First, the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s 2008 Halloween Poetry Reading is in progress. Hop over there to hear my dulcet tones (among others. Ann K. Schwader has a lovely, expressive alto…). 🙂

Second, if you live in or near Atlanta (or have other reasons to spend time there), you might consider applying for one of the free one-day McEver poetry workshops there. You’ve got until November 10 to request an application. The experience and skill level of the participants can be across the board (i.e., be prepared for complete first-timers as well as experienced critiquers), but the workshops are very well-run and I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve attended. (I found Thomas Lux very entertaining. He’s very opinionated.)

McEver himself sounds like my kind of guy, in terms of his insistence that commerce and art do belong together: I think this is a transcript of an interview with him and Lux. (A good deal of my income comes from corporate work, so I’m invested (you could say) in hearing about people for whom town and gown are not separate realms.) During my past visits, my local contacts expressed surprise that the workshops were being held at Tech; my own perspective is that Georgia Tech is on its way to becoming the Stanford of the southeast US (Stanford may be better known for its math and science programs, but its English department is top-tier as well).