"One More Reason to Read Out"

"As you read out, you begin to develop a reading persona, and that persona begins to influence what kinds of poems you write. It focuses you. Also, you should practice reading out because it helps you develop a range, and it helps you break from the isolationism of just you and the page. Reading out helps you begin to address your audience, your readers, as a whole, full person and as an artist - a poet, a writer - with voice and depth and personality and pluck and dramatic energy. To overstate matters, through this process you become someone."

- Kevin Rabas, Emporia, Kansas, 21 April 2011

I had a great time "reading out" at Emporia State on Earth Day/Good Friday. The students said that seeing Things Come On and hearing me talk about it had "opened a door" for them - showing them that what they write - even a book of their writing - needn't be all one form or another - or even one genre or another. So: it doesn't get any better than that. Had some other great conversations, too, e.g., about "Uncle" Walt Mason, Emporia's own newspaper poet extraordinaire.

Check out Kevin Rabas' new short-short story collection, Spider Face, from Otoliths. It's swell!

Portal del Sol published an essay of mine, on "Genre and Power." And The Rumpus closed out National Poetry Month with my poem "Out of Office Reply." Thanks, Callista! Thanks, Brian!

S**t-fire - my poems turned up on the Academy of American Poets web site!

The Rumpus has posted the "live chat" that I had w/members of its book club. I did another one w/Ronda Miller, the blogista literaria for our local paper, at the Lawrence Journal-World blog.

Thanks to all who came to the reading at Jayhawk Ink Bookstore yesterday - great questions - made me think for a change!