My old friend Chet (Alan to pretty much everyone else) is an editor at Relief, and he just posted some advice on cover letters. Some of it is specific to their journal, since it's a Christian journal, like this piece.Do not tell us that God wants us to publish you.Lots of people tell us we … Continue reading Good cover letter advice
Publication news
I think it's safe to say now--Louisiana Literature Press has agreed to do a book of my poems in 2010. The collection is currently titled A Witness In Exile, though that is certainly subject to change.
Just waiting for my copy to get here
My much anticipated copy of Relief should be on the way sometime soon. As I've mentioned before, this publication means a lot to me in large part because it's the first time Amy and I will be published in the same journal at the same time. But it's also a pretty big deal to me … Continue reading Just waiting for my copy to get here
My BookTV Appearance
Back in the fall of 2004, as the Kerry-Bush campaign wound down, Stephen Elliott asked me if I would open for him as a reader at the Stanford bookstore. He was promoting his new book at the time, Looking Forward To It. I had no idea that the C-SPAN cameras would be there until the … Continue reading My BookTV Appearance
The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart
Gabrielle Calvocoressi's first book is marvelous--I just want to get that out of the way right at the beginning. That she is a friend of mine has nothing to do with it. It would be a terrific book even if it were written by my arch-nemesis, whoever that happens to be.From the very first poem, … Continue reading The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart
Well that was fun
A little redesign, a little movement, a little redirecting of the blog to where it now comes up on my own domain name, which was going largely unused and sitting dormant, and here we are. Note to blogger--if you can get it so we can publish via ftp using the new xml layouts, that would … Continue reading Well that was fun
The Poem of a Life
Back in March, I mentioned that I was reading Mark Scroggins's new biography of Louis Zukofsky, The Poem of a Life. Mark and his family came over to our home for a dinner party a couple of months ago and he saw that I'd only gotten a couple hundred pages in. He said "that's a … Continue reading The Poem of a Life
Some advice
Robert Lee Brewer asked around on Facebook for some advice on writing a bio for a poetry submission. I responded, and he included my comments here if you're interested. My standard opening joke is included in there.
I guess I can see that
A couple of days ago at Sadly, No, Mister Leonard Pierce looked at some responses to the National Review Onine's symposium on books. To the question "If there were only one book on conservatism you could recommend to a newcomer, what would it be and why?" Richard Brookheiser answered "The Complete Poetry of Robert Frost. … Continue reading I guess I can see that
On "The Politics of Poetry"
In the July/August edition of Poetry, there's an essay by David Orr titled "The Politics of Poetry" that I want to comment on a little. The subject as a whole has been on my mind a lot lately--I wrote about it some on my other blog in response to Stanley Fish's comments on his NY … Continue reading On "The Politics of Poetry"
Another Poem to Love 