ReLit hat trick, etc

Much happening, little time to blog:

The Gabriel Gudding workshop a few weeks back was a nifty event with a full house, that house being the new offices of Mansfield Press. It was the first event other than a small-press sale put on by members of the Meet the Presses collective. Gabriel's a smart-as-hell guy, and though I worried we were heading into academic territory in the one-hour lead-up to actually writing, when we got down to it, the prep all came together. We wound up each writing a single poem: a sort of prayer for protection of someone we cared about.

In the evening, Gary Barwin, Gabriel Gudding and I read at the Piston on Bloor, in a one-off reading. The place was full with a real diversity of audience: no one community or clique dominated. It was just a bunch of nifty people hoping for a nifty reading. And it went really well. It was a particular thrill to finally hear Gabe read after admiring his poetry for so long, and after reading it aloud myself repeatedly in Poetry Boot Camps.

Since then, I've been mostly in editing mode: editing other people's stuff, with a focus on three books being released by Mansfield this fall. Trying desperately to clear the decks before my residency at Queen's University kicks off early this month.

Meanwhile, I've made it onto the ReLit Award shortlist for the third year running. In 2008, it was for I Cut My Finger; in 2009, for Dead Cars in Managua; this year, it's for my short story collection Buying Cigarettes for the Dog. Luckily, my bridesmaid outfit from the previous years still fits.

Over and out.