I’m incredibly honored to serve as the new artist-in-residence at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art next month, from August 5-10. It’s going to be a wonderful week in Ocean Springs: with a combination of writing new poems based on Anderson’s drawings and paintings, a panel discussion on interarts relations with other artists inspired by his work, and a writing workshop and public reading held on-site, the days could not be fuller or richer — nor, working in the shadow of an artist who has been an inspiration since the very first days I could read or write, more humbling.

More details are available here for the time being, and will be available soon at the WAMA website; the week is made possible by the support of the Mississippi Arts Commission and SouthArts. For any in the Gulf Coast area who are interested in joining the workshop, please do contact the museum directly.

Pelican Bomb has a review up of Valerie Corradetti and Ariya Martin’s new show at TEN gallery in New Orleans; well worth visiting if you’re in the area.

I’m delighted to say that a poem that previously appeared on ducts.org several years ago has been selected for the second Best of Ducts anthology, to appear later this year or early next. Thanks to the editors; no doubt the book will be fantastic.

Also for those in New Orleans: the 21st annual Southern Fried Poetry Slam is this weekend in New Orleans. From the press release:

The city of New Orleans will play host to hundreds of poets from all over the country this spring for the 21st Annual Southern Fried Poetry Slam. The four-day festival, to be held from June 5th – June 8th, will include 32 teams of five poets as well as sixteen individual poets. While the festival primarily highlights poets hailing from the South, some competitors this year are coming from as far as Brooklyn, NY and Honolulu, HI.Current venues for the festival include Café Istanbul and the Cathedral Creative Studio on Julia Street.

The competition is comprised of daily, preliminary bouts between all competing teams and individual poets and culminates in the Southern Fried Poetry Slam Finals at 6 pm on Saturday, June 8th to be held at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center. In addition to the commemorative Moon Pies and RC Colas of Southern Fried tradition, this year’s champions will receive over $7,000 in cash and prizes.

Over the course of the four-day event, poets will host free writing and performance workshops for performers and the community. There will also be workshops designed for young, aspiring writers who are curious about becoming a spoken word artist. The workshop schedule will be announced on the Southern Fried website prior to the festival. The Southern Fried Poetry Festival will also provide an opportunity for all visiting poets to give back to the city. This year, poets will visit children at the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, in partnership with Poetry In Motion Care Bears LLC.

Details available on southernfried2013.com.

Pelican Bomb has an essay up about the work of Daniel Alley and Jane Cassidy; for those in New Orleans who can make it to Parse Gallery by the 14th, do.