New Pages Review

Thanks to Jodi Paloni for this insightful, elegant review
of Darling Endangered in New Pages:
http://www.newpages.com/bookreviews/archive/2012/03-06/#Darling-Endangered-by-Carol-Guess
It's exciting to feel read and understood.
In other news, I had to say goodbye to my
beloved dog Rainer. Here's a picture of him
with a tennis ball. I still feel him with me, very much.
He was born blind, and had epilepsy and
some form of brain damage. He was
incredibly smart and learned to work around
these disabilities in strange, brilliant ways.
For example, he could memorize the layout
of any room in seconds by sort of bumping his
way around the room deliberately, until he
understood where the furniture started and stopped.
He could only recognize the right side of the world,
not the left, but of course, if you spin to the right
hard and fast enough, you end up on the left.
He liked Johnny Cash and Mozart, but hated techno.
It's difficult to face loss fully, so I'm trying to think about
my two cats and sweet dog Cally right now. Cally
seems happy to be an only dog. She's puppyish
and playful, no longer watching out for the blind guy.
But I really miss him. He was incredibly loving and loyal.

Interview in the Seattle Star

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Heather Logue
for the Seattle Star. She asked me really thoughtful,
challenging questions about using The Nutshell Studies
of Unexplained Death as the muse for Doll Studies: Forensics.
Thanks, Heather! Take a look:
http://www.seattlestar.net/2012/02/halogue/carol-guess-delves-into-doll-forensics/

And don't forget about my reading tonight at Open Books,
in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. I'll be reading
from Doll Studies: Forensics at 7:30; the event is free
and open to the public. Here's a link to Open Books, our great
poetry bookstore, a sacred space for writers and readers alike:
http://www.openpoetrybooks.com/index.html

Doll Studies: Forensics just released!

My new prose poetry collection Doll Studies: Forensics

has just been published by Black Lawrence Press!

You can order the book on BLP's website, at any 

independent bookstore, or on Amazon.

I'll be reading from the book in Seattle on Tuesday,

Feb. 21st at Open Books, our wonderful all-poetry

bookstore in Wallingford. The reading is free

and open to the public, and starts at 7:30pm.

http://www.openpoetrybooks.com/ 

Doll Studies: Forensics is based on artwork created 
by Frances Glessner Lee during the 1940's. Lee constructed 
a series of dioramas titled "The Nutshell Studies 
Of Unexplained Death." Each diorama depicts 
a crime scene, littered with clues that may be used 
to solve the crime. I developed my poems in response 
to artist Corrine May Botz's photographs of Lee's 
dioramas, as well as her research on the topic. 
Botz's website includes images from her brilliant book 
The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death:
http://www.corinnebotz.com/Corinne_May_Botz/Corinne_May_Botz.html
As always, I welcome inquiries from teachers 
and reviewers. I'm happy to send out review copies,
and to converse with instructors about ways to use
my book in the classroom. I also welcome feedback 
from readers and suggestions for my next obsession!
It was fun being in this book. I'd love to find another project
that feels similarly consuming.

wikiHow book forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press

I'm thrilled to announce that How To Feel
Confident With Your Special Talents has
been accepted for publication by Black
Lawrence Press! I co-wrote this book
with poet Daniela Olszewska, using entries
from wikiHow as our daily prompts. We
wrote every day, sending half-poems
back and forth on email, finishing each
other's work by nightfall. Titles came
directly from wikiHow: "How to Ride
an Icelandic Horse," "How to Do the Cha
Cha," "How to Stop Co-workers From

Stealing Your Food." Look for excerpts
in journals; the book will be published
in 2014. Here's a link to "How to Sneak
Your Cat Into Work (with pictures)":
http://www.wikihow.com/Sneak-Your-Cat-Into-Work

Doll Studies: Forensics available for pre-sale

My forthcoming prose poetry collection Doll Studies: Forensics
is now available for pre-sale from Black Lawrence Press:
http://www.blacklawrence.com/CarolGuess.html
I'll be reading from the book in Seattle at Open Books
on Tuesday, February 21st. Hope to see you there!

Fantastic review of Darling Endangered

It's always a gift when a stranger reads
one of my books and absolutely gets it.
Heather Seggel's lyrical review of Darling
Endangered reminded me of why I write, 
and who I'm trying to reach. Find her review,
"Prose Poems with Grit," in The Gay
and Lesbian Review Worldwide, January-
February 2012.
http://www.glreview.com/

Reading at Elliott Bay Book Company

Please join me and poet Kevin Simmonds at Elliott Bay Book
Company in Seattle on Tuesday, January 10th at 7pm.
I'll be reading from my essay collection, My Father In Water.
Kevin will be reading from his fabulous new poetry collection,  
Mad For Meat. Hope to see you there! (free and open to the public)
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/jan12/guess