…is the number of poems we wrote last night while doing Poems While You Wait at the Parlour Tapes+ murder-mystery-themed fundraiser, where we–Liz Hildreth, Virginia Konchan, Daniela Olszewska, Eric Plattner, and I–sat by a window with this view…
…in a building that also contained an archery range:
There were deviled eggs…
…and mysterious mayhem:
Thanks to Parlour Tapes+ for having us. Stay tuned to the PWYW tumblr for the results of the guests’ requests!
…are eligible each year for The Eric Hoffer Book Awards. This year, Robinson Alone won the 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Award in Poetry! Thanks to the selection committee for picking it, and to Jared Michael Wahlgren of Gold Wake Press for publishing it!
…happens to be Beth Rooney. See?
Thanks, Beth, for the new author photos! Stay tuned for this one appearing on the jacket flap of O, Democracy! (Fifth Star Press) next spring.
…was a (real) success:
The Charnel House is a former funeral parlor, and it still has many of its ancient appurtenances intact, including this phone:
The friends and foes among the evening’s speakers eulogizing McPhael included Robert Archambeau, Daniela Olszewska, Larry Sawyer, Todd McCarty, Jason Bredle, Barbara Barg, Kenyatta Rogers, Maureen Ewing, Virginia Konchan, Lina Ramona Vitkauskas, and me, not to mention burlesque performances by members of Vaudezilla. Had McPhael been there–or had he ever existed in the first place–one can only imagine that he would have been immensely pleased:
…is the number of poems we wrote last night while doing Poems While You Wait at the Highland Park Library’s fabulous Librarypalooza fundraiser:
We also got to partake of such delicious hors d’oeuvres as these…
…and to listen to the inimitable musical stylings of the lovely and amazing Kelly Hogan…
Thank you to the Highland Park Library for including PWYW in their evening of literary fun, and to all the Highland Parkers who commissioned original poetry on a springy Saturday night on the North Shore. Stay tuned to the PWYW tumblr to see the results of the requests!
…from Robinson Alone and it stars Martin Donovan as Robinson. It is among the coolest things that anyone has ever done in response to a piece that I have written and it looks like this: 
You can read the poem and see the painting in the latest issue of PoetsArtists–which is titled “Heroes & Villains,” and which focuses on collaboration–here. Thanks to Martin Donovan for agreeing to embody Kees’ character as I interpreted him, and to Daniel Maidman for bringing the project together.
…and Salon Splendor is a new reading and performance series that will be held there every month. Last night was the inaugural event…
…featuring James Tadd Adcox…
…Okla Elliott…
… and me, all reading pieces on the theme of “Origins”…
…plus house band Good Evening, who also composed an original song on the subject:
The evening was emceed by the inimitable Jacob Knabb…
…and attended by these people…
…and these people…
…and these people: 
Thanks to Billy Corgan for opening such a lovely place, and to Curbside Splendor Publishing for setting up programming there, and to everyone who came out on a snowy April night to listen to music and literature.
…I did the sixteenth ever reading from Robinson Alone at Local Author Night at the Book Cellar. Susan Hahn read first, from her lovely novel The Six Granddaughters of Cecil Slaughter…
…then I read, complete with mustache…
…then Amy Leach read from her fantastic essay collection Things That Are...
…and then B.J. Best read from his videogame-inspired book of prose poetry, But Our Princess is in Another Castle:
Thanks to the Book Cellar for hosting, and to the small but stalwart audience…
…who braved the torrential rains…
…to hear some local authors on a tremendously soggy night.
June Rockefeller…
…reviewed Robinson Alone for Redivider, and in her review, she says:
“A book like this is risky to write. How to borrow a character from such an admired poet and give it life? How to do it justice without overdoing it so that it feels inauthentic. I don’t envy Rooney’s task but I envy the result. The more time I spend with Robinson Alone the more I admire it. It’s the type of collection that leaves you wanting more and yet, still discovering something new with each read.”
Thanks, June. You can read the whole review here.