The Best of Next ... Magazine

It probably goes without saying, but I am extremely proud to be a part of Write Bloody Publishing. It's the press that published my book, City of Insomnia , as well as my wife's The Constant Velocity of Trains and the anthology she co-edited with Lisa Sisler, Knocking at the Door , and never mind the other great anthologies one or both of us have been involved with, such as The Last American Valentine , The Good Things About America and Aim For the Head . Seriously. I'm fond. I think Write Bloody skipper Derrick brown has done an amazing job building this thing on nothing about enthusiasm and a talent for convincing poets that this is a good idea. (Which, as with all publishing, is a dubious proposition.) There's never been any real money in it, but honestly? I'm ecstatic every day to be on the the same press as the likes of Daniel McGinn, Tara Hardy, Idris Goodwin, Anis Mojgani, Brendan Constantine, Mindy Nettifee, Steve Abee and so many more great poets, some from my generation, but most a tad younger. I love the energy and sense of community. I love that with each new crop of books, I feel like I'm learning something new that can be done with poetry. Seriously, young (well, younger than me) writers such as Sierra DeMulder, Jeanann Verlee and the rest constantly rattle my sense of complacency, and I love that. Write Bloody has an amazing body of work, and I'm proud to have a small part of it.

But if I were to be completely honest, the book I'm proudest to have had a role in is News Clips & Ego Trips: The Best of Next ... Magazine, edited by G, Murray Thomas:


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Source: via Victor on Pinterest

I have a lot of reasons to love this book: I was a writer for Next ... for rather a lot of its existence, and became managing editor for its last year. (I know ... I know ... dubious accomplishment.) But personally, it's amazing to go back and see my interviews with the likes of Marc Smith or the late Utah Phillips, along with other great inter views with the likes of Patricia Smith, Miranda July, Jerry Quickley, the Watts Prophets, the Carma Bums and more. We like to think that a moment in poetry will last forever -- Lord knows I used to -- but it really doesn't. That doesn't mean the moment that comes back is worse -- I'm rather fond of some of these young whippersnappers -- but the truth is, large amounts of great poetry and poetry history will get lost if we don't write it all down. So for that, I'm ecstatic this book is out now, because there was a lot from this time that was worth remembering. It was only 15 years ago, but already it seems so far away. Don't mistake this for nostalgia -- I'm excited about the present, and the future. But there was a lot of value back there, too, and it's worth holding onto.