Haven't been back, because my computer has been in the repair shop.

The launch party was, I'd say, the most joyous I've ever had for one of my products. The cafe was almost full, and 20 books were sold. Almost all sales and signings took place before the reading; as a number of my friends were second language speakers, I invited them to read along, indicating the page number of each poem before I read it; a fair number of native speakers also took advantage of the opportunity.

So rare that people get to do that at a reading! Seems to me an option people should have more often. Photocopies handed out of a few of the poems to be read -- is that too complicated? In this age of e-mail and cheap photocopies, that should be easier to orchestrate than ever.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be blogging for The Rover at this year's Blue Met. I suppose I'll be cross-posting here. Among the events I'll be attending: Politics and the Pen with Carol Zardetto and Sergio Ramirez; John Ralston Saul being interviewed about his new book, A Fair Country; Interviews of AS Byatt and Tariq Ali; some international poetry evenings.