Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
The Website of Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
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Cristin’s Reissues Reviewed by PANK Magazine
Cristin first four books of poetry — “Dear Future Boyfriend,” “Hot Teen Slut,” “Working Class Represent” and “Oh, Terrible Youth” — (recently reissued by Write Bloody Publishing) snagged a fantastic review on the PANK magazine blog. Review Alicia Kennedy wrote that Cristin “wins you over by being conversational and funny, earnest and accessible. She can turn a phrase that knocks you out, but for the most part it’s like you’re hanging out with someone especially articulate.” Of Dear Future Boyfriend, she wrote, “is filled with love poems, alternately heartsick desperate and self-aware desperate.” Of Hot Teen Slut, she wrote “covers the adjustment to a full-time job, how weird it is when that job is looking at porn when you’re a virgin, and being a feminist who looks at porn all day. It’s quite a bit of material to work with, and Aptowicz molds it into something much more cohesive than Boyfriend.” Of Oh, Terrible Youth, she wrote, “painfully recognizable adolescent moments, told with her characteristic humor.” And of Working Class Represent, she wrote, “is the strongest. Unlike Slut, it’s not focused on one job but is about the general struggle to make it through the days and convince yourself everything’s okay when you have no safety net to fall on.” To read the full review, please click here. And to buy all of Cristin’s poetry books at a discounted rate, please visit the Write Bloody Publishing store here.
Cristin’s book “Working Class Represent” Reviewed in Small Press Review
Cristin’s recently reissued third book of poetry, Working Class Represent (Write Bloody Publishing, 2011), recently received a wonderful review by Marc Schuster on the online lit blog Small Press Reviews. Schuster wrote, “From tragedies both global and personal, Aptowicz expertly milks equal amounts of pathos, humor, and self-awareness. What’s more, there’s a story in this collection, a subtle narrative about priorities, about anxiety, about the myriad performances we put on throughout the day. And, ultimately, about finding one’s place in the world.” To read the full review, please click here.
Cristin’s Reissues Reviewed in decomP magazinE
Cristin first four books of poetry — “Dear Future Boyfriend,” “Hot Teen Slut,” “Working Class Represent” and “Oh, Terrible Youth” — (recently reissued by Write Bloody Publishing) enjoyed a glowing omni-bus review in the October 2011 issue of decomP magazinE. Review Spencer Dew wrote generously of each book. Of Dear Future Boyfriend, he wrote “Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz makes hard seem too easy, like life itself just squeezes out of the toothpaste tube in the shape of a poem, like poems fall out, ready-made, from between the pages of old National Geographics the way maps used to and maybe still do.” Of Hot Teen Slut, he wrote “That this collection of pieces around work in pornography can be so heartwarming, not just funny and not just smart, is itself a victory; poetry wins in this book, and readers will find themselves cheering it on.” Of Oh, Terrible Youth, he wrote, “the narrator of these poems reinvents her world, over and over. The reliving of childhood pleasure is, of course, a new experience, categorically different from the original living with all its stress and unknowing.” And of Working Class Represent, he wrote, that the book is “chock full of tiny, tangy confections, and while you might read a review, like this one and think, ‘Really? A poem about writing a poem on the subway?’ you sure don’t know the recipe, or you would write books like this for yourself, because they are that good.” To read the full review, please click here. And to buy all of Cristin’s poetry books at a discounted rate, please visit the Write Bloody Publishing store here.
Cristin Appears in the NEA’s 2011 Writers Corner
The National Endowment for the Arts posts work from their fellows every year in a section of their website called “Writers’ Corner,” and Cristin is thrilled to join the 2011 NEA Fellows in showcasing work in this year’s Writers’ Corner. Click here to read Cristin’s poem or click here to see the complete list of fellows, and read their work as well.
All Five of Cristin’s Poetry Books Are Available & On Sale Now!
Cristin is thrilled to announce that all five of her poetry books are now available on the incredible indie press, Write Bloody. Everything is Everything was released last year on Write Bloody, and now Cristin’s entire back catalogue — Dear Future Boyfriend, Hot Teen Slut, Working Class Represent and Oh, Terrible Youth — has been re-issued by Write Bloody, in expanded versions reworked by series editor (and TED poet) Sarah Kay. All five books are available to purchase at / order thru your local independent, chain or online bookstore. Or you can buy a COA Poetry Pack — all five titles together — for a low summer rate of $55 at the Write Bloody Store; click here and scrolls down to the ‘Packages’ section more info.
Cristin to Perform at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival
Cristin is thrilled to be a participant of the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, thanks in large part to the efforts of fellow poet (and Mass Po Fest organizer), Marie-Elizabeth Mali. On Friday May 13, Cristin will be hosting a performance workshop as a part of the youth / high school festivities. On Saturday May 14, Cristin will be performing as the “stage poet” in the festival’s Page Meets Stage showcase, alongside her NYC Page Meets Stage poet, Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Check out the Mass. Poetry Festival website here for more information.
Cristin Interviewed on NEA Podcast
Cristin is deeply honored to be the subject of April 27, 2011 National Endowment for the Arts podcast, where she begins her interview by saying, “I work in poetry and nonfiction and poetry is sort of the way that I participate in my community of artists. I’m from a poetry slam background and the poetry slam community is all about giving a soapbox to people who perhaps otherwise would not think that they have a role in poetry…” To listen to the full podcast (or read the transcription), click here.
Cristin to Perform Twice at Kelly Writers House
Cristin is excited to returning to the Kelly Writers House for the two final shows of her residency year. On Weds April 20 at 6pm, Cristin will giving us a glimpse into the work she has done on the Mutter biography project she’s been pursuing during her residency year. Poets from the Excelano Project and students from Cristin’s writing class will serve as opening performers, and a Q & A, as well as refreshments, including Cristin’s homemade dachshund-shaped cookies, will follow! To RSVP / spread the word on Facebook, please click here. Then the next afternoon, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm on Thurs April 21, Cristin will be hosting “Define Spring 2011,” a showcase of the writers of Spring 2011 Creative Writing Class. Food & refreshments will be served as well. To RSVP / spread the word on Facebook, please click here.
Cristin to Perform in Chicago
Cristin is thrilled to be returning to Chicago for a series of diverse tour dates. On Friday April 15, Cristin will be giving a talk titled “Jars of Monstrosities: Thomas Dent Mutter and What The Abnormal Teaches Us” at the University of Chicago. The talk is at noon and is open to the public, but please RSVP. For more information, click here. The evening of Friday April 15th, Cristin will be performing at 7pm at the Columbia College at their Poetry Slam Finals (FB Event page: here. On Saturday April 16, Cristin and Shappy will be performing at Quimbys bookstore. It’s a FREE event and you can find more information here. Saturday night at midnight, Cristin will be a guest on Second City’s The Late Live Show. For more information, please visit their website here. On Sunday April 17, Cristin and Shappy will be performing at the world famous Green Mill lounge, where Poetry Slam was born. For more information or to spread the world via Facebook, click here. And lastly, on Monday, April 18th, Cristin & Shappy will be performing in The Encyclopedia Show taking place at the National Forensics Association Finals, happening in Illinois State University. For more information, click here.
Oh, Terrible Youth reviewed by Small Press Reviews
Cristin was humbled by the generous review that the (recently re-issued edition of) Oh, Terrible Youth (Write Bloody Publishing, 2011) received in Small Press Reviews. Reviewer (and fellow Philadelphia native) Marc Schuster writes, “While the poems in Oh, Terrible Youth are largely about childhood, they’re also poems that only an adult could write. Throughout the collection, Aptowicz manages to strike a balance between the raw uncertainty of adolescence and the (relative) self-assurance of maturity. We laugh with her as she recalls the kinds of things that kept us all up at night as we muddled through our teenage years, yet we also smile with compassion for the children we were — trying to make sense of the universe, trying to make sense of ourselves, trying to convince everyone that we did, in fact, have it all together when, at the end of the day, we knew for sure that we didn’t.” To read the full review, click here.
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