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...]
Lift Every Voice: New anthology from Kissing Dynamite sings
December 7, 2019 By
I've recently posted a review of the new book Lift Every Voice: An Anthology of Poetry on Goodreads. Y'all, the short version is, you need to get a copy. Several of the poems have stuck with me for weeks since I've read them, and one has inspired quite a bit of new writing for me. Don't you love when that happens? Kissing Dynamite is a relatively new online monthly journal you might like to check out. I love the format and the work that editor Christine Taylor is selecting. (I've had my own … [Read more...]
Sugar Fix Shout-Out 2: Poet Marie Harris
November 25, 2019 By
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
November 21, 2019 By
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...]
Murfreesboro book club discusses Sugar Fix
November 13, 2019 By
I took it as a good sign that the book club hostess, someone I'd not met before, opened the door and welcomed me in from the cold autumn afternoon with a broad smile and a hug. I followed her into a sitting area where most of the group had already gathered - and where a half-dozen copies of Sugar Fix lay on the coffee table in front of them. While I knew that each of these avid readers had purchased a book, the scene still took me by surprise. There was MY beautiful book, six times over, … [Read more...]
