I'm bringing my second book of poems, Scary, No Scary*, to some of your towns**. Print this out and put it on your fridge and circle one or more of the dates that you'll come to a reading. Do your push ups. Be sure to stretch. 

*I won't have any of those limited edition hard covers, so if it's on your list, you'll have to get it now. If you bring one to a reading, I'll give you a longish hug, unless you explicitly say you don't want a hug. 

**I'm trying to get to Chicago in late September. I'll keep you posted. 

Raleigh, NC. 8/15. Saturday. So and So Reading Series w/Jim Goar and Emily Kendal Frey. 

Washington DC. 8/16. Sunday. 4 pm. Cheryl's Gone Reading Series w/Joe Hall and EKF. Big Bear Cafe.  

Philadelphia, PA. 8/18. Tuesday. 6:30. New Philadelphia Poets Reading Series w/ EKF. Fergie's Pub. 

Brooklyn, NY. 8/ 21. Friday. 8pm. UnNameable Books. 

Brooklyn, NY. 8/22. Saturday.  Stain Reading Series w/EKF, Phil Memmer, Jeni Olin, JodiAnn Stevenson, and Janaka Stucky.

Cambridge, MA. 8/26. Wednesday. 7pm. Deep Moat Reading Series. Pierre Menard Gallery w/EKF and Mark Leidner.

 

Seattle, WA. 9/10. Thursday. 7pm. Pilot Books w/Sandy Florian. 

Fayetteville, AR. 9/12. Saturday. Burning Chair Reading Series. Four Square Fine Arts Gallery.

Conway, AR. 9/15. Tuesday. Hendrix College. 

Portland, OR. 10/4.  Sunday. 4pm. Powell's Books on Hawthorne w/Andrew Michael Roberts.

Eugene, OR. 10/17. Saturday. 7:30. A-New Poetry Series w/Kate Greenstreet and EKF.

Portland, OR. 10/21. Wednesday.  Sage Said So Reading Series w/Judith Arcana and Kristin Berger.

It's hot here. 99 degrees, but it feels like 100 degrees. I feel sticky. My eyelids are kinda soft and swollen and sweaty. I want to cut my hair real short and shave all my body hair off. My upper lip feels like a slice of a hot peach. I want to take my shoes off and hose them down. I want to have a water balloon fight on the moon. Also, yesterday, EKF and I went on a hike (see above pictures). 

The third issue of Notnostrums has 2 poems of mine in it from a manuscript called 1977-2050, so.

5 things you should know about Octopus, including the fact that Issue #12 is now live.

1. Octopus Magazine #12
2. Heather Christle's The Difficult Farm
3. Open reading in August for #13 (the Recovery Projects issue)
4. Forthcoming 2009 titles
5. Update on 2009 April Reading Period

--

1.

Issue 12 of Octopus Magazine is now online. 

The issue features eight poets, each introduced by a peer. 

Lynn Xu
Heather Christle
Jennifer L. Knox
Tony Tost
Cathy Park Hong
Christopher Stackhouse
Amanda Nadelberg
Kristi Maxwell

Introduced by

Katie Peterson
Lisa Olstein
K. Silem Mohammad
The Lucipo Poetics List
Arda Collins
Rebecca Wolff
Chris Fischbach
Ann M. Fine

The issue also contains reviews of

Farrah Field, Dobby Gibson, Thomas Hummel, 
Carrie Hunter, Ellen Kennedy, Melissa Kwasny, 
Helena Mesa, Vanessa Place & Robert Fitterman, 
Robyn Schiff, Jeremy Schmall & Justin Taylor 

Reviewed by 

Dan Magers , Ben Kopel, Sommer Browning, 
Kathleen Rooney, Dave Madden, Steven Karl, 
Karla Kelsey, David Carillo, & David Sewell

2. 

We are happy to announce that our third full-length book, Heather Christle’s The Difficult Farm, is available for pre-order at the Octopus Books website. 

3.

In August we will be reading for issue 13 of Octopus Magazine. In addition to reading submissions of poetry, we are making a call for Recovery Projects. 

Recovery projects are celebrations of a single book that you feel people should be reading but are not reading--books and poets off the radar. They should be about 1000 words, about a book that is at least 20 years old & out of print, but all those are flexible. The only real requirement is that the recovery inspires a reader to want to track down that book and read it asap. If you have an idea for a recovery, first pitch it to the editors. 

4. 

Octopus Books forthcoming titles in 2009:

40 Watts by CD Wright (chapbook)
Expected Release Date: Sept 1, 2009

Boris by the Sea by Matvei Yankelevich
Expected Release Date: Nov. 1, 2009

5. 

The editors (Mathias and I) are still diligently and anonymously reading April manuscripts. We expect to make an announcement regarding 2010 publications by late August. Thank you for your patience.

Matrimony in San Francisco pt 2

Matrimony in San Francisco

Here's another little poem-film to get you ready for Scary, No Scary.

You Must Choose Between Floating Eternally in a Buoyant Cage of Hummingbird Bones Down a River of Lava or a River of Blood from Zachary Schomburg on Vimeo.