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

Of a Bed Frame Cover

The production of my chapbook, Of a Bed Frame, is chugging right along. Last night my wonderful editor over at Accents Publishing sent me the image of what my cover will look like. There is still much to do before it releases though, so I should work on that. While you wait for my chapbook, perhaps click over to Accents Publishing and take a look at their catalogue. My pile of to-read books now includes J. Kates Metes and Bounds.

Production, Production, Production

This weekend has been very productive. Imaginary Friend Press put out its third chapbook, Orpheus on Toast by Ryder Collins, I've been writing with the Poem-A-Day challenge, and I've caught up on my students' work. I think I'll be kicking back with a bottle of cheap red wine and indulging in the poetry that has made my hands stink of toner. You should too.

Red Lion Sq.

Today the wonderful editors at Red Lion Sq. Poetry have published my poem "Dancing Through the Dog Parade." You can go take a listen here: http://www.redlionsq.com/

Accents Publishing

So it was announced that Accents Publishing will be releasing my chapbook, Of a Bed Frame! They're a great small press. We met with Katerina Stoykova-Klemer on pure luck (she was visiting her brother in law). Such a kind editor. Her plan is to have the chap be out by AWP and let me give a book signing. How exciting!

Prop 8 Unconstitutional!

I would like to join in the celebration of California's Proposition 8 being found unconstitutional. Here's to Judge Vaughn Walker for just some of the following:

"Proposition 8 singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment. Proposition 8 perpetuates the stereotype that gays and lesbians are incapable of forming long-term loving relationships and that gays and lesbians are not good parents." (page 93)

"Relative gender composition aside, same-sex couples are situated identically to opposite-sex couples in terms of their ability to perform the rights and obligations of marriage under California law. Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals." (page 113)

"In the absence of a rational basis, what remains of proponents' case is an inference, amply supported by evidence in the record, that Proposition 8 was premised on the belief that same-sex couples simply are not as good as opposite-sex couples. Whether that belief is based on moral disapproval of homosexuality, animus towards gays and lesbians or simply a belief that a relationship between a man and a woman is inherently better than a relationship between two men or two women, this belief is not a proper basis on which to legislate." (page 132)

While there are lots more things I would like to say regarding this issue, I'll let joy be the overwhelming emotion here.