Today in the mail: new issues of Meridian and The Normal School.
The Meridian is issue 22, which contains two of my new poems, “The Museum of My Childhood” and “River Years.” I’ve been a big fan of this journal for quite a while and was first published by them in issue 16. The editors are fantastic and the production is top-notch. Also, I’m awed by the other writers who share the space with my poems. The poets are: Carl Phillips, Donald Revell, Jeff Hardin, Brendan Galvin, John Poch, Bob Hicok, Barbara Hamby, Karen Rigby, and Carl Dennis. I read with Jeff Hardin back in October of 2006 at the Southern Festival of Books, so it was great to see his poem there. The issue also contains several Ginsberg letters and an interview with my fellow Little Rock writer, Kevin Brockmeier. Lovely, lovely.
A few weeks ago, I subscribed to a new journal, The Normal School, and today I received the inaugural issue. If you haven’t checked this out yet, please do. This is a glossy, full-sized creation with plenty of whimsy, imagination and great reads. I was delighted to find a fabulous piece by Scott Diel, a fellow U of Arkansas MFA-holder. You also need to read Steve Almond’s “Jenna Bush: Off the Grid (The Unofficial Book Tour Diary)” and Dinty W. Moore’s “Forty-Four Reasons Why You Absolutely, Positively Should Never Write that Book.” ~~I haven’t finished reading the whole issue, so I’m sure I’ll find more to recommend!
Yay for good mail days!
