My friend Louise did an amazing job with very short notice and assembled a chapbook for me to have at IWPS. I sent her a bunch of poems last night, along with a bio, title and a couple of pictures to choose from.
By lunchtime today she organized the work, made the cover and put together the book. Ok, she has a template, but I'm still impressed.
Here's the bio:
Born on Long Island. Ed has lived in Columbus, Ohio for nineteen years. Ed attended and eventually graduated from The State University College of New York at Fredonia. Ed spent the eighties in a radio studio, the nineties in wine shops and the rest of his time working in libraries. He finally began reading his poetry at Writer's Block in 2006 and has since done several features and appearances in the state. His goal is to read in all of Ohio's 88 counties. He has a long way to go. Ed was the Writer's Block representative of the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2009. He came in second place in the poetry competition at the Columbus Arts Festival, also in 2009. When not blogging Ed spends time with his lovely wife and son.
It's my first book.
I have a few copies to trade, sell, use as a calling card this weekend. When we come back, there will be a second printing I'll let you know about.
Thank you all for your support, donations, and advice. I'm really excited about this trip and opportunity. It's going to be fun sharing the art, meeting a lot of people and representing Writers Block on the national stage. I should be able to update from Berkeley and will have some great stories about my IWPS experience.
We fly out on Wednesday afternoon.
