Tag: April Ossmann

back in the saddle (sort of)

Early this morning, I sent out a couple of (hopelessly above my level) submissions of my revised, full-length poetry collection, which centers on the North Adams, Massachusetts area.

I had mentioned in my National Poetry Month wrap-up that I would be working on revisions after feedback from April Ossmann. Unfortunately, my revision work got sidetracked by my still-mysterious medical condition, but I’ve been chipping away at it on days when my brain fog allows. It’s been difficult for me not to be able to workshop some of the revisions with my Grapevine Poets friends, but I decided the manuscript had been out of circulation for more than long enough that I had to skip this step.

I sent it today to a couple of places that were closing at the end of the month. They are not on my list of target publishers but are places that I want to support. If I’m going to send them money, I might as well send my manuscript rather than just a donation.

I’ll try to send out some more submissions soon. I will continue to sneak in some more revisions, too, especially if I can manage to get enough energy back to be able to workshop again.

Onward – however haltingly…

National Poetry Month wrap-up

April is National Poetry Month in the United States and I had a busy time this year, so I thought I’d do a post with links for those who wanted to catch up.

On April 14th, I sang with the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton in a concert entitled America Speaks. We sang settings of poems by American poets with readings by members of S.T.A.R. (Southern Tier Actors Read).

On April 2oth, I travelled to Cooperstown for the Write Out Loud 2024 performance which included my poem “Some Time Else” from my chapbook, Hearts.

On April 27th, I read with the Grapevine Poets at the Broome County Arts Council, where their POETREE was on display.

Throughout the month, my poem “North Adams Public Library” was part of their National Poetry Month display.

I contributed to the Tioga Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud series with a recording of my poem, “The Bridge.”

On April 30th, current US Poet Laureate Ada Limón read at Smith College, which, though I could not attend in person, I wrote about here.

One thing that was missing from April this year was attending workshops with the Binghamton Poetry Project, which is in the process of being re-organized as the Binghamton Writers Project. I missed the chance to learn from Binghamton University grad students and other community poets who attend these workshops.

I took another step forward with my full-length poetry collection by sending a revised draft to April Ossmann for review. April has sent me extensive feedback so there will be more revisions and then a new round of submissions. Stay tuned for updates!

Early May bonus is that poet Samantha Terrell is featuring me in the SHINE section of her website.

I love it when National Poetry Month goes into overtime!

I’d love to hear in comments about others’ National Poetry Month experiences this year. Stay tuned for more poetry news – and more eclectic musings – here at Top of JC’s Mind.