Michael Castro and John Brandi at B & N in St. Louis Jan. 18

The St. Louis Writers Guild presents a reading Thursday, January 18th at 7pm, at the Barnes & Noble Ladue Crossing Store featuring poet and translator Michael Castro and New Mexico poet John Brandi. The store is located at Ladue & Highway 170 (taking the Ladue exit you can go straight across the street into the Ladue Crossing Shopping Plaza where the store is located).

MICHAEL CASTRO is well known locally as the founder of the River Styx Literary organization and the host of the long-lived Poetry Beat radio program. He is the author of ten books of poetry and translations. He will be reading from his new book of translations, A TRANSPARENT LION: SELECTED POETRY OF ATTILA JOZSEF. Attila Jozsef (1905-1937) is Hungary's greatest twentieth century poet.

JOHN BRANDI's dozens of publications include poetry, travel vignettes, essays, modern American haiku, translations of contemporary Mexican poetry. He has given innumerable readings in the U.S., France, England, Switzerland, India, and Mexico. Painter and collage master as well as a poet, he has exhibited in galleries in cities in the United States and is in several major collections. His books include: HEARTBEAT GEOGRAPHY: SELECTED & UNCOLLECTED POEMS 1966-1994, A QUESTION OF JOURNEY; VISITS TO THE CITY OF LIGHT, WEEDING THE COSMOS, and RELFECTIONS IN A LIZARD'S EYE. He is also the editor of THE UNSWEPT PATH, a collection of haiku by modern American writers.

When are you going to write a book?

One of the top questions I am asked and still have not learned to answer satisfactorily is, "so when are you going to write a book?"

Ugh. I wish I knew, or I wish I were almost done, or significantly started or god, finished and going on my book tour.

It's not unlike being a senior in college poised to graduate, having majored in the Random Analysis of Something No One Has Ever Cared About. Upon facing graduation, a person at this juncture with this course of study, or any course of study for that matter is inevitably asked, "so what are you going to do when you graduate."

I think my generation has wholly owned the lack of available responses to this question. As an English major on paper, but a Writing major in reality, I stared down this question a lot. My answer was always weak and a little whiny. "I just want to write."

I had three fears as I ended my formal education:
1. I would continue to be poor.
2. I would continue with a lifelong career in mall-based retail employment.
3. I would be bored at work.

Fortunately, although I had trouble articulating it to those posing The Question, I did know what I was doing when I petitioned my liberal arts private college to allow me to write my own major, call it Writing, take every course in every kind of writing available and supplement with several hours of Independent Study. I was preparing myself to be able to handle any kind of job or opportunity that required decent writing skills that might surface. While it seemed wacky, I'm sure, to my family and friends, I knew that the only way I would be happily employed is if whatever occupation I held included writing and lots of it.

I'm pleased to say that my job does include a satisfying amount of wordsmithing. There is always plenty of action going on so boredom very rarely occurs. I supplement the need to write with freelance writing on occasion and of course, the blog posts that help keep the creativity drip splish sploshing away.

When will I write the book? That's not really the question. The question is, when will I finish it?