Thank you for Beale

I wanted to thank the folks at Hollins for making my stay a wonderful one. I especially wanted to thank Erin and Carrie and James and Erin's boyfriend for Beale Garden. Beale Garden used to be such a wild, overgrown thing.

Readings at Hollins University

I'll be giving a reading at my alma mater Hollins University on March 6 at 8:15 p.m. in the Green Drawing Room.

AWP Events

I know this is a bit late, but I'll be signing books at the Sarabande table from 2:00 - 3:00 today, Thursday, January 31.

On Saturday, February 2, I'll be giving an off-site reading for Essay Press at 3:00 at Unnameable Books in Brooklyn. The bookstore is located at 456 Bergen Street. (You can take the 2, 3 trains to Bergen if you're in the city.) I'll be reading with Kristin Prevallet and Carla Harryman.

A New Review of the Book of Beginnings and Endings

Today's edition of the Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review mentions the Book of Beginnings and Endings in their "Discoveries" section. You can access the review by Susan Salter Reynolds here.

Two New Reviews

A few weeks ago, I received my author's copies of The Book of Beginnings and Endings. When I was in Iowa for the NonficitonNOW Conference, I signed a copy of it, and it was the first time that I had seen the book. The signed copy for was Ander Monson. In my hotel room, I read this review of the book (along with my chapbook Moveable Types) written by Nicole Walker in the latest Diagram.

A new review site, Corduroy Books, just put out this review, written by Weston Cutter.

My Verse in Verse

I'm not quite sure why I never mentioned this to anyone, but one of my dearest poems (in verse), was published in Verse in their Fall/Winter 2006 issue. Details are here. There was a time when I would look the line so straight in the eye, so completely, and then I stopped looking. I did that with people too, at a time, I think. I stopped looking at people in the eye; I didn't want to be seen. I'm not quite sure when I stopped doing that either. (Perhaps my omission of this publication indicates that I am not, however I wish to be, quite removed from this habit of not looking?) My line breaks are still precious to me, but I can't profess to understand them any longer. There was an intensity, an undertone that used to move me to keep on or no, and then, I just didn't want to stop anymore for anyone and I began to write in long long lines and then pages and pages of prose.

My poem, in verse in Verse, "Loy Krathong," is quite dear to me. It is about Thailand; it is about the myths and folklore of my country people, in the remote villages of the country; it is about love. And it's only in print; it isn't on-line.

Undefinable & Other Sarabande Treats

Sarah Gorham, editor of Sarabande Books, has an article in Publishers Weekly that centers on writing that isn't so easily classified as one genre or another. "Undefinable" showcases my forthcoming Book of Beginnings and Endings.

I'm happy to report that my author's information is now up at Sarabande. (This must mean that the book is close to coming out!) You can now read my author's interview as well as access my Sarabande in Education Reader's Guide.

Moveable Types

My first chapbook, Moveable Types, is now available from Noemi Press. The publisher of Noemi Press, Carmen Gimenez Smith, did a fantastic job of shaping my otherwise shapeless group of writings. From the group, she chose five pieces that fit together beautifully and thematically. The cover art, which is hand-printed, was done by Angel D'Amico. What this photograph doesn't show is that the cover has some specks of silver in it that is lovely. If you're not interested in my chapbook, please check out Noemi Press's catalogue, which is quite impressive.

Coldfront Magazine Interview & Year in Print Awards

Coldfront Magazine nominated my book, [one love affair]* for their Year in Print Awards in five categories. My book won two of these awards: Best First Lines and Best Book-Length Poem.

The magazine also featured an interview I did with John Deming.

Poet's Corner

I'm sorry that I haven't updated this blog in some time. I have a lot of updates, which I will try to get to over the course of this month.

The first thing I'd like to share with you is my page at the Poet's Corner. Anny Ballardini was nice enough to ask me to contribute to the Poet's Corner. I decided to send in a representative sampling of my work, including my first poem published in a national literary journal. I also decided to include two of my favorite poems that were published in print magazines and were therefore unavailable. They are "Postcard" and "Today, No One Has Come to Proprose."

The Body: An Essay (the new edition by Essay Press)

I'm happy to say that the new edition of my first book, The Body: An Essay, will be out soon, very soon. You may purchase it from Essay Press or pre-order from Amazon.

Woolly Boully

In addition to writing, I'm a bit of a closet sock knitter. To help defray some of the costs that accrue from being a writer, I've combined my two loves, writing and sock yarn, and started Woolly Boully. Many of my sock yarn colorways were inspired by lines from my poetry or prose. Even if you don't knit, I hope you'll stop by the shop to see what I've been up to.

The Art of Fiction: An Essay

The editors of Aiden Starr: The Journal launched their first issue a few months ago. Here is the link to my piece The Art of Fiction: An Essay. Beware: there is video involved.

Tarpaulin Sky Authors & Friends Reading

I'll be giving a reading on Saturday, February 17 at 2:00 at the Four-Faced Liar in New York, NY.

Details can be found here.

Reprinting The Body

A certain "Stalina" left a nice comment for me on my blog, and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to write her back, although I did try to find her email address on-line to no avail. She wanted to know how she might find extra copies of The Body: An Essay.

I should have posted about this a while ago.

The Body is being reprinted by the wonderful folks at Essay Press and will be out soon. This edition will feature a new cover, new blurbs, and will be totally reset. What I adore about this version is that it will be truer to what I originally intended.

As the publication date nears, I'll be sure to post updates. In the meantime, Stalina, if you should have any questions or perhaps want to know where the one existing copy of the first edition of The Body: An Essay is being sold, my email address is pinkhouseshoe at yahoo dot com.