I received an acceptance email yesterday from Matt Baker, an associate editor at Blackbird. They’ve taken one poem for the Fall 2009 issue. This will be my second appearance with them, which is a real treat. Thanks to all the fine people who make Blackbird what it is.
On another note, I spent this morning trying to rebuild Glacial Elegies, after stripping it down yesterday to a spare 37 poems. (In case you haven’t noticed, I write short lyrics, so all of my poems are one pagers.) A few of those removed yesterday made it back in today, but I have definitely axed some older poems that now seem not to fit as well and I added some newer poems that I think more directly apply to the arc of the book. It’s such a complex process that I have a hard time getting my mind around the thing as a whole. I’m just squeaking in around the 50 page mark, but I feel the book is stronger for the revisions. The photo shows the whole manuscript laid out on our eight-foot table. Thanks to the wonderful husband who lugs the table out when I need it.
