in Postcard Memoirs I wrote:
"compiling lists began early. I remember writing down lists for Santa but I also recall going thru mailorder catalogs & keeping a mental tabulation of the one thing I wantd on each page. once when I was home from school in bed with a cold I startd a notebook in which I listd my favorite actors & tallied the movies I'd seen them in. eventually I kept lists of nominations for my own film awards. ..."
so even before writing poems there were lists. a while ago I got the idea to bring some of that activity together. I creatd a manuscript I calld "A Litter of Lists." here were the actual chapbooks of lists but also poems & other musings which include them. all this spanning 55 years of publication. because it's not a normal collection I wonderd if it wd ever see print.
then one day at lunch at Billy Reed's I mentiond it to the publishers of Sibling Rivalry Press. Bryan Borland nearly jumpd from his seat & thrust his hand over our plates of pie saying he'd publish it. we shook hands.
& now the day has come. the press will issue the book next month. here's some of what they say abt it: "Formally inventive and deeply intimate, A Litter of Lists blurs the boundaries between poetry, archive, and memoir—offering a singular exploration of memory, attention, and the art of preserving a life."
it's available for pre-order now.
