Life as it otter be

August for teachers is like Sunday. (July is Saturday and June is Friday.) Annie and I are feeling the pull of the semester coming, and so we're doing our best to get the most out of the next few weeks.

We've been hiking almost every day recently, and the other day we went kayaking in Elkhorn Slough. The amount of wildlife we saw eye-to-eye with was astonishing: harbor seals popping their heads out right near the boat; hundreds of pelicans clicking at their feathers as they cleaned them in a party on the shore, and other pelicans swooping low near us, their massive outstretched wings skimming the water's surface; huge transluscent jellyfish ballooning past in the clear water; and my favorite, a group of sea otters rolling around, playing, and breaking open shellfish on their tummies with rocks.

There's nothing like some generative, quiet time on the water to be okay with life as it is, whatever shape it's been taking.

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One of my favorite blogs these days is How To Like It by John Evans (no relation). He writes in such clear yet deep & complex ways about grief, relationships, living and writing . . . Recently This Writer's Life published a great essay John wrote called "Somthing Like Faith: The First Year of Elegy in One Writer's Life." You can read it by clicking here.

Literary news

Never say die. The talented iconoclast Montgomery Maxton and I have something in common. Both of us had books that were accepted by small publishers that folded. And then both books were given new life as both of us had the manuscripts recently accepted by different small publishers. For Montgomery his poetry collection This Beautiful Bizarre will be coming out late next year (more on this soon!). For me, my novel For the May Queen, has been taken by a small press and is forthcoming in October of this year (more on this soon, too!).

Surprise! Verse Daily posts a new poem each day, but they don't inform the poets in advance. So you might wake up one morning, like John Evans did today, to discover your poem and bio there. You can read John's amazing poem here. (Verse Daily posted one of my poems earlier this year here.) John is an insanely terrific poet--and he's received a major kudos in the form of a Stegner Fellowship beginning this fall. Previous Stegner Fellows I've had the honor ot meet include ZZ Packer, California poet laureate Al Young , James Houston and Tobias Wolff, all of whom have also taught in the program and all of whom (excelpt Wolff) have taught at my university as a Lurie Professor. Watch this blog; I'll be announcing our new Lurie Professor later this week. She's a well-known poet.

Callin' on Collin. Collin Kelley has written about a slew of online literary magazines that have recently been updated. Collin's edgy, surprising chapbook After the Poison is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, which is currently accepting advance orders. About the book, Jim Elledge says, "this slim collection is a must-read. In fact, I dare you to read it. I double dare you."

Queer Collection: Poetry & Prose 2008 is now accepting advance orders. Last year's inaugural anthology was terrific. I'm sure this year's will be too--and I'm honored that my story "Leaving the Baby" will appear in it.