InDigest 1207 Photos - January 7th, 2009

Check out the photo album from the January InDigest 1207 reading with Ada Limon, Sam Osterhout, and Jess Grover.

InDigest 1207 Reading Series - January 7th, 2009

(Thanks to Taya Mueller and Ada Limon for the photos)

MN Year in Review at mnartists.org

The folks over at mnartists.org have collected quite a comprehensive list of artistic endeavors taken on and/or accomplished by artists, musicians, and writers from Minnesota in 2008. And they were nice enough to include a couple of my scribbles on the matter (including a shameless plug for InDigest). First is my review of my good friend Chris Koza's latest disc, which I was lucky enough to hear in its making in a small apartment in Brooklyn a couple of summers ago:

Chris Koza's Dark, Delirious Morning: This album holds some highlights in the impressive canon of Koza albums. "Straight to Video" shows a talented artist refusing to be boxed into what we might expect. This album makes me excited to see what Koza will do next, while leaving me something to work through while I'm waiting.

And then some great books by Dave Schwartz and Geoff Herbach...and a nice little magazine:

Dave Schwartz's Superpowers is an amazing novel by a local author in 2008 that is all the more so because, in less careful hands, the book could have been awful. His handling of the events of 9/11 is heartbreaking and understated and beautiful. Also released last year was Geoff Herbach's The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg (read a great review from Ashleigh Lambert at InDigest here), an unapologetically uplifting book and, as always with Herbach, hilarious. And, lastly, my shameless plug for InDigest Magazine. Although we technically launched in 2007, InDigest came into its own in 2008. From the beginning we've offered a unique home for Minnesota writers and artists to be showcased on a national and international stage, and in our anniversary issue we published many of our favorite Minnesota writers and artists again.

Check out all the lists here>>>

Lastly, if you are reading this today and you are in New York and you don't come to Chris Koza's show at Piano's tonight (see post below), then we are no longer friends.

Huffington Post

In case you haven't seen this yet, David has a great article up on the Huffington Post.

In case you haven't heard, I'm excited about the start of the hockey season. (I had to link to a page about the Wild, because I'm still in panic mode about not having found a bar in New York that will play all of the WIld games).

Arts & Politics

As we gear up for the release of Issue 8 I just thought I'd take a bit of my down time to point something out. If you aren't familiar with Guernica (or maybe it's InDigest that is the missing link for you) you should check it out. InDigest editor David Doody runs the BLOG>>> over there, and over the last few weeks I have been feverishly reading it. It's largely focused on the politics side of the magazines content (arts and politics), and there have been some fantastic essays over there from the guest bloggers. Some great stuff from Frederick Lane (who just ran an excerpt in InDigest's last issue) and Norman Solomon (and David himself) covering the election and the nomination of Sarah Palin. Some fantastic content lately, one of my current favorite blogs.

Who is Sarah Palin?

David has a few good posts on the Sarah Palin fervor over at his blog This Is How I Love You. Go read it.

On Considering This Blog

Considering this blog is not even linked to on InDigest Magazine it is clear to see what it has become: a venue where Dustin and I can go from time to time to make each other laugh. To find some refuge from the hectic world around us. In this day and age of instant access by millions of people to personal thoughts through various means and avenues on the blogoshpere I find this a refreshing realization. It is our little tree house in the forest on the outskirts of town. Our fort in the living room of a hectic house. Our, well, you get it. Or rather, we get it.

Friends, oh, friends

Well, here we are, on the eve of the new look for InDigest, and I would like to share some cool things that people, who rate much higher than either David or I on the coolometer (above a 4), are up to.

Jess Grover has some poems in the new issue of Forklift, Ohio. I think you have to buy to see them, so buy it, Forklift is cool. (at least a 7.5).

As we have said previously, Alex Lemon has a new collection of poetry out called Hallelujah, Blackout. His been spotted all over the nation recently reading poems from said book. Maybe you will spot him. Maybe not. I don't know how to find out where he can been seen, but he can be seen. As can David on Alex's blog under the photos from the book release.

Chris Koza has a new disc coming out in June and is currently out on tour all over our fair nation (this is at least an 8, probably a 9). You can find tour dateson his myspace page. Go see him, tell him InDigest sent you.

Sam Osterhout. is out traveling the nation and reading to the kids. he is traveling with our friend Geoff Herbach for the release of his new novel The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg. (yet another 8 or 9)

Also David has a new article up at Guernica, read Guernica, it's good.

There is much more to tell, but then that would spoil the fun of the news section on the stie, which will be updated shortly when the new issue goes up (aww, awesome, a 10).