Jamie Iredell's Blog, page 22

Small Presses

Anis Shivani posted a slideshow featuring 15 small presses at The Huffington Post. Most of them are big small presses (excuse the oxymoron) like Copper Canyon. But, a couple pretty small ones are up there, including C&R Press, for whom I design books. That's pretty cool. He mentions Sybil Baker's Talismans, which the press is readying to send to the printer. Look for it soon at Small Press Distribution and Amazon, etc. Shivani says in his write-up prior to the slide show that over the summer ...

new list

everyone's been talking about the New Yorker's 20 under 40 list, or they did for a while. Dzanc Books created an alternate list"made up of nearly 100 independent publishers, agents, editors, bloggers and reviewers." I am humbled to be listed up there, along with so many others whose work I love.

Couple New

Issues of some mags out:

Jellyroll Magazine, a new one in their second issue, is pretty badass. Some great work in their by Heather Christle and Natalie Lyalin. I have a couple of freaks in there too.

There's a new issue of Action, Yes, with some more freaks in it. Other freaks with awesomeness include Christopher Higgs, Shane Jones, Reb Livingston, Kristi Maxwell, and, well everyone in it. Action's always a great one.

Someone told me that I look like this guy

Resemblance?

new poem

BAP Quarterly has published a poem in their Space issue. am working on covers for the BOOK OF FREAKS. Fun, but hard. Trying to go with something that catches the book (which is all over the fucking place) and that catches the eye at the same time.

I'm sick of my students, of teaching where I teach. this has been the worst semester I've ever had, worst students. in two section (one composition, one american lit) more than half the students in each class are flat-out going to fail, nothing they...

Thanks Tim

Tim Frederick just posted about Prose on his book blog Baby Got Books. Thanks Tim!

Also, just got back from AWP and am only now getting back around to some work. I had to grade papers and get school-caught-up before I could actually get back to some writing/research.

I'm researching all this fun stuff about the geology of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for "The Lake." I don't know if I mentioned that already, that the novel-in-progress is likely going to be called "The Lake". Maybe. That's what ...

So let's talk about this shit hole called Denver, CO

I mean, this this town sucks. So this cop that tried to arrest me told me flat out to my face that "we don't like people of color in our town."

AWP

Tomorrow I leave for Denver, and tomorrow afternoon I'll be doing a book-signing thing at the Copper Nickel booth from 3-4 PM at the book fair. I'm thinking I will also have a bottle of whisky and will be offering people drinks. Why not? Not to step on Aaron Burch's toes or anything.

Bullshit

Why are some poets such fucking prima donnas? I was working on a collaborative book for a couple of hippies and they are just fucking insane. I started designing and formatting this book in June or July. By August I had a draft completed. Then these two started revising their poems. Usually, one does this before one sends a book off to be considered for potential publication, and this step has often long been taken by the time the book has been accepted and the press is designing it. That was...

Ever have that experience

of reading someone, then you get to hear that person read the same stuff, and you have a brand new experience with their writing? I had that happen to me while traveling with Molly Gaudry through Baltimore and New York for readings. I now have to re-read We Take Me Apart. Molly's reading from her book opened up new paths for my understanding of the beauty of the language of that book. I feel like a spoon inside your drawer, or that you're a spoon and I'm also a spoon, and we're totally spooni...