Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Signing at Joseph-Beth

This was my first bookstore reading and signing event, and I was pretty nervous, but I think it went well. It was nice to see friends, students, fellow volunteers, colleagues ... and even some strangers!

Manager and fellow WordPlay volunteer Michael Link gave me a really nice introduction:


I read from the introduction and from the section on street typing:


There were four typewriters available for the public to try out, and I asked for volunteers to try typing poems on request from the public. My suggestion, since we were in a bookstore, was for people to talk about some of their favorite books, and the poets would write poems about the books. Surprisingly, more people were willing to type than were willing to provide topics for poems.


The typists did get a couple of requests, and also found other ways to engage with the Roxy, Kolibri, Hermes 3000, and Alpina:


Poet Sam McCormick (and she truly is one) wrote this piece for my wife about the book Alan Turing: The Enigma.


7 comments:

  1. Love that poem! I just heard that my copy is in the post to me. Can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a great event. Congratulations!

    I hope to get to Miami.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like a lot of fun. So sorry I couldn't be there. Come to St. Louis!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmn, your outfit lacks a thing.. what is it?.. oh, I know - you need neckwear, pilgrim! :D
    Perhaps a Bow or Bolo, maybe a skinny 80's style sleeper?

    Disregarding your lack of cravat, looks like you had some fun and inspired a new set of revolutionaries (:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somehow I didn't expect you to be a stickler for neckwear, Ted! I do like those skinny ties, but the fashion at academic conferences these days is to wear a jacket with no tie, and I guess it has come to seem natural to me.

      Delete
  5. It was great Richard. I was so glad I got to attend. Also, I embarrassingly asked your wife if she'd gotten her book signed, lol.

    ReplyDelete