Summer Progress
Summer plans have been largely restricted to completing my dissertation. The carousel forever goes round… I’m constantly struggling with finding that perfect balance between argument and narrative, especially with some chapters which seem to see-saw from one to the other. And with all the material that’s getting cut, I have The mechanical horse swings up and back down… More difficult–frustrating–for me is this concentration on just one project. I’m so used to the juggling of tasks, the stillness of the office or slow pace of the archival rooms almost begs me to grab a new book or start a new essay, poem, video, whatever, when I’m stuck on an idea or waiting for a librarian to bring a new box up from storage. Merry-(I)-go-round?
Last week I received a copy of the latest issue of Civil War History, which includes my review of Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War by Michael David Cohen. Meanwhile, I’m expecting the publication of two poems and a short story in the following magazines: Arsenic Lobster Poetry Journal, the Tule Review, and R.kv.r.y. Quarterly Literary Journal. I’m also awaiting news from publishers on three different manuscripts including a poetry chapbook tentatively entitled Rendezvous and two essays still under review.
Calypso’s latest title, Aftermath Lounge by Margaret McMullen, has been doing remarkably well–it’s a beautiful book and worth checking out–and the line up for 2015-2016 looks incredibly promising. There’s been some incredible manuscripts circulating on my computer these past months. And the founding of the new journal Textshop Experiments is making strides: I hope to post a new Call for Papers and a short video before the end of summer. What great experiences!
Meanwhile, the question remains where Roving Eye Press might go next. I think the press has more in the arsenal. Last month, I found a copy of Bob Brown’s Nomadness in an old bookstore while reading through Craig Saper’s forthcoming biography of Brown (The Empire State Series–Fordham University Press). Maybe this should be read as a sign?
Part travelogue, part self-help on how to live, Brown sketches a globe-gliding map that beckons me back to Europe sooner than expected.
Cities are land stars
shining in constellations:
Paris, Much, Trieste, Naples,
Palmermo, Tunis, Algiers,
Barcelona and Bordeaux
form a great dipper for
land-lubbering
But isn’t the best part of the tourist experience the food? Bob’s (and Rose and Cora’s) cookbooks move readers through time and space offering a taste at home. My vote would be to bring back some of these classics and chant, Let There Be Beer! We’ll see.
Next week, I’ll start reading Jeff Scheible’s Digital Shift: The Cultural Logic of Punctuation (University of Minnesota Press, 2015) for a review. I’m excited about this one and might try to negotiate a video essay to emphasize the visual elements of typography and emoji.
But in the meantime, I return to the design of the next title for Calypso and then to the chapter I closed down last night. I guess I’m still juggling after all.
The carousel forever goes round…
The Projector 
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