Sandra Beasley's Blog, page 32

21 Poets Recommend Recent Books of Poetry

Ron Slate has done it again! In celebration of National Poetry Month, Ron asked 21 poets to offer recommendations for new or recent books of poetry. Here are my two April picks:



Knock Knock by Heather Hartley 
Carnegie Mellon UP; published January 8, 2010.
80 pages, $15.95 paperback


I do not know how Heather Hartley came to be living in France, where she is the Paris Editor for Tin House and a co-director of the Shakespeare & Co. Literary Festival. Perhaps her muses beckoned her there, since in...

An Interview with Vrzhu (Or: On Zebras)

Thanks to Michael Gushue and the folks at Vrzhu Press for posting an interview with me over at their blog. Here's an excerpt:

Vrzhu: Truth and poetry. Laura Riding famously gave up poetry in part because she felt it couldn't tell the truth.  Obviously, we know that the voice in and of the poem is not the same as the poet, or least is not co-extensive with the poet, but in a larger sense, how important is capital T Truth to a poem or poetry?  You said above that in poetry you seek brilliance...

This Has Nothing to Do With My Book

Jukebox has been spotted everywhere from Open Books in Seattle to the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver to my local Barnes & Noble. I am shocked. I am thrilled. And I am...so very tired of talking about me. 


I worry you're tired of me talking about me, as well. So without further ado, here are three things that have caught my eye over the past week. They have nothing to do with me. That's a good thing.


AXIS DANCE COMPANY


AXIS integrates abled and disabled performers to create startling...

Hanging In

T h e   ...    b o o k  ...   h a s   ...    l a n d e d.


Get a behind-the-scenes tour over at She Writes via my latest "Countdown to Publication" post.  Amazon.com is shipping the book early--the pub date is April 5--and at an eight-dollar savings. I was at Busboys & Poets on Friday and there were four copies there! In the wild! The book will be stocked at Politics & Prose as well. If I can just get into Kramerbooks, I'll be in heaven. 


On Friday I attended sessions for the Split This Rock

Here and Now(ish)

Alison Stine has big book news. Congrats, Ali!


While I am thinking of it, another amazing poet you should know about: Heather Hartley.


*


Next week I'm looking forward to a whole lotta Writer's Center. On Sunday the 14th, a Board meeting. On Friday (March 19), Story/Stereo featuring amazing Seattle-based poet Kathleen Flenniken, Anthony Varallo, and the musical guest More Humans. On Saturday (March 20), the "Writing the Future" Conference cosponsored by Lee Gutkind and the recently redesigned span

Whahuh

There are ten reasons I could give you as to why I have not posted for the past week, all reasonably accurate. They include:


-Four days of allergy conferencing in New Orleans.


-Four days of Sazeracs, Abita, and oysters in New Orleans.


-Four days of convincing conversations culminating in "Why you should move to New Orleans."


-A one-two-three homecoming poetry punch of introducing John Burnside (loved him!) and Patricia Smith at the Folger, followed by hearing Jen Chang, Ed Skoog, and Gregory...

On the Run

I've been quiet because I've been in New Orleans--but I'm dashing back to DC in time for this:

Patricia Smith & John Burnside
at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Monday, March 1 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $12
201 East Capitol Street, SE

"Soulful, impassioned poets Smith and Burnside create poems that shimmer with magic. Patricia Smith is the author of five poetry volumes. Her most recent, Blood Dazzler, which chronicles the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, was a 2008 National Book Award finalist. She is a f...

Wednesday, March 3 at the Arts Club

...Before I segue to ACW matters, I should mention that I've been lucky enough to land a featured spot at the 17 Poets! reading series in New Orleans when I head into town for a conference this Thursday, February 25. If you're in that neck of the woods--or know someone who is--please encourage them to join us! The reading will begin around 8:30 PM, to be followed by an open mic. The series is hosted at the Gold Mine Saloon, at 701 Dauphine Street in the French Quarter....


And speaking of...

Over at She Writes...

I'm getting all practical with today's "Countdown to Publication" post over at She Writes. An excerpt, from a section offering tips on author photos:

I really enjoyed Randy Susan Meyers' recent post on "Photoshop-Botox for Author Photos." An additional thought, based on my days at a magazine where I was in charge of photo-editing: Be careful of poses that are difficult to crop. Bringing your knee or your hand up by your head may look really cute when we can see the full-body posture. But if...

Whirlwind

I've sat down several times this week, hoping to gather my thoughts on this past week's New York trip. Things did not begin auspiciously. Despite getting up at 5:45 AM on Tuesday, the combination of black ice, clunky snow boots, and an unannounced Metro delay caused me to run to the plaza at 10th and H Streets just in time...to see the Bolt Bus pull away. I had no choice but to hop right back onto the metro, wheezing and teary, and head to Union Station to catch the 8:10 Vermonter train...