Over the Rainbow

I spent roughly 30 hours in New York City this weekend for the fantastic Rainbow Book Fair. After a nearly two hour flight delay in Atlanta, I made it into Manhattan with no fuss and checked into Hotel 373, a little boutique hotel across from the Empire State Building and next door to the CUNY Graduate Center where the opening night event for the book fair was held. The hotel was nice, inexpensive (by NYC standards) and there was a Starbucks in the lobby. I highly recommend it.

Sibling Rivalry Press hosted the opening night reading with poets featured in its literary journal, Assaracus. Twenty-five poets performed, but the evening went incredibly fast and I can say without hesitation that it was one of the best readings I've ever attended. SRP publisher Bryan Borland (pictured above) is a prince, and I'm so glad to be part of the family. It was a thrill to meet Ian Young, founder of the first gay literary press, Catalyst, and I was honored when he praised my work. I also got to meet so many of my "internet friends" in person at the event, including Matthew Hittinger, Stephen Mills, David-Glen Smith, Isaiah Vianese and Ocean Vuong.

The book fair itself was held on Saturday at the LGBT Center in Greenwich Village and was spread out over three floors. It was great to see so many presses represented and so many people in attendance. I got to chat (albeit briefly) with David Pratt, Jameson Currier, Christopher Hennessy, Evan Peterson, Perry Brass, Jerry Wheeler and more I'm surely forgetting. I signed copies of Remain In Light and read at the poetry salon hosted by Nathaniel Siegel in the afternoon (that's me reading at left – thanks for the pic, Nathaniel!)

I also managed to fit in lunch with friend/muse Vanessa Daou at a great little Cuban joint called Coppelia on West 14th. We caught up on each others' lives and projects over good food (Cuban toast with eggs, bacon and chimichurri potatoes – yummy). Love you, V!

Then, I raced off to LaGuardia and caught a 7 p.m. flight and made it back to Atlanta with no hassle. We flew high over a thunderstorm and it was cool to watch the lightning flash through the clouds. I might even have to write a poem about it.