Weekend Update

The day job has been keeping me busy with little time to think about much else. I have cancelled my readings in the UK this summer and moved the trip to early 2014. I am incredibly disappointed, but I'm staying focused on promoting Render domestically for the rest of the year. I have two more readings coming in Atlanta, then I'm back to New York for the Word for Word Poetry Reading series in Bryant Park at the end of July and am working on booking some dates in Southern California for autumn. You can see my full reading schedule at this link or by clicking on the Readings & Events tab above.

Many thanks to ArtsATL.com for putting Render on its summer reading list. You read the mini-review and see all the books chosen at this link.

I got my contributor copy of the new LGBT poetry anthology Flicker and Spark. What a fantastic labor of love by editors Regie Cabico and Brittany Fonte. I am thrilled that three of my poems are in the anthology along with so many other great poets.

And thanks to those who came out last night to Bound to Be Read Books for my reading with Theresa Davis. Attentive audience and great questions!

Raise the Titanic

"Raise the Titanic" from my poetry collection, Render, accompanied by the gorgeous remix of "For Loves You've Lost" by brokenkites. Once again, the remix was created especially for this project. Each piece is more beautiful than the last.

The Profumo Affair remembered

Acid Flashback #1
for Billy

The first time I dropped acid,
mistaking a Johnnie Walker Black billboard
for Joanne Whalley-Kilmer straddling a chair
like in the poster for Scandal,
you couldn’t see it, even after we pulled over
on the expressway down near the airport.
How the soft gold of the striding man logo
had morphed into arms and legs akimbo
in the rising heat just before twilight.
I tried to explain Christine Keeler,
how she brought down the British government
with her showgirl appeal, accused
of being a spy, sleeping with the Muscovites,
the intricacies and absurdities of the Profumo Affair,
how sex and friendship can turn on a dime.
You told me I was too old for you, I was a show-off,
ruining your drugs with my ancient history,
the way I lorded my high school education over you.
Your words tipped us into cold war,
smoke-screened the wall you were building all year,
preparing to sacrifice me over the three years
that separated our births, making me a casualty
of your zeitgeist.
John Profumo was the last Secretary of State for War,
a position now made obsolete, struck off,
as if battle plans would never be needed again.

– Collin Kelley

A poem at Verse Daily

Many, many thanks to Verse Daily for selecting my poem "To Margot Kidder, With Love" from Render to feature on their site today. You can read the poem at this link.

Sex Machines & other updates

Render will get its official Atlanta launch on Tuesday, May 7, 7:15 p.m. at an event hosted by Poetry Atlanta and Georgia Center for the Book at the Decatur Library. I'll be reading with fellow Sibling Rivalry Press poet Theresa Davis, who will be launching her collection After This We Go Dark. The reading is free and open to the public. Charis Books will be selling our collections and we will, of course, happily sign copies for you. Find out more at this link.

My poem "Post" (which is in Render) is featured in the latest edition of Chelsea Station literary magazine. You can order a copy or sign up for a subscription at this link. It's a fantastic journal!

Many thanks to Jennifer Bogart for featuring two of the poems from Render on her blog. You can read them at this link.

Below is a reading of my poem "Sex Machines" featuring a special remix of the song "Twenty Thirteen" by the brilliant brokenkites especially for my SoundCloud project. It's been an honor and a treat to use this music that I love so much.

In memory of my father, William Harold Kelley

July 15, 1939 - April 26, 2013

My Dad passed away on Friday after being ill for a number of years. This is the last photo of him with my Mom taken in 2010 on a weekend outing to Fresh Air BBQ in Jackson, GA. He was a wonderful father and will be missed. Go gentle, Daddy-O. 

Heroes, villains, reviews, poetry call

Didi Menendez has done a fantastic job with the latest issue of PoetsArtists and I am thrilled to have a new poem, "The Birth of Venus," accompanying art by French artist Jean-Noel Delettre. The issue has the theme HeroesVillains and has a great group of poets including Ivy Alvarez, Matthew Hittinger, Samuel Peralta, Pris Campbell, Julie Bloemeke, Nin Andrews, Joshua Gray and many more.

Many, many thanks to fellow poet Donna Vorreyer for her kind review of Render at her blog. You can read the review at this link.

More thanks to VerseWrights for publishing the title poem from Render as well as including the audio. You can listen and read along at this link.

I will be guest editing the Fall 2013 edition of Hobble Creek Review! I'm looking for pop culture-inspired poems, non-fiction and essays. Check this link for all the submission guidelines and feel free to spread this call far and wide. I can't wait to read your work!