Collin Kelley's Blog, page 31

Labor Day weekend recap

This assignment is so gay anthology launch

Labor Day weekend, for me, has become synonymous with the Decatur Book Festival. This year, I had two gigs - one on Saturday on the Local Poetry Stage at Java Monkey Coffee House and on Sunday at Eddie's Attic.  I also had a list of other readings and panels I wanted to get to and, as usual, failed miserably.



Friday night was the big keynote address from Congressman John Lewis, and after sitting in nightmare traffic for four hours on Atlanta's disaster of an interstate system, I threw in the towel, came home and went to bed. On Saturday after my reading and hosting for an hour on the Local Poetry Stage (which featured readings by Cleo Creech, Lisa Allender and Louise Runyon), I went to the Best American Poetry Anthology 2013 launch event with Denise Duhamel, Tom Lux, David Lehman, David Kirby, Jericho Brown and Kevin Young. Then, I raced over to the launch event for the This assignment is so gay anthology edited by Megan Volpert and published by Sibling Rivalry Press. Two really fantastic events. I decided to just immerse myself in poetry all weekend.



My main stage event with Theresa Davis and Kodac Harrison at Eddie's Attic was fun. We decided to share the stage and do a round-robin reading of our work, as well as sharing stories about how we met at the Java Monkey Speaks open mic. We had a great audience and we sold a few books.



After the Sunday gig, it came up a big storm and everyone was running for cover, but I decided to go home. I was absolutely exhausted from the busy week, getting the new edits for The Venus Trilogy ready to send to Sibling Rivalry Press, plus a host of other projects.



On Sunday night, I hosted the monthly #poetparty on Twitter and we made the trending topics list - right up there with Syria, David Frost and Lady Gaga. If you're on Twitter, make sure to mark your calendar for Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. EST for the next #poetparty and join us for some great discussion and camaraderie of the poets who tweet.

Sorry, Google Doesn't Know Jealousy

I was asked by Didi Menendez to take part in this reading of Denise Duhamel's poem "Sorry, Google Doesn't Know Jealousy." It's quite remarkable to see all these fantastic poets (and Denise herself) interpreting the poem. Enjoy!

DBF and Venus Trilogy update

I can't believe it's almost Decatur Book Festival time again! I'll be reading at two different events next weekend. On Saturday, Aug. 31, I'll be reading at 2 p.m. on the Java Monkey Poet's Stage as well as hosting an hour of fab poets. My main gig is on Sunday, Sept. 1, at noon with Kodac Harrison and Theresa Davis. We'll be on the Eddie's Attic stage reading from our new poetry collections. Come through!



The manuscript of Remain In Light with new blurbs, acknowledgements, bio and a couple of tiny corrections is now with Sibling Rivalry Press. Eyestrain curtailed my work a bit this week, but I'm planning to finish up Conquering Venus this weekend and let my editor, Kathy, have a quick peek at it.   Venus had a couple of missing punctuation marks, incorrectly named Dover as the entry-point for the Channel Tunnel in England (it's Folkestone) and there were a few lines of dialogue that I thought needed some tiny adjustments.



Thanks to everyone who has contacted me this past week, especially on Facebook, about Sibling Rivalry picking up The Venus Trilogy. The support is appreciated in so many ways.

Sibling Rivalry Press to republish "Conquering Venus" and "Remain In Light"

I am thrilled to announce that The Venus Trilogy has a new home with Sibling Rivalry Press. Both Conquering Venus and Remain In Light will be republished very soon in brand new paperback and eBook editions. We already have gorgeous covers, courtesy of graphic designer extraordinaire Elizabeth Holmes, and Sibling Rivalry will also publish the final novel when it's complete, probably in 2015. I plan to announce the title of the third book one month from today, which also happens to be my birthday.



I cannot thank Bryan Borland and Seth Pennington at SRP enough for willing to take on this project. Finding the right home for The Venus Trilogy was crucial, and after this past year's incredible experience with SRP and Render, I know the books are in safe hands. As soon as we have a publication date for Conquering Venus and Remain In Light, I'll post it here. And everywhere.





The germ for Conquering Venus came from my very first trip to Paris back in 1995. I came home after those weeks away and started going through the poems I had written in my notebook. There was one poem (included in my first poetry collection, Better To Travel) about observing a gorgeous apartment across the street from my hotel on rue Rampon. The doors were open to a balcony full of flowers, and I could see a desk stacked with books and papers and the walls lined by bookcases. In the week that we were there, I never once saw the owner of that apartment, so I started to fantasize about who might live there. An older, Parisian woman. Maybe a book editor. Oh, she has agoraphobia. She's a widow after her husband died in some mysterious way. Then I started watching Jeanne Moreau's films, and the main character of The Venus Trilogy, Irène Laureux, sprang to life in my mind. Of course, she would need a sidekick – maybe someone sort of like me, but not – and Martin Paige was  born.



It's hard to believe I've been working on these novels for nearly 20 years, but it has been enormously satisfying – and a helluva lotta fun – creating this world. The fact that so many people have read these books and enjoyed them is gratifying. The award nominations and wins are just icing on the cake. If you've never read the first two books in the trilogy, here's a brand new opportunity.



For more about The Venus Trilogy and to watch the trailers, visit this link.

Big news, reviews and other stuff

The first two novels in The Venus Trilogy – Conquering Venus and Remain In Light – are temporarily out of print, but a big announcement about their return and the third book is coming this Saturday. I'm giddy with excitement! That's an itty-bitty teaser at left.





Speaking of Remain In Light, Jennifer Perry wrote a fantastic review of the novel for New Southerner. 




Helen Losse wrote an in-depth review of my poetry collection, Render, for Wild Goose Poetry Review. 




The Next Best Book Blog dared me to play the "Would You Rather Game," and it's just a bit cheeky and naughty. Thanks, Lori! 




I've got poems in two fantastic anthologies that have just been published: Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe (Lethe Press) and This assignment is so gay: LGBTQI Poets on the Art of Teaching (Sibling Rivalry Press). You can read a great review of This assignment is so gay at  Poets Quarterly.




The "CK remixes" that brokenkites did for my Render project at Soundcloud are now available on his new album, Phantom Islands .

Necessary Fiction

Many thanks to current writer-in-residence Jamie Iredell for selecting my short story "How Fanny Got Her House" to feature at Necessary Fiction. The story originally appeared in my eBook short story collection, Kiss Shot .



An update on the progress of the third book in The Venus Trilogy and my guest editing gig at Hobble Creek Review will be coming later this week.

"Better To Travel" turns 10

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of my first poetry collection, Better To Travel. After spending years and untold sums of money on contests, I received a small grant from the Friends of the Fayette County Library (my hometown library and first employer when I was just 15) and self-published the book through iUniverse.



In 2003, print-on-demand was in its infancy and still called "vanity publishing." I knew self-publishing the book would mean struggling for book reviews, readings and general acceptance by the poetry community. My lack of MFA and "credentials" in the poetry world would relegate me to hobbyist or put me on par with greeting card writers. The truth is, none of those things happened, perhaps by sheer force of will or refusing to let the "po'biz" crowd shut me out.



Almost immediately, articles and interviews appeared in all the local media. There were positive reviews, including a big one in the old Lambda Book Report (it was even mentioned on the cover) and I drew a bigger audience to my launch gig at the Atlanta Book Festival (the forerunner of the Decatur Book Festival) than Nicholas Sparks. I doubt that will ever happen again, but those nearly 200 people who showed up, danced along to the tunes from the Jennifer Perry Combo and bought every copy that night (125 in one go) meant that Better To Travel was not going to flounder for an audience.



In an age where selling 300 copies of a poetry collection is considered a success, Better To Travel has tripled that number and remains for sale via iUniverse and on all the online bookstores. There's even an eBook version now.



Of course, the poetry in Better To Travel is "young" poetry, written from around 1992 up to 2002. The poems have a different texture, a different rhythm and a lack of personal pronouns that I now find irritating. I was going for that "everyman" appeal and didn't want to sound overtly gay, so all the he's and she's went out the door. The poems are also too loose, some have terrible line breaks. And, yet, I can still see my voice in those poems, what it would eventually become as I grew as a writer. Despite its flaws, I'm still proud of the book. Some writers completely disown their early work, but it took me a lot of years to get to Better To Travel and I'm still happy it's available and that, every now and then, a royalty check appears.

First we take Manhattan...

In New York City for the Word for Word reading series at Bryant Park featuring Sibling Rivalry Press poets. 



Dustin Carter and fellow Sibling Rivalry Press poet Stephen Mills kindly put me up for the night. 



Main branch of the New York Public Library at Bryant Park.



Bryant Park on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. 



Sibling Rivalry Press publisher Bryan Borland kicks off the evening.





With friend, muse, musician and poet Vanessa Daou.



Reading from Render at the Word for Word series in Bryant Park with fellow Sibling Rivalry Press poets.







Many thanks to the SRP family – Bryan Borland, Seth Pennington, Stephen Mills, D. Gilson, Matthew Hittinger and Joanna Hoffman – and the Reading Room at Bryant Park (including the lovely Paul Romero) for making this reading a truly special event.

Poetry in Bryant Park

I'll be joining fellow Sibling Rivalry Press poets Bryan Borland, Seth Pennington, Matthew Hittinger, D. Gilson, Joanna Hoffman and Stephen Mills for a reading in New York on July 30 at 7 p.m.



The reading is part of the Word for Word series in the Bryant Park Reading Room, which will also include modern jazz band Primitivo. All of our books will be for sale, too.



The Word for Word series has hosted a who's who of contemporary poets including Marilyn Hacker, Richard Blanco, James Tate, Patricia Smith, Gerald Stern, Galway Kinnell and many more. It's an honor to follow in their footsteps.



Find out more about the Word for Word series at this link, along with more details about our reading. If you happen to be in NYC on Tuesday night, come through.

Decatur Book Festival, Swing Out Sister & other news

The Decatur Book Festival will be held Labor Day weekend and I'll be reading on the Local Poetry Stage at Java Monkey Coffee House on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 2 p.m. and again on Sept. 1 at noon for a featured reading on the Eddie's Attic stage with Theresa Davis and Kodac Harrison to mark the release of our new poetry collections. Mark your calendars!





A 26-year dream came true this past Tuesday night when I saw Swing Out Sister live for the first time. I've been a fan since 1987 and even named my first poetry collection, Better To Travel, as homage to their debut album. I interviewed lead singer Corinne Drewery back in 2010 when they were planning a stop in Atlanta, but the tour was cancelled because of the Icelandic volcano. I interviewed her again a few weeks ago and she was just delightful. The concert at Variety Playhouse was sold out, but me and BFF Jennifer Perry got there early and got great seats. Fans had come from as far away as New Mexico for the show, and SOS did not disappoint. Two hours of hits and covers ("Breakout," "Twilight World," "Am I The Same Girl," "Stoned Soul Picnic" to name a few, along with some inspired mashups like Prince's "Diamonds & Pearls"). The many standing ovations brought Corinne to tears. I got to meet her after the show (that's us in the photo above) and she's just a sweetheart. 




More poetry collection reviews coming soon, including Bryan Borland's Less Fortunate Pirates and Michael Klein's The Talking Day.




I'll have an update on the Word for Word reading in Bryant Park next week. Can't wait to be back in NYC!