AWP 21 has come and gone.  It will likely be remembered as the Pandemic Conference. The conference that was to be in Kansas City, Missouri, and for me it was, but not in the way I had hoped or wanted. I did the conference from my living room on my laptop virtually.  I would like to tell you it sucked, but it didn't. I would tell you it was great, but that too would be incorrect. 

In the end, I benefited from it. It was cheap with no hotel or air flights.  No meals out. No Uber rides to off site location. 

It was in some respects a lonely event.  It was harder to connect directly with friends and meet new people, although I was able on a very small scell to do so.  There was no swag. There were no hugs. I did enjoy some readings and a couple of the panels i felt were very beneficial to me. There were quite a few instances where my mind seemed to be challenged in my thoughts about literature in various genre, not just my own.  I also feel the conference suggested to me that I should try to move beyond to poetry in some ways. Memoir and essay  most came to mind. But these thoughts were more like giving me permission to try, to explore a bit, not driving me to abandon poetry or  even implying that  I should follow such efforts seriously.  I

I of course ordered books and they have started to trickle in. I missed not bring a suitcase full of new books home and promptly unpacking them and exploring them right away. 

So far I have received the following: 

1. Plunder by Dorsey Craft. Published by Bauhan Publishing.  Dorsey was new to me and I was so impressed with her on one of the panels and from poems I heard her read that I considered this new connection a a big plus from the conference. 
2. Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod by Traci Brimhall  - Copper Canyon Press  I already knew of Traci. 
3. Our Lady of the Ruins by Traci Brimhall - Copper Canyon Press
4. The Whimsical Muse by Darnell Jones - two sylvias press (one of my favorite small presses)
5. All Transparent Things Need Thundershirts by Dana Roeser - two sylvias press
6. The Inspired Poet - Writing Exercises to Spark New Work - by Susan Landgraf - two sylvias press
7. Deathbed Sext by Christopher Salerno - two sylvias press

 I've got more on the way... I will update you on me new library editions as a result of AWP21 as they come. in. 

Meet the Poet Car.  This is my new Kia Soul.  In a recent email exchange with Kelli Agodon she has asked if I got my new car. Upon telling her that I had, and that I got a KIA SOUL, she responded...  "Can I say--I cannot imagine what a better car for a poet than a SOUL!!!---I hope you write about that."  The challenge is there, so I must get busy. 

​We have had a terrible cold spell here and snow. The snow has not exactly been that problematic, but the stretch of over a week with sub freezing  days, several sub zero, have compounded the pandemic doldrums here. 

I have started receiving the first of several pre-ordered books.  The number of new titles by poets I adore is unreal.  Sandra Beasley's Made To Explode has arrived .  Also ordered are Kelli Agodon's Dialogues with Rising Tides, and Jennifer Moore's Easy Does It. ​ Then there will likely be more as a result of AWP 21.

Moving into March brings us to the AWP Conference. The one that was supposed to be in Kansas City (he says bitterly) but instead will be virtual. No AWP HUGS, No AWP SWAG.... trying to remain optimistic but it isn't easy.  There are some  presentations that look really good, but the atmosphere of sitting at home for this is not exactly alluring. I want to be able to interact with friends and meet new ones. 

​If anyone sees me virtually at AWP - be sure and say hi!
 

My night stand becomes a catch all for things that I go to from time to time to read from, in addition to new titles that I am reading for the first time.
 
So what’s on my nightstand right now? 

• The Art of Recklessness -  Dean Young
• The Lost Neruda Poems
• Thrust - Heather Derr-Smith
• Good Bones - Maggie Smith
• The Journals of Sylvia Plath
• Calling A Wolf A Wolf - Kaveh Akbar
• Faithful and Virtuous Night - Louise Gluck

​Oh, and a copy of Poet's and Writers Magazine.