cover out, October readings, an exciting time

I’m super thrilled to announce that the cover of my forthcoming poetry book, We Are No Longer The Smart Kids In Class, has been released. The cover and interior were designed by David Moratto and I really couldn’t be happier with the packaging. The book itself comes out in November, and I plan to have launches in Halifax, NS, and London, ON, in addition to the Guernica launch in Toronto. In addition to standard readings, these launches will include certain mystery activities (there are whispers of a spelling bee). I’ll be amping up to the book launch with a couple of readings in Toronto–October 3rd at the Words and Music Salon and October 13th at the Emerging Writers Reading Series (http://ewreading.com/). If you’re interested in attending any of these events, please feel free to contact me. Though I have been called crotchety in the past, I’ve been working hard on my approachability.

The Porn We Watched

I’m writing full of youthful bliss because my poem, “The Porn We Watched,” just came out in Poetry is Dead 01.06., a special issue on the theme of youth culture. It’s nice to trick people into thinking I’m young when I actually just turned 30. The cover is a kind of Nintendo-palate Eden and the issue as a whole is a total mindfuddle in the best possible way. I’m especially happy because this is the last poem from my forthcoming book of poetry, We Are No Longer The Smart Kids In Class, to be published in a journal. A great porny last hoorah.

Looking Back at April / Poetry Poetry Poetry

Dear Cherished Few Readers,

It was a great month for poetry, and a great month for David Huebert the writer. I’ve recently gotten involved in two new poetry workshops, and have become something of a regular at London Poetry Open Mic Night (http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com), where I recently had the pleasure of hearing super-talented London poet Laurie D Graham. This open mic night really is one of the best around. Anyway, all these poetry events have meant that I’ve been crafting lots of my own poetry lately and all that hard work has translated into publications. I’m happy to say that my poem, “The Call,” was published in CV2’s recent poetry only issue (37.4). The poem is a stylistic departure for me, so the affirmation means a lot. The issue–it is CV2–contains much deeply admirable verse. Among my favourite pieces: Sally Ito’s “Eye-Saddle,” Stephanie Bolster’s “Ornamental,” and Ricardo Sternberg’s “Mother-in-law.” More recently, I’ve had two poems from We Are No Longer The Smart Kids In Class appear in May’s issue of the Literary Review of Canada (23.4). This is also a thrill. It’s the second time I’ve published in the LRC and I’m deeply grateful to the staff and the poetry editor, Moira MacDougall, for the exposure. The past month or so has been a whirlwind of poetry, which has me excited and antsy for the launch of my first collection of poems in fall 2015. More on that soon!

New (free) Story at The Puritan

Dear Cherished Few Readers,

My newest story, “Bellyflop,” has just been published as part of The Puritan 28. Like all work in The Puritan, it’s free to read online and can be found right here: http://puritan-magazine.com/bellyflop/. I’m super excited about the publication. There are a bunch of fellow contributors I admire and respect, including one (Annik Adey-Babinski) who wrote a kickass poem called “On MC Hammer’s Birthday.” My own story is a racy cocktail of sex toys, electricity, teenage hijinx, and confused sexuality. I swear it is not even remotely autobiographical.

New Story: “Urinemate”

I was thrilled to find my contributor’s copy of Broken Pencil #66 in the mail today. My story, “Urinemate,” looks awesomely professional amidst BP’s always-impressive melange of comics, reviews, illustrations, and indie reportage. If there’s a go-to magazine for Canadian hipsters, it’s probably so supercool and obscure I haven’t heard of it yet. But the next best thing is Broken Pencil. “Urinemate,” a story about a paranoid designer of prosthetic phalluses and his war with his “long-haired upstairs neighbour,” appears alongside a suitably macabre-phallic illustration by Laura Kenins. You can buy the magazine at the Broken Pencil store (http://www.brokenpencil.com/brokenpencil-store) or at magazine stands across the country.

Fractured Toronto Launch, Nov 18, 7:45 p.m. at the Dora Keogh (Broadview and Danforth)

Dear Cherished Few Readers,

Tuesday November 18th marks the launch of Fractured, Exile Editions’ anthology of Canadian post-apocalyptic fiction, and I will be reading from my story, “@shalestate.” The free event takes place at the Dora Keogh (Broadview and Danforth), and readings begin at 7:45. Feel free to come down and join us as we imagine the apocalyptic end of Canada.

My First Dystopia

This week I was delighted to find that my contributors copy of Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse had arrived in my mailbox. Fractured is a new anthology of dystopic Canadian fiction featuring one of my stories, “@shalestate.” “@shalestate” is my first work of dystopian fiction and is now the opening chapter of a novel-in-progress. “@shalestate” follows Rose and her mother as they climb out of The ComfyBunker where their people have lived for 100, 000 years, eating nothing but mushrooms and blindfish and worshiping the mysterious texts of the Faithbook. I hope you’ll check it out. Fractured is published by Exile Editions and is available from their website (http://www.exileeditions.com/singleorders2014/fractured.html) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Fractured-Canadian-Post-Apocalypse-Anthology-Series/dp/1550964097) in paperback and e-book formats.

Welcome, Cherished Few Readers; 2014 a Good Year For Fiction; Poetry Collection Launching 2015

“Champagne for my real friends; real pain for my sham friends”

— Andy Warhol

Dear Cherished Few Readers,

Welcome to my new website, where I will detail my sporadic literary accomplishments and infrequent wanderings. So far, 2014 has been a big year for me, writer-wise and human-being-wise. I saw my first major (or at least what I think of as major) fiction publication, in Grain Magazine, followed by publications in the inaugral issue of the supercool new Halifax-based lit mag The Impressment Gang and the latest issue of The Dalhousie Review. The latter two were extra special for me because they mark a homecoming of sorts: I grew up in Halifax and can’t wait to get back there, and I did my undergraduate work in the English Department at Dalhousie. Then again, my father grew up in Saskatchewan, so I guess the piece in Grain was a kind of triumphant return as well. While I suspect there might be some provincial nepotism in all of this, I remain deeply thankful to all the editors and staff members who showed faith in my work and helped get it into print this year. 2014 also marked my first voyage to South America, where I spent a material-heavy three weeks in Brazil with three of my closest friends from back home, basking in the international shenanigans of FIFA’s monopoly on the world’s most beloved game. Finally, two weeks ago I got the chance to marry the love of my life, Natasha, during a photogenic love-fest on a beautiful day in Toronto. So things have been going pretty well for me lately; I can’t shake the fear that a harrowing spiral of doom stalks my near future. But, for now, it’s high fives all around. My first book, a poetry collection called We Are No Longer The Smart Kids In Class, is due to come out in 2015, so maybe next year will turn out even better, despite the paranoia. Then again, this year’s not even close to being over yet. So if you catch me on Western campus, make sure to throw me a high five.