I’m going viral, not the blog – I’ve got a cold (I’m confident it’s a cold rather than anything more porcine and sinister, because my partner caught it a few days before me, and she’s getting over it). So instead of another pocket epic, this post is a very quick list of links to interesting things I think you should know about. (I’m infectious, so I’m allowed to be bossy.)
The Quiet World Project: Johanna Knox’s fascinating blog on the future of books, publishing and reading in a changing world.
The Kathleen Grattan Award: This lucrative award for an original collection of poems, or long poem, by a New Zealand poet was won in its inaugural year by Christchurch poet Joanna Preston. The deadline for entries, 31 July, is rolling round. If you’ve got a collection ready to go, I strongly advise you to check this out. (I’m thinking of applying in 2010.)
Anomalous Appetites: Shortly after the release of Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand was announced, New Zealand poet and editor John Irvine got in touch to say that he had recently published an illustrated anthology of science fiction poetry, Anomalous Appetites. You can find out all about it, and how to buy it, on John’s website.
broadsheet 3 and Tom: The indefatigable Mark Pirie hasn’t rested on his laurels as co-editor with me of Voyagers. He has just produced Issue 3 of the literary magazine he edits, broadsheet. The centrepiece of this issue is an interview with Robert Creeley, and I’m pleased to say that my poem “Down George Street in the Rain” is also included. The HeadworX website has more information on broadsheet, including how to subscribe. I also have a copy of Mark’s recently-published verse novel Tom, and will be reviewing it here in the not-too-distant future.
Fascinating (?) fact: We recently sold our first copy of Voyagers for the Kindle, Amazon’s e-book reader, so far available only in the USA. At the time of writing, according to the Amazon listing for the Kindle edition of Voyagers, that sale makes Voyagers the 45th most popular poetry anthology available for the Kindle!.
Right, enough of these viral ravings. Goodnight, and good luck!
Thanks for the plug, Tim! Oh dear – I think I\’m going viral too. (Like you I have a partner just getting over something, so here\’s hoping we both get well looked after!)
I hope you (and Johanna) feel better soon.Go the Kindle! I can\’t wait til I can pick one up cheap on TradeMe.
Thanks, Meliors. I am feeling a bit better this morning.On the debit side, I have just heard back from the first purchaser of the Kindle edition of Voyagers that there are some problems with it – line breaks not in the right place – so I am about to contact the publisher and see whether we can get that fixed. So, my enthusiasm for the Kindle is slightly on hold at present!
Very pleased with my (analogue) copy of Voyagers! Hope you feel better soon.
I\’m glad to hear that, Janis. The good news is that it is possible to fix the Kindle formatting problem, and Interactive Publications is getting to work on that fix.
I\’m with Janis: the analogue copy looks great, Tim.
This is an attractive looking anthology, Tim. Nice work.
Thanks, Harvey! I\’m fairly much over the cold, and Kay\’s well over hers, but now our son has caught it – the day before his birthday (:
Glad you\’re feeling better. Sorry to hear about your son coming down with it just before his birthday.
Thanks, Lee! He was a lot better on his birthday, so it didn\’t really affect things too much.The last thing to recover was my energy level: I walked 20 minutes downtown on Saturday, and was completely exhausted by the time I reached my destination. Today, I walked 20 minutes with no evident ill effects.