My chapbook I Live Here Now is now available from Lame House Press. I just got my copies a few days ago. Super excited!
Also, I wrote another music review for The Rumpus a few weeks about the Cass McCombs’ record Humor Risk. You can read it here. The next record I am going to write a review about is Angel Olsen’s Strange Cacti.
I think that is it for now…oh! Stay tuned for the new POP (which will go live later this week) by Cynthia Arrieu-King, Sommer Browning, and Ana Bozicevic!
My third chapbook I Live Here Now is available for pre-order from Lame House Press now! I’m really glad that these poems have found such an awesome home. Thank you Gina Myers!
A while ago I had three poems published in EOAGH but I think I forgot to tell you. You can go here to read them. It is a massive issue and I’m pleased to have some of my poems be included. Thanks to Tim Peterson!
Also, my poem “The Boat to Shore is Still Arriving at Shore” was the poem of the day for Indigest last week. You can hear it here. Thanks to Dustin Luke Nelson and all the guys at InDigest!
My friend Alice gave me the Sean Rowe album Magic for Christmas and I love, love, love it. It’s been a while since I’ve loved an album. Here is one of my favorites:
Well, it’s been about a week since I’ve been back from the Vermont Studio Center. It was kind of a tough week, re-entering, going back to work, etc. I was at VSC for two weeks and it was a pretty amazing experience. I have never done anything like VSC before. There is truly something to be said about having time to let your brain breathe, to come to creativity. And about not being in New York. Here are some photos.
Peace through Culture.
My sleeping room.
My sleeping house.
My studio. Outside that window there is a river.
Here is the river.
This the the building my studio is in.
The Red Mill, where the dining hall is.
A morning walk.
An afternoon walk.
A snowing morning.
Wisdom found in one of the artist’s studios.
Self-Portrait.
Being at VSC is something I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to experience and hope it will inform future decisions in my life.
In other news, the new Poets off Poetry is up now featuring a collaborative piece by Travis Nichols and Paul Killebrew. You can read the essay here. Next month brings us another collaborative piece by three lovely ladies: Cynthia Arrieu-King, Sommer Browning, and Ana Božičević!
Even though it was a rough week transitioning back to my everyday responsibilities, I did get to go on a wonderful date to see an evening of the Merce Cunningham Legacy Tour at BAM. Here is an excerpted video of BIPED from 1999, one of the pieces we saw at BAM. I don’t know much about dance but found myself enthralled.
First, I have two poems in the latest issue of H_NGM_N. You can read them read here. Big thanks to Nate!
Next, check out the most recent Poets off Poetry featuring an essay by Matthew Rohrer about one Journey song in-particular. You can read the essay here.
Oh, and don’t miss the special Poets off Poetry Metallica feature! It was just posted today. You can read it here. Big thanks to Steven Karl for putting that all together and be sure to stay tuned for more special features about Funkadelic, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Lastly, I wrote a short review about Eleanor Friedberger’s Last Summer. You can read it here. I hope to write some more short reviews in the future and get better at doing so in the process. Next up will be about Cass McCombs’ new record Humor Risk. Here’s a live version of one of my favorite songs on the album.
I have two poems from my forthcoming chapbook I Live Here Now (Lame House Press, December 2011) in the latest issue of the Sink Review. The journal got a pretty-pretty redesign and I am pleased to be in such good company. Special thanks to the editors, Steven Karl and Dan Magers!
Video footage of some of my poems turned into a short theater piece can be seen here. Still bummed that I wasn’t able to be there in real life. I was a little uncomfortable with the extent to which anger factored into the piece because I feel like the anger in those poems is a bit more subtle than that but I guess everyone has their own way of interpreting things. I do however love the music, the first song especially. You can find my chapbook Red Fortress here and try to read along while you watch!
For those of you interested, 10Q started yesterday. I did it last year and last week I got my answers back. Pretty much said what I expected it to. It has been a productive year for me. I noticed yesterday that when I went to answer the first question that I was able to do so with ease. Not sure if it is because I am just in a better head space (which is most definitely true) or if it’s because I’ve been keeping a journal now for almost a year so I’ve gotten pretty good, or better rather at “reflecting.” Either way, I think it is an interesting thing to do, the 10Q. It’s good to just sit quietly and think about your life sometimes. But maybe not for too long. I end up getting all angsty quite quickly when I do.
I am happy to report that several poems from my chapbook Red Fortress (H_NGM_N) are being turned into short theater pieces for Hearth Gods’ first Poet Nights.
This is immensely interesting and flattering to me. How would someone else choose to represent my poems? Will there be dialogue? What will it sound like? I just spoke with the director on the phone to help him get a sense of certain phases in the poems that he wanted to unpack a little more. It was really challenging (in a good way) to have to speak about what is going on in my poems, especially because I am in such a different emotional headspace than I was when I wrote them. Sadly, I am going to miss both performances, so please go in my stead. My good friend Graeme Bezanson, who is the reason why my poems even made it into the curator’s hands in the first place, has some poems being performed as well. I think this whole event is going to be great and I am really, really bummed to miss it. They are going to record the performances so as least I will get to see them! I will also post them here too so you can as well. You can find more information about Hearth Gods here.
Also, since it’s been about two weeks since I’ve checked in with you here that means I’ve yet to tell you about Songs of the Week by Lily Brown and Jeff T. Johnson. Go read and enjoy and tell your friends.
In other Coldfront news, did you see the latest POP by Ed Skoog? Check it out here. His essay got a small write up on SLOG blog of Seattle’s Stranger. You can check that out here.
The new Forklift, Ohio just arrived at my house today and it is massive! Each issue weighs more than 1/2 pound and each cover is different! Mine look like this:
You can see a full list of contributors and purchase your copy here.
And last but not least, I turned 30 on Friday, and you know what? I feel pretty good about it.
I came home from work today and listened to this very, very loudly on these new speakers that recently moved into my home a few weeks before their owner is expected to.
Check out the latest Song of the Week by Katy Henriksen here. Thanks Katy!
In other news, here is a short video from the New York Poetry Festival last weekend on Governors Island. Thanks to DJ Dolack for putting the video together.
You can check out the full post and some additional photos here.
Also, if you are in the New York area on August 31, I will be reading for the new Mental Marginalia series. The reading is at The West Cafe, 379 Union Ave, Williamsburg. Maybe see you there?
Oh, and also, I keep forgetting to tell you that I have two poems in the first issue of CLOCK magazine. The journal is a real pretty little thing and the poems in it are pretty awesome as well. You can learn more about how to purchase CLOCK here.
I will be reading tomorrow for the first annual New York Poetry Festival on Governors Island. I am reading around 12.30pm with the rest of the Coldfront crew. I’ve never been to Governor’s Island but am excited to check it out. There are over 100 other poets reading and I can only imagine the effort that went into arranging everything.
In other news Lame House Press is going to be publishing my chapbook I Live Here Now in December. Exciting! Thank you to Lame House Press proprietor Gina Myers! I’m going to attempt to design (or semi-design) the cover of this one. I’ll let you know how it goes!
