Actually I didn’t mention I was going away in the first place, did I? Anyway, we just got back from six days in Aruba, which was heaven. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The weather is perfect (85o, mostly sunny, with a permanent refreshing breeze), the food delicious if a little Dutch (freshly caught seafood, pancakes and satay), the people friendly etc. etc. I’m so tan you can’t tell if I put on weight (and I don’t dare hop on the scales to see, either!) The kids had a great time too, and we’ve all agreed to go back again next year.
Still, life goes on even if you’re not looking. And I really wasn’t looking. I only checked my email once (in a bar aptly named Chaos) and surprisingly enough the world did not collapse as a result.
So here is a week’s worth of poetry news, all at once:
- A big thank you to the Apple Valley Review for nominating “Color Therapy at the OB-GYN” for a Pushcart Prize. Of course, I’m not naive enough to think it will win, but hey, now I can describe myself as “two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Anna Evans.”
- US1 Worksheets have accepted “Marriage at Sunset” for the 2007 Issue. This is potentially (though improbably) tricky as I also entered it in the Margaret Reid Formal Poetry Contest. The results for that were due in August but have now been delayed until September. Still, if it happens to win a cash prize I shall simply write to US1 and withdraw it. They do permit simultaneous submissions so they shouldn’t go on to blackball me. And of course, it probably won’t win anything.
- The good people at Inglis House have invited me to be a reader/workshop leader at their 2007 Poetry & Disability Conference, for which they would pay me $300. As an aside, people in the poetry world are always apologizing for the sums they offer before they mention them. Please don’t apologize to me! I totally get it, and given that I don’t actually have a job I’m always thrilled simply to possess a check!
- Speaking of checks, I got my honorarium from The Mad Poets’ Society.
- One of my heroes, Jared Carter, emailed me simply to say hello!
- I received my copy of Rhyme & Reason (which contains three of my poems) and it looks great!
- Isn’t that enough news for 6 days?