I’m thrilled to finally announce that my first full-length poetry manuscript, Anchor, will be published by Aldrich Press, an imprint of Kelsay Books! This book has been several years in the making, and I’m delighted that it’s found a home at a great press. At the moment, we’re looking at a release in spring 2022. I’ll share more about the publication process, as well as events where I’ll be promoting it, as the date approaches!
The one thing I’m hearing from so many of my poetry friends is how hard the last year (and a half) has been on our creative lives. The pandemic and politics have put our brains in something of a holding pattern; it’s hard to take on anything new. For myself, I was bombarded with a new routine of teaching remote, synchronous classes while also trying to manage my two sons’ distance learning. Needless to say, 2020 was probably one of the least productive years I’ve ever had in terms of poetry.
But 2021 is here, and unlike 2020, I have “my May.” May has always been an exceptionally productive month for me; my classes are over, my work obligations are minimal, and my children are at school all day, leaving me at my leisure for hours on end. Last May, we were all crammed in the house like sardines and I was learning the ropes of virtual school for my kids, all with the existential threat of COVID looming over our head. Not much poetry in there.
This year is different. My children are in school full-time again for their last trimester of school (we live in a small town and have managed to keep cases very low in the elementary schools, thankfully), so I’m sitting here at home, engrossed in my writing. And I’m happy to say that I have finally constructed not just a full-length manuscript, but a second chapbook as well–both are winging their way to publishers as I write this. I hope to have some good news on that front in the months to come!
Issa M. Lewis 