A New Interview with Interstellar Flight Press, Taking Advantage of Sunshine and Cherry Trees, a Redmond Reading on Thursday, Parents Flying In, and a Writer’s Digest Conference Presentation on Saturday!

White Camellia, Seattle Japanese Garden

A New Interview with Interstellar Flight Press with T.D. Walker

Thanks to Interstellar Flight Press and T.D. Walker for doing this thoughtful interview, “Covid, Science Fiction, and the Poetry of Survival” about my new book, Flare, Corona. It’s always nice to interview with someone who asks such interesting questions. I hope you enjoy it!

It’s remained dreary and cold here in the Northwest, but we had one day of chilly sunshine, so Glenn and I dressed warm and went out to visit the Seattle Japanese Garden (still very early on the blooms there—camellias, rhododendrons, not even their cherries yet) and visited the famous cherry trees in the University of Washington quad.

Here are a few pictures from the visit to the Seattle Japanese Garden (the camellia shot too)…

Squirrel with cherry tree

Taking Advantage of Sunshine and Cherry Trees

We’re on track to have another record cold month, this time an April without reaching 60 degrees. Meanwhile, the East Coast was at 90 degrees. Sigh, could we have a little dry warmth without overdosing on it?

But the cherry trees at UW were bustling with students, tourists, and us on the one sunny weekday this week, and I’m glad we got to see them—it’s important to take breaks to appreciate nature, especially when your schedule looks like mine does this month. Enjoy these pictures from UW’s cherry tree quad!

Red-winged blackbird

Redmond Reading This Thursday at Soul Food Books with Kelli Russell Agodon

Very excited to be reading with my good friend Kelli Russell Agodon this Thursday at 6 PM at the Soul Food Poetry Night at the Soul Food Coffee House in Redmond, WA. A great chance to see some of my Eastside friends, and I’ll be reading all new poems from my new book, so it should be fun! If you can, come out, get some coffee, chill out and listen to Kelli and I read some poems!

Charlotte in a mixing bowl

Crazy Schedules: Poetry Reading Thursday, Parents Arriving from Ohio Friday, and Saturday Giving a Virtual Talk at the Writer’s Digest Conference on Speculative Poetry!

Remember I talked a couple of posts ago about crazy schedules this month and next month? Well, this week has it all: family coming in for visits, the second ever reading for Flare, Corona, and then a virtual talk on Speculative Poetry. Yes, I definitely have the energy for it (I hope) after two weeks of fighting off a non-covid sinus infection and trying to get my garden into shape. I am looking forward to reading with Kelli at Soul Food Books, as it’s pretty low-key with a friendly audience and it’s always more entertaining to read with friends.

My parents are coming for their first visit in six years, so my little brother and I have been cleaning our houses and planning fun outings while they’re here. It’s also my 50th birthday on April 30th, so they’ll be here for that, which should be fun.

My webinar is at the Virtual Writer’s Digest Virtual Poetry Writing Conference, where you can get a day-long pass to hear from the four featured speakers, including me. Here’s a little bit more about my session:

Supervillains, Witches, Monsters, and Particle Physics: Writing Speculative Poetry and Finding an Audience for It

by Jeannine Hall Gailey

In this session, Jeannine will cover a definition of speculative poetry and a short history of it, give some examples from recent writers, talk about where to publish it, and even include a speculative poetry exercise.

I have been trying to also write poems and submit this National Poetry Month, but as you can see, it’s been mostly readings and writer’s group visits and planning and promotion and scheduling doctor and dentists in between events. Oh well! It’s my first book in six years, so I need to give it my attention and energy for a little while. In PR for Poets, I talk about the dangers of burning out on doing promotional stuff, but right now it’s all still mostly the fun stuff and a lot of it feels new, because things have changed since the last time I had a book out. New publisher, new social media things, a different climate for books, plus coming out of three plague years makes everything seems more anxiety-provoking (hoping me and my parents stay well for their visit!)

So, if you’re looking for inspiration on speculative poetry or live on the Eastside of Seattle and want to enjoy some in-person poetry, I hope you visit one of these events. But check out the side of my page—there are a lot more events coming up, both virtual and in-person.