Somehow it’s September. Are you like me and wondering where the summer went? Well, at least I still have a vacation attitude in that I remain indolent and easily distracted.
Contributors to Solace in So Many Words have been busy.
I want to remind you again that Jan Bottiglieri’s new chapbook “Where Gravity Pools the Sugar” is out from Finishing Line Press.
Daniel Chacón has revamped his website. His next book,” is a hybrid of flash-stories and loops in text and video, coming soon to your touch pad or electronic reader. Some of stories will be in text, some short films or video imagery, but together they will create the shape of the water, the firmament of an imaginary landscape.
If you want an easy way to keep up with what’s happening in poetry, just follow what Kathleen Kirk is reading. She has a regular post at Escape into Life and reviews poetry for Prick of the Spindle. And don’t forget she has her own blog.
Ellen Bass continues to teach acclaimed workshops; check out her website for exact details. Her poem “Prayer” recently appeared in Narrative Magazine (no link because it is subscription).
Philip Levine’s poem “What Work Is” was aptly featured Labor Day on A Year of Being Here, a site that features “daily mindfulness poetry by wordsmith of the here and now.”
The month has started well for me with three publications so far. First up was my poem “Ignominious Bubble and Pop” at the Olentangy Review. Olentangy Review is a literary website and quarterly magazine edited by husband and wife team Darryl and Melissa Price. It was given this name because the two met while they were neighbors in an apartment building near the Olentangy River in Ohio. On their first date, Melissa and Darryl sat on a bench by the river and watched the ducks. Many thanks to the Prices for publishing this poem. Check out the whole site; it’s worth the read.
Then I have a short story (“Dear Robert James Waller”) up at Pithead Chapel. Pithead Chapel is a small, independent, and volunteer-run literary journal out of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I have read and enjoyed most of the content on the site so make sure you check out everything posted there. Many thanks to Keith Rebec and Molly Bonovsky Anderson for choosing my story. I’m so happy Cherry found a home.
Also, I have a very short and sweet little poem “Fall” at Ayris. Ayris is produced by students in the Creative Writing Program at New Hampshire Institute of Art.
Tonight I am going to a reading by my friend Deborah Nodler Rosen. Her new book, sight/seer, is just out from Virtual Artists Collective.
Last night I went to The Empty Bottle to hear four of the six new authors from Curbside Splendor. What variety. Authors reading were Daniela Olszewska, Joseph Bates, Chris Terry, and Samantha Irby. If you haven’t heard of Samantha Irby then you haven’t been reading the literary press. Her book Meaty is garnering raves far and wide. Congrats to Victor David Giron and Jacob Knabb of Curbside for their six new September titles and all their success. So happy to see Chicago kicking butt.
In citing a recent publication of my poem “Awkward” in Prism Review, I mentioned how impressed I was with the story “The Boston Tar Baby” by Ned Randle. Turns out Ned has two books out. One is poetry (Running at Night–Collected Poems 1976-2012) and the other is literary fiction (Baxter’s Friends). You can learn more about Ned and his writing by visiting his website.
Peace, love, and solace
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