William Stobb

Pleased to announce that my poetry manuscript, "You Are Still Alive," has been selected as the winner of the 42 Miles Press poetry contest, from the University of Indiana, South Bend. Very excited to join the exciting list at 42 Miles, and grateful to editor David Dodd Lee for selecting the book. Also mad gratitude to La Crosse artist Landon Sheely, whose visual piece "You Are Still Alive" gave me the title for the collection as it was coming together. Landon graciously agreed to let me use the phrase, and I'm hopeful that we can find a way to get some of his work into the book itself. You can see his work at  http://landonsheely.com/ . From the 42 Miles Website: William Stobb  has won the  (2018) 42 Miles Press Poetry Award  for his manuscript  You Are Still Alive.  The award includes a $1,000 prize in addition to the publication of his book by 42 Miles Press in September 2019. William will depart from Little Falls, Minnesota and will be invited to give a

I'm reading Whereas, by Layli Long Soldier, and in the poem "38," linked here , I learned some history about the Dakota 38 and the "Sioux Uprising" of 1862, also known as "The Dakota War of 1862" (as an aside, this is the same historical event involved in the controversy at the Walker Art Center over the sculpture, "Scaffold." Long Soldier's poem was published by Graywolf, out of Minneapolis. It wouldn't surprise me if the poem was part of what catalyzed the Walker's awareness of the issue, but... that's just me speculating). I learned many things in the poem: I learned about the 38 men who were executed. I learned about Lincoln's presidency and the historical record of his presidency. I learned about the commemorative horseback ride each winter, preserving the memory of the events and of the 38 who were executed. And I learned of Andrew Myrick, who was killed in that conflict. When asked about the condition of the s

Ten years ago, the inimitable publishing force of nature known to the world as Didi Menendez expanded her empire from MiPOesias  and MiPOradio  to include a new magazine known as Oranges & Sardines . That's right. After the Frank O'Hara poem, "Why I Am Not a Painter." You know the one:  ---- for instance, Mike Goldberg  is starting a painting. I drop in. ... "You have SARDINES in it." "Yes, it needed something there." ... But me? One day I am thinking of  a color: orange. I write a line about orange ...  There should be  so much more not of orange, of words, of how terrible orange is, and life. Days go by. ... My poem is finished and I haven't mentioned orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call it ORANGES. ---- Yeah okay it's better if you read the whole thing .  But Didi wanted to put painters and poets together in a magazine and when she wants to do something she does it. I had been w

New writing from Dean Young, James Tate, Dara Wier, Noelle Kocot, Susan Firer, & Matthew Rohrer. Steven Lee Beeber interviews both behavioral psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer and the artist, activist & astrologist, Rob Brezsny. New artwork from Scott Dolan, Cristina Cordova, Jon Jaylo, Yayoi Kusama, and Alex Nichols & Mushi. Buy it here . 

is probably dead now and there wouldn't be any record. I don't even know his last name. The last time I lived in Grand Forks, he was sleeping in the basement of the science building at the university--there was a little side door down a ramp and he'd figured how to disable the lock and he'd just slide in there at night, pretty late usually because he'd be out 'til bar time playing pool. This is why I thought of him, because just today Sean Thomas Dougherty's anthology of writing about pool came out-- Double Kiss , it's called , and when I saw the post for it, I remembered this guy Tom. We were friends for about six months, I guess, through one winter. He was homeless in Grand Forks in the winter , which can not be a ton of fun. I mean, one time they canceled classes there because it was going to be 60 below zero--minus 100 with wind chill. Not a place where you could find a park bench or a little spot by the river. I know he was a big time drunk, moreso