April is the cruelest (AND FUNNEST) month!
Hello, readers!
March is ending, and, for me, that means a month of absolutely delightful chaos is about to ensue. As a poet, I look forward to April every year. April is National Poetry Month, which means I’m celebrating in numerous ways! And, this year, it’s busier than ever!
Starting April 1, there will be a pretty incredible line-up of poets (and poetry lovers) guest-posting here on the blog while I go off to conquer other tasks. I hope you enjoy their posts. Because, man, there are some exciting people with exciting ideas that will be hanging out here over the course of the month.
Meanwhile, I’ll be over at PoMoSco.com, posting new poems every day based on prompts provided by Found Poetry Review. This year, they are celebrating national poetry month with a scouting-esque experience. Each challenge represents a badge that we can “win” for completing the challenge. There are 30 badges, and you know I want to collect them all! We got to start ahead, which is great, since I’ll be traveling this month. I’ve already enjoyed working with source texts like DEENIE by Judy Blume, a Buffy Season 8 graphic novel, and an X-Files transcript!
So, the traveling? Yep, I’ll be at AWP in Minneapolis! (HOME OF PRINCE!!!) where I’ll be reading, signing, and taking in all of the awesome lectures and panels that I can. I’ll also be exploring the city with PoMoSco scouts, on a special FPR mission to earn some extra badges, which will culminate in a reading on Friday, April 10. So, you know, don’t miss that. (More details on my AWP schedule can be found on my Events page.) I’m so excited to meet so many of my new poetry friends and, finally, the team at Red Bird Chapbooks, who are based in St. Paul.
And I’m making some “Raspberry Beret” hair clips to go with bookmarks announcing my new chapbook forthcoming with Porkbelly Press. Gotta take advantage of the Minneapolis locale! Here’s the supplies I have so far. We’re ALMOST ready to get started:
Crafty time!
And then there’s TLA. I’ll be signing on Wednesday in the author area and also at a date/time TBA at the Overlooked Books booth. So keep an eye on that schedule if you want to come see me and get some books signed! I always love TLA — visiting with educators, librarians, readers and authors, chatting with publicists about awesome new books, and learning more about the industry.
Toward the end of the month, things should be winding down. But there will be daily guest posts here, daily poems at PoMoSco.com, and, you know, MAYBE a reading from Texas PoMoSco participants. I’ll let y’all know if this happens via Twitter & Facebook. Hoping we can pull this off, because, you know, how awesome would that be?
So, that’s my April. What are you doing to celebrate National Poetry Month?
