another poetic week

I’m pleased to share the link to my review of Jason Guriel’s second book of poems, Pure Product. My review is at Northern Poetry Review, a review site based out of Toronto ON. Editor Alex Boyd recently appointed me Associate Editor, so stay tuned for more poetry reviews to come on NPR.

For this Wednesday’s author Q&A, I’ll be chatting with poet Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion Thrust. This is Ball’s first full-length poetry book and it is scheduled for a December release, but you can learn more about it here on Wednesday. Also coming up in the near future is a Q&A with poet Nanette Rayman and many other great voices. Keep coming back for the Wednesday Q&A series.

Too, I’d like to remind those in the Metro Detroit area that this Thursday, November 5th I am a featured poet for the Poets Follies reading series hosted by Marick Press. The event will be at the Ewald Branch of the Grosse Pointe Public Library and it begins at 6:30pm.

And, as it is the beginning of November, I must announce the winner of the October book giveaway! Congratulations to Jamie D, one of this blog’s followers. Remember, if you clicked to follow this blog, you were automatically entered into the draw. How about we do this again? That’s right, for the month of November I’ll do another random drawing at the end of the month and one lucky winner from the list of blog followers will receive a signed copy of one of my books.

Jamie, be sure to email me to let me know if you’d prefer fiction or poetry!

Thanks to all for visiting today. Remember to stop by on Wednesday for my Q&A with poet Magdalena Ball.

poetic homecoming

Better late than never. The past week or so has been increasingly busy, but this is never a bad thing for a writer. Busy = good.

I want to first express how wonderful the Marick Press fall catalogue book launch party was. The Oct 26th event featured readings by Matthew Olzman and Dawn Paul, a lovely author who I will be featuring in a Q&A soon. Dawn’s latest book is The Country of Loneliness and you can learn more about it here. The event was great, with a lively and passionate crowd in the audience and at the end of it all, I had a great time celebrating over apps and beverages with staff from Marick Press and a handful of authors. Mariela, thank you for the hospitality! (That photo includes Mariela Griffor of Marick Press, author Dawn Paul, and, um, my back.)

It’s been a very busy month for poetry. I was especially pleased to participate in a few “hometown” events in London, Ontario. This past Monday, I launched stains: early poems in London with three other poets who were also releasing new material. Thank you to Andreas Gripp for the invitation to participate; I truly enjoyed your reading. Also there was Penn Kemp (renowned sound poet and writer-in-residence at The University of Western Ontario), and the charming John B. Lee. There was a full house on the Mykonos patio and it was nice to see some familiar faces from my formerly local neighborhood.

Also in London this week was the launch of a new reading series for the Writing Department at The University of Western Ontario. Thank you to Claudia Manley for organizing such a fantastic event and for the opportunity to read. While I shared some of my work from stains, I also read a few pieces from a new collection I’m working on, in addition to a brand new poem written over the weekend. I think there were about 40 students and faculty members in attendance, so that’s a great start for this new series.

In addition to poetry, I’ll be presenting a lecture this weekend at the Midwest Pop Culture Association conference. Hosted at the Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit, I’ll be presenting “Criminal Intent: Fiction that Kills.” During part of my presentation, I’ll be sharing a reading of some of my crime fiction and talking about the genres of suspense, mystery, and all things creepy.

Next week, for those in the bottom of the mitten of Michigan, I’ll be a featured reader at the Marick Press Poets Follies event. I’ll share more info next week, but if you can make it to Grosse Pointe on Thursday, November 5, I’ll be reading selections from stains and a selection of new works.

I’m pleased to say I have a few authors lined up for the Wednesday Q&A series, too, so hopefully this brings us back on track with a more regular schedule. Thanks for your continued interest and for stopping by the blog today.

Have a great weekend!