I could says thanks every day to my contributors and it wouldn't be enough. That they answered my call for submissions and had faith in the project sustained me when my confidence wavered. Solace in So Many Words wouldn't be anything without them -- not only are they generous artists, they're terrific writers, and I am not the only one who thinks so. Wally Swist's new book, Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love, was chosen by Yusef Komunyakaa as a co-winner in the Crab … [Read more...]
I really am grateful
Anyone who has worked on a project designing something, like remodeling a house, knows that sometimes it is not the big decisions that faze you, but the little choices. The designer may ask something simple about doors or locksets, like “Knobs or latches?” and you’re way-laid thinking about something you never gave much consideration to before. So it has been with me and front of the book stuff. One big stumbling block was deciding whether to have a separate page for … [Read more...]
Welcome
Hello— Glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll want to visit often, and let me hear from you. For me it has been all solace all the time lately. The book has consumed my life of late, and it has been quite fulfilling (and other things too). Funny thing, I’ve thought about this first blog entry since I began the project and I have a million ideas in my head, and if I addressed them all this blog would be as long as the book itself. So, I’ll keep this first post simple: … [Read more...]
Some days
You see clouds and think if you could just cross those peaks and find a soft place on the other side, you’d be okay. Ellen Wade Beals … [Read more...]
What I’m Reading for Solace
by Kathleen Kirk Congratulations to Ellen Beals on the release of Solace in So Many Words, her anthology of words of comfort. When she first conceived of the book, as a gathering of poems and prose pieces that might give solace to a country crushed and grieving after the events of 9/11, I was moved by her impulse and effort. In calling for work that respected a universal and ongoing need for solace, she knew her project was something that could evolve, as it has over … [Read more...]