best new writer I've met this year

Her name is Ann Pancake and her novel is "Strange as the Weather Has Been" , her short story collection is "Given Ground".

Her characters are spot on, full of life where lesser authors would infuse them with caricature and moonshine (or lately, oxycontin and meth).

Her words helped me feel the trees, the land, the rocks- the remainder of my vacation in West Virginia (I met her at the West Virginia Writers Workshop) I saw the land in a brand new way. As we drove to Morgantown and Oakland, MD on a different day, the mountains spoke to me and this time- I heard what they said, thanks to Ann. It was joy, beauty, and sadness.

I'm sure Kelly at Fountain Bookstore would be glad to order both books for you. Ann does for West Virginia what Clyde Edgerton and Sheri Reynolds do for their respective stomping grounds.

new US Poet Laureate named- it's Merwin!

W.S. Merwin is it-

HERE

More info HERE

I have mixed emotions- The past 2 years with Kay Ryan have been pretty much a wash (not her poetry but her public persona). It would be nice to have something going on with poetry again. Pinsky-style.

Just sayin'



Language

by W. S. Merwin

Certain words now in our knowledge we will not use again, and we will never forget them. We need them. Like the back of the picture. Like our marrow, and the color in our veins. We shine the lantern of our sleep on them, to make sure, and there they are, trembling already for the day of witness. They will be buried with us, and rise with the rest.