Calloo, callay! I’m pleased to announce that my poetry chapbook The Sex Lives of Monsters won the Elgin Chapbook Award. The Elgin Awards, named for SFPA founder Suzette Haden Elgin, are presented annually by Science Fiction Poetry Association. You can pick up a copy of the book right here. Go on. Do it! Do it for poetry!
This award is launched in conjunction with the Elgin Book Award, which was won this year by Bryan Thao Worra for his brilliant collection Demonstra published by Innsmouth Free Press. I genuinely loved this collection. It spins together myth and folklore with wry humour and a deft touch. Innsmouth Free Press has been doing some of the most interesting anthologies and collections, and I’m delighted that they’ve made such a strong contribution to SFF poetry.
I want to say thank you to my editor and dear friend, Sandra Kasturi. She has been a constant source of inspiration to me and this book would not exist without her invaluable advice and encouragement. I first met Sandra when I was an undergraduate, and she read a chapbook I had hastily stapled together and offered to publish one of the poems on Chizine.com. This was the first serious bit of encouragement I had received from a professional and it has always stuck with me. I’d also like to thank Chris Roberts who provided the fantastic interior art for the chapbook. He has an amazing knack for reading closely and translating words into images. You can find out more about his work (and even buy some!) at Dead Clown Art.
Lastly, I want to say thank you to the poetry community for providing much needed feedback over the years. The poets in the field continue to inspire and amaze me.
