So, I'm still a writer

The title of this post is deceiving. I've never not been a writer. I've just be incredibly busy with that whole "making a living" thing. Who would think teaching, being an editor, applying for jobs, and a little life rearrangement would be so time consuming?

In spite of all of that I have been trying to write and publish. I've recently had poems be accepted or published in The Licking River Review and The Turnstile Review. I've also received my first Pushcart nomination from my amazing editor at Accents Publishing.

Hopefully I will have even more good news in the near future.

Presentation, Presentation!

I just found out, that in addition to my Midwest Pop Culture presentation on home brewing as a reclamation of labor, I will be giving a presentation at the AWP conference in Chicago on creative writing pedagogy/ethics(?). It's an exciting time to be thinking about presentations, mostly because I'm procrastinating on writing syllabi. Hope to see you all at one or both of these panels!

Midwest Pop Culture

This October, I will be presenting at the Midwestern Pop Culture Association conference here in Milwaukee. I am on the working class panel discussing how making your own beer is a reclamation of labor from the Big 3 Breweries. It should be exciting. I am thinking of visual aids, but a power point seems to be out of order. Perhaps I will just make a few different beers and show off my abilities as a brew master. Any recommendations on what to make?

Sweet Home Louisville

This Friday will mark a glorious return to the site of my MFA, Spalding University. I will be there to celebrate homecoming with several amazing writers and be giving a reading at the After Party. If you're in the area you should come see why the bar bill at the Brown Hotel is always runner up only to the Derby.

Forthcoming Publication

Was just recently informed that the North American Review (the oldest literary magazine in the nation) will be publishing my poem "Turn the Page" (which, yes, was inspired by the Bob Seger song).

Praise!

I know I could have posted this earlier. I know posting it earlier might have allowed me a little more street cred. I'll take what I can get from it now though. Here, Vince Gotera of the North American Review, said I was one of the brightest young poets in the US. Amazingly sweet from a guy who can rock some pretty awesome hats.

http://wcfcourier.com/news/opinion/blogs/extra_credit/article_054043f2-6f51-11e0-aee4-001cc4c002e0.html

Back from the Road

So I gave a reading at the University of Northern Iowa with Stacia M. Fleegal. It was extremely lovely with a poetry loving crowd, good friends (both old and new), and now I can say I've been to Dubuque. I never really worried about the last part, but now I no longer have to worry about missing out on those conversations. Later this week there is traveling to Minneapolis to meet with the Matts. Matt Ryan and Matt Mauch who are two of my most favorite people I met at this past year's AWP. I've been thinking of writing a review of Mauch's Prayer Book, but in case I don't I want to say that everyone should read it. It is out by Low Brow Press which spits out some high quality work.

Long Awaited Update

So with the semester gaining steam and the urgency here in Wisconsin to mobilize the Unions there hasn't been much time for updates.

This week I am venturing down southward to Kentucky for two engagements. First, a reading at Northern Kentucky University (Wednesday at 2) and an interview with their lit mag Licking River Review. I'm excited because Licking River Review published a poem from my first book a few years ago.

The second engagement is the Accents Publishing Book Release Extravaganza in Lexingonton, KY. I'll be reading at the Carnegie Center (Thursday at 6:30). Friday, I'll be live on the radio for Accents - A Radio Show for Arts, Liturature, and Culture. You can listen live here: http://wrfl.fm/

I've also recently heard that my manuscript Looting the Alphabet was a finalist at Carnegie Mellon University Press.

Words of Kindness for My Work

From the coldness of the Nebraska winter to the heat of a lover's bed, Dan Nowak takes the reader on a compelling lyric journey. He shares intimate moments with his audience, crafting his words so that we feel the scratchiness of the seldom worn suit, the skinned knuckles from the loading bays, and the sweat of a lover's skin. There are poems here to savor and reread and then reread again."

P. Andrew Miller, author of The Legend of The Turquoise Knight, Coordinator of Creative Writing, Northern Kentucky University.

Dan Nowak’s poems in Of a Bed Frame tattoo themselves upon the reader’s mind. Each word pierces the thin veneer of social constructs to expose Nowak’s vision of the world, a world where strange dichotomies unite, where steak and family symbolize consumption and alienation, and where the poet can create and celebrate the families and loves many refuse or are afraid to even acknowledge. With each word like a tatt gun prick, he punctures the divide between mind and body, between you and me, between love and hate, between beauty and squalor; he reminds us, “There is something left behind in all of us.”

Ryder Collins, author of Orpheus on toast