Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
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Cristin Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Cristin was incredibly surprised and honored to learn that her poem, “Orange Socks” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by one of her favorite lit journals, decomP. To read decomP’s nomination announcement — alongside links to the nominated poems — please click here.
New Work by Cristin in Novemeber Issue of decomP
Cristin is thrilled that a new prose poem, “Orange Socks,” appears in the November issue of decomP magazinE. Cristin previously had another poem about her obsession with serial killers in an earlier issue for decomP, and both decomP and Cristin would like to confirm that this is just a coincidence and that neither party is a serial killer. Cough. In any case, to read the full issue, click here, and to read Cristin’s poem, please click here.
Cristin to Feature at the NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam
Cristin thrilled to be returning to the series that she founded for her first ever feature. As the final poet in Sober October feature series, Cristin will also be featuring on NYC-Urbana’s first semi-finals. The NYC-Urbana Poetry Slam series happens weekly at the Bowery Poetry Club. Show up at 6:30pm to listen to the Craft Talk. 7pm begins the open, with Cristin featuring at around 7:45pm. Stick around for the slam and the whole evening ends at 9:30pm! For more information, check out the BPC website here.
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 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.
New Poem by Cristin in Special 50th Issue of Danse Macabre
Cristin is thrilled that her new poem, “The Impossibility of Death In the Mind of Someone Living” has been included in the special 50th issue of Danse Macabre, a wonderfully eclectic lit journal which has earned its reputation by publishing the strange, the dark & the beautiful (DM had previously published Cristin’s poem, “How Capophorus Did It,” which was later published in her book, “Everything is Everything“) and this special issue features work by contemporary poets as well as classic poets such Ambrose Bierce, John Keats, Edgar Allan Poe and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, among others. Check out the full 50th issue here, and to read Cristin’s poem, please click here.
Cristin’s Poetry Appears on IndieFeed on Performance Poetry Podcast
Cristin’s poem, “Facts About Seven U.S. Presidents I Still Somehow Remember And The Surprisingly Effective Ways I Remembered Them,” (from her book, Oh, Terrible Youth) is on today’s IndieFeed Performance Poetry Podcast. A special treat, after the poem, stick and listen to a brief Q&A featuring poet Anis Mojgani as well as a lot of Presidential facts & Presidential fictions. To listen to the podcast, click 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.
Cristin’s book “Dear Future Boyfriend” Reviewed by Small Press Reviews
Cristin’s recently reissued debut book of poetry, Dear Future Boyfriend (Write Bloody Publishing, 2011), recently snagged a sweet write up by Marc Schuster on the online lit blog Small Press Reviews. Schuster wrote, “Anyone who’s ever been young and in love will find something to enjoy in Dear Future Boyfriend. What’s more, fans of Cristin O’Keefe Apotwicz will enjoy bearing witness to the initial stirrings of wit and sharp observation that mark her later work. Overall, a fun and at times moving read…” To read the full review, please click here.
Cristin Is Proud to Help Open Austin’s ND at 501 Studios
The first time Cristin ever came to Austin Texas was to perform at the 1998 National Poetry Slam when she was 19 years old. It was her first National Poetry Slam and NPS director was a young organizer named Mike Henry. Thirteen years later, Cristin is thrilled to help officially open Mike Henry’s dream space: the ND at 501 studios. In an opening Spoken Nerd Showcase (doors open at 8pm) featuring poetry by Mike Whalen, Shappy Seasholtz, DaShade Moonshine and Mike Henry himself, Cristin will be performing few poems herself as well. The show will be followed by a sure-to-be blistering set by Hammel on Trial. Come on out & keep coming out to support live performances at this incredible new space!
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