The Royal Wedding

I managed to crawl out of bed before 6 a.m. this morning to watch Wills and Kate get hitched. This is my favorite image from the wedding, looking down on the ceremony from the ceiling of Westminster Abbey. Ceremony was a bit of a snooze, but Kate looked smashing. Congratulations to the happy couple. Don't fuck it up.

Poetry and fiction

My second post as the inaugural Writer-In-Residence for Poets & Writers' new blog is up now! You can read it at this link. For this post, I wrote an essay about the genesis of the annual Voices Carry reading I've been curating and hosting with Cecilia Woloch for the past seven years.

There's only three days left to enter The Big Poetry Giveaway here at Modern Confessional. If you haven't left a comment on The Big Giveaway post, visit this link. Kelli Russell-Agodon has a full list of the 60+ bloggers participating this year at her Book of Kells blog.

My editor, the fabulous Kathy Vogeltanz, completed her edit of the Remain in Light manuscript ahead of schedule, so I'm doing small rewrites, fixing typos and getting ready to send it to Vanilla Heart by mid-May. Kathy wrote the word BRAVO! in red pen across the title page, so that was a big boost. I was also pleased that she said the book totally stands on its own, even if you haven't read Conquering Venus. That was the biggest challenge, and I feel like I've succeeded.

Kate Bush's "Deeper Understanding" video

Kate Bush directed - but does not appear - in the video for her single "Deeper Understanding" from the forthcoming Director's Cut. Robbie Coltrane plays the man obsessed with his new computer program voiced by Kate's son, Albert.

A few small repairs...

I started a little spring cleaning at Modern Confessional last night. The most obvious change is that my blogroll and links have been removed from the cluttered sidebar and now have their own "Links" page accessible from the navigation bar at the top of the page. The Conquering Venus page has been updated to reflect the trilogy of novels and the synopsis for Remain in Light is posted there, too. A blog sidebar becomes so easily cluttered and useless, so I'm planning to consolidate and make a few other cosmetic changes. Stay tuned.

Blogging at Poets & Writers

My first post as the inaugural Writer-In-Residence for Poets & Writers' new blog is up now! You can read it at this link. The blog was supposed to begin earlier this month, but there were some glitches, so my four week stand continues into May.

There's only 10 days left to enter The Big Poetry Giveaway here at Modern Confessional. If you haven't left a comment on The Big Giveaway post, visit this link. Kelli Russell-Agodon has a full (and final) list of the 63 bloggers participating this year at her Book of Kells blog.

If you haven't read Charles Jensen's response to Mark Doty's comments on "academic" poets, visit his Kinemapoetics blog now. Charlie sums up so many of my feelings on poets working outside the university system, who aren't aware of the "academy and "po-biz" scene -- or just don't care.

In Memoriam: Elisabeth Sladen

Absolutely devastated by the passing of the great Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who and the spin-off show, The Sarah Jane Adventures. A part of my childhood goes with her to the next dimension. The world of Doctor Who won't be the same without her. She had keep her battle with cancer private and was only 63 years old. Read the BBC tribute at this link.

Poetry and taxes

Today is traditionally the deadline to file your taxes in the states, but because it's a holiday in the District of Columbia (Emancipation Day), you now have the weekend to get them filed. The new deadline is Monday. For the last five years or so, I've been doing my own taxes and e-filing them, which is fast and efficient. I owed again this year, but not as much as I thought, so I have a tiny jingle left in my pocket.

Because of some technical difficulties, my first post as the inaugural Writer In Residence at  Poets & Writers' new blog has been delayed, but is expected to launch on Wednesday, April 20. I'm finishing up the other posts this weekend. Watch this space for links.

My poem "Meeting Jeanne Moreau" will appear in the Divining Divas anthology from Lethe Press in 2012. The anthology was edited by Michael Montlack and is a companion piece to the acclaimed essay collection, My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them. The poems were originally supposed to appear along the essays, so you'll see all the authors from My Diva (I'm one of them) along with other submissions solicited by Michael.

Tomorrow night (Saturday, April 16), I'll be attending the Death & Taxes Poetry Reading at Bound to Be Read Bookstore in East Atlanta Village. The reading starts at 7:30 p.m. and will feature Karen Head, Dan Veach, Stan Fong, Cleo Creech, Alice Lovelace and many more. It's free, so come on by and hear some great poetry, support your local indie bookstore and light refreshments.

On Sunday night, the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival benefit at Eddie's Attic in Decatur will feature musical performances by Bucky Motter and Sonia Tetlow. It's an early show starting at 6 p.m. and tickets are only $15 per person or reserve a table for $75 (seats 4). There's also a Dinner & Show discount options now available for both Table and General Admission reservations. Save up to $5 per person! Click this link to buy tickets now!

Poetry Saturday

The wonderful 32 Poems magazine has featured five of my favorite poetry collections on its blog today. Editor Deborah Ager is posting poet's favorite books everyday in April in honor of National Poetry Month. Check 'em out!

Congrats to my pal Rupert Fike on his forthcoming collection Lotus Buffet from Brick Road Poetry Press. You can pre-order the book and download a sample of the fantastic poetry at this link.

I am thrilled to have a poem in the new anthology, Don't Blame the Ugly Mug, which was edited by Ben Trigg and Steve Ramirez, the curators of the the Two Idiots Peddling Poetry reading at the Ugly Mug in Orange, CA. The anthology features 10 years of featured poets who have graced the stage (I read with Cecilia Woloch in 2004). You can order a copy via PayPal at this link!

Very excited to hear that the brilliant Sarah Maclay has a new collection, Music for the Black Room, out from University of Tampa Press. Her debut collection, Whore, is one of my favorite contemporary collections.

The online anthology, Poems of Solidarity for Haiti, has been downloaded more than 2,000 times! I helped select the winning poems in the contest and interviewed winner, M. Ayodele Heath. You can download the anthology at this link.

Thursday Bits & Bobs

Fifty-two bloggers are taking part in the 2011 Big Poetry Giveaway this month, including yours truly. You can leave a comment to be entered to win one of the four books I'm giving away at this link and visit giveaway founder Kelli Russell Agodon's blog to see a complete list of participating bloggers at this link.

As editing and rewrites continue on Remain in Light, you can read more about the six new characters who join Martin, Irène, Diane and David from Conquering Venus at The Venus Trilogy blog.

Many thanks to Gina Webb for putting my poem "Funtown" on her blog, 8 Hamilton Ave, along with work by Tania Rochelle, Chelsea Rathburn and Lorine Neidecker to mark National Poetry Month. Although I'm up to my eyeballs in fiction right now, I've been trying to read more poetry lately to cleanse my palate.

The 2011 Atlanta Queer Literary Festival is June 23-25 and AQLF is holding a fundraiser at Eddie's Attic in Decatur on April 17 featuring Bucky Motter and Sonia Tetlow. Find out more at this link and come out and join us!

First Listen: "Deeper Understanding" by Kate Bush

Kate Bush's re-imagined version of "Deeper Understanding" premiered this morning on Radio 2 and on Kate's YouTube Channel. It's such a departure from the original, that it's impossible to compare them. The song has polarized Kate fans (esp. the vocoder computer voice, which is actually Kate's teenage son, Albert). The final two or three minutes break down into this free-form jazz riff with the Trio Bulgarka, broken radio voices, computer sounds and harmonica. You'll just have to listen. Totally unexpected, totally Kate. I really love it. More than 30 years on and she still sounds like no one else.

"Remain in Light" update

National Poetry Month 2011

Since April is National Poetry Month and Kate Bush has a new album on the way, I though it was appropriate to share one of my poems from the current issue of Assaracus literary journal. If you haven't entered to win one of the books in my Big Poetry Giveaway, scroll down a couple of posts and leave a comment (or if you're too lazy, just click this link). A whole slew of poets are taking part in the Giveaway and Kelli Russell Agodon has the full list posted at her blog, Book of Kells.

Kate Bush Appears on Night Flight, 1981

Midnight in the forbidden living room,

past my parents’ bedroom, closing doors quietly

behind me, unknowingly opening a path 

from which I will never veer, even later

when I become older, succumb to any zeitgeist.

I turn on the TV and she somersaults

across the screen, startling the rolling vertical hold

into stillness, her siren voice makes me fumble

in the dark for volume control, I put my hand

against the screen, feel the static in my fingertips,

a transference of energy in 1981 that delineates

past and present, a woman who calls herself Cathy,

wants to come in through the window.

But she wasn’t coming through, I was going in,

my link to her a series of hot boxes where she

would appear without warning over decades

like the Virgin, her songs a catechism, her name

a prayer I chanted at the backs of retreating lovers,

divorcing parents and death, and even in her absence,

the music never faltered like I did,

songs willing pills back into bottles

Twenty-seven years ago I put on my armor,

never had a ring put on my finger, blew kisses

across the ocean, for inspiration and strength,

for God to keep her even when he wasn’t keeping me,

and even now, when I am driving or dancing,

walking in Los Angeles or London, the song remains

the same, her name an utterance: Kate, Kate, Kate.

-- Collin Kelley