Welcome to It’s Writing Friday!
Every week my writing pal and I get together to work on projects and exchange feedback and bask in the presence of other coffeehouse patrons. This week, I’m still working on a short story that went from 200 words to 1,200 to 1,900 and then back down 1,600. I have notes from three different people to review and apply to my next draft. But while I’m out today I’d also like to work on some poetry as well. Speaking of which…
The Sealey Challenge 2023
A day or two before the first of August my wife shared with me The Sealey Challenge, which is “a community challenge to read one book of poetry a day for the month of august.” Created by Nicole Sealey in 2017, this is a fun way to read a wider variety of poets, or to get back into poetry, or just to dive into some amazing collections and chapbooks for the hell of it. My poetry reading had slowed a bit this year and now I feel like I could (and ought to) read poems all the time, every day.
What I’ve Read So Far
On the first day I read Our Streets by Sam Rose Preminger. They are a PNW poet that I’ve had the privilege of hearing read in-person. The collection is primarily about their firsthand experience as a street medic, particularly in Portland during the year 2020. There’s a lot of love, brutality, and surprising hopefulness in these poems.
The second day I read Red O’Hare’s Seaglass Strange (published by Lightship Press, just as Preminger’s book was.) Another poet I’ve been lucky enough to hear read! Several of the poems in this book were out to destroy me. O’Hare has a way of devastating a reader in just the right way.
And the third day I read The Bone Woman Poems by Joyce Hernandez, a short collection my wife found somewhere and despite my meager efforts I cannot seem to find it online. Finding something “out of print” is kind of exciting. And the poetry was good, rather morbid but in the best way.
What Will I Read Next?
I’m not sure. I wish I could count Maria Gray’s Universal Red recently published by Ghost City Press, but alas I read it last month. She is an incredible poet and I cannot recommend her work highly enough, she honestly deserves her own essay or article if I were to even attempt to describe it to you. Please, go read her work for yourself and you’ll see why.
Another poet whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet, Alex Vigue, also has a chapbook available via Ghost City Press: Lay Waste. I believe that is what I will read next (for today, August 4th!) If you like Magic The Gathering you might want to give it a try as well.
In Other News
My first ever featured poetry reading on July 30th was great. I’ve posted a lot of pictures and videos from it on social media. If you’re wanting to see and hear my whole reading, well, thank you for that! I will be sharing the footage as soon as I can. I’m grateful to everyone who came out to support me.
That’s All For Now. As For You And Your House…?
Anyone else participating in the Sealey Challenge, or simply read good poetry lately? What about fiction? I do not want to jinx myself as I have DNF’d two other Cormac McCarthy books recently, but I started The Crossing a few days ago. It’s been awhile since I’ve read such visceral, engaging writing about an animal. (There are people in the novel as well.)
Thank you for reading, and as my friend and I tell each other, Write On!