Thank you for all the comments on yesterday’s Tuesday Poem, My Last Duchess: Ferrerra by Robert Browning.  I am glad so many readers seem to have enjoyed it as much as I do. Another reason I like it so much, aside from my brief commentary yesterday, is that it “captures” what my historical reading has told me about the Renaissance princes: the immense wealth, the passionate interest in the arts—as well as the subtext of worldly advancement—juxtaposed with overweening pride (“I chuse never to stoop”).

This week I am carrying on with my poetry month interviews and will be  talking with Ingrid Horrocks about her first collection, Mapping the Distance (VUP). I have enjoyed reading the collection, which traverses family connections, both to the past and new generations,  as well as experiences of place and the connections between place and people, and am looking forward to the interview.

And here’s what the NZ Listener review had to say: ‘Horrocks writes beautifully and simply. She is not only a keen observer, but also that most fortunate of travellers – someone that things happen to.’

Most importantly though, I have dived into writing Part 3 of The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night, Book Two), although I must also put some time toward writing my next post for the Out of this Eos blog—I am thinking that this one will be on “reading for the Hugos” since I am eligible to vote this year. If you haven’t already checked out the list of Hugo Awards’ 2010 finalists for yourself—what are you waiting for?

Apparently the Mythopoeic Award winners will be out on July 11, so I’ll know then whether or not I picked the winner of the Children’s Award in my Monday post! 🙂