Oh, goodness. My apologies for vanishing from cyberspace. I’m spending most of my time, at this point, reading graphic and violent Greek tragedies in preparation for my World Literature summer course (Hecuba, today — if you haven’t read it, you should read it, and you should pre-order Anne Carson’s translation, which first appeared in the APR a while ago, and is absolutely amazing), relocating Gertrude Stein after she’s jumped into a half-packed box, and dealing with various equally massive piles of papers (paperwork to fill out, papers to sort through, papers to recycle, papers to shred, papers to grade). And, I apparently did not get enough of self-torture during April, and have begun another poem-a-day project. But! I do have announcements:
Announcement the first: The Mariner’s Wife has shipped! I’m always happy when I don’t have to try to make a pun because, well, when I do, it’s a disaster. The chapbooks have set sail (see? disaster) via priority mail, and should appear in your mailboxes soon. An infinite amount of gratitude, again, to everyone who ordered a copy.
Announcement the second: Well, it isn’t so much an announcement as simply a statement of something that happened … Finally, after two years of work, I decided to put all of my witch poems into one file, and found that the file is … fifty one pages? Which seems suspiciously close to a “manuscript,” though I’m kind of loathe to use that word. Let’s just call it a vaguely-manuscript-like-pile-of-paper. The vaguely-manuscript-like-pile-of-paper has made its way to two trusted and fabulous readers, and into a desk drawer, where it’s going to sit a while and think about what it’s done before I approach it again. After all of this, of course, it’ll probably be a lot closer to eleven pages to fifty one, but I’m very pleased to have the basic bones of it down. Finally.
Announcement the third: Bread and butter pickles. Delicious.
Announcement the fourth: Someone sent me this cartoon this morning, which has absolutely made my day. Enjoy!
Announcement the fifth: Incidentally, the little guy with the really round head speaks the truth — love IS like DANG.
Emma Bolden is the author of How To Recognize A Lady, a chapbook of poems published as part of Edge by Edge, the third in Toadlily Press' Quartet Series, and The Mariner's Wife, a chapbook published by Finishing Line Press. Her third chapbook, The Sad Epistles, is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. She was the recipient of a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers' Conference and was named a Finalist for a Ruth Lilly Fellowship by the Poetry Foundation/Poetry magazine. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in such journals as Prairie Schooner, the Indiana Review, Feminist Studies, The Journal, Redivider, The Greensboro Review, and Verse. Her manuscript was a semi-finalist for the Perugia Press Prize. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Georgetown College, where she also serves as the poetry editor of the Georgetown Review.
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June 5, 2008 at 3:00 am
mariegauthier
First — wwheee! I can’t wait!
Second — hooray! A full-length collection is clearly on the horizon!
Frankly, I don’t know how you do it. You’re my hero.
June 5, 2008 at 12:35 pm
emmabolden
I am fueled, dear Marie, solely through the magical power of Diet Coke.
June 5, 2008 at 1:38 pm
jessiecarty
Ah Diet Coke. Currently my muse is a 12 pack of Diet Coke with Lime
Are you looking for more readers?
June 6, 2008 at 8:13 pm
williamhwandless
I gots my copy. I tried not to taunt my neighbors and colleagues, but I could feel their envy at thirty paces.
June 8, 2008 at 2:46 am
emmabolden
Jessie! I am ALWAYS looking for more readers.
Oooh, Diet Coke with Lime — not so readily available as Diet Cherry Coke, but perhaps more delicious.
June 8, 2008 at 2:47 am
emmabolden
Bill! I’m glad it made it to you. The flowery paper is quite nice, no? I’m encouraging everyone to concentrate on the flowery paper and the nice green ribbon.