Last night at Hopleaf in Andersonville, Daniel Nester was the penultimate…

and I was the ultimate…

…reader in the Bookslut Reading Series, at least in Chicago. The inimitable Charles Blackstone introduced us, and the audience enjoyed a wide selection of international beers while listening carefully to him reading about kissing, to Dan reading about dog poop and the Brooklynites who refuse to scoop it, and to me reading about driving important men around Cook County in rented cars:
Special thanks to John the bartender, and to everyone for coming out to hear some literature on a random Wednesday during this busy holiday season.
…and all the poets–me, Don Share, Michael Kadela, and Kristy Bowen–and audience members listened attentively, and then clapped so much, we got a little blurry:
After that, we talked about poetry, since it was a poetry panel. Thanks to Aarti and all the people at Open Books for working so hard on such a great organization and for inviting me to participate, and thanks to my fellow panelists for being so thought-provoking.
Colleen Mondor is seriously grossed out…
…by For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs. She likes Ray Bradbury a lot, but she does not like personal essays about Brazilian waxes, poets, or cousins who join convents. “Ew. Just…EW,” she writes.
Check out the whole ick-fest here. Thanks for taking the time to read the book and write about it, Colleen!