April, Again

My book, April and Back Again, is officially out in the world and making its way to people’s homes. This terrifies and delights me.

If you ordered a copy, thank you. I hope you find something in this collection that speaks to you and offers you a moment of reflection, solace, connection, or joy. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can still do so through the publisher, or, once the slow, giant wheels of distribution finally get moving, through Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, your favorite local bookstore (this last one is my favorite option).

When I set out to write the monthly poems that would become the basis for this collection, I had no intention of publishing them. I just wanted to find my own way to record the memories of a year that I feared would pass in a flash. This book came to be in the most surprising way when a publisher reached out to me after having read some of my other poems and asked if I had a manuscript he could consider. I did not, but I said I did and then got to work revising poems and finishing off the drafts that had come out of trying to capture the final year of my thirties. It's funny how sometimes when you stop trying to find something, that thing comes and finds you instead. I did not anticipate these poems ever making their way into a collection, but here we are, and I’m excited to share them.

If you’re in Baltimore, I would love for you to come and celebrate with me at my book launch on Friday, March 13th. There will be music by local band, Rattlewood. There will be drinks by Baltimore Spirits Company. I will read from April and Back Again and have books available to purchase. It should be a fun night and I think we could all use a little fun and art, and community. If you want, you can RSVP but you can also just show up.

I will also be reading at a few events while the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference is in town next week.

I'm teaming up with Annie Powell Stone, Vic Nogay and Joseph Lezza for a reading and open mic centered on poems of rage, pain, and despair. Fun, right? That's Wednesday, March 4th at 8pm, Upstairs at The Point in Fells.

And then I’ll be at Normals Books and Records on Friday, March 6th at 7pm to read as part of Publishing Genius's 20th Anniversary Party.

Between preparing for these events, helping to organize some other events at my son’s school and our neighborhood library branch, and trying to push through this long and quite brutal winter, I’ve barely had time to think much less write. But I have some ideas brewing finally, bits and pieces of essays in the works, and I’ll have more available time and energy toward the end of March to actually sit down and get back to writing. Just in time for the start of spring! I’m looking forward to it.

As always, thanks for reading and for all your support.

You can find more of my writing & contact information at clairemtaylor.com. If you’d like to further support my work, please consider purchasing one of my books, or a copy of Little Thoughts Press. I also have a ko-fi page.