[Paul Lake]

I opened my mail about an hour ago and discovered that Hudson Review has just taken my poem "The Water Glass," my elegy to Michael Donaghy. I posted the poem here at the Sphere and received some helpful comments, so thanks to all.

While I'm tooting my own horn, I also had poems accepted recently by The Alabama Literary Review and Crisis.

[Catherine Chandler]

Paul,
Congratulations on all three acceptances!

Catherine

[Rhina P. Espaillat]

Another reason to look forward to HR! Cheers for you!

[Terese Coe]

Your Donaghy tribute would be worthy of any of the top publishers, Paul. (Though I may not have seen its present incarnation.)

Congratulations on all counts!

Terese

[Richard Wakefield]

Congratulations, Paul, and congratulations to HR for their good taste!
Richard

[Paul Lake]

Thanks, Catherine, Rhina, Terese, and Richard. I was already thinking of you, Rhina, since not all that long ago we were both mourning the fact that we'd never had work accepted by HR.

Got some more good news from Manhattan today when the agent I sent my new novel to (a killer satire) said that her associate (a former editor at Harper Collins) read it and said it was "masterfully written" and "a real page-turner"--the one likely drawback being that it's going to be "very controversial." Now she's going to read it with an eye toward representing me. Wish me luck.

[Catherine Chandler]

Paul,

Good luck! Bonne chance! ¡Suerte! Keep us informed of progress...

Catherine

[Rhina P. Espaillat]

Am already rounding up the kine for a sacrifice to the gods on your behalf! To whom should that go, do you think? Is Apollo in charge of satirical novels, or Hermes? Is it song or message? Or Clio, maybe? Please advise.

[Tim Murphy]

That's great news Paul. Good for Paula and Paul! I think Sam reviewed for them for at least a decade before they started publishing his verse. And I'm sure a house could easily be wall-papered with rejection slips from THR addressed to first rate poets like you.

I fondly recall your elegy for Michael, which kicked me in the butt to get back at work on my poem for Michael, begun years before his death. I just reviewed proof of the poem for the fall issue of Hudson.

[Paul Lake]

Rhina, I guess it's both song and message. For once when writing fictional prose I wrote as a poet and some of the writing is pretty lyrical. On the other hand, it's a pointed satire, so it has a message too. Then again, it's about all sorts of archetypal things, which means it's not just a satire. It's a very strange novel. I just hope someone--under the sway of whatever proprietary deity takes an interest--publishes the thing.

Tim, I remembered your poem about Michael and the fact that we both quote the same line by him in our poems. I'll look for your poem in the journal.