A look back at the FootHills Publishing 25th anniversary celebration

There are some days that are hard to forget – your wedding, the births of your children … and the day someone hands you the first copy of your new book.

Saturday, April 17, was such a day for me. I traveled to Geneseo, NY, with fellow poet Alan Casline to attend the FootHills Publishing 25th anniversary celebration. More than 25 FootHills poets read their work, first at Dante’s Books and then at the Idle Hour pub.

Alan and I drove the four and a half hours from Albany in my tiny red pickup truck. Alan is well over 6 feet tall, and the poor man could probably write a nice elegy for the nerves and muscles in his legs after a total of nine hours in the truck. He was a good sport, though, regaling me with stories of his life as a poet and independent press owner, and enlightening me about the wonders of the Normanskill watershed, the area on which he focuses his passions. Alan was in the first FootHills anthology 25 years ago, and he was published by them again last year with his book Thirty Poems.

In fact, I was so absorbed in the conversation that I completely missed our exit from the Thruway and ended up driving an extra 20 or so minutes to the next exit and back. With just that little hitch, though, we managed to arrive at Dante’s Books (99 Main Street, Geneseo) a few minutes before the reading began. Poets had come from all over the state, from Pennsylvania and from as far as New Orleans.

There’s no way I can review or even comment on all the poets who read, mostly because there were so many and my usually faulty memory was wiped nearly clean by the time I arrived home. Here are a just a few brief sketches of people and poems I remember:

FootHills founder and traveling bard Michael Czarnecki started the day with three brief stories about serendipitous encounters with poetry, poets and lovers of language. These charming stories ranged from classrooms to caves to hot springs.

I read three poems from Unexpected Sunlight, the first copy of which had been put into my hands about 30 minutes before I stepped on stage. It was a wonderful experience to read from the pages of my own book. I also read a new poem about the difficulties of a Walden-like existence.

Robustly bearded poet David Michael Nixon spoke truth to power in a series of short, strong pieces.

Catharine Faurot teaches at SUNY Geneseo. Her second poem cleverly combined mythological figures with the inner workings of a car radio.

Around 4 p.m., we moved from Dante’s to the Idle Hour pub (5 Center Street, Geneseo). It was a much louder venue and required a lot of concentration on my part to hear the poets, but the reading was a great success. A few more brief sketches:

John Roche, the man who brought the entire event together (and also the person who gave my manuscript to FootHills – thanks!), is never afraid of political poetry. He read a poem from his book On Conesus about the objects he found after the winter on the lake after which his book is named. He also read a poem called “Joe The Poet” that appeared in the latest edition of Alan Casline’s Rootdrinker.

New Orleans native Paulette Swartzfager read several poems about her hometown, as had other non-native NOLA fans earlier in the day (including me).

Susan Deer Cloud, just back from AWP in Denver, read from her most recent book and from the anthology she edited, I Was Indian (Before Being Indian Was Cool). She was followed by another poet from that anthology, Rochester’s Monty Campbell.

Then it was my traveling companion Alan Casline with his carefully crafted observations of life and nature in the Normanskill area outside Albany. His creation poem about the naming of animals was a particular crowd favorite.

Finger Lakes bard Steve Lewandowski read two short works from his new FootHills collection. It was a delight to meet Steve, who had a fantastically wry sense of humor.

Bruce Sweet‘s voice alone was reason enough to listen to him read, and his strong writing made that voice even more potent. I was particularly struck by his final poem, a prayer for various kinds of political, social and economic change. It was laced with humor, but had a deep core.

I picked up several books by a variety of FootHills writers, including Michael Czarnecki, Susan Deer Cloud, Steve Lewandowski, Alan Casline and Dennis Formento. I can’t wait to dig into them, and to spend another wonderful afternoon in the company of FootHills poets.

(For another version of events and some wonderful photos, visit Martha Deed’s blog. And be sure to join the other folks who have left their own memories in the comments section of this post.)