Jake Adam York has some great news on his website.  With A Murmuration of Starlings on my mind, I’m stoked to hear that a companion volume, titled Persons Unknown, will be released in November ‘10.  Now I have at least four books in 2010 I’m anxious to read.

Along with Jake’s announcement, you can find some excellent reflections into marketing, audience, and how we discuss our work in academic and non-academic setting.  I, myself, seem to be fearful of speaking about my work appropriately in an academic setting.  Wish I could just say, “I go where the poems tell me.”  Of course, I’m still getting comfortable inside the skin of the second manuscript.

I saw this on a few other blogs, and I wanted to pass it on…

The editors are pleased to announce a call for submissions for A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry.

We are seeking poems that work within the literary tradition of persona poetry: poems written as dramatic monologues, whose speakers employ masks, or whose character and voice are different from the poet’s own.

Please submit up to 5 unpublished poems. We will also consider poems whose rights have reverted back to the author.

All submissions will be accepted electronically. Please send an email to the editors at facesanthology@gmail.com with the poet’s name and “Submission for Persona Anthology” as the subject line, with the poems as an attachment.

Submissions will be accepted October 1, 2009 through January 1, 2010.

As some may already know, Tony Gorsline, Owner and Publisher of Bedbug Press, passed away this summer on June 17, 2009.  Recently in September, there was also a tribute held for him in Brownsville, OR.  This is a truly huge loss for the poetry community, and though it may be delayed, I wish to express my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

It was a true honor to work with him and I am grateful for having the chance to know him.  I corresponded with him a lot via email and was fortunate to have met him during AWP Atlanta, where we spent some time getting to know each other.  Meeting him in person showed me why he touched so many lives with his passion, charm, and kindness.  He was a true lover of poetry, who shared it with the world, and I know he will continued to be missed.

Bedbug Press has been placed on an indefinite hiatus.

Here’s a bit of great news.  Congrats to Gary Jackson on winning the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize!  Look for his book, Missing You, Metropolis, in fall 2010. Read more here.

More updates & posts soon…

It’s been too long since the last update back in February, and it’s already May 15!  Where to start?  

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The SoCo Reading Series came to a successful close.  We had six wonderful readers this year and every event was supported with excellent attendance, book sales, and of course amazing readings.  I hope to start booking for next year’s series, so keep an eye out for announcements about that closer to August.  All the readings during the spring semester were recorded, so I hope to upload them and get them posted on the CSU-Pueblo English Department website in the near future.  

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I wrapped up the semester a few weeks back and in the midst of summer classes.  It can be quite difficult to teach a full semester’s worth of class in a four-week session, and that goes double for two classes.  So far, classes have been excellent, I have some great students, and it will all be done by the time June rolls around.

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A new poem will be coming out in Washington Square in the near future!

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This August, I will be attending The Intensive Workshop at The Frost Place.  I’ve never been to New Hampshire and I haven’t been in a workshop environment like this in a long time.  I’m really looking forward to this opportunity!

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Currently, I’ve been writing & drafting & hoping to get the second manuscript ready to go this summer!  Of course, this means a lot things I’ve been writing don’t fit in the manuscript.  I’d say the manuscript is almost done, but there needs to be about 20 more pages of poems at least to fill in some crucial gaps.  Then, I’ll feel like the book is ready to be subjected to contests, editors, and other interested eyes.

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My students successfully published a new issue of Tempered Steel (formerly The Hungry Eye).  There was a great reading/release party on April 23, and they set the stage for more growth and progress next year.  I can’t wait to work with them more.  I’m proud of them all!

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Once summer classes are done, I’ll be revamping this website and most likely downgrading it.  It’s clear to me I don’t have the time to do regular updates.  I’d rather add a sleeker, simpler design, some good interactive features, and more regular updates.  Wordpress works fine but maybe it’s time for something else.  I also think it’s time to provide a more up-to-date author pic too, no? Plus, I have an iMac now and I would like to use its capabilities.  It’s been wonderful to have a computer that doesn’t crash all the time!

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I guess that’s a start to the update.  I’ll be along to add more updates soon.

It’s been pretty busy lately with admin work and teaching, and I’ve been trying to make time for some writing. This weekend should be a good time to start.  Last night, Aaron A. Abeyta gave an excellent reading here on the CSU-Pueblo campus for about 55 people.  An great turnout and reading.  I attempted to record the reading and hopefully we will start archiving all our readings on the English Department website, so people can listen to them.  Thanks to Aaron for coming to our campus and for letting us record him.  Let’s hope it works!

We have three more readings for the SoCo Reading Series, the next one being next Friday, February 20 at 2 pm in the CSU-Pueblo OUC Cottonwood Room.  Poet, former CSU-Pueblo professor, and good friend of mine David Keplinger will be reading!  I have seen him read several times before, and he never ceases to amaze me.  I’m hoping to hear some new poems like the ones I’ve read in recent journals.  If you are in the Pueblo area that day, I hope you can make it.  He will also be reading the evening before in Colorado Springs at Colorado College. 

 I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and literary websites about AWP, which starts today.  Obviously, I’m not going this year, and there’s a lot to be missed.  Hope everyone who goes has a blast at the book table, the Con Tinta event, and at all the panels and readings.  I’m looking forward to next year’s conference in Denver.  It’s a rare treat when something big like AWP comes within 100 of Pueblo, no?

The Southern Colorado Reading Series is proud to present our first reading for the spring semester.  Local, award-winning Poet and fiction writer Aaron A. Abeyta will be reading on Wednesday, February 11 at 7 pm in the CSU-Pueblo’s Cottonwood Room, OUC second floor.

Aaron A. Abeyta is the author of the novel Rise: Do Not Be Afraid.  He has also written two poetry collections: Colcha, winner of the Colorado Book Award and the American Book Award, and as orion falls. He teaches at Adams State College in Alamosa and his family home is in Antonito, Colorado.

The reading is free.  All books are on sale at the CSU-Pueblo Bookstore and will be on sale at the event.  For more information or questions, contact Juan J. Morales, Assistant Professor and Director of Creative Writing if you have any questions at 549-2082 or juan.morales@colostate-pueblo.edu.

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It’s been up since before Christmas, but Anti- has a new issue out, featuring a lot of great writers.  My poem, “Guaman Poma, Writing by Candlelight” is also featured in this issue.

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In other exciting news, The Acentos Review selected “The Abandonded Possessions of Garcilaso de la Vega” for a 2008 Pushcart Prize.  I’m honored and flattered 

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Times have been quite busy lately with one week done of a new semester and a slew of other projects under way.  My hope is to start incorporating some new features and updates this year.  I guess I’m evaluating what exactly I want to do with this webpage.  I want to include audio, more pictures, more writing (probably on process and current projects), and other elements, but how where’s the time?  I’ve been reading a lot of other writer’s blogs, and I get real immersed and swept up in discussions of process and insight into their techniques and methods.  Any thoughts out there?  In the meantime, it’s time to get some writing and grading done.

Finally, a quick run down of recent developments.

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Thanks to everyone in Chicago for the great experience and reading for Palabra Pura. I was there for a little less than two days, but I was able to see a lot of this great city thank to my gracious host and lots of walking. I have pictures, and I hope to post them soon.

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I got my contributor’s copies of PALABRA issue four with four new poems. I’m really enjoying the other writers in the issue and it’s a beautiful magazine! To learn where to purchase PALABRA, visit here.

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An old poem that I cut from Friday was recently accepted for publication; strange how you give up on a poem and then it smirks back at you.

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Right now, I’m trying to survive the final week of classes. Next week is finals week, entering the home stretch. It’s been a busy but good one. Once the piles of poems, fiction theory, and nonfiction shrink, it will be time to resume poems and work on this page.

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Reading alert: If you’re in the Colorado Springs area tonight, I’ll be reading at 7 pm with Steven Wingate at Colorado College for their Visiting Writing Series. It’s an amazing series that I have always admired, featuring too many great writers to note. I’m looking forward to reading in my hometown again! A few friends of mine told me it was in the Colorado Springs Independent too. Here’s a link with more info: