I have said in the past that when friends of mine get good news, it is almost as good as getting it myself. These writers are both very talented and so I am proud to announce:

–Karen J. Weyant just won the Main Street Rag Chapbook Contest with her collection, Wearing Heels in the Rust Belt. (http://thescrapperpoet.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/wearing-heels-in-the-rust-belt/) Go congratulate her!

–Rachel Dacus has just signed on with Kitsune Books (whom you may know from such books as, I don’t know, She Returns to the Floating World) to publish her third full-length poetry collection, Gods of Water and Air. I’m so pleased to have Rachel as a fellow Kitsune! And look for an upcoming short interview with her here on the subject! For now, go congratulate her at her blog: http://dacusrocket.blogspot.com/2011/08/big-news.html

And a quick shout out to Justin Evans for his kind words here (http://justinevanspoetry.blogspot.com/2011/07/out-on-limb.html) about She Returns to the Floating World, here. Have you gotten your copy yet?

And Oliver de la Paz is featured today on Poetry Daily, here.

A good week for my friends. If you have more good news, please leave some info about it in the comments! Giant hugs and cupcakes to all!

So, on to happy news of some friends:

Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s poem “After Challenging Jennifer Lee to a Fight” will be featured today on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac on NPR. You can read and listen to it here: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2007/10/15/#thursday

Laurel Snyder’s new book is out! Say hi!

Mary Biddinger not only has organized poetry shelves but will become the Editor of the Akron Series in Poetry! Go congratulate her!