Weekend news

Mostly, my life putters along. I don't spend much time thinking about my life as a writer, although thanks to the CRSR, this year I've been able to spend much more time writing than I have in a very long time. I think about writing, yes, and I write, but I don't think about being a writer. If there is a job I think about, it's about my role as a parent, about keeping our family of five running as efficiently as possible (this is a bit of a joke, as I don't feel efficient at all, but perhaps that's why I think about it so much).

But this past weekend, I felt like a Writer (note capital letter). Thanks to the generosity of my sister who watched the kids all day, I spent Saturday at Words Thaw. After attending two panels and sitting one, by the end of the day I was completely exhausted, my brain fried, but also invigorated and inspired.

I hope the audience got as much out of the panel I sat on as I did. Sharing the stage with Tim Lilburn and Jane Munro was a wonderful experience--they're both incredibly smart and inspiring. It's so hard to tell when I'm in the middle of something like that how I'm doing. I hope I came close to matching their levels. They were wonderful.

The only downside to my day at Words Thaw, was that I became a little overwhelmed. There were people I met that I wanted to speak with more, and there was a man who asked me to sign my book but then I lost track of him and never did. I felt brainless by the end and wish I could have been more present and aware (especially sign that book!).

Now, even as fantastic as Words Thaw was, I have to admit that nothing could match my level of joy in seeing my book glowingly reviewed in The Globe and Mail. Poetry doesn't often see the pages of our national paper and that the review wasn't just online, too, was cause for celebration.

I'm so grateful my wives have received such praise and I hope they find a readership. It seems to be happening, as small as a readership poetry may garner.