Heading to AWP

Terrapin Books

On Wednesday I'll be driving to Washington DC to participate in this year's AWP. I haven't been since 2007 when it was in NYC. I thought that one time would suffice for a lifetime, but then I didn't have Terrapin Books. Also, I was invited to be on a panel this year and since I have never served on one, I thought I should give it a try. Then I thought, too, that this would be a good opportunity to introduce my press, some of our books, and some of our poets to the poetry world. So I forged ahead. I have a full schedule.

I'll be driving as I wanted to take the books with me rather than have them shipped. I'll be staying at the conference hotel, the Marriott Marquis. Hideously expensive so it better be nice. It's at least very conveniently attached to the conference center—there's a covered concourse leading from one to the other. Once I arrive on Wednesday, a valet will park my car; I'm not allowed to park it myself. That's $55 per day! Outrageous! Then I can't go into the garage to get anything out of my car—have to have a valet bring the car out and then back in—so I'll have to unload all my stuff when I arrive. I hope I can find someone to help me lug my stuff inside and then up to my room. Books are heavy.

In order to facilitate introducing the press, I booked a table in the Book Fair. I'll be sharing that with Storyscape, a journal. The table is #525T. Come visit and check out our books.

The panel I'm on is on Thursday, 4:30-5:45 PM. It's called "The Independent Press Anthology: Focusing, Editing, Organizing, Designing, Publishing, and Marketing," and will be moderated by Lucille Lang Day. I'm one of five editors/publishers. The others are Wendy Barker, Bryce Milligan, and Claire Ortaldo. Look for us in the Supreme Court Room (level 4), Marriott Marquis Hotel, 901 Massachusetts Ave.

Then I also booked a venue for a Terrapin reading. It was very challenging trying to find a place in DC when I'm in NJ. I found quite a few—but was not willing to pay $1000. Finally, though, I found the Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW, which is right next door to the hotel. Perfect!  The reading will be on Thursday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Three of my poets will first read from their new books:
       Patricia Clark, The Canopy
       Jessica de Koninck, Cutting Room
       Christine Stewart-Nunez, Bluewords Greening
These three poets will be followed by a group reading for The Doll Collection. Poets include Kim Bridgford, Jessica de Koninck, Lori Desrosiers, Roberta Feins, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Kelly Fordon, Alice Friman, Donna Hilbert, Julie Kane, Lori Lamothe, Christina Lovin, Kim Roberts, Hayden Saunier, Enid Shomer, Lauren Goodwin Slaughter, Elaine Terranova, J. C. Todd, Kristin Zimet.
Please join us! Should be fun.

I hope I survive Thursday—very full day.

Friday three poets will have book signings at table #525 as follows:
       Christine Stewart-Nunez, Bluewords Greening, 11:00 - 11:30
       Jessica de Koninck, Cutting Room, 11:30 - 12:00
       Patricia Clark, The Canopy, 12:00 - 12:30

Please stop by, get a book, and have it signed.

What's Been Going On Around Here

It's been pretty busy around here. Since I haven't had time to post as often as I used to, this post will begin a round-up of recent news. More will follow in subsequent posts.

First some Terrapin Books news. My new press has proven to be a very challenging enterprise and a very rewarding one. I'm proud to say that thus far we have one anthology in print, The Doll Collection, and four single author poetry books: Confessions of a Captured Angel by Neil Carpathios, The Persistence of Longing by Lynne Knight, Cutting Room by Jessica de Koninck, and Bluewords Greening by Christine Stewart-Nunez. Two more collections are in progress: The End of Grief by Patricia Clark and Route 66 and Its Sorrows by Carolyn Miller.

We've had two open reading periods and expect to have another one within a few more months. (Check the website for updated information.) The press saw a better than 30% increase in the number of submissions during the second reading period.

We've also already been receiving some poetry love from the poetry world. A review by Grace Cavalieri of Neil Carpathios' Confessions of a Captured Angel appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Dream Circuit, a poem by Lynne Knight from The Persistence of Longing, was featured on Verse Daily. And Viriditas, a poem by Christine Stewart-Nunez from Bluewords Greening, was featured at The Missouri Review online. Christine was also a featured poet at the South Dakota Festival of Books.

Two craft books, both edited by me, are also now in print: the original The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop is now available in a revised edition which includes a full table of contents (i.e., includes all poem titles and poets' names) and an Index at the back of the book. The brand-new sequel, The Crafty Poet II: A Portable Workshop, has just been released. Here's what it looked like when the shipment of contributors' copies arrived:

Since arriving at my house, all books have gone out to contributors. Some books have been spotted in various places across the US. Here's one spotted at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. Thanks to contributor Hilde Weisert for donating a copy of the book so that other poets might use it.

Check out the very nice "#1 New Release in Poetry Anthologies" that appeared at Amazon shortly after the publication of The Crafty Poet II:

That's what's been happening with Terrapin Books. More news coming soon.