Day-to-day minutiae.
My poem Walt Whitman Service Area appeared in The Age today, although you might be forgiven for missing it, even if you are an avid reader of the A2 section – the poem seems to have been shrunk to a smaller font – possibly to make room for everything else on the page:
Well it’s been over ten years in the making so I’m overjoyed and relieved to inform you that my debut poetry collection We Will Disappear will be released this year through soi3, an imprint of papertiger media. The book will feature between fifty and one hundred poems, including some that have already been published, both online and in print, and others no one even knew existed. While a cover image for the book hasn’t been decided upon yet, I’m kind of partial to this one below, which was taken seven years ago in a carpark above a warehouse where, coincidentally (or not), I first came up with the character of Davey Dreamnation.
Welcome to [d/dn v.10] – finally!
I’m currently trying to migrate all of my Blogger posts to this blog, with some difficulty. Seems I’m losing a lot of formatting, the server’s timing out and sundry other jitches are cursing my desire to upgrade and move on out. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel: I’ve managed to move my Marzipan posts without drama, plus about three quarters of my old home page blog posts.
In addition, I’m deleting a couple of blogs I first created a year or two ago. The first, “various journals”, was going to be a journal called various journals, to be composed of the names and publishing details of people whose biography included the words “… and has been published in various journals”. Kind of a rollcall of shame, with phase two consisting of the creation of a real journal, also called various journals, publication in which would entitle a writer to then state in future biographies that their work had indeed been published in various journals. I might still get around to doing it one day but for now, it’s been deleted from Blogger.
The second, “The Festival of Melbourne Festivals”, was a kind of piss-take tribute to Melbourne, perhaps the ultimate the city of festivals. The aim was to feature a different festival each week (hell, why not day) and to make money by seeking sponsorships from said festivals. More elaborate plans involved a weekly (or daily) “launch” of the Festival of Melbourne Festivals, given that it’s just a 365 day a year party in this town. If I had a shred of business nous I might actually be able to make something of it but, as with “various journals”, “TFOMF” has been consigned to the dustbin marked “deleted”.
Now let’s just hope the same thing doesn’t happen to my [dnrc] posts. Seething!
My chapbook Abendland (pictured left) has been reviewed by Philly poet Adam Fieled on his excellent blog.
Check out the review here.
As far as I can tell, this is the first time my work has ever been reviewed, anywhere. I only have a couple of copies of the book left, but I hope to make an announcement soon as to a possible re-release, along the lines of Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted.
For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, Pavement’s debut full length album circulated unofficially as a cassette tape in the early 1990s, with the consequence that it was well known “underground” before being released, erm, “overground”.
So, if you’d like to possess a copy of the original chapbook, and would like to be able to tell your grandkids that you got in there first, before the Abendland project went mainstream, contact me via email. Like, today.
In other spellbinding news, sure to get Stung seething, I’ve finally bitten the bullet and re-registered the www.daveydreamnation.com domain, which is now up and running, albeit sans content.
Regular (oh come, all ye faithful) readers will recall the jitch-up that occurred about three years ago, when I first registered the domain, and then a year later forgot to renew the registration, with the result that the site was taken over by a cyber-porn-squatter.
Luckily for me, the squatter lost interest and didn’t renew the registration him or herself. So, here we are again.
I’ll be slowly migrating this blog, plus a few other ones, to the new domain over the next few weeks.
This is my first [and only!] issue as co-editor of Going Down Swinging.
It’s been a wild ride.
First, the submissions. I have to admit I was amazed and then slightly frightened by the sheer number (and quality) of submissions we received this year. This just confirms for me how many people are out there writing crazy poems, drawing kooky comics and coming up with surreal and interesting storylines. I hope you’ll agree that this 24th issue of Going Down Swinging is as strong, if not stronger than any issue of any magazine that’s ever been published. Anywhere.
Second, the editorial process. This is the first time I’ve ever worked closely with a group of fellow-editors and let me tell you, the GDS editorial meetings are barnstorming affairs, where the seemingly impossible task of selecting a book’s worth of content from thousands of submissions takes on epic proportions. I’d like to be able to say that these meetings were full of tears, tantrums and tie-breaks but the truth is, working with Steve and Lisa has been a fantastic experience.
Third, the comics. GDS has featured comic art before but I believe this is the biggest and best selection of comic art I’ve ever seen. Anywhere. Huge props to our comics editor Mandy Orr for her work in soliciting work from some very exciting artists. It was hugely exciting to sit down and look through the work, and while the task of selecting the best pieces was just as hard as it was for the poetry and prose, I think we’ve achieved the right balance.
Fourth, the contributors. That’s you. I know, you may not have got into this issue but the fact of the matter is that GDS would not exist were it not for the writers, the poets, the genii (you know it). The artists, cartoonists, haikunauts and rhymesters. The readers and supporters of the magazine. Yes, you. We love you all. Believe me, I have been you. I may not know you in the way Henry Rollins says he does but then who would want to, really?
Finally, the book itself. I mean, how cool is this book? From the cover to the layout and the bumper comics section (some of it in colour!), this issue oozes professionalism and quality. Quality! The world’s crying out for it! Thanks to Steve and his incredible production skills, that’s just what you get. In bucket-loads. I’m proud to have had even a small hand in bringing this issue to life. I’m left wondering how GDS can get any better.
Well, the big news is that Going Down Swinging is now bi-annual! This means you have twice as many chances to be published in Australia’s coolest, funkiest and most untold literary periodical!
So get cracking!
