It’s past time for an update! Let’s imagine this blog is a nice, cool swimming pool and jump right in with some recent news:

Interviews

This month I was delighted to interview poet Theresa Burns, author of Design, on Diane Lockward’s “Blogalicious” blog. Diane, the publisher of Terrapin Books, has been featuring a series in which Terrapin press mates interview each other, especially featuring books whose tours were impacted by the pandemic. Theresa was great fun to talk with, and I adore the sample poem we’ve included in that blog, “The New Black.” Read it at dianelockward.blogspot.com/2022/06/terrapin-books-interview-series-kory.html 

A quote from Ann Keniston’s interview with me

Poet Ann Keniston also recently interviewed me on the same blog, asking some great questions with regards to Sugar Fix and my thoughts on facts, stories, kinship and the poetry community, and more. The interview concludes with my poem “He drove a a four-door Chevy, nothing sexy, but I’d been thinking of his mouth for weeks,” which appears in Sugar Fix and was originally published in Helen. Check it out at dianelockward.blogspot.com/2022/06/terrapin-books-interview-series-ann_29.html

New(ish) Poems

Although I’m pretty good about sharing newly published work on social media, I don’t always get it to my website! Here are some recent publications I’ve had work in:

• Yellow Arrow Journal, (Vol. VII, No. 1) UpSpring – “Whatever Happened to Jill”
  I’m thrilled to be included in this journal, as Yellow Arrow Publishing is doing impressive work to support women writers through both publications and programs–some virtual and some in the Baltimore area. Learn more

• I’ve been writing travel-inspired poems, especially during the pandemic, and some of those appear in:
  • The Literary Bohemian – “Never Without Her Umbrella” and “Reception”
  • Scrawl Place – “If you were her my love, you’d be all talk”
• I also have new work recently appearing in Poetry South, Peauxdunque Review, and Reckoning: Tennessee Writers on 2020, a project of The Porch in Nashville.

What I’m Reading

South of Heaven by Patti Frye Meredith was recently published by Main Street Rag. Patti and I were in a writing group together when we lived in the same area years ago, and I am so thrilled that the world can now get to know Fern, her sweet son Dean, his long-missing father Mac, and a host of other memorable characters who are all jockeying to protect various secrets. If you like Southern writing, this is a satisfying, must-read title to add to your list!

Next on my list of fiction is Susan O’Dell Underwood’s debut novel, Genesis Road (Madville Publishing). Susan’s a fantastic poet, so I can’t wait to read this novel.

In poetry, I’m enjoying new work by Jeff Hardin, Watermark (Madville Publishing); and Lisa Dordal’s newest, Water Lessons (Black Lawrence Press). Both of these poets recently appeared at Poetry in the Boro, the series I founded and co-manage.

I’m also thrilled for publications recently out or forthcoming from our Poetry in the Boro community:

• Toriana Williams has published her debut collection, Poetically in Motion

• Hil Hoover has their debut collection in the pipeline at Read or Green Books

• PitB co-manager and my frequent partner in good creative trouble, Amie Whittemore, has been publishing some fantastic poems. She’s got TWO collections coming out in 2023 and 2024! Star-Tent: A Triptych will be published by Tolsun Books in 2023, and Nest of Matches will be released by Autumn House Press in 2024.

More

I’m already looking forward to the MTSU Write Fall 2022 Conference on September 23-24. Entitled Truth or Dare: Writing Beyond the Boundaries of Form, Genre, Tough Topics & Taboo, it’s got something for everyone, including both virtual and in-person options. Learn more at mtsu.edu/write/conference.php.

Speaking of MTSU Write, I’ll close with poem by one of the poets I’ve recently mentored:

“Mush, Winter 2021” by Marceline White in Atticus Review

If you’re interested in a from-home, one-on-one mentorship that helps you with your creative writing goals, learn more here.

Lynn says, in part:

“One of the most admirable qualities of this collection—and the quality that really makes it a collection rather than simply an accumulation of forty or so poems—is how subtly Wells is able to weave personal ancestry with national history.”

Read the review at
https://lynndomina.com/?p=686

While we’re here together, let me remind you that I’ll be the featured reader at the virtual Gestalt Poetry Open Mic on Saturday, August 22. Details are here on Facebook. Would love to see you there!

I’m thrilled and honored to have my poem “Voice” from Sugar Fix featured on today’s episode (#295) of The Slowdown, a podcast by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.

The Slowdown was recently named by Pop Sugar as one of the best podcasts to ease anxiety, and for good reason – Tracy K. Smith’s smooth, soothing voice and and insightful reflections related to each day’s poem are always a comfort.

If you’re not familiar with the podcast, it’s just 5 minutes each weekday. Check it out on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or listen to my poem’s episode here on slowdownshow.org.

Thanks to Mothers Always Write for first publishing this poem under a different title.

Happy new year! How about we celebrate new beginnings with a few links to local lit-related news?

Here’s the Poetry in the Boro team: Nick Bush, Gregory Lannom, me, 2020 Murfreesboro Poet Laureate Amie Whittemore, and Bryanna Licciardi

First, read about the January 19th Poetry in the Boro, volunteering for the SE-YA 2020 book fest, and an open mic night at Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center in my January Murfreesboro Pulse column.

There’s a new poet laureate in town! I’m so pleased that Amie Whittemore, one of the Poetry in the Boro team, will be bringing her creative ideas and brilliant poetry to Murfreesboro. The city is also welcoming painter laureate Dawna Maglicano and photographer laureate Tom Womack. Read more in this Murfreesboro Voice article, including info on a Jan. 12th reception in their honor. Hope to see you there!

Do you know that Murfreesboro has a One Book community reading program? An initiative of Read To Succeed, this year’s book is It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs. What’s better, you can borrow a free copy at a number of local “book crossing” locations. Learn more on the RTS site.

Finally, MTSU will be back in session soon – don’t miss the good list of writing-related events that Dr. Claudia Barnett maintains here.

Image: Streamliner typewriter by Kory Wells

A review of Sugar Fix now appears in Glass: A Journal of Poetry. Reviewer and fellow poet Anne Graue says of the book:

turning the pages is easy and urgent

She remarks on numerous individual poems and also the overall structure and flow of the book, writing:

There is a cadence in the progression from beginning to end, from free verse and prose poems to sonnets and elegiac tercets that helps to distill moments and memory, sweetness and pain.

From a comprehensive review like this one, to shorter reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, this particular kind of attentiveness is such a gift!

Read the entire review in Glass: A Journal of Poetry