Author Archives: Christopher

The Maintenance of the Shimmy-Shammy is 1 Year Old!

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As the flowers begin their tentative, premature piercings of the frozen topsoil here in sunny Syracuse, tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the publication of my first book of poetry, The Maintenance of the Shimmy-Shammy. Thanks again to the wonderful poets who generously provided blurbs for my book: Erika Meitner, Catherine Bowman, Maurice Manning, and Amy Gerstler! Thank you to everyone who has read it, including those kind souls who have rated and reviewed it on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads. It’s been a great year! If you’d like a copy, you can buy one from Amazon, Barnes and Noble Online, or direct from the publisher Steel Toe Books. If you’d like to request a review copy, just contact me directly. And thanks again for reading!

Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence (Marie Alexander Poetry Series)

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Hi friends. I’m thunderingly delighted to have received my contributor copies of Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence published by White Pines Press. This anthology contains five prose poems from my ongoing sequence called The Little Book of Monsters. Its 300+ pages also contain sequences by a host of amazing poets and writers including Nin Andrews, Carol Guess, Gian Lombardo, F. Daniel Rzicznek, Julie Marie Wade, Gary Young, and Jim (yes, that Jim) Harrison. There are sequences of prose poems, flash fictions, lyric essays, fairy tales, koans, epistolary address, and other cross-genre work. Thank you editors Robert Alexander, Eric Braun, and Debra Marquart and the entire Marie Alexander Poetry Series team for creating this amazing anthology!

“Go On Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” in Booth #9

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My poem “Go On Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” — which was shortlisted for the 2015 Booth Poetry Prize — has just been published in their print issue #9. You can read the poem HERE. Holy moly! Look at that cover (Sleeping Giants by Jillian Nickell)! I want to live in that house on top of that mountainous monster. If you only know Booth from their online presence, do yourself a favor and get this thing of beauty. The art design, illustrations, end pages, French flaps…it’s gorgeous. To say nothing of all the great poetry, fiction, non-fiction. Thanks so much Robert Stapleton, Chris Speckman, Rachel Sahaidachny and the rest of the Booth team!

“We Come Here Every Day So You’re Already Won” in River Styx

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As winter sunlight crawls slowly across the snow today, I’m excited to have received my contributor copies of River Styx Issue 95 which contains my work poem “We Come Here Every Day So You’re Already Won,” an Honorable Mention for the 2015 River Styx International Poetry Prize. What a bounty of literary goodies, including work by Cate Lycurgus, Thomas Lux, Doug Ramspeck, Bruce Bond, Richard Cecil, Amit Majmudar, Cornelius Eady, Michael Czyzniejewski, Peter Kline, Allison Joseph, Brian Brodeur, Zeina Hashem Beck to name but a few! The great cover is by Theo R. Welling, who has more dog show photos inside. Thanks again Richard Newman, Lizzy Petersen, Jyl Brady and the other River Styx readers and editors!

“Barely Managing the Houseplants Thing” in Redivider

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I’m delighted to have received my contributor copies of Redivider 13.1, which contains my poem “Barely Managing the Houseplants Thing.” What a fantastic and beautiful issue packed with great fiction, poetry, nonfiction and art. You can even buy an e-book version of it for $5 HERE. Thanks again Poetry Editor John Allen Taylor and the rest of the Redivider staff!

“Beehive Soaked in Tea and How to Leave (Part One)” Accepted at Radar Poetry

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I’m delighted to announce another of the collaborative prose poems I’ve been writing with Dustin Nightingale has found a home. It’s called “Beehive Soaked in Tea and How to Leave (Part One)” and it’s been accepted by the estimable Radar Poetry. We’re getting ready to make a collaborative audio recording of us reading the poem together. Should be a gas. Thank you editors Rachel Marie Patterson and Dara-Lyn Shrager!

I’m reading poetry Feb 6 2016 for the Syracuse YMCA LiterarY Brunch

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Hi Central New York friends. I’m giving a poetry reading Saturday, February 6 at 11 a.m. as part of the 11th Annual LiterarY Dinner series of The Arts Branch of the Syracuse YMCA to support their After School Arts Programs, serving over 850 children in Syracuse’s inner city. The cost is a tax-deductable donation of $40, and you get a great brunch at the home of Judy Carr, fine company, and me reading poems! Please RSVP before the brunch by email to jcarr96@twcny.rr.com or by phone 560-3484. Please share with anyone who may be interested. Hope to see you there!