Woodland at Open Books

Thanks to everyone who came out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon for the pre-launch party of our newest book, Woodland. Featuring my own poems, it’s obviously a more personal look at our press and directions I think it might be heading as far as our book production and thematic concerns. It was great to have to do some of the anxiety-producing speaking that all of our other authors have had to deal with— ah, the selling of books!

It was a huge honor to get to read at Open Books, which is one of my happy places on this earth and truly the epicenter of my poetic education and my sense of the poetry community. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without this space.

One thing I had not realized and have been thinking quite a bit about is how important these early readings are to understand how to perform work from the book and how they shape readings that happen after and despite all the practice and thinking about order, how one still needs an audience to understand what is clicking and what is not.

I am excited to bring the work to Hugo House for it’s official launch reading. This will likely be the only time people in Seattle will get to hear pianist Aaron Otheim playing the work live. Erin L. McCoy will join me on stage to read some of the work.

https://www.facebook.com/events/318184075517790/