On the Run

I've been quiet because I've been in New Orleans--but I'm dashing back to DC in time for this:

Patricia Smith & John Burnside
at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Monday, March 1 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $12
201 East Capitol Street, SE

"Soulful, impassioned poets Smith and Burnside create poems that shimmer with magic. Patricia Smith is the author of five poetry volumes. Her most recent, Blood Dazzler, which chronicles the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, was a 2008 National Book Award finalist. She is a four-time individual champion in the National Poetry Slam. Scottish poet John Burnside has published numerous collections, including Feast Days and The Asylum Dance, winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award. His latest collection is The Hunt in the Forest. Burnside, also a novelist, teaches at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Conversation moderated by poet Sandra Beasely."

Yeah, I know, with my name is misspelled. But an honor's an honor! I love what my friend Ethelbert says about Smith's work: “Smith writes the way Tina Turner sings.” I've been reading through Blood Dazzler here in New Orleans, which is both eerie and illuminating.

I also popped up a new "Countdown" post over at She Writes, debuting another poem-video, this time for "I Don't Fear Death." Here it is...