Gossip [&] the Devil

The cover of Cram, Volume 4

Quick update: Just received word from editor CJ Laity at Chicagopoetry.com that copies of CRAM volume 4 are now available for purchase! If you remember my update a few weeks ago, you’ll remember that my poem “My Own Lord Henry” has been selected, along with work from 32 other authors from around the globe, for inclusion in the 4th installment of the CRAM series.

From the email I received:

Only a select amount of copies have been put aside for mail orders. They are only available while supplies last.

As with previous volumes of CRAM, they truly are collectors items, so get yours while you can, they’ll only be avalibe for a short period of time.

Buying information is found here and prices are as follows:

one copy for $6.
two copies for $10.
four copies for $16.
ten copies for $35.

CRAM, Volume 4 was also distributed at the Woodland Pattern bookstore in Milwaukee on Saturday, January 31st, where over a hundred poets read in a marathon poetry reading. Dozens of copies of CRAM were given away for free to audience members.

A shot of the marathon poetry reading at Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee.

Your support, as always, is appriceated. It’s nice to know that while I was getting my ass handed to me behind the bar last night, copies of my work were being distrubuted hundreds of people I don’t know. It’s beautiful.

On this great day of our 44th president’s inauguration, I have a publication update:

Editor CJ Laity at Chicagopoetry.com informed me this morning that I am one of thirty-three poets to be included in the new issue of CRAM magazine! Apparently the response to the open-call for poetry was completely overwhelming this time around, and I’m guessing it’s because Chicagopoetry.com is one of the finest sites for poetry on the internet. They’ve been nothing but good to me, and do an excellent job of keeping those in the area up-to-date on artistic happenings around ChicagoLand.

For volume 4, I’m honored to be included with other fine artists, from Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and of course, my beloved Chicago.  An excerpt from the email:

Congratulations on being selected for inclusion in the publication Cram 4, which will be distributed free to the public at this year’s AWP Conference in Chicago, and at other public literary events. There will be 400 copies of Cram printed up. We hope to have the book printed up by the end of the month, so that we can distribute some advance copies at this year’s marathon poetry reading at Woodland Pattern bookstore in Milwaukee. A copy of the publication will also be mailed to you free of charge if you can’t personally pick it up at one of the release events. Additional copies will be made available for the cost of shipping and handling, if you are out of town and would like multiple copies. You can find information about how to do that in the upcoming days at Chicagopoetry.com

I will update all of you when copies are finally available, so you can grab one before they’re gone for good. CRAM is hand-made by editor CJ Laity, and truly are collector’s items. For merely the cost of shipping you can own a copy of one of the best independent and non-profit publications in the Midwest! Details to come.

(You can view the [words]” section above, and find my entry for volume 2 of the series, titled “He’s a Drummer by Trade.”)

No clue who the artist is. It wasn't me however. I <3 Google Image Search.

The poem they’ve chosen for publication is one I first wrote during my senior year of college at Oklahoma State University entitled “My Own Lord Henry.” (The poem has seen several revisions since.) The title comes from a character in the Oscar Wilde book “The Portrait of Dorian Grey.” I became obsessed with the delightfully sinful Lord Henry Wotton character. His jaded demeanor and the almost sadistic way he latched on to Dorian aroused me. Henry had seemingly done it all; he’d eaten, fucked, smoked, drank and talked his way into bitterness. This was the passage that sparked the poem:

“I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit…I have known everything, but I am always ready for a new emotion. I am afraid, however, that, for me at any rate, there is no such thing.” -Lord Henry

At the poem’s inception, I’d met a man much like Henry, and wanted very badly to prove to him that I could be that thing to shake his tired heart awake, that I was a menu he’d never tasted. How that story ends, well, you’ll just have to keep reading. In keeping with the spirit of my adolescent Pumpkins saga and promised tales of meeting Amanda Palmer…I’ll tell you about Henry as well. You might fall in love. Or hate. Either way is fine with me.

Details on much, much more soon, but I must be off now to serve alcohol to alcoholics. Vice is one of my favorite things.