December 22, 2024

Sugar Fix Shout-Out 3: Poet Tiana Clark

If you're in the poetry world, there's a good chance you've heard of Tiana Clark, prize-winning author of I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood and Equilibrium. Along with numerous poets from middle Tennessee and beyond, Tiana and I share the same "poetry father" - the wondrous Bill Brown, most recently author of The Cairns and a model of generosity and attention. In the past couple of years, Tiana's career has skyrocketed. Y'all, when she reads in Nashville, HUNDREDS of people show … [Read more...]

Sugar Fix Shout-Out 2: Poet Marie Harris

One of the hardest tasks I've experienced in the poetry world is writing blurbs for a few colleagues' books. In the tradition of the poetry world, writing a good blurb involves reading the entire book, making notes on themes, motifs, and favorite passages, and then distilling that into a hopefully complimentary but not overstated paragraph of about 100 words that makes a potential reader want to explore the book. Did I mention this is hard work and an act of significant generosity on the part … [Read more...]

Sugar Fix Shout-Out 1: Janet Hill Studio

The approaching holidays have me thinking about gratitude. Long ago I wrote down this quote from Mary Jean Irion: "Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are." I try to live by those words, but this autumn has been full of extraordinary days as I've celebrated Sugar Fix coming into the world. And now it's time to thank all the folks involved! First up, because perhaps you CAN judge a book by its cover, I want to introduce you to Janet Hill Studio. I first came across Janet's … [Read more...]