Janet McCann: "The Bookstore on Broadway, in Albany: AWP Conference 1999"

Since many of the readers who regularly visit “One Poet’s Notes” are preparing to attend the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference in New York City later this week, the appropriate selection as VPR Poem of the Week seems to be “The Bookstore on Broadway, in Albany: AWP Conference 1999” by Janet McCann, which appeared in the Fall/Winter 2000-2001 issue (Volume II, Number 1) of Valparaiso Poetry Review.

Janet McCann’s collections of poetry include Looking for Buddha in the Barbed Wire Garden (Avisson Press, 1996) and Emily’s Dress (Pecan Grove Press, 2005). She also has edited a number of anthologies of poetry. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines, including Kansas Quarterly, McCall’s, New Letters, New York Quarterly, Nimrod, Parnassus, and Southern Poetry Review. In addition, she has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. Janet McCann is a professor in the English Department at Texas A & M University.

Tuesday of each week “One Poet’s Notes” highlights an exceptional work by a poet selected from the archives of Valparaiso Poetry Review with the recommendation that readers revisit it. Please check the sidebar to view the list of poets and works that have been past “Poem of the Week” selections. Additionally, readers are reminded that VPR pages are best read with the browser font preference in which they were set, 12 pt. Times New Roman, in order to guarantee the stanza alignment and the breaks of longer lines are preserved.