MiPO Reading at Books and Books

If you missed the reading, you're in luck, you can listen to it here. The recording starts with a few interviews followed by the reading. You can see every picture I took here.

For those of you who have heard me speak, you may wonder when did I become a 10-pack a day smoker? I lost my voice (well, most of it) the day before the reading. My interview and reading are the most difficult ones to hear in the recording. Why not? If I'm not reading too fast or collapsing like Lana fucking Turner, I'm a dipshit mute. On the bright side, there is a certain sexy quality to the raspiness, or at the very least, an "experienced Mrs. Robinson" quality.

The most exciting part of going to Miami was the chance to meet people I've been corresponding with. (The second was going on the Star Island boat tour with P.F. and his girlfriend, Honor, and seeing Ricky Martin's house.) First I met the lovely and creative Didi Menendez. We were chatting and I was doing my standard "Oh, I met that guy once, what a dick!" After dissing a few poets, I noticed the recorder on the table and was all "Oh, um, is that thing on?" Didi assured me that it wasn't, but if by chance it was, she is in possession of some serious blackmail material.

Bruce Covey is really tall. Being that I have a lot of experience with tall people, we became fast friends.

I understand the plight of tall people.

I met David Trinidad. Now, I never corresponded with David before, so I said "Hello David, we have a mutual friend, Amy Gerstler. I have a big crush on Amy." He said that he loved the slang poem of Amy's that appeared in No Tell Motel. I said, "What poem?"

Look, I just publish the poems, I don't actually read them.

Ugh. I hate spacing like that.

I met Nick Carbo and Denise Duhamel. Nick knew me as the woman who abandoned her baby for Europe and documented it on her blog. I apologized to Denise for being such a dumb ass laying out her Universal poem. She was very sweet and was all "Oh no, you were great!" I told them I didn't approve of poets marrying each other and that they both could do much better.

Fast friends.

Gianmarc Manzione approached me after the reading and said, "We have a mutal friend, Carly Sachs." I said, "Who?"

I chatted children with Didi and Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz. Didi has four and Gwendolyn has seven (!?!?). They did their best to be sympathetic to my plight, but apparently not every mother has as much trouble not dropping their babies as I do.

Didi and Diego Quiros


Didi, Howard Camner and child


Me, Bruce, P.F. Potvin and Honor


This is a really nice picture of some of the readers and audience members, but you can't see anyone if I post it real small, so click here to view it.

Denise and Nick (OK, I approve)


My friend, Mr. Ivan Bou, loudly knocked over a stack of books and interrupted Gwendolyn's reading while his wife, Juana, tried to make it all better.


Gwendolyn persevered despite Mr. Ivan Bou.


Amy Serrano taped the entire reading


Rita Maria Martinez invoked Jane Erye


Gianmarc


Nick, Denise, David, Didi