All About Me

Day 66 of the "What are you reading, and why?" project. A bunch of people in northern Illinois...and beyond...are reading the new issue of Willow Review, and I am in it. There, I hope the title of this blog entry and that opening line have sufficiently warned you if you don't want to read all about me. (I am still having Internet access problems, but I will solve them! And do more single-book, or random-entwining-of-books, blog entries soon.)

You really can read all about me in Willow Review, as I am the "Illinois Featured Author" in this issue, with bio and interview, plus 6 poems, and I am thrilled and honored. I got to read my poems at the release party last night in Grayslake, and hear wonderful poetry and prose by other contributors, and see the support of the college community--deans and other faculty and editors reading the work of absent contributors--and feel the warmth of the poetry class and members of the community who attended.

At the front of the issue, in memoriam, are two poems by John Dickson, wise and funny Illinois poet, who was beloved and who advised RHINO Magazine for some years, wrote zillions of poems, and read at many Illinois venues. His book is Lake Michigan Scrolls. (I see that somebody has it for sale for $170 at Amazon Marketplace, so it is hard to find. If you have a copy, hold on to it.)

It was great to get to hear Donna Pucciani read, as our paths have crossed in several journals, and I have read lots of her poems. To match a real person to poems on a page is lovely.

I got to have dinner with editor Michael Latza, associate editor Larry Starzec, and contributor Susan Kadera. Got to meet and hear lots of contributors, eat cookies, and drink Jo in a Box! Yet another thing out there I didn't know about. Dunkin' Donuts now has coffee in a box.

Like wine in a box! And my husband, who knows a lot of things from the Internet, told us at dinner that the original wine-in-a-box guy just died...like John Dickson. Oh, dear.

It was great to have Tony come with me, as he had an art exhibit at the gallery at College of Lake County, home of Willow Review, back in 1987. The college has doubled in size and student population since then, but is still lovely. A little lake with an island in it, willow trees, geese.

Goose poop. (Which comes with geese.) I was wearing sensible black shoes, I will mention, not the red high-tops, but they avoided the goose poop.

The Willow Review cover this time shows "Humming Dreams," by Nikki Renee Anderson, gorgeous, scary, compelling white and red sculptural art from her solo show at Elmhurst Art Museum. You can find her work at her website!