Round Up

So much going on, I have to write it down.

*Copies of the new anthology American Society: What Poets See with poems about how 100 contemporary poets see America is now available at http://astore.amazon.com/futupres-20/detail/1938853083. This anthology from FutureCycle press includes work by me as well as many of my favorite writers: Paul Hostovsky, Jim Clark, Christina Pacosz, David Radavich, Nancy Simpson, Marianne Worthington, Alex Cigale, Chella Courington, JP Dancing Bear, Karen Paul Holmes, Barbara Gabriel, Robert King,and many more.

*I am teaching my "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing Poetry" Workshop at Coastal Carolina University this Saturday from Noon to 3:00. More information is available at www.coastal.edu/olli. There are still a few slots available. You could always use it as an excuse to go to the beach.

*Next Saturday (9/29) 2 dozen poets and friends will gather at Shari Smith's Working Title Farm in Claremont (4694 S. Depot St) for the second annual 100 Thousand Poets for Change Reading in the Round. We will start at 2:00 reading poems about peace, sustainability, diversity, and tolerance. Scheduled readers include Tony Abbott, David Poston, Helen Losse, Tony Ricciardelli, Doug McHargue, Nancy Posey, Ann Chandonnet, and of course Shari and me. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you want to read, contact me at 828-234-4266 or asowens1@yahoo.com. Bring along a snack or beverage to share.

*October 9 Raleigh poet and playwright Debra Kaufman will teach a workshop on the line in poetry just before her reading with Amy Tipton Cortner at Poetry Hickory. Workshop at 4:00; readings at 5:30; everything at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse. Space is limited for the workshops, so let me know if you want to participate.

*October 16 I'm giving a reading at the meeting of the Sherrill's Ford Friends of the Library.

*My new book, Shadows Trail Them Home, a further collaboration with Pris Campbell, will be out from Clemson University Press sometime in October. We will have a book release event shortly after it arrives, and you'll all be invited.

*I'm going to the NC Writers' Network Fall Conference in Cary November 2 through 4 to staff a table for the Poetry Council of NC, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Poetry Hickory, and The Art of Poetry at Hickory Museum of Art. I'll also have my books with me in case you'll be there and haven't gotten a copy yet.

*November 10 I'll teach my "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing Poetry" Workshop here in Hickory. We will do it at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse from 10:00 to 3:00. I'm limiting this class to 12 participants, so let me know soon if you're interested.

*November 13 wonderful Hickory writer Molly Rice will be featured at Poetry Hickory with wonderful Raleigh area writer Alex Grant.

*November 14 I'm giving a reading at Callanwolde in Atlanta.

*December 11 Scott Douglass and Jonathan K. Rice will headline Poetry Hickory, and we will have the release event for the new Best of Poetry Hickory Anthology. If you're in it, expect to receive an invitation to attend, read, and get your copy soon.