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!

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Bye Bye Bookslut

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

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and I was the ultimate…

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…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: 003Special thanks to John the bartender, and to everyone for coming out to hear some literature on a random Wednesday during this busy holiday season.

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A minor motion picture

Rose Metal Press is lucky to have lots of talented interns. Evan Fleischer, for example, who made this book trailer for In the Land of the Free by Geoffrey Forsyth, winner of the second annual Rose Metal Press Short Short Chapbook. Thanks, Evan!

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Books = opened

Last night at Open Books, Aarti introduced the last panel of the weekend’s grand opening…005…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: 007After 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.

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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday…

…Kristy Bowen, Michael Kadela and I will be doing a poetry panel moderated by Don Share at Open Books at 5:00 pm. What is Open Books you say? Glad you asked. They’re a “non-profit social venture that operates an extraordinary bookstore, provides community programs, and mobilizes passionate volunteers to promote literacy in Chicago and beyond.”

They’ll be having all kinds of events all weekend long, so if Sunday at 5 doesn’t fit your active lifestyle,  just check the schedule and see what other times you might be able to swing by their flagship bookstore and literacy center at 213 W. Institute Place in Chicago. Thanks to marketing intern extraordinaire Aarti Nagaraju for including me in this awesome venture.

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Mairead Case says That Tiny Insane Voluptuousness…

…is “a valentine to friendship” in the latest issue of Make/shift. She also says, “The pieces pinwheel through topics–sex, technology, work–but are all rooted in form, ranging from the Oulipian (beautiful outlaws) to the academic-traditional (ghazals) to the Roonster/Gabbertian (limited freedoms). Most find kaleidescopic-wow ways to rhyme–’puppy chow,’ ‘holier-than-thou’–and others are just biting funny: ‘I look awesome in my lion makeup./Do you want me to jump off a building for you?’”

In the same review, she covers Barf Manifesto by Dodie Bellamy, Animal Shelter: Art, Sex, Literature (Issue 1) edited by Hedi El Kholti and Paul Gellman, and Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object by yours truly. If you live in one of these places, you can pick up a copy of the magazine live and in person, but you can always order one from wherever you are here. Thanks, Mairead!

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Microreview Wednesday?

Normally at the Black Ocean blog, it’s Microreview Monday, but this week it was Microreview Tuesday and I’m posting about it on what I guess can be Microreview Wednesday.  Erwin Ponce wrote a very nice review of Don’t ever stay the same; keep changing in which he says, among other things, that our collaborations are “playful and profound.” Thanks, Erwin, and thanks Black Ocean!

Also, EG and I have some prose poems in the latest issue of Opium where we’re sharing real estate with Dean Young and Sean Carman and many more, and some lineated ones in Area Sneaks where we’re sharing real estate with K. Lorraine Graham and Jessica Smith and many more.

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Three decades of Women & Children First

The Chicago Tribune calls them “more than a bookstore” and I agree.

Read the whole story, including quotes from Sara Paretsky, store founders Linda Bubon and Ann Christophersen, and me here. Thanks to reporter Christopher Borrelli for giving me the chance to talk about my favorite feminist bookstore.

Also, it’s a long way out, but: save the date! I’ll be doing the launch reading for my forthcoming essay collection For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs there with special guest Erika Mikkalo on Wednesday, January 20, 2010.  There will be snacks.

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It’s aliiive.

The latest issue of Otoliths, that is, available here for your post-Halloween delectation, including four Robinson poems by me.

Thanks to Mark Young for running this magazine of many e-things.

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A limited number of tickets…

…are still available for the Make Literary Productions Benefit Soiree being held this Wednesday, October 28 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Jane’s Restaurant in Bucktown, 1655 W. Cortland, Chicago, IL. If you enjoy readings featuring writers such as Don De Grazia, author of the novel American Skin, Joel Craig, author of the poetry collection Shine Tomorrow and emerging writer Kathryn Scanlan, live music by LeRoy Bach and friends, and silent auctions featuring limited-edition books, original artwork, and other one-of-a-kind items, then now is the time to shine your shoes, put on your fancypants, and support a great Chicago-based literary magazine. Visit http://makemag.com/janes/ to reserve or purchase tickets.

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