Reading Photos

My reading at the Coop was really fun. I was one of the youngest people in attendance, with the average age being around 65. I did my first live Q&A with Post Moxie which was a good experience for me. Because I wrote the book so quickly, I sometimes feel like I'm still learning what it's all about. Talking about it helps me to learn. The audience was very polite and attentive and interesting. My very good friend Heather Madden took these pictures.

Reading at Harvard Coop, Thursday September 23

Hi everyone,

I will be reading at the Harvard Coop in Harvard Square on Thursday, September 23. No pressure to my Boston friends who have been attending my readings diligently; I'm sure there will be plenty of undergrads stumbling in on their way to Charlie's Kitchen for the evening (hmmm...maybe not). Anyway. Me. Poetry. Books for sale. Two weeks from today. Thanks and maybe see you there! Maybe we can go to Charlie's afterwards.

Midwest Tour scheduled!

My Midwest tour is now scheduled! I am very excited about every venue. It will be good to return to the homeland. Here are the dates and venues:

Wednesday, October 13

Danny's

1951 W. Dickens Avenue

Chicago, IL

7 PM

Thursday, October 14

Purdue University

Locations TBA

Q&A 4 PM

Reading 7:30 PM

Friday, October 15

Von's Books

315 W. State St.

W. Lafayette, IN

7 PM

Saturday, October 16

Boxcar Books

408 E. 6th St.

Bloomington, IN

7 PM

Tuesday, October 19

Prairie Lights Bookstore

15 S. Dubuque St.

Iowa City, IA

7 PM

Thank you to my friends who know people (Marc! and Dad! and Joel--thanks for knowing yourself!) and Sarabande for helping me put this together. It's the perfect tour for me: tiny and comforting. Besides reading, here are some things I can't wait to do:

-Drink some great beer at Danny's! and hang out with Joel

-Go to Quimby's, Myopic Books, and Earwax in Chicago (is Earwax still there?)

-See my parents and walk the dog in the woods

-See the beautiful fall colors in Southern IN (yes, we have trees there too!)

-Meet the Purdue MFAs

-Go to Soma in Bloomington and get a PB&J smoothie

-Go to my old B-town neighborhood and sit on Julia's porch and pet her dogs

-And in dear Iowa City: go to EPB (English/Philosophy Building) and feel the memories.

Also: Hamburg Inn, the Foxhead, George's, and the Deadwood. Stare in sadness at the place Great Mid used to be. And most importantly, see my friends!

Post Moxie Updates

Hi Everyone,

The reading Deep Moat Reading last weekend was wonderful. There was such a great feeling in the room, and I loved meeting Nate and Francesca, two great poets that I think I'll see again. Pierre Menard in Harvard Square will be closing soon (its sister business, Lame Duck Books, is also closing--sad!) and I feel lucky to have read in such a beautiful space. Thank you to all of my friends who were there.

Other news: I will be reading and doing a Q & A at Purdue University on October 14. I will be reading with the novelist Jessica Anthony as part a debut authors series for the MFA program there. Thank you to my dad for helping me to set this up! I'm looking forward to meeting in person Lindsey Alexander, the Sarabande intern who has helped me so much in setting up my tour and who will be a first-year poet in Purdue's MFA program. And my reading in Bloomington is official too: I'll be at Boxcar Books on October 16, a Saturday, for a 7 PM reading.

And this I just found out today: I was accepted at the Vermont Studio Center for a month-long residency in March 2011! Though I did not get a full fellowship, I will be getting substantial financial help to attend this beautiful artists' colony in Johnson, VT. I think I'm going to have to do it. I have nearly 40 poems for my new manuscript and I think I could get some serious work done if I had a month to devote to writing. As many of you understand, the act of writing usually waits (patiently or otherwise) in the background as we go about the business of earning money, running errands, taking care of a house, and the million other little tasks that make us busy little Western worker bees. The gift of time will be very precious to me and to my new poetry. Oh, and they also have a beautiful meditation center there! Check it out:

http://www.vermontstudiocenter.org/

Will it be cold in VT in early March? Hell yes! And I will have no dachshund or Richard to help keep me warm. But it really feels like the right thing to do. Though it all feels infinitely far away as I sit in my kitchen in full-on Somerville summer, complete with blasting Brazilian radio, very loud construction crews, and traffic outside.

Reading in Cambridge July 24: Save Big Money At Menard's!

Hi everyone,

I will be reading with Nate Pritts and Francesca Chabrier on Saturday, July 24 at the Pierre Menard Gallery in Harvard Square, 7 PM. If you are from Indiana, your associations with this gallery name may conjure up images of two by fours and bathroom fixtures, but the space is pretty much the opposite of Menard's. It is beautiful and I'm really psyched to read there, especially with two other cool poets! And yeah, it's free (unless you want to buy another book). Here is a link to another blog with more info about the reading:

http://www.thedeepmoatreadingseries.blogspot.com/

Brian Foley is the curator of this series and I'm very happy that's he's around; he's a great poet and this series is probably the best one in Boston: excellent poetry and always very well-attended.

In other book tour news, I just found out that I will be doing a signing or reading at Von's Books in my hometown of West Lafayette, IN. That will happen on October 15. I spent most of my meager earnings from summer jobs in my dad's lab at this store (I'd like to say on poetry but it was mainly Morrissey posters and import CDs) so they kind of owe me, you know? Seriously, I am very excited to be signing there, as they are a great bookstore with a pretty amazing poetry section. Anyway, I hope to see you if you care to brave the Village on a Saturday night! We'll go to Harry's after.

Also, I don't have a date yet, but I'll be reading at Boxcar Books in Bloomington around that time. I love this store and can't wait to read there! I hope my Bloomington people can be there! I may also ask to sleep on one of your couches that night if you have a spare.

Hope you are enjoying summer! Love, Julie

New Review at Coldfront

Thank you to Kathleen Rooney, a writer I admire very much, for this kind and careful review!

http://coldfrontmag.com/reviews/post-moxie

Post Moxie Updates

Sorry about the huge space between posts. I'm going to self-promote if it kills me!

I am super excited about my Midwest tour, which I'm currently planning with Sarabande. The highlight will definitely be reading at Danny's in Wicker Park, Chicago. The curator for this amazing series is my very dear friend of many years, Joel Craig, and the reading will take place on Wednesday, October 13. I will probably be reading with someone else, but not sure who that someone is yet. I will give details as soon as they are confirmed. If anyone has any ideas or leads about Midwest reading venues, please let me know. I would love to read somewhere in Michigan if possible! My confirmed New England dates are below. In addition to the two listed, I will also be reading at my alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, on November 8. Again, more details about time and place when they have been determined.

Ok, so it's not official yet, but I recently found out that I am this year's recipient of the Zacharis Prize via Ploughshares! I was very shocked and honored by this information. More details when it becomes official.

Readings

July 24, 7 PM:

With Nathan Pritts

Deep Moat Reading Series

Pierre Menard Gallery

10 Arrow Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

http://thedeepmoatreadingseries.blogspot.com/

September 23, 7 PM:

Harvard Coop

1400 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02238