Katie's Blog

Check it out! I stumbled across this video the other day. It's actually a pretty good sum up of what's going on here in the south Texas lit scene (and no, I don't just say that because I get a nod... ok ok oko k ok maybe I do). I've just been thinking a lot lately about what we have here in the Valley, and in Texas in general. A lot of times I feel really isolated and alone as a poet, but really, it's all in my head. We have a great poetry community here, and maybe I take it for granted just a little bit. So stumbling on this was particularly timely for me. Anyway, Edgardo runs the Writers of the Rio Grande website and he's the narrator of this little video. He has such a nice raspy Texas voice X-D So take a little listen, k?

Nahhhh... it's not true. So today Scott Wiggerman of Dos Gatos Press released the cover image for next year's Texas Poetry Calendar. I'm happy to have a poem included in the collection, and join the ranks of other Texas writers. I'll blog about it some more later once I have it in my hands next month.  Anyway, this just got me to thinking: there's quite a bit going on, poetry wise, in Texas these days. Sure, Texas is no New York or California, but we've got our own off beat scene. Sometimes I feel really isolated as a poet, like there's no one I can relate to or talk poetry with. The internet helps, of course. But, on the other hand, I'd like to take a moment to dig a little deeper, show you (and myself) all the wonderful things going on in the Texas poetry scene! And if you'd like to add to my list, leave a comment! Texas Publishers: Arte Publico Press  I know they publish a lot of children's books, but upon perusing their ...

Guess who's the featured artist on the BorderSenses front page? That'd be me! I'm really honored to work with such an awesome journal. You see, I met the director of the nonprofit organization at AWP earlier this year. She was amazingly kind to me and organized a book signing for me there. And now, yay, I'm on their website! Anyway, you want to check it out, don't you? Don't go drawing a mustache on my face, ok???? Katie as Featured Artist on BorderSenses

It's official! My second chapbook was just released by Mouthfeel Press and is available for order, a real steal at just $6! You can order directly from the publisher here . So, what's this crazy book about, anyway? Now that's a good question! No one answers this better than my blurbers:  "Whoever dreamed that peeling an orange or selecting a grapefruit could be such a sensuous experience? In these juicy poems of the Rio Grande Valley, Katherine Hoerth invites the reader into a world dripping with pleasure and delight." --- Steven Schneider, author of Borderlines: Drawing Border Live s, Prairie Air Show , and Unexpected Guests "The Garden of Dress es is the sexual awakening not only of the speaker(s), but of objects, characters, places. Katherine’s poems relentlessly make the readers come up close to the images, and, more than read the poems, they savor them."--Laura Cesarco Eglin, author of Sastreria and Llamar al aqua por su nombre. ...

I'm thinking about working on this a bit more to create a narrative poem in blank verse, but eh, here's my "scrap."  When did you fall from grace? I remember it was summertime; the last of the wildflower blooms still clung to the trees and the air was already dry with the onslaught of heat. I was skating down the streets, slicing into the pavement with my rollerblades, hot breeze on my oily skin and the taste of watermelon on my lips. My mind must have been in the clouds as it always was, daydreaming about, surely, some boy who knew how to play guitar, throw a football, or drive a pickup. I heard a whistle from behind, then a voice call, “Hey, pretty girl, where you going so fast?”                                               ...

Being a practicing poet is a totally manic existance, for me anyway. This week's been a week of ups and downs. I got the whole spectrum of writerly experiences. I got the world's sweetest acceptance letter:  Dear Katherine, Every one of these poems is a breath-taking delight to read. I am excited to be able to include my three favorites in our volume...." Followed by one of those absolutely maddening "you almost made it" letters from one of my favorite journals, which said something to the effect of: "You made it past the slush, we liked your work, in particular poem X BUT we don't love you enough to take it. Sorry. Try again, please, try again."  I'm paraphrasing, obviously. GrRrR... and then those wonderful form rejections? Yeah, got one of those too: Thank you for the opportunity to read your submission. After careful consideration, we have concluded that we are unable to publish your work at this time Funk you! LOL. ...

Well well well.... We're rounding out the semester; I've posted my grades, turned in my final paper for the postcolonial lit class I'm auditing, and now I'm finding myself strangely... unbusy! Even my advising duties are slowing down, and it feels... peculiar. Summer's so close I can smell it! Though, it smells more like rain, westerly winds, and hail stones these days. We've been having some awfully odd weather in El Valle the past month or so. Blazing heat and clear skies (which is totally normal) intermixed with these really violent storms. Those palm trees? That picture was taken by me a few days ago, just outside my office at UTPA. Today, they look about the same... Anyway, I feel like life's begun to calm, the calm before the big storm. Hah... ok, I'm being cliched and melodramatic, yes... but I'm twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the publication of my next two books, waiting for the hailstones to fall. So with the summer coming up, ...

So I'm finally breathing again... Man oh man, I've had a wild past few days... between working on a research project, grading my students' portfolios, reviewing gallies for the nth time, and working freshmen orientations at the university, enter, the Valley International Poetry Festival last weekend. I think I'm finally getting caught up on sleep. Anyway, I had a fantastic time. Even though I've been insanely busy, I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully my life can start getting back to some sort of normalacy where I can focus on writing, submitting, and just... BREATHING :-) Anyway... the valley international poetry festival... I'll blog a little bit about that! By the way, I've been a VIPF regular since ::drum roll please:: 2009! Can you believe that? And the festival keeps getting better with age. Thursday, April 26th The Boundless Anthology release reception! It was held at the McAllen Creative Incubator, ...