After 9 years, it is really here: DEMYSTIFYING THE MANUSCRIPT

 


It might not be polite to say so, but I just can't stop looking. The color, the hand, and the story it implies makes me ridiculously happy. Why this cover for this book? Creating a book of poems means knocking on a magical door---one where a beautiful hand can guide you through to the other side. You begin with a pile of poems and through the different chapters and interviews here, you learn a variety of ways to order that pile of chaos into a streamlined book with themes, braids, sections....there's many good choices.  

A friend mentioned that for her, the cover image evokes questions: where does the poem live? Which poems live next door? What does the house of poetry feel like?  Inside this book (with a door knocker from Turkey) is a chapter on choosing cover art. Kelli Russell Agodon and I created a Pinterest page to keep track of our favorite images in one place. Now it seems this blue door was inevitable all along.

The idea for the book began on a road trip from the Oregon Coast back-up to Seattle. We were returning from the Sylvia Beach Hotel where Poets on the Coast was held in the early years. Flash forward nine years and between us we have written over a dozen books including anthologies and individual collections of poems. We've also asked a wide selection of our favorite poets to join us which includes over 36 living poets.  Our deep hope is to have the book out for AWP but the Two Sylvias Press offices are  awaiting final confirmation. In the meantime, it is just now available here for pre-order.


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