Well, a lot has changed.
I moved to Colorado Springs. I’m going back to work–teaching full-time for the first time since my son was born. And I’m participating in a poetry workshop at Lighthouse in Denver (which is making me very, very nervous–actually, all of these changes are making me nervous). I expect to simultaneously have much more and much less time to write, if that kind of contradictory state is even possible. Right now I write at night after my kid’s bedtime and during his nap, if he takes one, which–with all the excitement of moving this summer–he usually doesn’t. Now he’ll be in daycare five days a week and once my morning classes are over I’ll have the rest of the work day to grade, prep for my classes, read, and write.
So there have been lots of changes in my life lately, exciting changes. The workshop in Denver is especially exciting. I’ve never participated in a poetry workshop before, never had much of an opportunity to meet other publishing poets, never had the chance to be mentored by a professional poet. That’s about to change. And I’m thrilled! And nervous! Did I mention I was nervous?
In other news, I’m impatiently awaiting my contributor’s copy of Sugar House Review, hoping it didn’t get lost in this move, and I just found out Radar Poetry nominated my poem “Homecoming” for Best of the Net, which is such a wonderful honor. Radar’s most recent issue is fantastic. All of their issues are. Rachel and Dara-Lyn put together the best poems again and again. Chelsea Dingman’s “On Our Tenth Anniversary, My Husband and I Watch Tropical Storm Andrea Rip the Doors off the Lanai” is particularly tender and beautiful.
I also have poems coming out in Nashville Review, Cimarron Review, and Drunken Boat this fall. All very, very exciting! And nerve-wracking. I’m a nervous mess these days.
P.S. The Review Review published a flattering review of the issue of Raleigh Review in which my poem “Flight” appeared. (Surely there’s a better way to construct that sentence??????)
Kate Gaskin 