issue here.

I had a nice holiday in Michigan, but it went by too fast. However, it's nice to be home to the kittehs again. I'm currently reading Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence for my book club. I also have a stack of poetry books on deck for reviewing. 2011 will end on a busy note, and 2012 will begin just as busily.

Selection from False Spring at Spittoon

2011-12-18T10:57:00.004-05:00

There's a selection from my forthcoming chapbook, False Spring, in the second issue of Spittoon, which can be read here. A selection previously appeared in the recent All Small Caps anthology, and other selections are forthcoming in Sinescope & Country Music.

False Spring began as an attempt at NaPoWriMo this past April. I was writing a poem a day, but then on the 10th day I began what became False Spring, so I only wound up with one poem for the month. Spooky Girlfriend will be publishing the poem in its entirety as a chapbook in February 2012 (date flexible). Above is a painting by the wonderful Libby Booth, which is going to be used on the cover.

Pre-Order Jackie Clark's I Live Here Now

2011-12-15T10:16:00.002-05:00

Jackie Clark's I Live Here Now is now available for pre-order from Lame House Press. Find out more information here. The title officially launches on 12/31.

Best Poetry Books of 2011

2011-12-09T13:28:00.001-05:00

My list of best poetry books of 2011 went up earlier this week at No Tell Motel.

We Who Are About To Die

2011-12-09T13:07:00.003-05:00

I answered a series of questions lifted from teen magazines for We Who Are About to Die. If you're so inclined, you can read it here.

Addendum: I didn't mean to leave the question about what past era I would live in if I could, but my answer would be the 1960s/Civil Rights Era.

Reading in Athens

2011-11-30T11:15:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, Thursday, December 1st, I'm reading with Bruce Covey in the Avid Poetry Series at the Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA (493 Prince Ave). The reading starts at 7PM. For more details, visit the Facebook event page here.

Ben Somers' Your Sorcerer's Way Reviewed!

2011-11-09T12:21:00.001-05:00

I just happened across a review of the latest Lame House Press chapbook! Over at the Slash Pine Projects site, Shea Stripling writes, "Your Sorcerer’s Way is a work of remembering and imagining. It is a piece that centers on the adult’s attempt to understand and escape reality, and, by the end, you feel as though you have flipped through a photo book of pictures you never knew you took." You can read the full review here. Thanks, Shea!

And if you're interested in ordering a copy of Ben's book, visit http://lamehouse.blogspot.com.

New H_NGM_N & Two Readings

2011-11-07T09:39:00.003-05:00

H_NGM_N #13 is now live, featuring work by Jackie Clark, Matt Hart, Nick Sturm, Kate Colby, Kiki Petrosino, myself, and many others. It also features fiction, reviews, an interview, and three new chapbooks! You can read the issue here.

*

This Wednesday, I'm reading with Robert Pfeiffer, Tom Cheshire, and Amy Herschleb in the Vouched Presents series. The reading starts at 8PM and is at The Goat Farm (1200 Foster St., Atlanta, GA). You can find more information about each of the readers on the Facebook page here.

*

On Thursday, a group of poets representing Bloof Books will be reading at the Emory Bookstore. Please come out to see Shanna Compton, Anne Boyer, Maureen Thorson, Sandra Simonds, Peter Davis, and Patricia Lockwood. The event starts at 8PM and is free and open to the public. There's a Facebook page for it too, though it doesn't include much more information. But if you're in any familiar with Bloof Books or any of the writers listed here, you know this will be a fun reading not to be missed!

An Awful Interview

2011-11-01T10:15:00.002-04:00

In anticipation of next week's Vouched ATL reading, the wonderful Laura Straub conducted an "Awful Interview" with me. You can read it here.

Mayer Hawthorne's How Do You Do

2011-10-31T11:43:00.002-04:00

My review of Mayer Hawthorne latest album How Do You Do is now up at Frontier Psychiatrist. You can read it here.

New Review at The Rumpus

2011-10-28T10:53:00.004-04:00

My review of Laura Solomon's The Hermit is now up at The Rumpus. You can read it here. And while you're there, be sure to check out Brian Oliu's Albums of Our Lives piece on The-Dream's Love vs. Money.

Recent Reviews

2011-10-26T11:31:00.003-04:00

A lot of things I wrote months ago are hitting the internet this week. First it was my "Song of the Week," and now my review of Susan Briante's Utopia Minus is now up at Coldfront Magazine. And I have another book review scheduled for publication elsewhere on Friday, and possibly a music review too. With a week like this it looks like I've been a lot busier than I've actually been!

Song of the Week

2011-10-24T11:13:00.003-04:00

"Song of the Week" is a weekly feature at Coldfront Magazine that asks poets to write about a song in 150 words or less. My contribution, "Pulaski, Tennessee" by the Drive-By Truckers, is now up.

My 2011 Attention Span list is also up.

Readings

2011-10-21T10:27:00.003-04:00

Last night's Loose Change Magazine Rooftop Reading was great. It was a fun setting and all of the readers were wonderful. It's always a bonus to be exposed to excellent work by writers I had previously been unaware of. I took some pictures on my phone, but it was dark so they didn't really turn out. I may upload them later anyhow. I'm reading again in a couple of weeks at the next Vouched Atlanta event. The flyer is above.

Loose Change Rooftop Reading this Thursday!

2011-10-17T14:03:00.003-04:00

I'm going to be joining a number of local Atlanta writers for a reading this Thursday. Here are the details from the Facebook page:

Loose Change will be hosting its next Rooftop Reading on October 20. Be ready to climb some ladders, watch a fall sun set, and hear from the likes of Matt DeBenedictis, James Nichols, Laura Straub, Gina Myers, and P.I. Navarro.

Bring your favorite beverage! Your favorite dinner/snacks! Your favorite blanket and get ready to cozy up to some good local lit! Also, bring a flashlight. And maybe even a back pack to carry all that stuff in (one handed ladder climbing = hard). Please note: This event does not have wheelchair access.

The Arts Exchange
750 Kalb Street, 30312
7-10PM

Reading this Thursday in Tuscaloosa

2011-10-03T11:48:00.002-04:00

I'm reading this Thursday, October 6th in the Pure Products Series at the Green Bar in Tuscaloosa, AL. The event starts at 7 PM and features readings by Abraham Smith, Jamie Iredell, Lucas Southworth, and Tom Cotsonas. You can read more about the readers at the Pure Products site.

A new review of A Model Year

2011-10-01T11:49:00.003-04:00

The wonderful Becca Klaver reviewed A Model Year at Open Letters Monthly. I am honored that she spent time with the book and wrote such a thoughtful review. Thanks, Becca! You can read the review here.

100 Thousand Poets for Change

2011-09-19T13:01:00.004-04:00

This Saturday I am taking party in the Atlanta 100 Thousand Poets for change event. Here is the description from the event's Facebook page:

100 Thousand Poets for change is a worldwide event taking place in hundreds of cities on September 24th. The Atlanta edition will feature readings from Molly Brodak, Bruce Covey, Lyndsey Cohen, Gina Myers, and Seth Parker as well as music by Lacuna M. We'll have a chapbook for sale featuring work from over 30 poets and illustrations from local Atlanta artist Erin Bassett (Plastic Aztecs). There will also be an art auction featuring work from other local artists. All proceeds go to benefit a community center that will be based in East Atlanta, and that will serve those in our community who need help.

There will also be free food, and the Ballroom has an excellent bar with beverages that might interest you. Hope to see you there!

21 +

Doors at 8:30 pm

$7 suggested donation at the door

Saturday, September 24th 8:30-11:30pm

Highland Ballroom

644 N Highland Ave

Tabernacle Debacle

2011-09-16T13:54:00.004-04:00

On Friday, September 9th, as part of a Samsung/AT&T promotional event, the Avett Brothers were playing a free show at the Tabernacle. N & I are big fans of the Avett Brothers, and we’ve been a little down on our luck lately, so when N read about the event on Pollstar the week before, he immediately checked to see if he could get tickets, figuring there probably weren’t any more available, but we lucked out and he got a ticket in his name that admitted two people. When he filled out the form to request tickets, it asked for a promotional code, which he didn’t have, but it was optional so he didn’t think twice about it.

Later in the week, I saw the Avett Brothers posted on Facebook that 200 more tickets had been released for the show, and they shared the promotional code. I reposted the information on my Facebook wall in case any of my friends wanted to check it out.

The day of the show, N & I debated what time we should get there. N picked me up from work at 5:30, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, hit up an ATM, and made it to the Tabernacle by 6:30 (doors were at 8:00). When we showed up there were already people lined around the block. We were confused about getting in line because there were multiple lines facing different directions. It turned out that anyone who entered the promotional code wound up with “priority” tickets, which guaranteed entrance to the show. We found our way to the back of the regular-folk line and waited patiently while more and more people continued to show up.

I’m not sure what time they started to admit people to the building. There was no opening act and the Avett Brothers were supposed to go on at 9:00 and only play an hour set. It was well after 8:30 before our line ever started to move, and when we were getting closer the front, we were told the concert was full. It was just after 9:00 and we could hear the band playing.

N & I weren’t the only ones who were turned away. Hundreds, if not thousands, of others were turned away too. I don’t know whether or not this is true, but the word circulating through the line was that they issued 4,500 tickets for a place that only holds 2,500 people. Many of the people in line had been drinking and were irate at getting turned away. I’m really surprised that people left as peaceably as they did. Even though a lot of people were extremely angry (a lot of yelling, swearing, and some throwing of beer cans, etc.), no fights or vandalism broke out, as far as I saw. When N & I got back to our car, some angry fans asked us, “Did you wait in line for three fucking hours too?”

(I feel like I have to take a quick moment to explain the janky promoter.) In the music industry, the janky promoter is known far & wide. Recently N was reading Bob Mould’s autobiography and told me about a promoter threatening him with a gun over some money that was owed the band. N works in the music industry and has many stories about janky promoters across this great nation of ours, and through some past journalism work I’ve done, I’ve been privy to many stories from other people, whether it was involving small time promoters ripping off local acts, or refusing to pay their hired help, or skipping out early on events, or just lying about the event (On FB last week, Talib Kweli had a post that read: Mos Def will not be performing with me today. Any promoter who says otherwise is a liar). In fact, both N & I were supposed to work at a music festival the next day, but the entire thing had been cancelled at the last minute because the person organizing the event had gotten in way over his head.

When I left the Tabernacle that night, I was disappointed and angry and it topped off an especially bad week. N felt bad because he had wanted to do something nice for me since he knew how bad things had been. However, neither one of us were mad at the Avett Brothers. We were sure the band had no idea what was going on. No, we were mad at Samsung/AT&T for creating the situation--not just for us, who looked forward to an event only to be disappointed, and who also had to wait for two and a half hours to be disappointed (clearly the workers could tell way too many people were there; couldn’t they just have cut the line off and sent us on our way early?)—but I felt mad on behalf of the band too, because there were sure to be people who misdirected their anger at the situation onto the band instead of at Samsung/AT&T.

I hadn’t followed the fallout from the event, until I saw a note from the Avett Brothers addressed to “our Atlanta friends who were not admitted to the Tabernacle show” on Facebook. They wrote, “Please know that as a band we would never knowingly turn away who wanted to see us perform.” And as an apology they are granting those who were turned away free admission to a show in Tennessee in October.

The stipulations in getting the tickets will prevent me from going (the ticket, though it admitted two, was in N’s name, and N will be on away for work the date of the show—also the venue is 4 hours from Atlanta, whereas the Tabernacle is one mile from where I live). However, I think it was extremely generous of the band to work out this arrangement for their fans. They were not obligated to do anything because what happened in Atlanta was not their fault. However, they probably felt like they had to do something because of the disappointment/anger of the turned away fans. This was a pretty long explanation to get to a simple point: The Avett Brothers=good, upstanding guys. Samsung/AT&T=janky promoters.

In Memory of John O

2011-09-15T10:41:00.004-04:00

John Oberschmidt died on May 21, 2010. I'd known John since middle school, and though after high school we did not remain friends, he was one of the first people I re-connected with after moving back to Saginaw in 2008. We used to hang out and watch sports together--his love for Detroit teams, especially the Tigers, was mighty. I was a little down on my luck at the time, having a hard time finding a job, and John was extremely helpful in trying to put me in touch with anyone who he knew needed help with anything. John was an extremely generous person who cared deeply for his friends. To him, we were all legend. He is legend.

This year my friend Jaime Torres is running the Chicago Marathon in memory of John. All money raised will go to the Emmaus House in Saginaw in John's name. The Emmaus House helps women who are coming from prison, rehab, or jail to transition back into society. During his lifetime John often promoted donations to Emmaus House, through both his work and his private life. Donations can be made through the PayPal link here. Thanks.

Decatur Book Festival 2011

2011-09-05T09:31:00.016-04:00

I attended my first Decatur Book Festival this weekend, and I had a blast. The festival is impressive for its size and scope, the talent that it brings, and also for the fact that it is entirely free and open to the public. There was a lot going on, and when I looked at the schedule before the festival, I was a bit overwhelmed. However, I think I attended the right amount of events for me, though I feel bad about missing out on a few things.

On Saturday morning, N & I attended the Bruce Covey & Michelle Bitting reading. This seemed like an odd pairing of authors since their writing is so different from each other. Bitting read first, reading from her 2007 book Good Friday Kiss and then some newer poems, ranging from elegiac pieces to more light-hearted pieces with a pop culture focus (for example, a poem for Johnny Depp, a poem for Patti Smith, and a poem that claimed David Lynch as inspiration--though as an avid David Lynch fan, I wasn't able to pick up on his influence; perhaps it would have been more obvious to me if I had been reading the poem instead of listening). Bruce's reading was incredible, as usual--he's an amazing reader of his work. He started out with a piece (or was it two?) from Ten Pins Ten Frames, which I had never heard him read from before. He then read from Elapsing Speedway Organism and Glass is Really a Liquid, including such hit poems as "Uncertainties," "Declaration Distilled," "Unicorn Poem for Jessica," "Self Help," and "100 Hottest" to name a few. I hadn't really thought about it before, but while listening to poems like "Nine Ball: A Love Poem" and a few others, I realized Bruce writes really well about food, which is something that I have never tried to write about and don't think I could do very well. For anyone who has not had the opportunity to see Bruce read before, definitely check him out if you get the chance. N said it was the highlight of the festival for him.

After the reading, we walked around the book tables for awhile before settling in for a bit with Laura Straub at the Vouched ATL table. Vouched is a great concept--a guerrilla bookseller, representing small and independent presses, who has read and vouches for the books they sell. Ask about any title on the table and Laura can tell you all about it. At the book fair, they were not only selling books, but also selling readings for $1. So in addition to meeting some interesting people who stopped by the table, I also got to give an intimate reading of a poem, which was a new experience for me.

After that we went to the "21st Century South" panel discussion at Eddie's Attic, which had to be one of the most popular events of the weekend. The space was absolutely packed. The discussion featured Charles Reagan Wilson, Allen Tullos, and Jake Adam York, and was moderated by Hank Klibanoff. The discussion focused on southern identity--where it's been, where it is now, and perhaps where it is heading. This was perhaps my favorite event of the weekend. I found the discussion especially interesting as a northerner who has recently moved to the south--though most people tell me "Atlanta is not the real south," and one audience member even made that claim during the Q & A, though I think the panel did a good job of putting that idea to rest. I was cash-strapped this weekend, but I've made note to pick up these authors books in the near future.

Immediately after that event, Jericho Brown read at Eddie's Attic. I haven't read his book, but I especially enjoyed his persona poems, in particular the Janis Joplin piece, and I found his Q&A session to be particularly interesting--though I really don't want to think about people not knowing who Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder is! (On a side note, I just watched Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976, and the way that Jericho started his reading, by standing still silently for awhile, commanding full attention, is reminiscent of Nina's entrance at Montreux.)

On Sunday, we started the day out at Eddie's Attic to see Collin Kelley & Michael Montlack read. I know Collin is a major poet in the Atlanta literary scene, so it was great to see him read. He opened his reading with a poem about his seven-year-old self wanting to be Wonder Woman, from Slow to Burn, a recently re-issued chapbook. He read several other poems from the chapbook and then ended on newer work, including a long poem about Sally Mann called "Render." His poems were funny and touching--I especially enjoyed a piece about the Virgin Mary appearing as a water stain under an overpass in Chicago and also a poem about wanting to be Pam Grier. I also hope to pick up Slow to Burn when I have the money. Michael was a classmate of mine at the New School, and I hadn't seen him or heard him read since then. His first full-length collection of poems, Cool Limbo, has recently been released, and he read entirely from that. It was really wonderful getting to hear him read poems that I remember from workshop days as well as newer pieces too. The poems, like Collin's, deal with identity as a gay male in America, and are smart, funny, and touching. What impresses me with both poet's work is how quickly within a poem they are able to move from something funny to something serious, as Michael accomplishes in "Liz Taylor in Levittown." I loved getting to hear "On Castro," which is one of the poems I remember from workshop--the ending of it is too perfect. Michael also read more playful poems--"Lounge-adelic" consists entirely of words beginning with the letter L, and "Gertrude, you had Alice. But I had him (so briefly) and now we don't even talk" takes on the voice of Stein. Though there was only one question during the Q&A, I thought it was really interesting to hear discussed. Michael edited a collection of essays called My Diva, in which gay male writers discuss the woman they looked up to, and the question asked why it was that the authors identified with these women, (for Michael it was Stevie Nicks; for Collin, Wonder Woman and Pam Grier were mentioned during his reading, but he said the Bionic Woman was really his diva). I made another note to pick up My Diva as soon as I can (partly because I have been wrestling with the idea of writing about Amy Winehouse, and I feel like this book could be insightful, but mostly because it sounds like a cool collection).

After that reading finished up, we headed over to the Decatur Conference Center for the "Struggles for Freedom" panel discussion, which was another great panel. It featured Doug Blackmon, Kevin Young, David Eltis, and Michael Thurmond, and was moderated by Leslie Harris. The panel discussed slavery in various forms: David Eltis's work involves documenting the transatlantic slave trade from 1501-1867; Kevin Young's recent poetry book is based on the Amistad; Michael Thurmond's work as focused on the role Georgia has played in the struggle for freedom; and Doug Blackmon's work has looked at the indentured servitude that blacks in the South were forced into after the Civil War through the second World War. It was a great discussion, though it was way too short. (I had felt similarly about the 21st Century South panel on Saturday.) The panels were capped at 45 minutes and ran on time in order to keep the festival on time. There were only two moderated questions addressed and then two questions from the audience before time was up. Obviously this is a huge topic and difficult to dig into in such a short time.

After the panel, we made our way to the Decatur Presbyterian Church for the Best American Poetry 2011 event. Obviously the Best American Poetry series has its flaws, which I am not going to bother going into here. I mostly attended because David Lehman is a former teacher of mine. The event featured Kevin Young, who edited the 2011 BAP; Natasha Trethewey, who has a poem in this year's collection; and David Lehman, who of course is the series editor. The three did a round robin reading of poems from the collection, which ranged from serious in tone and subject manner to light-hearted. The highlight of the event was during David's reading of a poem by Michael Cirelli, in which David mispronounced Chamillionare, and Jericho Brown yelled from the audience to correct him, which led to mid-poem banter before David picked up the poem where he left off.

Overall the festival was lot of fun. I am glad to be in Atlanta now and to know that such an event takes place each year and that it is free.

Decatur Book Festival

2011-09-02T11:06:00.003-04:00

This weekend I'll be attending my first-ever Decatur Book Festival. It sounds like a huge event, with over 3oo writers giving readings and book signings, etc. You can view the complete schedule online, but it's a bit overwhelming. Some highlights include "Glass Is Really a Liquid on Good Friday" featuring Bruce Covey and Michelle Bitting at 10:00-10:45 am Saturday at the Decatur Conference Center Auditorium; at the same time on Saturday at Decatur High School, is "Not Your Father's Fiction," featuring Adam Ross, Jesse Ball, and Blake Butler; Jake Adam York is reading in "The 21st Century South" event at Eddie's Attic at 1:45 on Saturday; and on Sunday you can catch my former New School classmate Michael Montlack read with Collin Kelley in "Cool Limbo" at 1:15 at Eddie's Attic; and my former New School professor David Lehman will be reading with Kevin Young and Natasha Trethewey at the Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage at 3:45 for the "Best American Poetry 2011 Showcase." There will also be TONS of tables set up to check out throughout the weekend. On Saturday I'll be hanging out at the Vouched table for a little while between 12 and 2, if you want to come by and say hi. Oh, and did I mention this is all free? Pretty awesome.

No News Today

2011-09-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

My contribution to Robert Lopez's No News Today project went up yesterday. You can read it here.

New Lit Mag: Spittoon

2011-09-01T11:41:00.002-04:00

A former classmate, Kristin Abraham, along with Matt VanderMeulen and Berly Fields, has launched a new lit magazine. The first issue features work by Nate Pritts, Molly Brodak, Kristi Maxwell, and a host of others. Check out Spittoon here.

Two New Reviews

2011-09-01T11:37:00.002-04:00

My reviews of Chris Toll's The Disinformation Phase and Anselm Berrigan's Notes from Irrelevance are now up at NewPages. Check them out, along with reviews of books by Leslie Scalapino, Alison Stine, Zach Savich, and more, here.

Hurricanes, Detroit, Treme & NYC

2011-08-26T16:36:00.003-04:00

The Wire is my all time favorite TV show (followed by Twin Peaks), so once I heard about David Simon's next project, Treme, I became instantly interested. For my birthday, N. bought me the first season of Treme on DVD. We've managed to fit six episodes into our week so far, and I am really enjoying watching it. After watching the first two episodes, I was drawing comparisons between Detroit and New Orleans. Of course the circumstances are much different and things are much more intense in New Orleans, but the cities faced (and continue to face) a lot of the same problems: the mass exodus of residents, outside media coming in to cover the devastation, the questions of whether the cities can be (or should be) saved, the feelings of helplessness, etc. When Katrina hit, I was living in Brooklyn and dating someone from New Orleans whose family still lived there. It was a difficult time, to say the least. To watch Treme now brings back the devastations, and there were many, small and large. On the show we see a character searching for a missing family member, people wanting to return but unable to, a musician who loses his livelihood, an elderly woman whose pharmacy has not reopened, failing businesses, disconnected families, depression, desperation, and escapes into drug use. It's a strange feeling to be watching this now too, with reports of Hurricane Irene heading to the east coast. In the way that New York City makes everything about New York City, right after Katrina there were numerous stories about what would happen to New York if it were hit by a major hurricane. I am hoping the threatening headlines of the past two days are hype & that the storm will lose power or bounce off shore. But I also remember thinking that the warnings before Katrina hit New Orleans were just hype.

Panic on the Streets of London

2011-08-09T10:32:00.002-04:00

This is a very well-done post on the events in London right now: "Panic on the Streets of London" by Laurie Penny. Also, check out the video here.

Two Friends, Two Chapbooks

2011-08-06T20:51:00.004-04:00

Yesterday in the mail I received the two latest chapbooks from horse less press, Nathan Hauke's S E W N and Kirsten Jorgenson's Deseret. I've been a fan of Nathan's work since I first met him in 2000 when we were both undergrads at Central Michigan, and I've long admired his ability to render description and tension. S E W N is one long poem that is well-crafted. Dated December 11-January 11, 2009-2010, the poem captures solitude around the holidays where the speaker "In the sudden wildness of a clean morning / Sat watching a grill cover dissolve into static," among other things. It is a thoughtful collection, where the speaker considers not just his own environment, but also has thoughts of family, connection/disconnection ("Pane of glass between us between one circumstance and the next"), and change, and puts himself in conversation with other writers through using direct quotes from Mary Rowlandson and Stanley Cavell.

I'm not as familiar with Kirsten's work as I am with Nathan's, but she did come & read in the series I hosted in Saginaw, and I've enjoyed what I heard from her then and what I've read of hers online. Like S E W N, Deseret is also a single long poem. I admit that before reading it, I had to look up "Deseret" to see what it means--it turns out it is the original name for Utah. The poem is minimalistic--the words concise and fitting of the desolate environment ("Mud, salt crystals, rocks, water") they describe. There is a strangeness to this environment, also violence--three-limbed babies, retinas detaching, "ovaries gone bad in the gut." There is a visual element to the work, incorporating what I am assuming are seismic images of Utah--their spiraling images perhaps related to Robert Smithson's essay "The Spiral Jetty," which Kirsten acknowledges having borrowed language from.

The chapbooks are $7 dollars each. However, horse less press is offering a deal where you can get them both for $12. Click here for more information.

Two Night, Two Readings

2011-08-03T10:03:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 4, I'll be reading at the SKEIN launch party at the Abernathy Arts Center (254 Johnson Ferry Road, NW Atlanta, 30328). Readers include Lindsey Cohen, Zac Cohen, Bruce Covey, Laurel Denham, Walker Jernigan, and Laura Solomon. The event starts at 7PM.

Then on Friday I will be reading at the Emory Bookstore with Jennifer Denrow and Michael Ogletree for the "What's New in Poetry?" series. Event starts at 8PM.

I'm looking forward to hanging out & meeting more Atlanta folks.

Two Reviews

2011-08-02T10:27:00.005-04:00

The August book reviews are now up at NewPages, and they include my review of Brian Oliu's So You Know It's Me and the Rose Metal Press Short Short Chapbook Collection They Could No Longer Contain Themselves. There are also a number of other excellent books reviewed in this batch, including Arousing Notoriety/Your Trouble is Ballooning by A. Minetta Gould and Amber Nelson, Field Work by David Hadbawnik, Big Bright Sun by Nate Pritts, and The Twelve Wives of Citizen Jane by Daniela Olszewska, to name a few. You can check all the reviews out here.

From California, On: Jennifer Denrow

2011-07-30T20:48:00.002-04:00

When I was in high school, I dreamed of California, a place I'd never been, but a place I believed would somehow make everything in my life better. Tonight after reading Jennifer Denrow's 2010 Brave Men Press chapbook From California, On, I feel like this might be a common delusion.

Consisting of long lines and fragmented thoughts, the twenty-two page poem is a disjunctive narrative about a trip to California, an idealized place that doesn't quite align with how the speaker imagined it would be. Or perhaps the speaker doesn't quite fit how she imagined herself would be in California--that things would be somehow different and that she herself would be somehow different:

"In California, I look like me but with a better person inside.

I scratch myself. I scratch I'm here into me.

I thought it would be like everyone else to be here. They are. They're meaning it. I mean to be with them."

The poem is a journey, not because it involves an actual trip & time spent traveling in a car, but because it involves a mind at work, thinking & re-acting & going somewhere with the reader along for the ride. There is a quietness to the collection, but also occasionally a subtle humor: "We say everything once in French and once in English. We don't know French so it's hard to understand us during that part." However, overall the poem is melancholy; the speaker describes her environment--encountering a doe and a fawn in the wild, sitting by redwoods, and frequently staring at the ocean--but she remains disconnected from it and from the people around her.

Overall I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading her full-length collection, California. I'm also looking forward to seeing her read this Friday in Atlanta.

Albums of Our Lives

2011-07-29T15:50:00.003-04:00

When Katy Henriksen first mentioned the series she was starting at The Rumpus that would feature a poet writing about a single album, I had the hardest time settling on a single album to write about. Of course, I thought about my favorites: The Clash's London Calling and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, but those albums have been written about so much already. Then I considered Bright Eyes's I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and Arcade Fire's Funeral, but those albums have been with me for years. I finally settled on boy sets fire's the day the sun went out, which really represented a specific time and place for me, which I thought fit better with the idea of "Albums of Our Lives." It is just one of many. Anyhow, the piece went up today. You can read it here.

Vouched ATL

2011-07-27T10:32:00.003-04:00

I've only made it to two readings since moving to Atlanta so far, and they both have been excellent. This past Sunday I attended the VouchedATL reading at Young Blood Gallery, featuring Heather Christle, Bruce Covey, Amy McDaniel, Ben Spivey, and James Tadd Adcox. And everything about the event was fantastic--the space, the turn-out, and especially the readings. It was my first time hearing a number of the readers, a couple of whom whose work I was completely unfamiliar with though I had seen their names around.

James Tadd Adcox kicked things off. I wish I could remember what it was that he read (I should have taken notes or perhaps had less to drink)--I remember there were two pieces, each of which I found engaging and funny. He has a book forthcoming from Tiny Hardcore Press that I am looking forward to based on the quality of his reading and the quality of the press.

Ben Spivey read from his novel Flowing in the Gossamer Fold, which was kind of heartbreaking. (You can read more about his novel here.) He finished his set by reading Dennis Cooper's hilarious piece "Three boys who thought experimental fiction was for pussies," from his collection of stories Ugly Man.

Amy McDaniel read third, and I was glad to get to hear her read before she leaves Atlanta. She read from her sold-out chapbook Selected Adult Lessons along with some newer poems, including a list of items her brother can have since she's moving overseas. I was disappointed to find out she didn't have any chapbooks available, but I'm looking forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Bruce Covey was next, and I always love getting to hear him read because he's such a strong reader of his work. He read a number of poems from Elapsing Speedway Organism and Glass Is Really a Liquid, as well as a poem so new that he read it off his iPad. Overall his poems were playful, whether they created new words from binaries or listed off silly descriptions pulled from Time Magazine's "100 Hottest People" lists.

The final reader of the evening was Heather Christle, who is another poet I was happy to see read before she leaves Atlanta. She began by having everyone stand-up and spin around for ten seconds because she claimed the first poem she was going to read (from The Difficult Farm) was better if everyone was dizzy. For the rest of the reading she read from her new book The Trees The Trees, which has been receiving a lot of well-deserved attention. If you haven't already, I recommend getting a copy.

It was a full night of excellent readings for a standing room only crowd. I hope there will be more VouchedATL events in the future.

Recent Reading

2011-07-13T11:22:00.003-04:00

I recently finished reading Brian Oliu's So You Know It's Me & the Rose Metal Collection of five flash chapbooks, They Could No Longer Contain Themselves--reviews of both titles are forthcoming elsewhere, but I'll briefly say here that I recommend both.

I also read Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, which I enjoyed and am looking forward to discussing next week in the Noble Reads book club. The club, which is sponsored through my office, counts as "work." So far I'd say this job is pretty sweet.

I'm about to jump into Justin Taylor's The Gospel of Anarchy and Tony Tost's 33 1/3 book, now that I have a properly printed copy! I've also been reading here-&-there in a number of poetry books, including Heather Christle's The Trees The Trees, Rod Padgett's How Long, & Anslem Berrigan's Notes from Irrelevance.

Noble Reads: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

2011-07-08T16:41:00.003-04:00

The next meeting of the Noble Reads book club is on Monday, July 18th from 11 am to 12pm at the Emory Bookstore. We'll be discussing Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. If you purchase your copy at the Emory Bookstore and mention the club, you'll receive a 20% discount.

Amazon Nightmare

2011-07-06T12:06:00.002-04:00

Below I mentioned the book that was misprinted that I received from Amazon. I wrote to the publisher, Continuum Books, and they said I needed to return the book to Amazon for an exchange. However, Amazon will not let me return the book because my window to return it expired on June 27th. I would very much like to speak to a customer service representative at Amazon, but they have no contact info available on their website. Does anyone know how I can contact Amazon?

When I buy books, I often don't read them right away, especially when I buy several at a time. So I made the misprint discovery too late. I suppose they will tell me that I should have thumbed through the book page-by-page upon receiving it to make sure it was in proper condition, which is something I will do if I order from them again--though now that I am in a city with good independent bookstores, I think I will prefer to buy my books in person. I already found a copy of the book at A Cappella Books, and I flipped through the pages to see that it was properly printed.

Printing Error

2011-07-01T14:52:00.003-04:00

About a month ago I ordered a book as a gift for my boyfriend through Amazon. He began reading it immediately, only to discover that the copy I ordered had a major printing error. When he completed reading page 146, the following page was a re-print of page 115. In fact, pages 115-146 are printed twice in this copy. This wouldn't be such a problem if page 147 followed after the second page 146; however, this time the book jumps from page 146 to page 179, so he's missing out on a decent section of the book. Does anyone have suggestions about what to do about this? Should I contact Amazon? The publisher? Just give up & buy a new copy? (I saw a correctly-printed copy of the book on the shelves at A Cappella Books in Atlanta.) Suggestions welcome.

What's New in Poetry?

2011-06-27T11:57:00.002-04:00

I have a little bit of downtime on my first day of work, so I thought I would take the opportunity to mention here Emory University's What's New in Poetry? series. It is a wonderful reading series that I had the pleasure of participating in a few years back, and I am looking forward to attending the series regularly now that I am here in Atlanta. There is a reading next week on Friday, July 8th, featuring Molly Brodak, Lyndsey Cohen, and James May. All readings are held on the first floor of the Emory Bookstore and start at 8 p.m. "Like" What's New in Poetry? here on Facebook to stay afloat of news & events.

ATL-bound

2011-06-13T17:24:00.002-04:00

For those of you who read this blog and may not have yet heard, I am moving to Atlanta on June 25th and starting a new job there on June 27th. Everything is quite hectic right now since the span of job offer to job start is pretty short when it involves an 800+ mile move (not to mention I am still teaching four nights a week right up until I leave). I have very much enjoyed my time in Saginaw these past few years, but I am now looking forward to new adventures in Atlanta.

Recent Reading

2011-06-05T09:48:00.002-04:00

I finished Chronic City, and I take back what I said a few posts below about it reminding me of Auster. It is a fun read with interesting characters & fantastic elements, from the tiger that is terrorizing the city, to the astronaut fiance who is stuck in space, to the apartment complex just for dogs, to the artist who constructs giant chasms in the city. Perhaps it is because I recently finished reading Inherent Vice, but the names here could fit into a Pynchon novel--Chase Insteadman being one for example. Chase becomes student to Perkus Tooth, who attempts to educate Chase on movies, music, and the finer points of Gnuppets, but Chase has a hard time keeping up with Tooth's obsessions. Eventually, what Chase comes to learn about the role he plays and what he comes to learn about those in power re-defines everything for the former child actor. Now if only I could find a copy of Obstinate Dust...

Keeping with my recent streak of reading books from 2009, I also read Tao Lin's Shoplifting From American Apparel. I wish I had read this before I read Richard Yates, but really it doesn't matter. I've only read two of Lin's books now, but the themes are persistent. Shoplifting captures a young author who is lonely and largely communicates with people through gmail chat. Like in Richard Yates, there are autobiographical elements at work here. The protagonist, Sam, is a vegan who occasionally shoplifts and largely spends his time on his computer, whether it be at NYU's library or on the macbook he seems to carry everywhere with him. After an opening online exchange between Sam and Luis, the narrative jumps ahead four months, and we find out that Sam is no longer with the Sheila who is mentioned in the opening exchange. Sam becomes briefly involved with a series of women, but largely remains disconnected. The writing style is flat & direct, the descriptions vague but somehow engaging: "They kissed some more then stared at each other with neutral facial expressions. Sam thought that her facial expression was as neutral as Sheila's when Sheila was in similar situations. Sam felt his own neutral facial expression." This novella comes in at under 100 pages and makes for a very quick read.

I haven't committed to a new book yet, but I think it might be Tony Tost's 33 1/3 book American Recordings. I've also been flipping around in Ron Padgett's How Long. And for a freelance job, I am reading a lot about the history of Bay City, MI.

New Review of A Model Year

2011-06-04T09:00:00.003-04:00

Sandra Simonds reviews A Model Year over at her blog. It's a wonderfully thoughtful review. I especially like: "There’s an obvious problem: the same things that keep us going also keep us not going." And also the question: "How does one create intimacy as an anonymous worker in a city of anonymous workers?" You can read the full review here. Thanks Sandra!

New Book Reviews at NewPages

2011-06-01T12:16:00.002-04:00

The first part of the June book reviews are now up at NewPages. The second batch will go up on June 14th. For now, check out reviews of Jess Row's Nobody Ever Gets Lost, Susan Briante's Utopia Minus, Matthew Rohrer's Detroyer & Preserver, Matthew Henriksen's Ordinary Sun, Chelsea Martin's The Really Funny Thing About Apathy, Lizzy Acker's Monster Party, Dinty W. Moore's Crafting the Personal Essay, Craig Nova's Brook Trout and the Writing Life, Mathias Enard's Zone, Michael Kimball's Us, Michael Bible's Cowboy Maloney's Electric City, Noelle Kocot's The Bigger World, William Corbett's The Whalen Poem, and Joshua Edwards's Campeche. You can read them all here.

Recent Reading

2011-05-24T09:49:00.003-04:00

I'm finally getting around to reading books that I meant to read over a year ago (which seems to happen often with current fiction for me). I just finished Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, which was a fun read--incredibly entertaining, mysterious, and funny. Set in Los Angeles at the end of the 1960s, the novel follows Doc Sportello, a private investigator who is always high, as he investigates the apparent kidnapping of a real estate mogul. This features a wonderfully strange cast of characters, and portrays a deeply fragmented America where everyone is paranoid, especially in light of the recent Manson family murders. I am by no means a Pynchon expert, though I have always loved The Crying of Lot 49, and Inherent Vice ranks right up there for me. I have heard that someone has optioned the movie rights, which could be interesting. I remember the Rolling Stone review of the book compared Sportello to Jeff Bridges's Lebowski from The Big Lebowski.

Now I am reading Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City. I have barely started it, but it is giving me a Paul Auster feel early on. At this rate, I'll get around to reading The Pale King in 2013...

I also have been reading a lot of poetry including Claire Becker's Where We Think It Should Go, James Meetze's Dayglo, Stephanie Anderson's The Nightyard, Kate Greenstreet's Called, Noelle Kocot's The Bigger World (of which I have a review forthcoming at NewPages), and the split book Your Trouble Is Ballooning by Amber Nelson and Arousing Notoriety by A. Minetta Gould. And re-reading Oppen.

Yesterday I had a 9 1/2 hour drive to make and I occupied some of that time listening to the cd the accompanies All Poets Welcome, which made me wonder why I don't listen to more poetry cds while driving. Beyond All Poets Welcome and the Narrow House cds, I don't really have any poetry cds. Can anyone out there recommend some?

Binge Press Instant-Mini Tour

2011-05-12T08:55:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, JodiAnn Stevenson of Binge Press published a series of instant chapbooks and mini broadsides, including one by me. She's now taking the poets from the first series on the road. Here are the dates, locations, and times where you can catch JodiAnn, Robin Brox, Ashley Niedzwiecki, and myself, though unfortunately due to a work obligation I will not be at the reading in Buffalo tonight:

Thursday, 5/12, Rustbelt Books in Buffalo, NY at 7:30pm

Friday, 5/13, The Shop in Port Huron, MI at 7:30pm

Saturday 5/14, AJ's Music Cafe in Ferndale, MI at 7:30pm

Sunday 5/15, The Red Eye in Saginaw, MI at 7:30pm

Stone Rollin'

2011-05-11T12:25:00.002-04:00

Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rollin' came out yesterday, as did my review of it at Frontier Psychiatrist. You can read it here.

Recent Media Consumption

2011-05-03T18:16:00.003-04:00

Us by Michael Kimball
Tyrant Books, forthcoming May 10, 2011

A few years ago, I taught Michael Kimball's Dear Everybody in a comp class, and I had a number of students who thought it was nonfiction become really angry when they discovered it was fiction. (I was not being deceptive about it at all--we were in the middle of a section on fiction...) I imagine that same group of students would become angry with/confused by Kimball's newest book, Us, with its multiple perspectives and its narrator who seems to be none other than Michael Kimball. In Us, the writing of the book is made visible to us, the readers. A grandson imagines what his grandparents lives were like towards their ends--the immense love that they had between them relayed in the details. The straight-forward sentences delivered from Kimball's grandfather's perspective tenderly show a life that only knows how to exist in relation to someone else, his wife, and what happens to that life when the center that was holding it together is no longer there. A quick read. Definitely recommended.

Super Size Me

When Super Size Me first came out in 2004, I remember reading about it, and certainly since then enough people have written about it or have discussed it to the point where I really had no real need to see it--I knew what happened. Some guy eats McDonald's for 30 days and gets really sick. However, I recently watched the documentary for myself, and I am glad that I did. There wasn't anything life-changing about it for me, but I did find some things surprising, like the fact that there is sugar in the salads at McDonald's and also the damage that fat caused to Morgan Spurlock's liver. I also hadn't been aware of the walking restraint Spurlock placed on himself. Personally, I have always been bothered by how little I walk in a given day compared to what I did when I lived in New York. Having actual numbers to quantify things certainly illustrated for me how significant of a difference it really is. Overall, entertaining and interesting. Perhaps something to watch in Comp II this summer.

The hour cop drama

I have been sick for a few weeks now, which has given me a lot of time to spend with Hulu. I don't know that it is a "guilty" pleasure--it may just be a pleasure--whatever the case, I love the hour cop drama and its variations. They all have a simple formula: catch a case at the start of the hour and solve it by the end. Sometimes there might be two cases in a given episode. The show does not even have to be about cops for it to fit this--it could be FBI agents, medical examiners, experts on human behavior, etc. New shows like this crop up all the time, and it seems like more and more they are all following similar character choices: there is always one person who is unlikable (but who we like for just that reason), and there are always quirky assistants/minor characters who act as foils to the main characters. Recently I've watched episodes of Bones, Lie to Me, Detroit 1-8-7, The Chicago Code, and Body of Proof. (Geez, I've been watching a lot of tv lately!) Right now The Chicago Code is probably the most "complex" of those listed. Even though it has the case-per-episode thing going on, it also has a long-term narrative arc: a target for corruption on a politician. And in this sense, the show somewhat resembles my all-time favorite tv shows, The Wire and Twin Peaks. Though The Wire and Twin Peaks each involve crime, their story arcs last for several episodes (or seasons). I don't think The Chicago Code is anywhere near as good as The Wire or Twin Peaks, but I'm enjoying it for now.

David Shapiro Reading

I also recently watched this reading of David Shapiro at CCA from November 3, 2009. I can't embed the video, but you can view it here. Enjoy!

Q 90.1 Pleadge Drive

2011-04-13T08:05:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, Thursday 4/14, I'll be on air during Tell Me More from 11 am-12 pm helping out with Q 90.1's spring plegde drive. Please consider calling in your pledge of support then. 1-877-472-7677.

Diary of When Being With Friends Feels Like Watching TV

2011-04-08T14:29:00.004-04:00

At the Slash Pine Writers Fest, I got to hear Amber Nelson read some from her new Slash Pine chapbook, Diary of When Being With Friends Feels Like Watching TV, and could tell instantly that this was something I'd be interested in. The chapbook opens with an epigraph from Ammons's Garbage, and Ammons, who was so good at recording the daily, makes sense here. The poem reads like a diary (duh)--full of people, daily concerns, a life--and is concerned with isolation in the modern age and the things that one does to pass the time in attempt to not feel so lonely. It references tv stations, shows, and characters, and takes on the role of television in people's lives:

[...] Tonight I will watch tv with my friends.
We'll cheer on one or another tv personality as
they attempt to bend their bodies into art. We won't talk
about art or poems or our own, distinct lonelinesses.
All of us will feel closer to at least one tv personality
than we do to each other. Our wingspans not actual
but luminescent.

The poem mentions True Blood, R. Kelly, Tofutti Cuties, PBR, and a lot more detritus of contemporary American life--a life that is temporary and aware of its own fleeting existence: "The room / is temporary & I am temporary & we are made of switches." The language throughout is creative and descriptive, as someone "appliances," and the narrator "right justif[ies]" to her tiny window on an airplane. There is a sadness to this collection, but also humor, and most-importantly a self-awareness, one that is willing to acknowledge that growing an herb garden will not save the world. However, things don't have to exist on such extremes. We may not be able to save the world, but we just might be able to live in it for awhile. You can pick up a copy and check it out for yourself here. Plus, it is a really cool, well-designed object--it uses magnets!

The Bearinger Boys at Bonnaroo?

2011-04-07T20:05:00.004-04:00

My friends in the Bearinger Boys, a Saginaw-based band, are in a contest right now for a chance to play at this year's Bonnaroo. They are currently in the top 40 and need to be in the top 8. If you have a moment, please consider voting for them here by downloading a song of theirs. Please note, it appears you need a facebook account to participate. Vote here.

New Book Review

2011-04-06T08:36:00.004-04:00

While I was away at the Slash Pine Writers Fest at the University of Alabama, new reviews went up at NewPages, including my review of Matthew Salesses's Our Island of Epidemics. Check it out, plus all the other reviews from the April 1st update, here.

Tomorrow: David Hadbawnik, John Hyland, Robert Dewhurst & Holly Melgard

2011-03-24T18:03:00.003-04:00

On Friday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. Woody O'Brien's in Old Town Saginaw will play host to four poets from the University of Buffalo. The event is free and open to the public. Here is a little info about each poet:

Robert Dewhurst edits Satellite Telephone, and co-edits Wild Orchids. His recent poems and criticism have appeared in Peaches and Bats, ON Contemporary Practice, the Poetry Project Newsletter, and Animal Shelter (forthcoming). He lives in Buffalo, NY, where he attends the Poetics Program at SUNY-Buffalo.

David Hadbawnik is a poet and performer currently living with his wife in Buffalo, NY. Recent publications include the books Translations From Creeley (Sardines, 2008), Ovid in Exile (Interbirth, 2007), and SF Spleen (Skanky Possum, 2006); essays in Jacket and Chicago Review; and poems in Damn the Caesars, Little Red Leaves, and Exquisite Corpse. He is the editor and publisher of Habenicht Press and the journal kadar koli. He began studying towards his PhD in poetics at SUNY Buffalo in fall 2008, where he directs the Buffalo Poets Theater.

John Hyland recently relocated to Buffalo from the Boston-area to do a PhD in English at the University. He has completed graduate degrees at Brandeis University and the University of Maine–Orono. Work has appeared in Tarpaulin Sky and The Modern Review, as well as in numerous places online such as H_NGM_N.

Currently a PhD student in Buffalo’s Poetics Program, Holly Melgard is the incoming co-editor of P-Queue (based at the intersection of prose, line, and verse), ongoing editor of Con-Verse (constraint-based trans-crip/lat-ion series), former editor of Slightly West (Evergreen-based multi-media journal), and forthcoming author of the poetry chapbook Narcsolicitation (TROLL THREAD). Sections of her manuscript Echochambermusic have been published or are forthcoming in Boog City, Scrap Paper, PRESS, Wheelhouse Magazine, TROLL THREAD,
M-Scape, Wikipedia, and Craigslist.

Optimism Against All Logic

2011-03-03T21:19:00.003-05:00

An article I wrote about Detroit/Michigan/Saginaw is now up at Frontier Psychiatrist. You can read it here.

In it, amongst other things, I list a number of open murder cases in the city, but there is some breaking news: today two suspects have been arrested for one of the cases. No details reported yet, but I am hearing a lot of rumors.

March Reviews at NewPages

2011-03-03T11:40:00.002-05:00

The first half of our March reviews are now up at NewPages. In the current listing you'll find the following:

- Caleb Tankersley reviews Our Chrome Arms of Gymnasium by Crystal Curry

- Sima Rabinowitz revews You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake by Anna Moschavakis, Triggermoon Triggermoon by Julia Cohen, My Business Is To Create: Blake's Infinite Writing by Eric G. Wilson, Jargon by Brian Clements, and A Beautiful Name for a Girl by Kirsten Kaschock

- Kimberly Steele reviews then, we were still living by Michael Klein

- Kristin Abraham reviews Saint Erasure by Donna de la Perriere

- JodiAnn Stevenson reviews Head Off & Split by Nicky Finney

- Alex Myers reviews Asunder by Robert Lopez

- Patricia Contino reviews Eden Lake by Jane Roper

- Olive Mullet reviews Fireflies in the Mist by Qurratulain Hyder

- Renee Emerson reviews I & We by Joseph P. Wood

- Alec Moran reviews Horizontal Surfaces by George Bowering

- C.J. Opperthauser reviews This Isa Nice Neighborhood by Farid Matuk

You can view them all here: http://newpages.com/bookreviews/. And check back on March 14th when the second half of this month's reviews will go up.

Saginaw Interview

2011-02-14T08:02:00.004-05:00

Sean Drysdale, aka Pooder (talented musician and book slinger), interviewed me this past Saturday for his Poodcast. I discuss Saginaw, mostly. Some of the things that come up I've been developing into some thing. I wrote a 1500 word essay on my changing attitude toward the city I have always loved and defended, but I don't think that is worth showing anyone. I am now developing some of these ideas into a piece centered around Eminem's Chrysler Super Bowl commercial. Anyhow, if you're so inclined, check out the Poodcast here.

Poem for a Winter Day

2011-02-02T16:41:00.002-05:00

I just chanced upon this poem and thought it was fitting in light of the current weather in the Midwest. It it by L.S. Klatt and can be found in his new book Cloud of Ink:

The States of the Great Lakes

Here I hibernate in a parking lot,
8° Fahrenheit, my engine resting.
I scan the spaces for another living soul.
Gulls rip the guts out of quietude.

Scavengers that winter in the rustbelt
--what in their hollow bones inspires them?

Such cheats are skilled in the tongue:
like doubletalk, they bullshit & canary.

All fuss. All flak. They beat the air
into puffery. I egg on the clouds
to paint the town; everything is white
& white again.

AWP

2011-02-02T14:23:00.001-05:00

So my flight today was canceled due to the snowpocalypse, but I have rescheduled for tomorrow. If I am able to make it to DC, you can find me at the NewPages table (which I believe is D-23 & D-24) in the book fair. I'll also be at these two offsite events:

Lame House & Binge Press at Madam's Organ, Friday at 6 p.m. Featured readers: Lauren Levin, Nathan Hauke, Ben Somers, Becca Klaver, John Beer, Daniela Olszewska, and Donora Hillard. JodiAnn Stevenson & I will be sharing hosting duties.

Immediately following the Lame House & Binge Press event at Madam's Organ is the Coconut Books / Switchback Books / and Horse Less Press event. Readers include: Becca Klaver, Brian Foley, Bruce Covey, Cathy Park Hong, Christopher Salerno, Claire Becker, Daniela Olszewska, Jennifer Tamayo, Jen Tynes, Marisa Crawford, Natalie Lyalin, and me.

I hope everyone has safe travels.

Another blog added to the list

2011-01-26T22:23:00.001-05:00

How could I not have Adam Deutsch's blog listed in my blog roll? Clearly something was wrong. Problem solved now.

This Friday at Court Street Gallery

2011-01-26T20:05:00.004-05:00

(Click on image for larger version)

This Friday the Last Friday Poetry Series at Court Street Gallery officially turns one. Reading will be Christine Hume, Arra Ross, and Chey Davis. Please come out and help us celebrate & say goodbye to the space. Unfortunately, due to a reorganization of the gallery, they will no longer be able to host poetry events, so we're going on hiatus (though there is already talk with another venue to get something going, so we shall see).

I want to give a special thanks to all the poets and writers who have read in this series or any of the other events I hosted here: Kate Greenstreet, JodiAnn Stevenson, Skip Renker, Christi Griffis, Robert Fanning, Tom Laverty, Aaron McCollough, Hazel McClure, Matthew Falk, Matt Hart, Nate Pritts, Mike Sikkema, Chad Sweeney, Kristi Maxwell, Michael Rerick, Adam Clay, William Allegrezza, Garin Cycholl, Mary Ann Samyn, Jeremy Benson, Nathan Hauke, Kirsten Jorgenson, Robin Brox, Ben Somers, Judith Kermin, John Palen, Mariela Griffor, Dan Schell, Anna West, Megan Dougherty, Matt Bell, Josh Maday, Ish Klein, John Beer, Joshua Edwards, Christine Hume, Arra Ross, and Chey Davis. (I just pulled that from memory, so I hope I'm not forgetting anyone!) Also a big thanks to Sarah & Paolo at the gallery.

This last event starts at 7 p.m. This event is free. I hope to see a lot of people there to send this series off with a bang.

Review of Tennis's Cape Dory

2011-01-24T15:06:00.001-05:00

My review of Tennis's Cape Dory is now up at Frontier Psyichiatrist. You can check it out here.

Self-explanatory

2011-01-22T12:43:00.001-05:00

I received this image in an e-mail from a friend this morning. I don't know the source, but it made my morning.

Two More Blogs Added

2011-01-18T18:13:00.002-05:00

This seems to be all that I am posting about lately, but here are a couple more additions to the blog roll. These two blogs should be of extra interest to people interested in following the arts in Mid-Michigan: John Palen's Three-Eyed Fish and Janet Martineau's Mindless Meanderings.

This Friday: Canarium Books at Court Street Gallery

2011-01-17T17:33:00.003-05:00

(Click on image for larger version)

This Friday, January 21st at 7 p.m. please stop by Court Street Gallery to check out three poets who are currently on the road in support of their new books. Reading will be Canarium Books authors Ish Klein and John Beer and Canarium Books Editor Joshua Edwards. Here is more info on each author:

John Beer's first book, The Waste Land and Other Poems, was published by Canarium Books in April 2010. His work has appeared in Verse, The Brooklyn Rail, Denver Quarterly, Crowd, and e...lsewhere.

"Only a genius could write a book called The Waste Land and Other Poems. Well, John Beer is that person. 'I set out to write a treatise on failure, and it turned out my subject was love,' he writes. 'Call it my confusion.' We should all be so confused."
- John Ashbery

Ish Klein is poet and self-taught film and puppet maker. She is an alumna of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop for Poetry. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines and her films have played at festivals around the world. Canarium Books published her first book, Union!, in 2009 and will publish her next book, Moving Day, in early 2011. A longtime resident of Philadelphia, she now lives in Amherst.

“Like the title of her first book Union!, poet Ish Klein’s name deserves to be followed by an exclamation point. Make that three of them.”
- Poetry Flash

Joshua Edwards directs and co-edits Canarium Books. His translation of Mexican poet María Baranda's Ficticia was published by Shearsman Books in September 2010, and his first book of poetry, Campeche (with photographs by his father, Van Edwards), is forthcoming from Noemi Press in early 2011. He's currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and he lives in Berkeley.

Court Street Gallery is located at 417 Hancock Street in Old Town Saginaw. The event is free.

And while we're at it...

2011-01-17T16:46:00.002-05:00

Since I just added two blogs to the blog roll, why not add another? This time I don't know the writer personally, but I once saw him read his poems and I've seen his band too. Check out David Berman's Menthol Mountains.

New Blogs

2011-01-16T10:40:00.003-05:00

I've added two new blogs to my blog roll, both by dear friends of mine and also Lame House Press authors, Hazel McClure and Nathan Hauke. The three of us originally met in Mt. Pleasant as undergrads at Central Michigan University. Our poetry teacher called that year of students his "all-star team," because in addition to us, there were many other poets dedicated to the art who went on to M.F.A. programs and have published books. I've known Hazel and Nathan for over ten years now and I think my life is the better for it. Please check out Hazel's blog Catalpa & Ash here, and Nathan's blog Blue Rags Stitched Together By Crows here. I always thought my blog title would be one of the longest out there, but Nathan blew me out of the water.

New York Memories...

2011-01-14T20:45:00.002-05:00

I was going through and deleting files on my computer today when I came across this gem (saved as "Landlord Complaint") from 2006:

We are writing to inform you of the inhabitable condition of Apartment #11 at XXX Hooper St. When we signed the lease to the apartment in February, we submitted a request in writing to have the bathroom ceiling fixed before we moved in. However, it was not fixed.

Since moving in on March 1, 2006, we have reported a number of problems to both the superintendent XXXX and XXXX Realty, the worst one being the leak in the bathroom ceiling.

The last time the water came through the ceiling, Saturday April 22, 2006, we talked to both YYYY on the phone and ZZZZ in person, and we were assured that the source of the problem would be found and fixed.

However, on Friday June 2, 2006, water began pouring through the bathroom ceiling, through the light fixture and various cracks along the walls. This lasted for approximately two hours, causing paint and plaster to fall onto the floor, filling three buckets of water, and flooding the floor. This is the fourth time since March 1, 2006 this major leak in the bathroom has occurred. We see no other solution but to move out of the apartment as soon as possible to allow XXXX Realty to fix the source of the problem. As it is, the apartment is uninhabitable.

In addition to the water problem, the refrigerator door does not stay closed, the pipe underneath the kitchen sink falls off regularly, and paint is peeling from the ceiling in the bedroom. Also, in one of the bedrooms, bars were partially removed and are now hanging off the window. Please see enclosed pictures.

We hope to find a new place to live as soon as possible and expect to receive our full security deposit since we are being forced to leave the apartment due to unsafe living conditions.

Please contact us as soon as possible to resolve this matter.

Introducing Matt Bell

2011-01-13T19:49:00.002-05:00

I imagine the people who read this blog already know Matt Bell so there is no introduction necessary, but here is a profile I wrote about him for a local alt arts and entertainment paper: "Introducing Matt Bell."

Adventures in Audio Books

2011-01-09T10:48:00.004-05:00

For a recent car trip, N & I decided to take along an audio book. The last time I listened to an audio book was in a high school English class. I can't remember what book it was now, but we were to read along as we listened and highlight moments that related to the various themes of the book. (Our teacher had identified three themes before we started the book, and we were to have a different color highlighter for each theme.) When thinking about the possibilities of audio books for this road trip, I thought what could be better than Tracy Morgan's I Am the New Black read by Tracy Morgan?

It was when I was getting ready to put the first cd in that I noticed the packaging for the audio book stated in the lower left corner "An Adaptation." In the introduction, Morgan refers to the audience as people interested in listening to his story, so I thought perhaps that was the extent of the adaptation--instead of addressing readers, he would be addressing listeners. However, in numerous instances it becomes clear that Morgan had departed from any sort of script.

There was a moment of time where I had the opportunity to edit audio books, which I had to pass on due to other obligations. Realistically, I don't think I have the patience to sit and listen to a work and compare it to the original text. And in a case like I Am the New Black, I imagine it made much more sense to say the audio was "an adaptation" instead of trying to make it match the original. At times the audio book is rambling and often the information contradicts itself, and the last two discs splice in these brief pieces on other comedians that made me wonder if they were interspersed throughout the entire book or if they only do come in towards the end after Morgan was working as a comic. The audio book definitely has some advantages over the print book. For instance, Morgan includes the last two songs that his father recorded before his death, which is surely something the book doesn't include.

After listening to the audio book, both N & I had the same reaction: We now both really want to read the actual book. I wonder, is a normal reaction to audio books? Or perhaps it was only because it was so clear that this version didn't match the original? Anyone out there have similar experiences with audio books?

Review of Kate Bernheimer's Horse, Flower, Bird

2011-01-09T10:45:00.003-05:00

My review of Kate Bernheimer's Horse, Flower, Bird is now up at NewPages. You can read it here.

New Review at Frontier Psychiatrist

2011-01-07T10:35:00.003-05:00

My review of Just Kids is now up at Frontier Psychiatrist. You can read it here. And if you're not already familiar with FP, take some time to check out what's all there. The website, which describes itself as being "devoted to urban life, music, food, drink, and culture," burst onto the scene about a year ago. The "About Us" page says, "With staff writers in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Washington DC, and a growing roster of local and national contributors, FP chronicles indie life in America in an attempted tone of authority tempered by humility and irreverence." It's definitely become regular reading for me.

Pittsburgh Bound

2011-01-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

Heading to Toledo tomorrow to see The Triple Aces play at Frankie's Inner City, and then heading to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to check out the Warhol Museum. I'm going to have some extra time in Pittsburgh, so if anyone has suggestions of places to check out, let me know in the comments field below. I've already been hearing about a lot of great places on Facebook--The Church Brew Works, E. Carson St., Primanti Bros., and the National Aviary.

Year-End Lists

2010-12-31T10:04:00.003-05:00

For me, the problem with year end lists is that I don't really keep track of what I have done--what books I've read, what music I've listened to, what movies I've seen--during the past year. Especially when it comes to books, my year-end lists will always favor books that I have read recently, most likely within the last six months. With that in mind, here are ten books, listed in no particular order, I enjoyed this past year:

1.) Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer
2.) L.A. Liminal by Becca Klaver
3.) Dear Sandy, Hello by Ted Berrigan
4.) Just Kids by Patti Smith
5.) Richard Yates by Tao Lin
6.) The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
7.) The Irrationalist by Suzanne Buffam
8.) An Answer To an Inquiry by Robert Walser
9.) The Wonderfull Yeare by Nate Pritts
10.) Heaven by Mairead Byrne

*

When it comes to music, everything old is new again and I spend most of my time listening to Sam Cooke Radio on Pandora when I am working. I also like newer acts with throwback sounds like Mayer Hawthorne, Raphael Saadiq, and Ryan Shaw, though none of those artists had new albums out in 2010 (at least I don't think they did). However, Cee-Lo had a new album come out, and I have been enjoying Lady Killer. I also picked up the new Arcade Fire, and discovered Janelle Monae, Cadillac Sky, Gaslight Anthem, and Best Coast this year, so it's been a good year for music.

*

As far as movies go, it's kind of embarrassing how far out of the loop I am on this one. I can probably count on one hand how many times I went to see a movie this year, and I don't own a Netflix account. The most notable movie I saw, I received a copy of in the mail: I Will Smash You, a short documentary film by Michael Kimball and Luca Dipierro. Highly recommended. I also enjoyed Max Greenstreet's documentary My Own Eyes, which can be viewed here. One thing Saginaw this area lacks is a venue for independent film; however, my recent discovery of the film schedule at the Flint Institute of Arts should make 2011 a better movie-going year.

*

The past few years have been rough for me for various reasons, and I jokingly tend to great the new year by saying, "Come on 20[whatever], do your worst." I think I am going to stop doing that. This year I lost a number of people close to me. Rest in peace Aunt Wanda, John, Mark, and Sean.

Recent Reading

2010-12-28T11:22:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I finally got around to reading Patti Smith's Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award this year. I found Smith's prose style to be instantly engaging--I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it. It's the story of her friendship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe, beginning with their chance meeting in Brooklyn in 1967 and going through the various things they experienced together during their pursuit to become artists. Their shared story takes place in a New York City that no longer exists--one where artists could live (though maybe go hungry) on very little money, one where everyone at the Chelsea Hotel was somebody, one where Andy Warhol's Factory was the scene to be in, one where you could randomly bump into the likes Allen Ginsburg, Gregory Corso, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, William Burroughs, and Sam Shepard (to name a few people). I recommend it to my artist friends, music fan friends, and my New York friends.

Also, check out this video Patti Smith in conversation with Paul Holdengraber at the New York Public Library.

Saginaw Preservation

2010-12-23T14:04:00.002-05:00

I came across this article via Facebook: "A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever; Rightsizing in Saginaw." It begins talking about the streets of West Saginaw, but then includes an image from East Saginaw of my favorite house (pictured above), which is in my neighborhood. Preservation is something we have never been good at here, and I think the commentators raise a lot of interesting points across the spectrum of the value of preserving these buildings. It makes me sad to see them in the condition they are in, but our economic reality is what has led them into this condition and I don't see much headway being made in this area financially. So what is there to do?

Finding Saginaw

2010-12-21T09:08:00.002-05:00

On Sunday's All Things Considered, there was a brief story on Eric Schantz, a Saginaw-based artist, and the Paint Saginaw organization. You can listen to it here: "Finding Simon & Garfunkel's 'America' in Saginaw, Mich."

Here is a photo that I took in October 2008. This house has since been torn down.

Gathering To Bring Awareness of Peace To Saginaw

2010-12-17T10:27:00.002-05:00

This Sunday from 11 to 12 a.m. there will be a gathering on the Saginaw County Courthouse lawn. Here is the call from the Facebook invite:

Please come and shine the light of awareness on the continuing violence that continues to plague our home. For too long now we have let others dictate the safety of our surroundings. This is not the whole answer, but it can be a spark and a start. Bring signs, energy, and warm clothes.

CW2 Board Game Drive

2010-12-17T10:23:00.002-05:00

Communities Working 2gether (CW2) is accepting board game and puzzle donations for the holidays to give to those less fortunate in our community. You can drop new or lightly used games & puzzles off at the Saginaw Community Foundation or Shaper's Hair Salon. I found a lot of classic games--Chutes & Ladders, Candy Land, Memory, etc.--on sale for $5 each at Meijer a few weeks ago. I'm sure there are still tons of sales heading into the final week of xmas shopping.

New Reviews at NewPages

2010-12-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

This month we had a big batch of book reviews, so we divided them into two. The first batch went up on December 1st, and the most recent went up on the 14th. In the latest update you can find:

- Vivisect by Lisa Lewis reviewed by Sima Rabinowitz
- Reliquary Fever by Beckian Fritz Goldberg reviewed by Sima Rabinowitz
- Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson reviewed by Alex Myers
- Baby & Other Stories by Paula Boomer reviewed by Elena Spagnolie
- The Sixty-Five Years of Washington by Juan Jose Saer reviewed by Olive Mullet
- Letters From the Emily Dickinson Room by Kelli Russell Agodon reviewed by Renee Emerson
- Nine Worthies by Caroline Knox reviewed by Renee Emerson
- An Invisible Rope: Portraits of Czeslaw Milosz edited by Cynthia L. Haven reviewed by Lisa Dolensky
- Birds For a Demolition by Manoel de Barros revied by Sima Rabinowitz
- Sweetgrass by Micah Lang reviewed by Chey Davis
- The Oldest Hands in the World by Daniele Pantano reviewed by Sima Rabinowitz

You can read all of the reviews here.

Getting to work

2010-12-12T17:47:00.002-05:00

Look for a new chapbook from Lame House Press just in time for AWP 2011.

House cleaning

2010-12-12T17:35:00.003-05:00

I just took a few minutes to click through all of the links I have in the right panel to lit bloggers and have removed any that were no longer functioning, any that had been set to private, and any that had not had any posts in 2010. I also updated blog addresses for people who have relocated. If you feel like you have been deleted in error, let me know.

Crime in Saginaw

2010-12-08T08:23:00.003-05:00

For the past five years (or has it been six now?), the little city of Saginaw, MI, my hometown, has topped the FBI's violent crime list with the most violent crimes per capita. So far during 2010, we have been seeing a decrease in violent crime, but now we have had two homicides in the span of one week. The latest victim, a 20-year-old female, was shot last night. There are no real details of what has happened, but you can read about it here.

I've been working (mostly in my head so far) on an essay (or something) about my love/hate relationship with this city, and one of the things that I am concerned about is how segregated the city is, and how it is accepted as "normal" for there to be violent crimes on the east side of the city, while it is abnormal for it to happen on the west side of the city, which led to the media coverage and response to Sean Stennett's killing last week. I am hoping that the people who are working for peace on the east side are able to connect with the people working for peace on the west side, and vice versa, so that one day this city no longer accepts violence as the norm.

Tonight: A Candlelight Vigil for Sean and Peace in Saginaw

2010-12-04T10:09:00.002-05:00

There is a candlelight vigil for Sean Stennett at the Courthouse tonight starting at 9 PM. Afterward, head over to the Red Eye and the 211. There will be music, raffles, and auctions. One hundred percent of all proceeds will go to Sean's family.

I have been reeling from the news of Sean's death since I first heard it, and I have a lot to say about the state of things in Saginaw, but now is not the time. It's the time to remember Sean and celebrate the wonderful person he was. Rest in peace and love.

Tonight at Court Street Gallery

2010-12-02T09:50:00.004-05:00

Tonight at 6 p.m. please join us to celebrate the recent release of Matt Bell's How They Were Found. Matt will be present to read from his new collection, and Josh Maday will also be reading. Afterward, Traeder, who recently released a new cd, will be performing.

Here is some info about Bell:

Matt Bell is the author of How They Were Found, published by Keyhole Press in October 2010, as well as three chapbooks, Wolf Parts (Keyhole Press), The Collectors (Caketrain Press), and How the Broken Lead the Blind (Willows Wept Press). His fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Hayden's Ferry Review, Willow Springs, Unsaid, and American Short Fiction, and has been selected for inclusion in anthologies such as Best American Mystery Stories 2010 and Best American Fantasy 2. His book reviews and critical essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, American Book Review, and The Quarterly Conversation.

He is also the editor of The Collagist and of Dzanc's Best of the Web anthology series.

He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife Jessica.

The event starts at 6 PM and is free. Court Street Gallery is located at 417 Hancock Street in Old Town Saginaw, Michigan.

New Book Reviews at NewPages

2010-12-01T12:12:00.002-05:00

I have not been doing a good job of announcing things here, but I am going to try to be a little better about it...

Anyhow, the big news today is that we received so many book reviews this month at NewPages that we have decided to split the reviews in two--so half of them went up today, and the other half will go live on December 14th. In today's update you can find the following:

- Alex Myers reviews Pirate Talk or Mermalade by Terese Svoboda
- Elena Spagnolie reviews The Creative Writer's Survival Guide by John McNally
- H.V. Cramond reviews Muted Lines From Someone Else's Memory by Seth Berg
- Olive Mullet reviews God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam
- Sima Rabinowitz reviews Indexical Elegies by John Paul Fiorentino & Velleity's Shade by Star Black and Bill Knott
- Tessa Mellas reviews The Patterns of Paper Monsters by Emma Rathbone
- C.J. Opperthauser reviews Skin, Inc. by Thomas Sayers Ellis
- Renee Emerson reviews Present Tense by Anna Rabinowitz
- Carold Dorf reviews Sonnets by Camille Martin
& I review Please Take Me Off the Guest List by Nick Zinner, Zachary Lipez and Stacy Wakefield

You can read all the reviews here.

New Book Reviews at NewPages

2010-09-01T13:25:00.003-04:00

It's the first of the month, which means there are new book reviews posted at NewPages! This month's update includes the following:

- Kimberly Steele reviews Gospel Earth by Jeffery Beam
- Sarah Rehmer reviews Hold Tight: The Truck Darling Poems by Jeni Olin
- Michael Flatt reviews The Return by Roberto Bolano
- Caleb Tankersley reviews Kids of the Black Hole by Dewar MacLeod
- Chey Davis reviews Diasporas in the New Media Age edited by Andoni Alonso and Pedro J. Oiarzabal
- Ann Beman reviews Brazil by Jesse Lee Kercheval
- Larry O. Dean reviews All the Whiskey in Heaven by Charles Bernstein
- Patrick Michael Finn reviews High Notes by Lois Roma-Deeley
- Jeremy Benson reviews Bar Napkin Sonnets by Moira Egan
- James Mc Laughlin reviews Shahid Reads His Own Palm by Reginald Dwayne Betts
& I review The Best of (What's Left of) Heaven by Mairead Byrne

You can read all the reviews here.

Upcoming Readings & Events

2010-06-28T16:07:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, August 4 at Series A in Chicago, IL
Thursday, September 30 at Local Author Festival, Zauel Library, Saginaw, MI
Friday, October 29 at the Stain of Poetry in Brooklyn, NY

June Reviews at NewPages

2010-06-01T13:34:00.004-04:00

It's the first of the month, which means the new batch of book reviews have gone live at NewPages. This month's batch includes:

- Kate Angus on Orange Crush by Simone Muench
- Keith Meatto on Not Blessed by Harold Abramowitz
- Dan Magers on Gurlesque: The New Grrly, Grotesque, Burlesque Poetics, edited by Lara Glenum & Arielle Greenberg
- Kristin Abraham on Divination Machine by F. Daniel Rzicznek
- Kate Angus on I Was the Jukebox by Sandra Beasley
- Alex Myers on Hook & Jill by Andrea Jones
- Robert Paul Moreira on Currency by Zoe Zolbrod
- Ann Beman on Seldom Seen: A Journey Into the Great Plains by Patrick Dobson
- Jason Hinkley on The Vera Wright Trilogy by Elizabeth Jolley
- Sara C. Rauch on The Mechanics of Falling and Other Stories by Catherine Brady
- Laura Pryor on Drake's Bay by T.A. Roberts
- Michael Flatt on Tough Skin by Sarah Eaton
- Christina Hall on Many and Many A Year Ago by Selcuk Altun
- Kimberly L. Becker on Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington DC, edited by Kim Roberts
- Jeremy Benson on Girl on a Bridge by Suzanne Frischkorn
- Lara Pryor on Family Parables by Boris Pintar
- Alex Myers on Dilemmas of Deokie by Carol Sammy
- Lisa Dolensky on My Heart Flooded With Water: Selected Poems by Alfonsina Storni
- Christine Kanownik on Moth Moon by Matt Jasper

You can read all the reviews here.

Tonight: Last Friday at Court Street Gallery

2010-05-28T11:07:00.004-04:00

May 28th, 2010 7pm

Court Street Gallery's Last Friday Poetry Event presents Adam Clay, Michael Rerick, and Kristi Maxwell.

Adam Clay is the author of The Wash (Parlor Press, 2006) and A Hotel Lobby at the Edge of the World (Milkweed Editions, forthcoming). He co-edits Typo Magazine, curates the Poets in Print Reading Series at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, and teaches at Western Michigan University.

Michael Rerick is the author of In Ways Impossible to Fold (Marsh Hawk Press) and X-Ray (Flying Guillotine Press). He is currently finishing his Ph D at the University of Cincinnati.

Kristi Maxwell is the author of Hush Sessions (Saturnalia Books, 2009), Realm Sixty-four (Ahsahta Press, 2008), and the chapbook Elsewhere & Wise (Dancing Girl Press, 2008). Her poems have appeared in How2, Coconut, Tarpaulin Sky, and other journals. She currently lives in Cincinnati, where she co-curates the Bon Mot/ley Reading Series.

Cost of entry is $3.00.

Court Street Gallery
414 Court Street (2nd floor)
Old Town Saginaw

Urgent Call: Poets for Living Waters

2010-05-24T11:19:00.001-04:00

Poets for Living Waters is a poetry action in response to the Gulf Oil Disaster of April 20, 2010, one of the most profound man-made ecological catastrophes in history. Former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky describes the popularity of poetry after 9/11 as a turn away from the disaster’s overwhelming enormity to a more manageable individual scale. As we confront the magnitude of this recent tragedy, such a return may well aid us.

The first law of ecology states that everything is connected to everything else. An appreciation of this systemic connectivity suggests a wide range of poetry will offer a meaningful response to the current crisis, including work that harkens back to Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing regional effects.

This online periodical is the first in a planned series of actions. Further actions will include a print anthology and a public reading in Washington DC.

If you would like to submit work for consideration, please send 1-3 poems, a short bio, and credits for any previously published submissions to:

poetsforlivingwaters@yahoo.com

Editors: Amy King & Heidi Lynn Staples
http://poetsforlivingwaters.com

Readings This Weekend

2010-05-19T12:49:00.004-04:00

On Friday, May 21, I will be reading with Nate Pritts in St. Louis, MO. The reading is at Slow Rocket Farm (1944 Cherokee Street) and starts at 7pm. Please note, if it is raining, the reading will be moved to 1719 Preston Place.

Saturday reading location and time TBD.

Sunday, May 23rd, Nate & I will be reading in Cleveland, OH at Visible Voice Books (1023 Kenilworth). The reading starts at 3pm.

Nate & I will have our limited edition collaborative chapbook available for sale at all readings.

Hope to see some folks while I'm out on the road!

May Book Reviews at NewPages

2010-05-13T10:41:00.002-04:00

The May Book Reviews are up at NewPages (and have actually been up since the first!):

- Alex Myers reviews Toad's Museum of Freaks and Wonders by Goldie Goldbloom
- Kristin Abraham reviews Bobcat Country by Brandi Homan
- Keith Meatto reviews Mattaponi Queen; Stories by Belle Boggs
- Sara C. Rauch reviews Further Adventures in the Restless Universe by Dawn Raffel
- Jeremy Benson reviews The White Visitation by David Brennan
- Jennifer Sinor reviews Quotidiana by Patrick Madden
- Catherine Daly reviews Bharat jiva by kari edwards
- Roy Wang reviews 0,0 by Amit Majmudar
- Christine Kanownik reviews Lost Alphabet by Lisa Olstein
- Kate Angus reviews Sing, Mongrel by Claire Hero
- Kristin Abraham reviews A Little Middle of the Night by Molly Brodak
- Elizabeth Townsend reviews Life of a Star by Jane Unrue
- Jeremy Benson reviews Hints & Allegations by Amanda J. Bradley
- Therese Halscheid reviews Six Lips by Penelope Scambly Schott

You can read them all here.

Threatened Species Reading Tonight

2010-05-13T10:35:00.003-04:00

Tonight at Court Street Gallery in Old Town Saginaw (414 Court St., 2nd floor, between Hamilton and Michigan), Jeff Vande Zande will be celebrating the launch of his new book, Threatened Species & Other Stories. I will be joining him, reading briefly from my book, A Model Year. The event starts at 7PM and is FREE. I hope to see some friends there!

For more information, click here: "Threatened Species at Court Street."

New Book Review Editor at 360 Main Street

2010-04-15T10:16:00.002-04:00

360 Main Street now has a Book Review Editor, Michael Sikkema. If you are interested in reviewing books for us, or if you would like to have your book considered for review at 360, please contact Michael at michael[dot]sikkema@gmail[dot]com.

Read about Michael here. Check out some titles currently available for review here.

April Book Reviews at NewPages

2010-04-04T15:40:00.002-04:00

The April update of book reviews at NewPages went up on the 1st. In this update, you'll find the following:

- Sara C. Rauch reviews Sum of Every Lost Ship by Allison Titus
- Christine Kanownik reviews Shoulder Season by Ange Mlinko & Unsound by Jennifer Martenson
- Keith Meatto reviews If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home by John Jodzio
- Jeremy Benson reviews The Bugging Watch & Other Exhibits by Kim Gek Lin Short
- Kate Angus reviews Pulleys & Locomotion by Rachel Galvin
- Alex Myers reviews Where the Dog Star Never Glows by Tara L. Masih
- Laura Pryor reviews The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
- John Findura reviews 100 Notes on Violence by Julie Carr & Father Dirt by Mihaela Moscaliuc
- Larry O. Dean reviews Dirty August by Edip Cansever
- Lisa Dolensky reviews Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk
- Carol Dorf reviews In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991 by N. Scott Momaday
- Joel A. Lewis reviews Droppers: America's First Hippie Commune by Mark Matthews

Check them out here.

Last Friday at Court Street Gallery

2010-03-24T21:39:00.003-04:00

This Friday, March 26th is another Last Friday event, featuring poetry by Matthew Falk, Nate Pritts, and Matt Hart. Music by Mike Galbraith. The event kicks off at 7pm. Cost: $3.

Court Street Gallery is located at 414 Court Street (between Michigan and Hamilton) in Old Town Saginaw.

This event is going to be great! You can read a profile of Matt Hart here, and a review of the latest book by Nate Pritts here. Also, look for an article on the Last Friday series in tomorrow's issue of Review. We're blowing up!

Q 90.1 Spring Fundraiser

2010-03-24T21:37:00.000-04:00

I'll be on air from 9 to 11 am tomorrow helping out with Q 90.1's spring fundraiser. Please call ina and support your local NPR station if you haven't already. 1-877-472-7677.

You can also donate online here.

All Small Caps 3/29

2010-03-23T08:45:00.003-04:00

On Monday, March 29th, I'll be reading with Joshua Harmon at the All Small Caps reading series in Wendell, MA. The event gets underway at 7:30pm and takes place at the Deja Brew Pub (57 Lockes Village Road). Cost of entry is a sliding scale from $1 to $5.

This will be my first East Coast reading since A Model Year came out, so I will be sure to have copies with me for sale. I am looking forward to the event, reading with Joshua, and visiting with Jess. I wish my trip didn't have to be so short, but work doesn't allow for much time off.

Winner of the Coconut Books Giveaway

2010-03-17T09:05:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Hank Morris, who was selected through a randomly picked number by Natalie Lyalin. He will be receiving the five titles from Coconut Books listed here.