I have a break from grad school this summer, and I’ve been trying to take advantage of the opportunity to read whatever I want. I’ve also taken a quasi-break from social media, or at least significantly scaled down my use of it.

That being said, there are a bunch of links that I want to share. This blog seemed like a good place to do it. If there is interest, I may make this a regular feature.

Interview with a Poet on South Florida Poetry Journal

This monthly series features my friend Caitlin Scarano (also recommended: her book Do Not Give Him Water from Write Bloody Press) as well as poets Joan Leotta and Joan Colby.

Where I Want to Live: Poems for Fair & Affordable Housing

I may do a separate post about this beautiful anthology (full disclosure: I have a poem in it), but it’s worth mentioning here. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Marches for Fair Housing in Milwaukee, there is a range of voices here which “serves as a metaphor for the inclusive neighborhoods we value and seek to build.” Not enough people know that activists in Milwaukee marched for fair housing for 200 consecutive nights beginning in 1967.

“To Epigraph or Not to Epigraph” by Margaret Rozga

Peggy Rozga was one of the major forces behind the Where I Want to Live anthology and is a close friend. Her post from January on Trish Hopkinson’s blog about epigraphs is worth checking out. Sometimes as the poem evolves, the epigraph is no longer necessary. Does your epigraph invite the reader in, or does it turn her away?

“For the Dogs Who Barked at Me on the Sidewalks in Connecticut” by Hanif Abdurraqib

Poetry just published this poem and I love everything about it—the energy that moves us through the poem, the slashes and where Abdurraqib decided to place them, the single line of dialogue from the owners, the line “I am not usually like this either”. Abdurraqib has come through Miami a couple of times since I’ve been here and his work is always a treat.

Cites & Insights and The Librarian’s Guide to Micropublishing

My partner works in a library and recently checked out Walt Crawford’s book about free and low-cost micropublishing tools. I’d recommend it for anyone who is trying to use Word to lay out books. I’ve tried to wrangle Word to submit to my micropublishing desires for more hours than I’d like to admit. I wish I’d had Crawford’s book years ago.

The book led me to Crawford’s blog and his journal Cites & Insights which is related to all things library science. I’m not a librarian, but found myself reading his thoughts on Wikipedia and credibility for about an hour this morning. It’s a well-written and interesting read.