Hard to believe January is almost over…

…and hard to believe so much has happened already this year. Most grateful to the editors who have published my work recently, and to all of those who’ve taken the time to read.

Via Negativa: Ghazal with lines from The Book of Flight
Via Negativa: Seriously Fine
Via Negativa: Preserving an Independent Reality

Verse-Virtual: five poems (Seems, Threads, cue next entrance, Abundance, Crockery)

All eight of these poems are responses to work from other poets; thank you Jose Araguz, Luisa A. Igloria, Dave Bonta, Sonia Greenfield, Brian Burmeister, Steve Klepetar, Tom Montag, and Jean Colby for the inspiration.

Early Blessings…

I’m grateful to be here, at the beginning of 2016, overwhelmed by the number of blessings I’ve received, and the opportunities unfolding.

I’d like to thank Gnarled Oak, Verse-Virtual, Via Negativa, Visual Verse, and the Poetry Life & Times for publishing poems during these first two weeks of the year:
Cosmology (at Gnarled Oak) is another poem drawn from my childhood in Nigeria.
Fourth Sense (Via Negativa) is a meditation inspired by poems from Luisa A. Igloria and Robert K. Johnson – you can follow the links after Fourth Sense to read those poems.
Northward, Up (Verse-Virtual) is a celebration of winter, of rest and renewal.
The Idler Returns (Visual Verse) uses an epigram from Roger Wexelblatt’s poem Newness, and is a gift for poets Steve Kleptar and Mike Dockins, both of whom have written amazing poets about Li Bo / Li Po.
The Poetry Life & Times published a collaborative submission from JK Anowe, Melissa D Johnston, and myself…I was honored to be a part of this, and grateful to the Poetry Life & Times for hosting the artwork and poems.

I am also overwhelmed and humbled by the positive response to my recent interview with Wale Owoade at THE STRONG LETTERS. Thank you all so much for reading.

In other good news, Dance Here will be one of the three books of poetry featured at Poetrologue3 in Lagos, Nigeria this March, hosted by AMAB Books and The Sole Adventurer. As those of you who know me well or have read the interview know, I will be unable to attend in person, but am hoping that my friend and colleague Ehi’zogie Iyeomoan will be able to attend in my stead. Deeply grateful to Nurdin Temitayo Busari of AMAB for including Dance Here in this event.

Interview with Laura M Kaminski

Deeply honored to have been asked by Wale Owoade to participate in the inaugural interview at THE STRONG LETTERS:

THE STRONG LETTERS

Laura M Kaminski (Halima Ayuba) grew up in Bambur, Jos, and Yola, Nigeria (mostly in Jos). She is an Associate Editor at the online journal Right Hand Pointing, and the author of two previous poetry collections (Considering Luminescence and last penny the sun), as well as three chapbooks (Returning to Awe, And Yes, I Dance and Answering the Cuttlefish).

Dance Here is her third poetry collection, and the first one published in Nigeria. It includes and a section of elegies / grief songs for victims of violence, particularly in Jos, Maiduguri, Baga, and Chibok. All royalties from the first edition are staying in Nigeria in support of projects for children: feeding, literacy, acts of kindness to orphans in IDP camps and elsewhere.

Wale: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

Laura:I think if I were able to speak about myself comfortably and coherently, I probably wouldn’t…

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