A BOOKISH DAY!

Today, I read the best poetry anthology I've read so far this year: FUTURES TRADING: ANTHOLOGY THREE edited by Caleb Puckett.  It's a print compilation of the poetry he's featured in three issues of his online journal Futures Trading--a source that makes even more impressive how the print anthology coheres. The book's effectiveness has to do, I feel, with an absolutely marvelous editorial vision as noted in its Editor's Note below (see 2nd and 3rd paragraphs):

(click on all images to enlarge)

Caveat: I'm in the issue, but I'd feel this way about this anthology even if I weren't.  Here's the back cover's list of contributors; many have penned fabulously innovative "forward-facing" poems:

***

Today, I mailed off a copy of The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Vol. II edited by Jean Vengua and Mark Young to Heikki Lahnaoja, the author of the first hay(na)ku book in Finland, Puitten Uni, written in Finnish!  These radiant Finns!  I also sent him my book NOTA BENE EISWEIN because it contains my flamenco hay(na)ku series.

What's marvelous about Heikki's hay(na)ku is that  it all began from his discovery and research of the hay(na)ku online (I don't think Charles Bernstein will mind being quoted on its back cover). Heikki's not even seen any of the three hay(na)ku print anthologies out there. The internet: at its best, a positive generator!

***

I don't have any of Sharon Olds' books in my poetry library.  But the first entered its space today!  But I obtained it through our local coffeeshop's "Community Book Trade" shelf where cafe customers are encouraged to "Take a book, Bring A Book"!  What a lovely idea!  And I rescue all poetry books! Welcome Sharon Olds -- I read her THE GOLD CELL whilst having latte with coconut flavor and a white chocolate, pistachio and cranberry scone: it, um, kind of helped mitigate her subject matter!

And after reading Olds' poetry, I read three review copies that arrived recently for Galatea Resurrects from stellar poetry publisher BOA Editions:  CELESTIAL JOYRIDE by Michael Waters; WHERESO by Karen Volkman, and THE BLACK MARIA by Aracelis Girmay. They and other lovelies are available for your review consideration over HERE!