You Can Hear Me Now

         I’ve had a recent spate of videos released, which I can now share with you for your edutainment - assuming you would consider yourself educated and/or entertained by the sight and sound of me reading and talking about my work.  At the very least, it’s a chance for me to share some events with my peeps all around the world, instead of being available only to the local crowd.

        1. In July I was invited to be a guest on the television program “For the Love of Words.”  Host (and poet) John Holgerson interviewed me, followed by my reading quite a number of poems, including some that will be in my next book.  Of course there are a few points I would have made more eloquently or more clearly if I’d written a script in advance (and there’s one spot where they kept in two takes of a comment, so it sounds like I’m repeating

myself!), but it was a great experience and I’m honored to have been invited to participate.  You can watch the program on Easton Community Access Television here.

        2. The Needham Channel did a lovely piece on Needham’s Poet Laureate program.  Producer Yuxiao Yuan gave us the full Ken Burns treatment.  She met with me twice for a long interview and lots of footage, and I was really impressed by how much thought and effort Yuxiao put into this 6 minute “documentary.”  You can watch that piece on the Needham Channel here.

        3. Strong Women-Strange Worlds got a bit behind on posting their videos (it’s an all-volunteer organization and Life has a way of throwing curveballs), so my last two events were only recently posted on-line, even though they took place a while ago.

            A. During the Holiday Extravaganza back in December I participated in “Speed-Date a Book” and presented a pitch for On the Virtues of Beasts of the Realms of Imagination.  I had fun channeling my inner David Attenborough - not to mention having to build a jungle in front of my computer.  Watch here to see whether my book can win a date with you!  (I’m actually the first author to go, but if you want to skip the intro, start at the 3 minute mark.  Or watch the whole thing - it’s fun!)

            B. In February I read from “The Home for Dispossessed Familiars” from Bittersweetness & Light.  If you’d like to hear my 7-minute teaser snippet from that story, check it out here.  In this event I’m the last author to read.  By all means listen to the whole thing and find a wide variety of other cool books, but if you want to skip to my segment, go to 43:15.  (By the way, go ahead and Follow/Subscribe to the SW-SW YouTube channel.  It costs you nothing, and it helps a small but worthy organization get traction on the internet.)

        In addition to all those videos, I’ve also had a few other things published on-line in the past couple of months.

        4. My haiku “Mud Season” was posted on Haiku Newton’s web site, along with all the other winning Haiku from this year.  You can read them all here.

        5. As Poet Laureate of Needham, I wrote a poem for the town: “Home, Needham 2025.”  I presented it to the Select Board in July, and will present it to a wider audience some time in the fall.  In the meantime, it’s posted on the library’s web site, here.

        6. My poem “The Green Girl Thinks of Home” was published in New Myths in June, much to my delight.  I already shared it in my post What’s Black and White and Green, but just to gather everything together in one place, here’s that New Myths link again.

        7. The Needham Hometown Weekly published a press release on July 24 about my solo show “Poems and Prints” that’s hanging now at Gorse Mill Gallery.  (I mentioned that exhibition, too, in a prior post, which you can see here.)  A lovely reporter attended my reception on Sunday, so here (added later) is the piece they published on August 14.

        With all this press and publicity I’ve had to face the paradoxical truth about myself that while I always appreciate and get excited about these opportunities to spread the word, I simultaneously cringe in horror at the thought of being in the spotlight.  I guess it’s lucky for me that I’m so small-time that the spotlight isn’t very bright anyway!  Still, I do hope that you find something in all these bits and pieces that resonates with you about the positive power of poetry, art, and stories.  If you do, please let me know, because that’s what makes it worthwhile despite the discomfort of the publicity!

[Pictures: various stills of various filming by various people, compiled by AEGNydam, 2025.  Follow the links to get specific credits.]