autumn & hello
Dears, deers—
I don’t know how to excuse my long absence from these tiny letters. I could offer reasons like, well, I had a baby in December, & I moved house in the spring, & I’ve been doing a lot of other stuff (writing lots of poetry & some prose, & oh yeah, running a lit mag & small press). But that would only be part of it. This summer was hard. I was depressed & anxious & I felt isolated. I don’t get to see my friends much these days, or do much of anything that doesn’t involve my kids. I’m not saying the summer was all bad—there were some damn beautiful moments—but overall, it was hard. Anthony Bourdain’s death hit me in a way I can’t even begin to explain yet, & then there were the anniversaries of some friends’ suicides, & I felt like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown half the time.
It’s fall now, for real. It’s Mabon & I’m giving thanks for all the good things in my life & trying to let go of the bullshit. I’m going to make a concerted effort to get back into the swing of these letters, & send them out monthly or at least bi-monthly.
(photo taken September 1999)
recent personal news:
-my poem Saint Anthony and the Ten Thousand Things appeared in Memoir Mixtapes
-my poem Leda’s Swan Song appeared in Ghost City Review
-my poem Woodsmoke and Thunderstorms appeared in Dirty Paws Poetry Review
-three of my poems (+ spoken word versions!) appeared in Spider Mirror (read those now, because Spider Mirror is going dark on October 14th & they’ll disappear)
-Kristin Garth interviewed me for The Sonnetarium
-my poem Sister, Mother, Cellar Woman appeared in Occulum
-my poem Self-Portrait As Jug of Corn Whiskey appeared in Juke Joint
-my poem a spell for the end-of-summer & its burning appeared in Wyrd & Wyse, Issue the Third
-I released two new mini-zines—Reckless Chants #24.5: A Foggy Night in Lakeview, & Heart-Shaped Box b/w She Walks On Me
-Allie Marini mentioned me in her Selfies With Poetry column
-my first piece as a regular contributor for Pussy Magic—a Mabon playlist/prayer/poem—went up
recent Bone & Ink Press news:
-I collaborated with dancing girl press to put out Riding With Anne Sexton, by Jen Rouse (the page says preorder, but it’s out now—please send Jen your dollars & get a copy, it’s so so so good)
-I’m putting out Pensacola Girls, by Kristin Garth & Elisabeth Horan (there’s still time to preorder; it was supposed to come out at the end of September but because of a mix-up with the printer it will be early October, it is also so so so good)
-we’re taking submissions for Vol. 6, the Halloween/October issue
recent inspiration:
-my spring/summer reading list can be found here
-my summer playlist can be found here
-since then? I’ve read & loved Julia Eff’s newest zine, tear the petals off of you, & Play Dead, by Francine J. Harris. & I’ve mostly just been listening to a fuckton of Hozier, + the new DeVotchKa album, This Night Falls Forever
coming soon:
-I have several more poems, & a short story, forthcoming in various publications
-I’m participating in THE POEMING, a yearly 31/31 run by E. Kristin Anderson in October—this year we’re poeming Seanan McGuire books, I’ve been assigned The Girl In The Green Silk Gown
-I have not one, but two, chapbooks, & a new full-length issue of Reckless Chants that I’ll be announcing soon
-& I’m finishing up a full-length collection of poetry which I’ll be announcing more details about soon, too
I’m pretty fucking broke, so if you wanna help change that you can always buy some stuff from my Etsy shop or throw some dollars my way via PayPal, or preorder Pensacola Girls or buy Bone & Ink Press a coffee.
That’s all, for now. Enjoy all the pumpkin spice/apple cider/crisp nights goodness of autumn, & I’ll talk to you soon, dear ones.
xoxo,
Jessie Lynn