A Streetlight That’s Been Told It Used to be the Moon: Poetry Reading with Robert McDonald
Featured Book
A streetlight that's been told it used to be the moon
"A Streetlight That's Been Told It Used to Be the Moon has its origins in a list poem Robert McDonald wrote about a decade ago titled "69 Poems I've Been Meaning to Write." Composed entirely of titles, the list intrigued him enough to begin writing a poem a day, one for each entry. The resulting poems are snappy, playful, and wide-ranging, encompassing queer desire, meditations on literature, loss, and pop culture, as well as tales of an odd and surreal bent. Though the original drafts came quickly, McDonald has spent years revising and refining them, culminating in this one-of-a-kind collection, A Streetlight That's Been Told It Used to Be the Moon"--
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
Join us for a celebratory evening at The Book Stall as we welcome our very own Robert McDonald for a poetry reading featuring his new book, A Streetlight That’s Been Told It Used to be the Moon. Tony Trigilio, author of The Complete Dark Shadows (of My Childhood); Craft: A Memoir, and Proof Something Happened, among others, says, “Whether writing a letter-poem to Auntie Em, a pencil stub, Gertrude Stein’s Chihuahua, or 'an entirely imaginary elderly diva' (to name just a few of this book’s varied, intimate addressees), Robert McDonald’s poems are alive with surprises, discoveries, wit, and empathy. A Streetlight That’s Been Told It Used to Be the Moon sanctifies the mystery of everyday lived experience, inviting us to look for the ordinary luminosities we might miss at first glance...McDonald shapes precise notational and diaristic observation into poems of singular attentiveness and empathy, all while nurturing a warm glow of pop playfulness.”
Longtime bookseller Robert McDonald’s poetry and prose have been appearing in literary journals for more than 30 years, most recently in electric pink, Anit-Heroin Chic, Chiron Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, The Marrow, Gyroscope Review, The Madrid Review, and West Trade Review, among others. He’s written book and theater reviews for Publishers Weekly and The Chicago Reader. With Kathie Bergquist, he is the author of A Field Guide to Gay and Lesbian Chicago. His first book of poems, A Streetlight That's Been Told It Used to Be the Moon, has just been published.
Featured Author
McDonald, Robert
About the Venue
The Book Stall
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