Organizing your writing life

DOMESTIC TRANSMISSION: Dr. Madelyn Hatter (that's Megan Volpert to some of you) just had her new chapbook, Domestic Transmission, released by MetroMania Press, the same fabulous folks that did Slow To Burn. Once again, editor/publisher Tanya Keyser has outdone herself on the design. The paper is luscious, the printing is immaculate and I am now a fan of clear-coil binding. Hatter's poetry fits perfectly into this beautiful little book. What I love about her work is that it's clear, concise and has some great pop culture references. The heart of this collection is in the kitchen, a place women have been relegated to by men since the beginning of time. Hatter takes that notion and turns it upside down, refuses the misogyny it implies and ultimately reclaims the room as a place of power. Along the way, she settles into her own kind of domesticity, becomes engaged to her female partner and learns to share (and create) a home while not not losing her street cred as a poetic "bad-ass." She even makes Ladies Home Journal hip again. Here's the last stanza from one of my favorite poems in the chapbook, "Southern Fried Eggplant Parmesan":

so now i am writing you from the dining room
where dinner is sitting picturesque on the table
and thinking about girls i went to college with
who grew into women that don't use the oven
but keep accepting when i invite them for food
cooking it for them after teaching justice
will be served

Domestic Transmission is available to purchase at the MetroMania site for $10, and like my book, it's a limited edition of only 300 copies. You definitely want to have this book in your library.