Poetry Updates: OCHO, Karen Head, Robin Kemp & Robert E. Wood

The Twitter Poets edition of OCHO I guest edited with Didi Menendez  is now available in print from Amazon for just $9.99. Buy two! More info at these posts: Poets On Twitter and Twitter issue of OCHO now online. You can still read the issue online, but please support the press and purchase a copy.

The delovely and delicious Karen Head has a brand-spanking-new collection of poetry out called Sassing from WordTech Editions. I had the honor of reading this collection a couple of years ago while it was still in the submission process, and I can tell you this one is most definitely worth your money, attention and time. It will have an extra kick if you're a southerner and a music fan of the 70s. Many of the poems take their titles from songs and Karen goes deep into the pop culture, myth and darkness of what it means to be a native southerner. You can find out more and find links to order Sassing at Karen's WordTech site or check out her blog.

Robin Kemp evokes her hometown of New Orleans both pre- and post-Katrina in her new collection, This Pagan Heaven, which is forthcoming in August from Pecan Grove Press (the press of St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX). Robin and I have performed together a zillion times over the last five or six years and her work is political, deft and full of unexpected imagery. Her poems about Katrina are right up there with Patricia Smith for capturing the heartbreak and spirit of NOLA. 

Robert E. Wood and I now share a press, with his new chapbook Gorizia Notebook now on pre-order from Finishing Line Press.  It's only $12 and you can order using PayPal at the Finishing Line site. New books are listed alphabetically by author, so scroll down until you see Robert's link. Robert writes elegant, insightful poems, so make sure you pick up a copy and watch for him on the reading circuit this fall.