My debut collection of poetry, Labor (published by Nixes Mate), is now available! Paperback and Kindle copies can be ordered online at Amazon. Printed copies are also available for direct sale from the publisher. Another option (which supports me, Nixes Mate, and small businesses) is to request that your local book store order copies. If you live in the Boston area, keep an eye out for copies on the shelves of some shops there.
I’m delighted to announce that Nixes Mate Books has accepted my mid-sized manuscript, Labor, for publication. This will be my first book in print! Stay tuned for more news about release date and readings.
I’m pleased to announce the release of my e-chapbook, Grief Dreams, published by White Knuckle Press. The book is a collection of 11 prose poems, which you can read here: https://www.whiteknucklepress.com/lisa-desiro
I’m grateful to the White Knuckle Press editors for their thoughtful design and careful attention to detail, and for bringing so many chapbooks into the world—all available online for free!
My chapbook Grief Dreams will be published in June 2017 by White Knuckle Press! This is my first manuscript acceptance, and I’m thrilled. Stay tuned for more announcements about the book release next year.
When my dear friend and colleague Anastasia Nikolova invited me to contribute an article about poetry for The Opera Stage’s Guest Artist Blog, of course I had to say yes. I led a few workshop discussions on this topic in the past, and I have ambitions of writing a book about it in the future. (Thank you, Anastasia and Stephen, for the opportunity to share my ideas with all the Opera Stage followers!)
One of my manuscripts, Simple as a Sonnet, was chosen as a finalist in the Paper Nautilus Debut Series Chapbook Contest! Although this recognition does not include publication by the press, it nevertheless is a boost to my confidence. I feel more encouraged now to continue submitting this particular manuscript elsewhere. And the editor, Lisa Mangini, sent me a personal e-mail with the kind comment “Out of almost 90 submissions, your writing was some of the most memorable.”
For the past five years, September has been the month when I participated in the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s “Break the Silence” 5K walk/run, to honor the memory of my mother. But this year, the NOCC event happens to fall on a day when I’ll be out of town. So in lieu of that race, I’ve decided to run a different type of marathon: by participating, for the second time, in the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. The challenge is to write thirty poems in thirty days (one per day) and to seek sponsorship along the way.
When I did this marathon before (April 2013) my goal was to write in a different form each day, and some of my best inspiration came from friends suggesting themes or words for me to use. This time, I’m attempting a series of acrostic poems, and once again I’m taking requests. Send me a name (person, place, or thing) and I’ll use it to compose a poem!
Read all of this month’s poems—mine and those of my eight fellow September marathoners—on the Tupelo Press blog: https://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/
