RIP 2022

January 1, 2023 Leave a Comment by A.S. Coomer Anthology

Happy New Year, y’all.

2022, that decade we all just made it through by the skin of our teeth, is over.

I got up to some thangs:

In the Mower’s Wake: my creative nonfiction piece about a robotic lawn mower was published in the Spring Issue of Of Rust & Glass. In the Mower’s Wake was later anthologized in Made Of Rust & Glass. I wrote this one out on a Bending Genres writing retreat in New Mexico.

Late Nights in Philpot: I recorded a four-song split with my brother-from-another-mother Todd Elson (who you all should be listening to). Two of the songs are mine; two are Todd’s. We provided all the instrumentation and recorded the thing ourselves out in Philpot, KY. The split was mixed & mastered by Travis Geiman of Bigfoot Studios. We got some cds printed (they’re are a few left) and had two parties to celebrate (one at the Switchboard in Toledo & another at Flywheel Brewing in Elizabethtown). We visited our dudes at Bike Rack Records in Toledo and recorded some live footage for their Live at the Rack series. You can purchase the cd and audio tracks on Bandcamp. You can stream the record at all the usual places.

Layout by Michelle Elson of Twin Owl Imaging

Gundrunk Blues: I wrote a poem about gun violence in America after the Uvalde school shooting. It was published in Topical Poetry. You can read it here.

SWAY: a limited edition collection of haiku from Michael D. Grover (who you should be reading) and myself was published by Laughing Ronin Press. The book contains 100 poems: 50 from Grover, 50 from me. Only 30 copies were printed.

Shipwrecked on Liminal Island: This poem was published in the October Issue of Drunk Monkeys. Read it here. This poem is included in my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, out now via Gutter Snob Books.

I made a video for my poem/song Riversong (Memorial Potamology), which is included in my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, out now via Gutter Snob Books.

In 2022 I moved from my farmland home in Philpot, KY to the woods of Hardin County. In the process I recorded three videos in a storage container. Here they are.

Lost, Long Gone, Forgotten Records singles: 2022 was a fun year for my poetry/audio project LLGFR (I record poets reading their work then add sound). I got to work with poems from some serious heavy-hitters. These poems are so damn good. I did my best to enhance them with found sound/instrumentation/music. As always, you can read/download the lyric sheets, check out/download front & back covers, and stream the tracks on the LLGFR website. Also, you can now stream all of 2022 LLGFR releases on the major streaming services, including Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, etc.

2022 releases:

Lastly: my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING came out on November 25th, 2022. This book is very special to me. This book finds me growing. This book finds me experimenting. This book finds me singing. These poems got me through some dark times & I hope this small fire I made provides warmth and light for those in need.

The audio release of SONGS FOR LEAVING was a lot of fun to make. I recorded myself reading all 25 poems then went in and added sound/instrumentation/music. You can buy the audio tracks on Bandcamp. You can stream them at all the usual places, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Youtube, etc.

I had a book launch party at the Daviess County Public Library & got my picture in the paper. I’ve got several reading dates lined up to push the book, including stops in Detroit, Toledo, & Evansville. More TBA.