Katie's Blog

This summer I was invited to take part in a panel of judges for a poetry book contest. OK ok ok, that sounds all official... it wasn't quite so glamorous. It went a little more like this: This summer, I got to scour the a publisher's slush pile of contest submissions and toss a few up that seemed worthy of a second look. And you know what? I think I learned a thing or two about contest submissions and judging in the process.And wouldn't you know it, I'm a very generous person, so I'm passing that oh-so-sagey wisdom on to you (no, not saggy... though... hmm). How the Process Looks: We've all heard those horror stories about poetry book contests, yes? They're just big scams set out to make publishers more financially solvent. Their secondary function is to tack a fancy award title onto a special person's name, the crowned winner, who is probably just publisher/judge/book god's student/friend/lover. Sound familiar? Well, being on the inside...

Oh the wonderful people you meet as a poet! Below is my conversation with poet and publisher Karen Kelsay Davies, the founder and publisher of Kelsay Books , which is a publishing company with four different imprints. Kelsay Books is fast expanding, which is so exciting! I met Karen through Victorian Violet , the journal Karen edits. And since she's a champion of formalist poetry, well... she's kind of a hero! Be sure to check out our interview. Karen's a terribly insightful person, not to mention generous with her time. There aren't many presses out there doing such wonderful jobs promoting the art of poetry, and I was fortunate enough to spend some time talking shop with her recently. First off, maybe you can tell me a littl e bit about Kelsay Books and your four imprints, just so we can get a general idea about your projects. What makes Kelsay Books different from other poetry publishers? Hi Katie, thank you for giving me the opp...

Howdy folks: I know, I know... no blog posts in awhile. I've been adjusting to my new schedule, trying to find a way to fit everything important into my life again. You see, this whole teaching a million students thing is going wonderful, but it's kind of consuming me (and my brain). It happens, right? My very first year teaching I think I wrote like, one poem. My SEMESTER as a prof (albeit adjunct) my writing slowed to a virtual halt as well. And now? as a full time lecturer with overload courses? yeah, you can guess the time I'm having. I'm enjoying myself, but I'm having a hard time making "brain space" for anything not teaching related. Does that make sense? I have time, yes, time at home where I'm in my bathrobe by noon, but it's time to do other things: plan projects, dig deep into readings, give my students meaningful feedback, catch up on my class' blogs, etc... And poetry? It's... well, getting dusty. I don't know...