Heading out with Mathias and Joshua tomorrow morning to come read in your town this week. Above are posters for two of our five readings. Very very excited about all this. Got my poems, my bag of granola, Twizzlers, a modest wad of cash, some Noah Eli Gordon books to read, the cell phone to check in at home with A, magnetic chess, etc. If M or J let me use their laptops, I'll keep you updated.

Here are some write ups from the local campus newspapers. Beep. Boop. Write ups!

And here is the first official review for The Man Suit from Publisher's Weekly (it's in there somewhere--about halfway down the page). A good way to send me off.

Last night was the last Clean Part reading of the academic year. It was the exclamation mark. So many people showed up. Perhaps a record (outside the Poetry Bus reading) if not close to it. Books were sold sold sold. The readers were absolutely dynamite--all so deliberate and confident. They knew their poems as well as their children (they don't have actual children). It was my first time meeting Laura and I regret not hanging out more. She reads her poems as if they're memorized, but she reads them. Do you know what I am saying? Because I don't. She was good. Michael is the king of banter, so excited and engaging. His reading of The Woods are Burning is worth the price of admission. It was great to have Hadara back in town. I miss her. Her new stuff is crazy good.

It was a stellar year and we'll do it again next year. So check back in at some point soon to see next year's lineup.


Hadara reading in front of Rothko.


Clean Parters rushing back to their seats. Mathias giddy.

Nathan Slawson is now halfway through his reviews of Octopus #8 over at Luna. He's about to turn the corner and he's still going so strong.

Your last chance on the season. Saturday night at the Sheldon. Lincoln, NE. Don't be square.

Octopus has a new chapbook: the paperback version of Jonah Winter's Book Reports. Quality brown cover stock, hand-sewn, library pouch, and Date Due card (individually numbered out of 88 on the card). These however, are not due back. Yours to keep. Forever. Until the apocalypse.

A is out of town*, missing her. Just turned 30. Watching sentimental movies. Sleeping in the twin bed of my youth. A year's supply of fake tattoos from my sister. Camping equipment from my mother. Looking for a green egg with my initials on it. Found my old baseball cards in the parents garage, so that's good. Maybe I'll watch the Cubs game today on the big tv. Eat the last piece of birthday cake. Then head home.

*A big hearty congrats to A, who is now Dr. A. I'm proud and in awe.

Today, this kid is 30.

This week marks the official release date of my first full-length book of poems, The Man Suit. I appreciate all the kind and encouraging comments from those of you who managed to snag an early copy, blog about it and whatnot.

If you want to own your very own piece of the Suit, go to Black Ocean or Amazon or SPD.

I'll be reading some poems from the book here:

Tuesday, April 17. 7pm.
Pages: A Bookshop
North Newton, KS
w/ Mathias Svalina and Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Wednesday, April 18. 7pm
Charles Johnson Theater
Maryville, MO
w/Mathias Svalina and Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Thusday, April 19. TBA.
Quimby's Bookstore.
Chicago
w/Carrie O. Adams, Mathias Svalina and Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Friday, April 20. 7:30pm
Opposable Thumbs Books
Minneapolis
w/Julie Doxsee, Mathias Svalina and Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Saturday, April 21. TBA
TBA
Lincoln, NE
w/ Mathias Svalina and Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Tuesday, June 12. TBA
New Lakes Reading Series
Missoula, MT
w/ Julie Doxsee

There are also some dates tentatively scheduled for San Francisco, Cincinnati and Denver.

It is April. April is the month Octopus reads full-length poetry manuscripts. So...

Next week is my 30th birthday. Mmmmhhmmm I said it. So I got the green light to make some music/book purchases. Here's what I came up with tonight:

Last night: Got on a bus headed for a fish fry. Drank my share of beer on the bus. Ate fried fish and french fries at the fish fry. Today: Doing my taxes. Smell like fried fish.

New from Octopus Books:

This is an example of one of the Book Reports by Jonah Winter hardcovers. There are only a small handful left. Note that we're also selling (currently pre-order) really cool hand-stitched paperback versions of these poems, we just don't quite have an image ready yet for you to see. But soon.







This is an example of The Renaissance Sheet by Lily Brown. If you buy one, there is a chance you could get a green, black, blue, or red spine, and a chance you get white, less white, or even less white, or light blue cover stock. Dry embossed. Japanese stab-binding.










Go check 'em out here. And pick up a set of 8 chapbooks while you're at it, you know, if you haven't already.

Also, there is a new small press shopblog you should know about called Press Press Press. These books are there too.

And Octopus is streching out its mailbox, getting it in shape, etc. It is ready to eat up all your manuscripts. Let's do this!

I drafted my team in my fantasy baseball league yesterday. A league full of poets. What do you think of my chances? I think I got a decent spread--a lot of speed at least. And K's. Enough to beat Jim Goar anyhow.

C Johnny Estrada (Milwaukee)
C Miguel Olivo (Florida)
1B Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)
2B Julio Lugo (Boston)
3B Adrian Beltre (Seattle)
SS Khalil Greene (San Diego)
CI Casey Blake (Cleveland 1B)
MI Ronnie Belliard (Washington 2B)
LF Carl Crawford (Tampa Bay)
CF Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle)
RF Jacque Jones (Cubs)
OF Johnny Damon (NYY)
Util Lasting Milledge (NYM)

SP Dontrelle Willis (Florida)
SP Josh Beckett (Boston)
SP Ervin Santana (Angels)
SP Ted Lilly (Cubs)
SP Tim Wakefield (Boston)
P Carl Pavano (NYY)
P Matt Morris (SF)
Closer Jason Isringhausen (St. Louis)
Closer Ryan Dempster (Cubs)
MRelief Derreck Turnbow (Milwaukee)
MRelief Luis Vizcaino (NYY)

If you come to the Clean Part to read your poems, chances are we will take you to Kuhl's and you will order the egg and cheese biscuit. Your glass of tomato juice will be very tiny and you will look like King Kong while you drink it. We will take you to the Russian store and the international licorice store and then to a farm where you will feed hay to cows. There will be a dog there on a 500 mile leash. We will show you a very dead cat in a box. And we will be taking your picture at every turn.

Josh and Allison are equally excellent poets and people. It was an honor to have them here for a good chunk of time. And their reading was too short, as always. Allison, through the voice of a narwhal, a magical and real creature, was able to lull me into this cold world of 6 room motels and grey icy water. Joshua's new stuff is as killer as Ornithologies. And I'm not sure I was breathing while he read some meditations (especially: Fahrenheit Meditation and Meditation for the Dead Swiss). Very nice. I like the Clean Part.

I just now, just one hour ago, made it over to the ParkeHarrison exhibit at the Sheldon. It has been here since January and I am ashamed of myself that I am such a latecomer to this. These photographs are exactly what I've been trying to do with this new manuscript I'm working on. I feel deflated and inflated. Not only the tone and mood and strangeness and post-apocalypticness (some type of primitive distant future) of them, but even their narratives. I should have been there everyday with my little Mead pocket notebook. Alas!

I'd like to publicly thank Ryan Murphy (and AH) for bringing Anthony Hawley's new chapbook, Record Breakers (Ori is the New Apple Press 2007), into my little world. I was reading it on the bus yesterday and was so into it, I missed my stop. I had to walk two extra blocks. So, thank you--that was good for my heart.

you and i, we were frenching, almost tipping
over the day camp's only orange canoe

Seriously.

I'm back at school after spring break. Wrote a few Scary poems. Watched some b-ball. Made some books for Octopus (we'll be announcing two new titles this week, so pay attention). Reading the inaugural issue of Ping Pong, the spring 2007 issue of Fence, The States by Craig Foltz, Flowers of Bad by David Cameron, The Pines Vol. 4. Having lunch with Lucille Clifton tomorrow. I'm not joking. Look at my face, I'm not joking.

Happy St. Shavemybeardoff day. I gave myself mutton chops for a few funtastic hours. But now this face is smooth, like it just came out the chute. Going for a walk now to get some of that crisp Spring breeze into those startled pores.

Sweeping the floor. Doing the laundry. The cold/delicates. All while listening to recent purchases: