Friends: I Have a Big Announcement! I Have a Book Deal!

Friends: I have a big announcement! Yesterday I signed a contract with EastOver Press to publish my book of poems titled, Crow Funeral. As many of you know, this is a book I once gave up on. I never wanted to publicly bury my book, but I needed some grand, (albeit dramatic) gesture to find peace in saying goodbye to a manuscript that I had put everything of myself into for 5 years.

I owe an immense amount of gratitude to my friends, you know who you are, who eventually forced me to dig the words back up again. “I’m retired” I said. “Join this Zoom writing group,” you said. I added new poems, I took poems out, I stopped submitting for over a year. It felt good to write only for the voice that lives inside me. The Crow Funeral that will be published is not the book I buried. It is a different kind of story now, even if many of the original poems remain.

I want to thank EOP editor, Denton Loving for that phone call I never thought I’d get—for believing in my work, and wanting to put it out into the world. EastOver Press is the home where my book belongs, and I’m so thrilled. Crow Funeral will be published in spring/summer 2022.

Want to know a little bit about what a Crow Funeral is?

I have an essay I wrote that talks a bit about it here.

Thank you again to all of you that continue to believe in me and what I write. I really do have some pretty sweet friends…and a husband who is my biggest fan.

Love,

Kate

Open: Journal of Arts & Letters: Featured Writer

I’m so grateful to have been the featured writer for OJAL for the month of May. Seven of my poems were published, as well as a craft essay and an interview. Since the content came out daily in individual posts, I’m compiling it into this blog post for easier access. This feature means so much to me because all of the content is pulled or inspired from my current manuscript, titled Crow Funeral. The next step is finding it a happy home!

Thanks again for reading.

Poems in the feature:

Vessel

911

The Sentinel

Glimpse

Now I Lay Them Down To Sleep

Grease

Reincarnate

Craft Essay:

Crow Funerals and the Loss of Meaning

Interview

Vera Falenko, Contributing Editor Interviews Featured Writer Kate Hanson Foster