Check out the Cover Art

Earlier this week, I received the cover art for the book of poet interviews I have been compiling. “After Long Busyness: Interviews with Eight Heartland Poets” will be released soon. For now, take a look at the cover (pdf), created by Emilie Hagny Downs of Imago Visual in Denver.

After Long Busyness: Interviews With Eight Heartland Poets

Just days till the ‘Liberty’s Vigil’ release

“Liberty’s Vigil: The Occupy Anthology” will be released  Jan. 15 — that’s Sunday. Buzz around the book has been building steadily. Read more here, here and here. I can say I’m pleased to have my poem “Unfed Hunger” included. Readings are being scheduled around the country, wherever several of the included poets live close.

Through Sunday, there’s a pre-publication discount — only $15, including shipping.

Pre-order “Liberty’s Vigil” at http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2012/id44.htm.

Best Poetry of the Year

NPR’s list of the best American poetry of 2011 is certainly worth the read. Says critic David Orr, “poetry often needs to undergo periods of confusion to achieve the clarity for which we’ll later remember it.”

That’s a good summation of life in general right now, I think.

Release Date for ‘Liberty’s Vigil’ Anthology

“Liberty’s Vigil: The Occupy Anthology” containing my poem “Unfed Hunger” has gotten a release date of Jan. 15. There’s a special pre-publication discount — if you order before Jan. 15, it’ll cost you only $15, including shipping. After Jan. 14, the cost is $20 plus shipping.

The anthology is being published by FootHills Publishing, the outfit that published my chapbook, “Father’s Curse,” in 2007.

Pre-order “Liberty’s Vigil” at http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2012/id44.htm.

Order “Father’s Curse” at FootHills Publishing. Or contact me directly, and I can send you a signed copy.

Poetry by the Numbers

New York magazine breaks down some popular poets and their financial lives in Livelihoods of the Poets. My favorite:

“Walt Whitman
Credentials: Wrote one of the best poems in the history of civilization.
Second Job: Government clerk.”

Poetry Prompt: Find Your Obsession

Poets & Writers’ weekly poetry prompt is here.

Simic Says It

Charles Simic on the New York Review of Books blog, via Poets & Writers:

 

I mustn’t forget, either, that I was surrounded by political exiles in my youth, many of whom, after having lived either under Stalin or Hitler, or in some cases both, never lost their vigilance. Even after twenty or thirty years in the United States, they gave the impression of keeping a suitcase packed under their beds, ready to flee at a moment’s notice should hippies or some variety of American fascists come power.

Lucky for them, they are all long dead, so they can’t read some opinion piece or hear a congressman or a senator today clamor for the very same police state measures they barely escaped from.

 

Read the whole thing here.

One of the 99 Poets

Sunday morning, I received notification that my poem, “Unfed Hunger,” will be among the 99 selected for Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupied Anthology: 99 Poets among the 99%, slated for publication by FootHills Publishing in January.

“Unfed Hunger” is part of a longer series of poems I wrote using the Bible’s book of Matthew as source material. The longer piece, Lunch With the Tax Collector, has 28 parts — one drawn from each chapter of Matthew. “Unfed Hunger” comes from verse 35 in chapter 25: “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes …”

I am pleased to have my poem included in the anthology, which aims to compile some of the themes that support the Occupy Wall Street movement. In my opinion, followers of Jesus too often follow an economic system that works against the example he set for us. Economic justice is at the heart of Christ’s message, and I hope my poem can illuminate that in some way.

Forthcoming ebook

I am pleased to announce that I am in the process of editing a series of interviews with poets from South Dakota or who have connections to the state. Title and release date for the ebook compilation are still TBA, but I will post updates as things progress.

Street-sign haiku

From the New York Times: Street signs encouraging safety are written in the form of haiku. Story is here.