Post-Christmas – Gearing Up for 2013!

So, now that the world hasn’t ended and Christmas is behind us, I guess we can get down to the serious work of figuring out what we will do with ourselves in 2013!

First of all, I want to thank my husband and his keen gift-getting skills for this little load of thoughtful (and cute!) gifts: a hedgehog set of measuring cups, a set of arctic-fox and snowflake canape plates, and a carnelian necklace (carnelian is supposed to be good for healing! I hope it works!)

I was very happy to get some good news from the Jack Straw Writers Program on Christmas Eve, along with a check from my poem published in American Poetry Review a few months ago. What a lovely surprise from Santa – Poetry good stuff! (I also, strangely, got two rejections on Christmas Eve. Ho Ho Scrooge?! But that’s okay. The other things made up for it.)

So, in the beginning of January, I’m going to be reading at the Bellevue Arts Museum and giving a short workshop on haiku and haibun on January 4 at 4:30 PM. The next day, January 5th, I’ll be hosting a panel at Redmond Library on multi-cultural poetry and the language of science (featuring Natasha K. Moni and Raul Sanchez) at 3 PM. Whoosh! Starting the year with a bang. Then I’m reading on January 11th at King’s Books in Tacoma.  So, if you want to know where to find me in January, I’ll probably be running around in a panic. (I also have several freelance writing and editing deadlines in January, and I start teaching again in February, so…)

Which leads me to the question of – what is it you want to do in 2013? I’m very excited about my new book coming out from New Binary Press in April of 2013, Unexplained Fevers (and I’ve been collaborating with artist Michaela Eaves on doing some special-edition art for a UK special edition which is going to be available along with the regular soft-cover edition and an e-book! That’s three editions! Craziness!) I am hoping I will be healthy enough to get out to the UK for a few readings at some point, otherwise I’m starting to put together readings for 2013 in the Norhwest.
What else? I’m planning a book party/40th birthday party sometime in the spring as well, because if you can’t celebrate turning 40, well, what’s the point? And I’ll be doing Poet Laureate stuff AND Jack Straw things as well next year. It seems like a year of busy poet work. And who can complain about that? I want to spend 2013 getting healthier, wealthier, and writing and reading more poetry. Maybe paying off some student loans. But especially the writing part. And finding a home for my fourth book. And I have 46 good pages on a fifth book that really hones in on the nerdy stuff – engineering, algebra, apocalypses, more superhero poems. I should probably also try to send out some work – see, a poet’s work is never ever done!

So, what are your plans for 2013? I am wishing you all a healthy, happy, and more peaceful and prosperous new year!

Apocalypse Wow – A poem, a puzzle, a review, and warm wishes

Yes, friends, it could be the end of the world, but nevertheless, and even more so, warm wishes, happy holidays, and etc! In the midst of darkness in a dark time, it’s time to light a fire, tell people you love them, hand someone a present for no reason, write a poem, paint a picture, make a feast.

I have an appropriately apocalyptic poem up at The Chiaroscuro called “The Scientist Solves a Puzzle” so check it out!

I also had a review of Elizabeth Austen’s Every Dress a Decision up at Galatea Resurrects.

I’ve been pretty sick after a whirlwind of holiday activities and family last week, and with the bad news all over the television, sick at heart as well. There are only so many ways to respond to these things – with humor, and love, and encouragement, and gathering the ones you love around you, with anger or grief. I’m no wise woman or spiritual sage, but I hope that you remember the season is about comfort and joy, even on the coldest, darkest day of the year. Let’s make some wishes for 2013, for a renewed world that protects its children, that reminds us that our hard work in our fields can make a difference, for the old sense of apocalypse – the drawing aside of a curtain, and a revelation – a clear reading of something that’s been obscured.

Okay, hokey well wishes over. Merry Mayan Apocalypse, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Next Big Thing Interview

Thank you to Ivy Alvarez who kindly asked me to participate in The Next Big Thing Interview at the Dumbfoundry:
http://dumbfoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-next-big-thing.html

• Margaret Atwood’s Selected Poems II

• Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife

• Louise Gluck’s Meadowlands

• Denise Duhamel’s Kinky

I can also blame many of these poems on my life-long obsession with Grimms, Hans Christian Andersen, Andrew Lang’s Fairy books, and tough chicks from pop culture like Buffy and Sydney Bristow and Annie Walker.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I think this is probably a funnier book that you might think from the description. Especially towards the end, I think I wrote some of the poems that are the most fun to perform onstage – more puns, more risk, that kind of thing.

1. Collin Kelley, with his latest collection, Render, soon to be released by Sibling Rivalry Press.

2. Julie Brooks Barbour whose book Small Chimes is forthcoming.
3. Kelly Davio, whose book Burn This House will be out soon from Red Hen Press.
4. Kelli Russell Agodon, whose new book Hourglass Museum will come out from White Pine Press in 2014.

  *

Reading Futuristic Poetry with Hello the Future and a Week of Crazy

In case you’re looking for something to do tomorrow night, you know, getting ready to celebrate the Mayan-end-of-the-world solstice and all that, I’m reading all apocalypse and futuristic poetry at 6 PM opening for a band called “Hello the Future” at Soul Food Books Friday.
http://www.songkick.com/concerts/14860894-hello-the-future-at-soulfood-books-and-café

I have had the nuttiest week – my little brother and his wife came in to visit from Thailand, so we took them on a tour of all the fun stuff you can do here in the cold rainy season – wine and beer tasting in Woodinville, sushi dinner and the Sorrento Hotel lounge for cocktails, a pilgrimage to Caffé Vita and helping them catch up on any American things they’d missed (Whole Foods! Book stores! Back episodes of Community and Family Guy! Ah, America…) I also had several poetry events and was trying to get everything together for New Binary Press for my third book, “Unexplained Fevers” – copyediting, updating acknowledgements, getting an author photo (hopefully) and working with Michaela Eaves on the cover art. I think I’ve gotten about seven hours of sleep over the past seven days, which hopefully will be fixed over the weekend. (Along with working on a friend’s manuscript, writing my Poet’s Market articles, and getting Christmas shopping finished…and Christmas cards, um, started? And responding to all the e-mails I’ve been ignoring?)

Oh yes, and don’t forget She Returns to the Floating World is going out of print at the end of the year with Kitsune Books’ close, so buy it now on Kindle or print! Great for holiday gifts for your anime-and-Japanese-folk-tale-loving friends!

Colleen McElroy reading, Christmas Parties, and a Family Visit

Well, I managed to make it though the Poet Laureate Event on Thursday night (a panel on e-publishing which was pretty well-received, I thought) AND get out the next day and go to both a poetry reading and Glenn’s corporate Christmas party! And today we’re cleaning and cooking in preparation for my little brother’s visit from where he’s living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We’re making Osso Bucco and cranberry meringue pies, braised endive and mashed potatoes.

Here’s a little pic of me with Colleen McElroy at Open Books, who read from her latest book, Here I Throw Down My Heart. She’s been having some health issues, but she looked and sounded terrific – if she hadn’t mentioned it, I would never have known. I was really glad to be there. Colleen is a wonderful, courageous writer and person. Really generous.

And this is a little picture of Glenn and I all dolled up for the night with our Christmas tree in the background. Glenn’s work party had lovely gluten-free dishes this year, and a band, in comparison to totally cutting the holiday party last year, so maybe his company is doing a little better? One can hope. Maybe it’s a good sign for the economy. Anyway, I had fun and even was tempted to get on the dance floor…

A Long December, a few bits of news, and a panel on poetry and technology

Yes, it’s already December. The solstice with its apocalyptic overtones is creeping nearer. I watched the disturbing apocalypse-by-water movie Beasts of the Southern Wild recently, which reminded me alternately of Miyazaki’s Ponyo and Princess Mononoke, but Miyazaki manages to make his apocalypses slightly less depressing. A lot of my recent poems have end-of-the-world-type references in them, I’ve noticed, and I believe the YA section of the local Barnes and Nobles is nothing but apocalyptic dystopias now. Margaret Atwood should be watching her back!

The Winter 2012 issue of Rattle is here, with a special section of speculative poetry, which I’m happy to be part of. The poem, “Elemental,” is part of my “Robot Scientist’s Daughter” manuscript. Also present in the spec section are Kristin Berkey-Abbott, Deborah P. Kolodji, Noel Sloboda and Lesley Wheeler, among others.  Definitely worth a winter’s night read.

Thanks to The Pinch journal, which nominated another poem from that same MS, “Lessons in Poison” for a Pushcart.  I am always thankful for these little boosts, even though I know the chances of actually getting into the Pushcart anthology are slim.

As I prepare for next year’s Unexplained Fevers book launch, I realize I am already a bit behind the eight ball on scheduling readings. How is that possible? Also, setting up a book is even more complicated now than it was a couple of years ago – there are more social media options (and therefore responsibilities,) more e-book options, more places for us to remember to set up for review. I have to redo my web site to look a little bit more modern and reflect the mood of the new book (wintry fairy tale landscape?)
So, if you’re interested in how technology is affecting poets, from e-book publishing to social media use for poets, and you live around Seattle, come out to this Thursday’s panel on Poetry and Technology, hosted by me at the Redmond Library and featuring special guests (and e-book publishers) Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy. More here!

Shopping List? A few recommended Poetry Books of 2012

If you are looking for poetry books from 2012 to buy as gifts (or for yourself) I do have just a few must-buys and recommendations. It’s always hard to pick exactly what I enthusiastically endorse each year, because I get so many books as a reviewer, and so many of them are worthy of praise. However, these are books I have read closely, already given to others myself, and can truly say – this book was a great read more than once! So, this is a short list, I’m leaving out a ton of other great poetry books, but rest assured these would all be great books to give as gifts or keep for yourself.
Yes, I’m including links to these books on Amazon, with the caveat that if you can buy them directly from the publisher or from your local independent bookstore (Seattle’s Open Books is a nice place that I’d like to see stay open!) that is probably the best way to support your publishers and bookstores.

Annette Spaulding-Convy’s In Broken Latin
I blurbed this book but I’ve been a fan of it (reading it in different iterations) for years. Annette writes with compassion, grace, and a surprisingly sharp and humorous eye about her experiences as a nun. This is not your grandmother’s nun poetry – expect a wonderbra or two flying at you from these pages. I can genuinely say Annette is not only a friend but probably one of the best poets I’ve ever read. You will not regret buying this book.

Juliana Gray’s Roleplay
This book of poetry has “geek cred” written all over it. You can read my review up at The Rumpus (http://therumpus.net/2012/10/roleplay-by-juliana-gray/) but suffice it to say that if you enjoy any combination of formal poetry, zombies, and Hitchcock trivia, you will enjoy this book. Juliana’s poetry is funny and smart and the kind of “gateway drug” that will get your comic-loving little brother to believe that poetry can be fun.

Kathleen Flenniken’s Plume
It’s not every book about America’s nuclear history that you can say: the author has actually lived that history. Kathleen worked at Hanford as an engineer, her father worked at Hanford, and she grew up in Richland cheering on teams with names like “The Bombers.” (For sci-fi geeks, a little trivia: Orson Scott Card was also born in Richland, WA.) This book is an amazing and dynamic combination of history of the Manhattan Project, Memoir, and Poetry. This is one book of poetry I could give to my engineer father that he actually read and enjoyed. (My formal review of the book is up at The Rumpus: http://therumpus.net/2012/05/lie-down-patriot-dont-ask/)

Eduardo Corral’s Slow Lightning
Sure, he’s everybody’s literary darling now, and his book won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, etc..but Eduardo has been writing insanely good lyric poetry for years now. He’s one of those poets I was begging other poets to read the minute I after I read his first poem seven or eight years ago. Besides some sensitive and keen-eyed tributes to his mother and father – those are my favorites in the book – Eduardo manages to address issues of immigration, sexuality, language, and being the “other” in a way that few other poets could pull off. (Not for anyone who would be put off by a blow job reference or three – these are definitely poems for adults.)

Also want to give a shout-out to: Poet’s Market 2013, a must-have for aspiring and beginning poets and Anything from Kitsune Books: This wonderful small publisher is closing at the end of the year due to the editor/publisher’s serious illness. Please go and buy a title before they go away and do what you can to support them- http://www.kitsunebooks.com/catalog-genre.html. I know you won’t be disappointed with any of their poetry books, but they also have Young Adult, Geek-friendly lit crit, and fiction.

Black Friday Poetry Deals!

In case you’re in the mood to shop – for poetry!

Black Friday through Cyber Monday, get a special deal – receive both of my books (Becoming the Villainess and She Returns to the Floating World with free (Domestic) shipping and a free gift (surprise!) for $20! Remember, She Returns to the Floating World is about to go out of print at the end of December, so get your copy now! To get this deal, e-mail me at jeannine dot gailey at live dot com with the subject line “Black Friday Poetry.”

Happy Thanksgiving Week – Is it really almost December?

OK, I know everyone probably says this every year, but Oh my God how did it get to be almost December? Have I been asleep in some sort of time machine? Is everyone else ready for the holidays now? Because I am not. Yesterday there was flooding around town, some downed tree branches, but nothing big enough to use as a Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving will mean Osso Bucco and crustless cranberry meringue pies this year. We’re adjusting to my new dietary restrictions and plus, meals made in a Dutch oven rule for going out to the movies on Thanksgiving! (James Bond perhaps? Why isn’t The Hobbit out yet?)

I actually felt really good about the last Redmond Poet Laureate event, Kathleen Flenniken’s reading (for a summary and pictures here: http://redmondpoetry.blogspot.com/2012/11/kathleen-flennikens-redmond-reading-and.html) and loved meeting people interested in poetry. I mean, maybe I feel like I’m starting to have a little bit of a community out here in the tech-center-outskirts of Seattle. Yes, I might even say I feel optimistic. I’m looking forward to Kelli and Annette’s talk on December 6th on E-publishing and social media for poets at Redmond Library (7 PM.) Did I mention how great our library system is? Well, I feel thankful for that too.

I’m starting to get a little nervous/stressed/excited about getting all the book stuff for Unexplained Fevers ready by the end of December for a spring launch with New Binary Press – like, getting a new author photo, working with the artist to get cover art, starting to (eek!) think about setting up readings for the new book next year. Maybe a book trailer? (I do not currently have the skills to make a book trailer, so if you ever see one, it’s because someone helped me out. Maybe more than one person.) I may work with a PR service for the book this time around (YouDoPR is a very affordable PR service that is creating services for poets!) This is all new territory for me. Does having a book coming out seem lie it requires a lot more skills than it used to? But I am so thankful to have a publisher and a publishing date for this book.

So Happy Thanksgiving, you guys, however you celebrate, I hope you are warm and safe and loved. I’m going to decorate for Christmas early this year. We don’t have much money to spend – paying mortgages and car repairs and such has really curtailed our usual spending festivities – but we can start the celebration whenever we want.

Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken visits Redmond!

Today I have the chance as Poet Laureate of Redmond to host the Poet Laureate of the whole state of Washington, Kathleen Flenniken, as she reads at Redmond Library from her new book, Plume, at 3 PM. Afterwards I’ll host a short Q&A, and we’ll serve refreshments, and Kathleen will sign books! I’m really looking forward to hearing Kathleen read poems from Plume again – this is one of my favorite books of 2012 – I liked it so much I bought one for myself and one for my father!

It’s a stormy day out, perfect for curling up with a good book at the library, so come by if you can! (Refreshments include sea-salt-and-cocoa-dusted almonds and peppermint-chocolate cookies…)