Springtime and Arkansas go together like warm and cold air masses in the jet stream, and the result usually involves me crawling back into the closet with multiple cats and a gin and tonic while either a tornado or a train shakes the house (since we live next to railroad tracks, one can never be sure which is the culprit). This April has been extra volatile if one measures on the basis of the amount of alcohol I’ve ingested. 

That said, I’m looking forward to a couple of forthcoming trips which will allow me to flee the Arkansas weather, though, in the case of at least one of my destinations, I will likely increase my dependence on cocktails.  From May 12 – May 15, I’ll be in the Big Easy for Saints and Sinners, where I’ll be participating in a couple of panels. The first occurs on Saturday, May 14, at 2:30 PM, and is titled, “Well Versed: Poetry Discussions and Readings.” Moderated by one of my favorite poets (an upcoming Assaracus-featured poet), Jeff Mann, I’ll be in the company of Sally Bellerose, Michael Montlack, and Brad Richard.  By the time the second panel, “Sudden Exposure: The Write to Market” rolls around on Sunday at 2:30 PM, I’m sure I’ll look like I’ve been in New Orleans for several days. The marketing panel will include David Pratt, Cecilia Tan, and Lara Zielinsky; and our moderator: will be Michele Karlsberg.

Then on June 23-25, the tour bus takes me to the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival. It is an honor to be one of the keynote speakers for this well-organized and well-promoted event, and I’m going to talk about how poetry gave me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (and slipped me the tongue), the creation of SRP, why Assaracus is important, and why a queen would open the equivalent of a Tower Records in the kingdom of iTunes. I might also take a minute to stalk Miss NeNe Leakes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. 

In other news, the submission period for SRP is open through June 1. The current submission period for Assaracus is open through the end of May, as well.  We have some exciting things in store for our readers, including a special issue of Assaracus subtitled “Lady Business,” which will focus on the work of ten lesbian poets (watch for a call for submissions for that issue later this week).  Speaking of women, yesterday my bulk order of our first full-length collection by a female poet arrived. Voices Through Skin by Theresa Senato Edwards is a powerful book of poetry that absolutely shatters our glass ceiling. Voices Through Skin hits the bookshelves on June 1st. Also look for strong work from Loria Taylor (SOB), Jessie Carty (Fat Girl), and Saeed Jones (When the Only Light is Fire) in the coming months, as well as a massive project from the magical hands of Kevin Simmonds called COLLECTIVE brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion & Spirituality.  All that, and the third and fourth issues of Assaracus are going to rock the house.  Our journal, which has been subscribed to by places like Brown, SUNY, and Cornell, is reaching into the guts of America and taking poetry to the people.  I can’t thank the Assaracus poets enough, and (here’s some more breaking news) the likelihood of a college campus tour of Assaracus poets in the future is growing stronger. 

If you haven’t checked out already-released SRP books by Steven Reigns (Inheritance), Raymond Luczak (Road Work Ahead), and Ocean Voung (Burnings), then I encourage you to do so. And more than encourage you, I’ll also give you a 10% discount from the SRP online store if you enter the code BLOG at checkout.  Also watch for a newly-designed My Life as Adam in the next week or so.  We wanted to revamp it a bit to make it uniform to the rest of the SRP titles. I also added a few new poems to the book – pieces I wrote after the book went to press that felt at home with the original Adam set. The cover still features art by my newly-married pal Seth Ruggles Hiler, but the back and spine have enjoyed a makeover.  

As for my own writing, I’m still chugging along. I’m working on a novel that explores the impact of a son’s enlistment in the military during wartime on a family from Troy, Alabama. The characters are real to me now, and I don’t have much say in where the story goes. I’m an observer. We’ll see what happens with the family and the project.  Oh yeah. I’m writing a few poems here and there, too.

So… if you are near New Orleans or Atlanta and can make it out Saints and Sinners or the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival, come on and track me down. We’ll hang. We’ll party. We’ll gossip. If you’re on the other side of the country or the other side of the globe, have a gin and tonic in the closet for me.  But don’t stay too long.  I think I’ve spent enough time there for all of us.  

Always appreciative,

Bryan