Radio to Book World

A great interview with Frank Stasio on Friday on The State of Things -- really pretty fun, Frank's a good guy to talk to; he does a good interview. We talked about Lucipo, the Desert City, and Key Bridge. One of the "brilliant" things I said was "50% of what I hear is sound."

And, wow!, today the Washington Post's Book World reprinted a section of Key Bridge that originally appeared in Octopus in slightly different form (thanks Mathias & Zach!)

I'm on the Radio! Radi-oh-ooh!

Live from Durham: me on the radio tomorrow, Friday April 27th, at noon!!

I'll be on WUNC's The State of Things (91.5 fm) tomorrow to talk about Key Bridge and whatever else they let me opine about. It'll be lots of fun -- and only 20 minutes of your life! Who would complain about that??

Hear poetry's number on radio voice! All others are second best!! Trust the REAL DEAL!

Me, on the radio, less, obnoxious, than me, on, the blog.

xo

ps: I'll be in Durham on Monday, April 30, to close out Poetry Month with a reading at the Regulator Bookstore on 9th Street at 7pm.

Home Again....

A really wonderful trip around the East Coast and Appalachians -- wow, what fun. Thanks to everybody who helped make it happen and everybody who came.

More soon, but going to spend a little time sleeping under the desk today.

West Coast, here I come.....

Silliman Reviewed Key Bridge!

Wow, it's wonderful, shocking, and just kind of crazy to be mentioned with the likes of Olson, Stein, and Oppen, but I like it...

Ron Silliman on Key Bridge

My April Readings of Key Bridge

Thursday, April 12th, 7pm, Barnes & Noble, Friendly Center, Greensboro, NC

Friday, April 13th, 3pm, Hollins University, Green Room, Roanoke, VA (scroll down to April 13th)

Saturday, April 14th, 8pm, Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD, with C. S. Giscombe & Susan Tichy

Gil Ott Memorial Award Reading Sunday, April 15th, 3pm, Robin's Bookstore, Philadelphia, PA, with Alicia Askenase, Julia Blumenreich, CAConrad, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Ryan Eckes, Kristen Gallagher, Eli Goldblatt, Chris McCreary, Jenn McCreary, Bob Perelman, Ken Rumble, Joshua Schuster, Frank Sherlock, Ron Silliman

Monday, April 16th, 7pm, Robin's Bookstore, Philadelphia, PA, with Sueyeun Juliette Lee

Thursday, April 19th, 8pm, Red Weather Reading Series, 112 Walker, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

Monday, April 30th, 7pm, Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC

AWP: Glory. Light.

Okay, so really there were three more moments of glory and light at AWP that I will write about: meeting and listening to Sawako Nakayasu read from her book of Japanese translations; hearing Reb say "there he is -- Ken! come over here," and then meeting Jill Alexander Esbaum, Anne Boyer, Daniel Nestor, Shafer Hall, and some other sweet people; and the Pilot, Black Ocean, No Tell, Octopus Books reading bLAMPLOSion! then I drove home and pulled into sleepy G'bo around 3:30 am, almost exactly 48 hours after I had left.

Deming Clarifies

A very nice note from John regarding KB and the rating system -- a little excerpt below:

"As for the star rating, I've been meaning for some time to get up on the site a list of what our star rating system actually is; it's supposed to be very discriminating, anyway, kind of a one-to-Whitman thing. 10 stars, then, means an absolute classic; 7.5 means exemplary, among the few best books of the year; 5 stars means highly recommended, strong, promising work; 2.5 means not recommended; 0 of course means "stay as far away as possible.""

And after all, I did better than Mary Karr -- so thanks, John & Coldfront!

Some Reviews of Key Bridge!

Having a book out has increased the number of self-googles I perform, and double bonus today!

Mathias Svalina, really one of the nicest guys I've met in a long time, had some kind things to say about the book over at his blog. Thanks, Mathias! From his review:

"It's at one moment hyperactive & horny & the next moment rent & imagistic. I think Rumble's super-power is the open parenthetical."

And there's a review up at Coldfront Magazine that John Deming wrote. It's odd because the review doesn't seem that critical really -- there are some things he doesn't like about the book of course -- but the "rating" is 5.5 of 10. Ouch!! Turn the heat down, babe! But c'est la vie and shit -- I appreciate the read and ink, and maybe they'll get rid of the ratings someday.

"The wordplay—Rumble's a Steinian at heart—mixed with the domineering image of the less-than-domineering bridge gives you the sense that the poet is willing to control as much as he can while conceding most else to question and chance."