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.

Leaving the Baby

Tonight I'm going to dinner with Ishmael Beah.

Okay, there will be about 15 other people there, too--but I might actually get to watch him eat from across the table.

Afterward, he's speaking on campus. (For more information, click here.)

I'll update my blog tomorrow to let you know what the event was like. And meeting him.

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Just found out that my story, "Leaving the Baby," will appear in Queer Collection: Poetry and Prose 2008.

Here's the first paragraph of the story, a teaser (I hope):

The first time Michelle left the baby alone was unintentional. And brief. She’d forgotten about him for just a few minutes when she went outside to get the mail. Actually, not quite forgotten—but she experienced a moment when her body was her own. Her brain felt as squishy as Sammy’s soft spot, and the cold sun was blinding.

Poetry Monday: Queer Collection

"2007 is the inaugural year for Queer Collection: Prose & Poetry," said Editor Gregory Kompes.

"The annual anthology concept came out of a discussion on how little non-erotic queer literature is published in book form at the national distribution level. The decision to include both prose and poetry in a single volume was chosen because there's so much great work being written without many outlets," said Kompes.

Kompes added that this "first volume's submissions request was a grassroots effort" that he initiated. "Bloggers, Website owners, and queer writers passed the word and more than 300 works were submitted for consideration. "

The result is a terrific collection of diverse queer poetry and stories.

It opens with a poem by Laura Loomis titled "Mirror Poem"--a piece which, to me, is worth the price of the book. It begins:

I am not

that person

you would have made me into.

And ends:

you would have made me into

that person.

I am not.

See the pattern? The whole poem is a surprising and touching experience in the interplay between form and function.

I also liked "When I Move Out of My Parents' House" by Shane Allison, which hooks the title right into the first lines:

I'm gonna thrown the biggest party the south has ever seen.
I'll invite all the men I've had sex with.
The ones I've had crushes on
When writing poems was the only thing to get
Met through the shock of seeing girlfriends and wives
Hanging off their shoulders like dirty washcloths.

Julie R. Enszer's poignant poem "First Kiss" says about teenage desire:

I wanted to kiss you.
I always waited late
into the night thinking,

could I pretend it was just an accident?
Lay my lips on yours: mid-sentence,
mid-giggle, mid-teenage confession.

There are many more strong poems in the book, as well as compelling prose pieces. Queer Collection is a great venue for queer voices.

Since Kompes envisions Queer Collection to be an annual publication, he is currently accepting submissions. Amazingly enough, he considers previously published work--and he pays. For more information, check out the submission guidelines.