a fast life

I attended one of the best poetry readings I've ever been to last night at St. Mark's Church. It was a tribute to Tim Dlugos. I wonder if other writers have felt this way when every once in a while you discover a writer whose odd brain you feel a certain kinship with. I included some previously unpublished poems of his in the last issue of Clementine. From time to time poets have told me to read his work, but much of it was elusive. That's why it's so exciting to have his poetry compiled in an extraordinary book, A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos, beautifully published by Nightboat Books and meticuously and lovingly edited by one of my favorite poets David Trinidad.

o my darlin

It's was really exciting to edit the latest edition of Clementine (an online journal of poetry and photography) with Becca. I love and admire all of the poets represented.

The issue features five previously unpublished poems by Tim Dlugos, whose collected poems, A Fast Life (edited by David Trinidad) is due from Nightboat Books in 2011. There are also three previously unpublished poems by Karl Tierney. A poet whose work I discovered in the excellent anthology Persistent Voices: An Anthology of Poets Lost to AIDS.

As always, we tried to represent many different voices. There are two great poems inspired by Curtis Mayfield by Rio Cortez. A Showgirls sestina by Jeffery Conway. Persona poems concerning Amy Winehouse by Kerri French. The subjects of the poems range from Vladmir Putin to video games.

All of the poems--by Jerome Murphy, Sarah Stickney, Charles Jensen, Matthew Hittinger, Jeffrey Allen, Michael Comstock, William Wright, Jenn Blair, Joe Eldridge, Nathan Vulgamott and Steve Westbrook--are smart and refreshing.

I am crazy about the Barbie photos of Russ Pedro and Brian Brown's evocative shots of rural Georgia.

Clementine is interested primarily in the idea of the persona, but we are rather loose with what we consider a "persona poem." Some in the issue are more literal about this than others. Becca and I are proud of what we put together and so happy to share the work of these artists.