Featured Artist on the Kentucky Arts Council website

I'm a little late, but nevertheless, here is the video produced by Mark Brown of the Kentucky Arts Council, which was used on the KAC website where I was the featured artist for November/December 2015:

The feature page itself is here. thank you to Mark and the KAC for their support!

New poem in Radar Poetry

I'm a bit late posting this, but my poem "Winter Rental" is in issue 7 of Radar Poetry, which you can read here. The page also includes a wonderful piece of collaborative art by Brooke Vertin--the second time we have done so for Radar--and also a recording of me reading said poem. As always, thanks to Rachel Marie Patterson and Dara-Lyn Shrager for their editorial support.

New Poem in DIAGRAM

One of the poems from my sequence, Thread Cloud Atlas, a poem I sometimes call "Snowdrops," appears in the newest edition of DIAGRAM. Click here to read it.

New poem in Forklift, Ohio

My endless gratitude is extended to Matt Hart and Eric Appleby for publishing the eulogy for my father in the spring edition of Forklift, Ohio, lovingly bound in purple sandpaper and duct tape.

Two poems in The Pinch, and four poems in Softblow

Thanks to Ashley Roach-Freiman for including two of my poems -- "Memphis" and "A Tundra is a Room without Walls"--in the first issue of the 35th volume of The Pinch. I appreciated my chance to read in Memphis in January, 2014, and this is a nice memento of that time.

I also should acknowledge, albeit a bit late, that four poems from my Discountry series are online at Softblow.

Three poems in Yes, Poetry

I am February Poet-of-the-Month at Joanna C. Valente's Yes, Poetry. Three poems--"Window in a Little Drawer," "Marriage a Perfect Elegy," and "Persimmon," all from my Discountry manuscript--are posted here.

Thanks to Joanna for the honor.

New Poem in Phantom Limb

Thanks to Jeffrey Allen and John James for publishing my poem "Alba," which you can read here.

Pyro Gallery 'Double Vision' Show and Reading

I am pleased to say that I am one of the poets represented in a collaborative project at the Pyro Gallery in downtown Louisville. I collaborated with sculptor John McCarthy, who is also working with my daughter Teagan's kindergarten class as an artist-in-residence at Lincoln Performing Arts School. Together we made an homage to my father, who died during the collaboration. An article from the Courier-Journal is here. The show runs until February 15, and on February 5, I will be reading at the gallery, including a poem about my father's death that will appear in the journal Forklift, Ohio this year.

You can also listen to an interview on ART x FM radio from Rachel Short's "Keep Louisville Literary" show here. I talk about the project, read a poem, and talk about my father, yoga, and the collaboration.

Three New Poems in So-and-So Magazine

Three new poems of mind--"Paris, Kentucky", "After Besmilr Brigham", and "Rock Run"--are featured in the new So-and-So thanks to Chris Tonelli. You can read them here.

Two poems in Country Music

I'm grateful to editor Scott Abels for including two poems from my Discountry series--"Unfinished Geometry" and "To the Accompaniment of a Fiddle"--in Issue 7 of Country Music. 

New Poem in TYPO

I am utterly excited to have my first poem published in TYPO. My poem, a section from a long piece titled Thread-Cloud Atlas, is in the 21st issue. My thanks to Adam Clay and Matt Henriksen. You can read the poem here, from which you can also link to the main issue.

"Elegy for Matt" at Spork

A poem I wrote for Matt Miller,  a friend who died in a tragic road accident--he was killed on his bike--is now online at Spork. My appreciation to Jake Levine for his accepting the poem and kind comments. There is also a video at the end of me reading a poem by Jeffrey Allen. Many thanks to my friend Steve Galbraith, who printed this poem into a folio as a way to fundraise for Matt's son, Holden. There are a few left at www.greenfusepress.org. All money will be donated to a fund established for Holden.

New Poem in The Blueshift Journal

My poem appears, thanks to Tyler Tsay, in the first issue of The Blueshift Journal. The poem, "Buried Hillside," can be read here.

New Poem in The Equalizer

Thanks to Michael Schiavo for publishing my poem "Santa Fe," which I wrote for my friend Heather Kennedy, in section 2.4 of The Equalizer, which is available for viewing in Google Drive here.

Late Summer and Early Fall Work

I've gotten a bit behind in postings, but here are three recent publications of note.

First, my story on the photographer Shelby Lee adams appeared in the September edition of Kentucky Monthly. The print version contains many excellent photos by Adams himself, as well as a portrait of Adams and Frankie, one of his long-time subjects, by Deena Fitzpatrick, who accompanied me on the trip to Hazzard, Kentucky. the piece is also featured online.

Next, a section from my long poem, "Primal Gravity," appears in the newest edition of The Lumberyard, published by Typecast Publishing.

Finally, I did an interview with poet Leah Falk on her blog, MFA Day Job, titled "I Never Want to Go Back to Academia."  I appreciate her inviting me to talk about my own experience with the post-MFA world of work.

In other news, my manuscript Discountry was an "honorable mention" in Black Ocean's open reading period, and  I will have forthcoming publications in The Equalizer, Spork, Country Music, and Blueshift Journal. My collaborative piece with sculptor John McCarthy, part of Louisville's Pyro Gallery project, will be completed soon, and a new collaboration with composer Jacob Gotlib will begin. I will also be a featured reader at November's Writer's Block Festival in Louisville, hosted by InKY.

New Poem, A New Profile, and Two New Interviews

Time to catch up on news:

First, my poem "Discountry" appears in the new issue of Radar Poetry, and features accompanying artwork by Brooke Vertin and an MP3 of me reading the poem. Thanks to Dara-Lyn Shrager and Rachel Marie Patterson for publishing this poem.

Then, the LEO Weekly published a story on my Green Fuse Press, "Words that Light a Fuse."

The Adroit Journal, who recently published my poem "History of Snow," also published a two-part interview with me, thanks to Amanda Silberling at the Adroit blog. You can read Part I here and Part II here.

("Bird on Industrial" by Carol Shillibeer)

Finally, Ashlie Stevens at Louisville's WFPL interviewed me about my soon-to-be second edition of Hiking Kentucky's Red River Gorge.

"History of Snow" in the Adroit Journal

A huge thank you to Peter LaBerge for not only soliciting me but including my poem, "History of Snow," in Issue 9 of The Adroit Journal. The poem, part of my MFA thesis at Warren Wilson College, was written in December 2012 upon seeing photos of the Wounded Knee Massacre, which had by that point reached the 122nd anniversary. the page also includes an mp3 of my reading of the poem. I am honored to be able to have had this poem read, appreciated, and published. My gratitude to Makalani Bandele for his unwavering support of the poem.

The Mission of Green Fuse Press

For some time now, I’ve dreamed of publishing poets, and the idea of making broadsides—something that connotes the individualistic power of a unique poem, making the poem substantive as a piece of art as well as literature—seemed the natural choice.

Most people understand the challenges publishers, especially small publishers, face in America today. I knew such an enterprise would be risky at worst, but also fulfilling and challenging at best. I had, however, a few ideas I hoped would set my project apart.

The most important was simply to pay the poet for his or her contribution. As a poet myself, I am accustomed to not making any revenue from what is, essentially, my life’s work. Certainly I’ve been paid here and there for a publication or a reading, but it is rare for a writer in my station. It seemed fair and necessary to support a poet, whose work I am soliciting, not only artistically but monetarily. Thus, I have insisted on paying the writer a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their broadside, as well as provide them with copies of the broadside itself.

Secondly, I saw this as a way to support local business in Louisville, Kentucky, where I live. I had always envisioned using the local letterpress artists at Hound Dog Press. They are, of course, paid for their work. But it’s also a matter of collaboration; my role is simple in that I solicit a poet and choose a poem to publish. But I wanted Nick Baute, co-owner of Hound Dog, to work his magic on the broadsides—he designs them, conceives and executes the art, and prints them on his 19^th century press.

The mission of my Green Fuse Press is to therefore be supportive of the arts as a form of collaboration, as promoting great literature and unique local business, and of course as a way to be financially supportive of all involved. And whatever money is leftover goes, as planned, to investing in the next poet, the next broadside.

It is my hope that poets, writers, and readers everywhere—both in Louisville and across the country—share my vision and find Green Fuse Press worth supporting. No one wants to be the poet who drives hundreds of miles on his or her own gas to a reading where no one buys a single book. I don't fault the many small presses who print poems they love but can't afford to pay—I'd only like to make an attempt to publish diferently.

The first broadside, a poem by Graham Foust, one of my favorite poets, is a test run. This will help me determine if people are willing to support not just me, or Green Fuse Press, or even the poet and printer, but the idea that we can make of literature something that contributes to all involved.

And my time practicing meditation has taught me something about karma I think it wise to remind myself of: that the energy we give always returns to us, sometimes multiplied, expanded, and intensified. It all begins today with a choice to support the idea: buy a broadside, hang it on the wall, and consider it daily. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Visit us at www.greenfusepress.org.

New Poem in interrupture

My poem "Sky Lay White," the first of my Discountry series to be published, is online at interrupture.

"Gross Income" in the LEO Weekly

My cover story for this week's LEO Weekly is "Gross Income," a piece on my experience as an adjunct instructor of composition in Kentuckiana. Thanks to Sara Havens and Peter Berkowitz for the work they did in editing a large, sprawling piece.