James H. Duncan's Blog

I haven’t posted a whole lot this year but it’s been a busy summer so far. A quick trip to Philadelphia, a cancelled camping expedition, baseball games, pool adventures, parades, and I moved in with Amelia and Henry at long last. I’m settling in and getting back into a writing groove after spending most of the spring packing. Beyond a busy summer personally, I’ve been busy publishing and writing too.

I released my second book of the year, We Have Waited Long Enough, with my friends Kevin Ridgeway and Gabriel Ricard. I saw it as kind of a band but instead of music we made poetry, sharing poems and writing response poems back and forth until we ended up with a book. It was great fun and we did an online reading with more readings in the future. Keep an eye out for that this autumn.

I also did a reading at Dorn Space up in Gloversville, NY, a gorgeous little town out in the rolling hills and farmland past Schenectady. That was with a bunch of great poets who each brought very different styles to the mic, and I read mostly from my book Talavera Sunsets, available from Bottlecap Press (plug, plug, plug!).

I’ve been submitting poetry collections to contests but not many poems individually to magazines, save for The Paris Review (not holding my breath). I’m working on a full revision to an old novel I wrote over 14 years ago called The Last Cold Night, a noir/mystery that takes place in Troy NY during the Depression with Gothic and Lovecraftian horror elements. I rewrote it a few times since then but this is by far the best version. It was once 125,000 words, now down to 87,000. Much better, tighter, faster. I have a small press in mind for that, and then it’s on to one of the three first drafts I’m halfway through, one horror, one rural noir, and one a small family drama about a mom and son in a trailer park in 1989.

This fall has a lot going for it so far. I have a reading planned in September that takes place inside a cavern (yes, a full-on cavern) and trips to San Antonio planned (not one but two). Henry has never been to a SeaWorld and maybe it’s time he saw a whale do a backflip, or at least ride the Rio Loco. I’ll have more readings and releases coming soon, so keep an eye out here.

Talavera Sunsets is now available from Bottlecap Press! This is a 28-page, hand-bound chapbook of poetry about the last road trip I took as a teenager with my father and sister out to western Texas, the last real road trip we’d all take together. I’m so delighted that it found a home with the incredible Bottlecap Press as part of their Bottlecap Features series. Copies are available through them for just $10, and you cannot buy this on Amazon (thankfully!) so be sure to head to their shop. Here’s the back-cover text for the book and a sample.

More than a road trip, it became a pilgrimage and last goodbye. The poems in Talavera Sunsets serve as mile markers along dusty highways in west Texas, archiving James Duncan’s final teenage road trip with his father and sister in the 1990s before impending adulthood swept them all in different directions.

From motels in Del Rio and Alpine to old cavalry forts and the McDonald Observatory north of Big Bend, these poems explore the people, places, and magical landscapes of a region as old as time, yet always in flux with humanity’s never-ending migrations. The three of them never returned, and part of them never left.

First publication of 2025! The Hudson Valley Writers Guilt has accepted four of my poems, currently on view at their website. The poems include “The Ocean’s Graveyard,” “Morris Street #1,” “Single Family Ranch,” and “Blink with Fire.” Some of these poems are included in a collection I’m shopping around about my grandmother Wanda, my grandmother from Texas. HVWG is an amazing website that both publishes new poetry, fiction, essays, and more from people all over the world but also includes information about poetry and writing events in the Albany and Hudson Valley regions in New York state. Definitely check them out at this link!

As with all my annual end-of-year lists, the following books were new to me this year, but not necessarily new in 2024. I hope you find a few of these recommendations inspiring for your own To Read Pile in 2025 and beyond.

10. Murder at Teal’s Pond – David Bushman and Mark T. Givins

I should note I’m still in the middle of this one but I’m enjoying it enough that it barely edges out a few others that could have made this list. And this one might be graded on a steep curve because I grew up in the village where the crime took place back in 1908, so I’m very familiar with all the locales, names, etc., but this look into the death of a young woman that (partially) inspired the show Twin Peaks has been quite gripping and I highly recommend it to fans of historical true crime.

9. Life on Mars – Tracy K Smith

A printed copy of her poem “The Good Life” has followed me around for years and I finally took the time to read the rest of the collection. It didn’t disappoint. Getting to thank her in person for this poem and this book was a highlight of 2024!

 8. Here at Eagle Pond – Donald Hall

I imagine some people hearing a description of this book might cry tears of boredom but I really loved this thoughtful, calming collection of essays about poet Donald Hall’s ancestral estate in New Hampshire and all the stories associated with each room, season, outbuilding, and local event. I quite enjoyed how it all ties together with familial bonds and love for the little things.

7. We’ll Always Have Casablanca – Noah Isenberg

This examination of the origins of the film Casablanca, its unique and winding road to production, and its lasting effect on the world was a lot of fun to read, very well researched, and never felt bogged down or bone dry. If you like the film or stories of old Hollywood, you’ll enjoy this one.

6. Fairy Tale – Stephen King

I read online complaints that this one took too long to get interesting, but those must be from “new to King” folks who don’t realize the slow build-up is all part of the ride, and by the time the real magic kicked in, I was long hooked into this age-old story of a young man setting off on a journey filled with strange places, new friends, dire enemies, and loads of action in the second half. Each time I thought the book might stumble, it found its footing and showed a lot of heart. King does a great job of building a unique world and I’d love to see even more stories from this fairytale land.

5. Paris in Our View – Poems selected by Shakespeare & Co.

I picked up this collection in the famed bookshop in Paris (if you ever get the chance, obviously don’t pass it up!) and the book did not fail to impress. This is easily one of the better poetry collections around and it inspired me to write more than a few of my own poems about my time there. The poems within are all about the city of Paris in one way or another, accompanied by unique sketches of Paris as seen out the windows of notable Parisian locations. It’s one of my most treasured Parisian keepsakes. A stellar collection.

4. The Horse – Willy Vlautin

There were a few moments where I thought this one might not hold up all the way through, but Willy Vlautin doesn’t fail to deliver a deep, authentic, and rich story of a washed up songwriter living in isolation who encounters a dying horse, with a series of flashbacks that tie the man’s storied and wild life to his last-ditch attempt to save the horse’s life. It pairs well with his other “horse” book Lean on Pete. As I suspected, Vlautin remains undefeated.

3. Old Taoist – Stephen Addiss, Jonathan Chaves, J. Thomas Rimer

This biography/poetry collection examines the obscure Japanese poet Kodojin and his life story as best the authors could piece it together through a lot of meticulous research, as well as his Japanese poems and his poems written in the Chinese style. It also includes a bunch of his paintings. The poems are brief but beautiful, and these inspired me to write a full collection of poems influenced by his style. A gorgeous book, especially for poets out there looking for some inspiration.

2. You Like It Darker – Stephen King

Look, I like a good Stephen King novel, but I LOVE a good Stephen King short story collection. In most short story collections by anyone at all, there are always a few stories that don’t grab me as much as others, but this one had top notch bangers the whole way through. Pretty much not disappointed by any of them. A great collection that mixes all the things that makes King great: unexpected monsters, otherworldly visitations, strange powers gifted to normal people, fateful (or chance?) meetings, ghostly apparitions, and all-too human marauders who might be right outside your door right now. If this is King as he nears the end of his career, it’s safe to say the man hasn’t lost a single damn step along the way. He’s only gotten better. And here’s hoping he’s actually nowhere near finished!    

1. Circe – Madeline Miller

I kept hearing “This book is so good” from people in my life and I finally cracked it open to discover—yo, everyone, stop and listed up: This book is SO good. Miller has an eloquent writing style that flows so well, so beautifully descriptive while keeping the story moving and lively. I kept thinking, “This is how I wish I could write” every few pages. The trope of writers re-envisioning an old myth of legend with their own interpretation is a popular one in fiction (obviously) but it’s an easy way to make a great tale rather trite, silly, or boring, and this avoids all of that. It’s a singular and powerful story that I still think about all the time. Best book by a mile this year. (PS: I still don’t know how to actually pronounce “Circe”…alas.)

I grew up outside the small town of Nassau in upstate New York from about age 8 to 15. We lived in a trailer park, and this collection is not about the park itself (that’s another book of mine called We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine) but of memories of Nassau and the surrounding area. The book is filled with poems inspired by people and places there, perhaps not as autobiographical as my other books, but the voices and lives within the poems exist within the memories I have of the area. The book contains 30 photographs and 30 poems and is also inspired by the Bruce Springsteen album Nebraska. Poems featured include “Johnny ‘89,” “Cedar City,” “Townie Cops,” “Hand-Me-Downs,” “My Mother’s House,” “Used Cars,” “Blood of Nostalgia,” and many more!

The book will be available August 1, 2024, but I am taking preorders now (please email or reach out on social media—Facebook and Instagram). Sample poems and links to purchase are forthcoming. Thank you to all who have been asking about this collection, and to all who keep reading my work over the years. Your support and interest means so much to me!

My poem “Cherry Dip” now appears in Misfit Magazine, edited by the absolute legend Alan Catlin. The issue is chock full of great poets and friends and I’m delighted to have been included. The poem is about watching a drug bust go down in an otherwise idyllic village downtown in front of an ice cream stand and the weird juxtaposition of the moment. The poem will also appear in my upcoming book Nassau, with more details on that soon.

And if you go to the issue of Misfit and read the Books Received and Acknowledged section, you’ll find a brief review of my book Cistern Latitudes.

My thanks to Alan for including the poem and for giving my last book a quick write-up. And thanks to all of you for reading!

My poem "Acre" now appears in Tabula Rasa Review Issue 3, which you can view or download digitally at the link in the comments, or buy a print edition for just $14. The editors took a lot of care to revise this one with me a couple of times to really tighten it up. I appreciated the involved and invested process, so consider sending your work too! The poem also appears in my book Cistern Latitudes, and I have a few signed copies left of that one. Thanks for reading!

I spent some time over the winter sending out new poems to magazine and I got lucky with a handful of places that I really admire. Some are publications where I’ve appeared before and some are new. It’s been a nice mix and it felt really encouraging to have a strong response after taking a very long time off from sending out poetry submissions. And all these poems are slated to appear in either my new book Cistern Latitudes (from Roadside Press) or my next one coming out later in 2024, titled Nassau.

Nixes Mate Review selected “Baily’s Hardware” for their print Summer/Fall 2023 Issue. (Nassau)

Trampoline selected “Pioneer” for their January 2024 Issue 21 release. (Cistern Latitudes)

Cajun Mutt Review selected “Johnny ‘89” for their Night Owl Narrative #1 Issue. (Nassau)

Chiron Review selected “Hand Me Downs” for their Winter 2024 Issue. (Nassau)

Tabula Rasa Review selected “Acre” for their spring/summer 2024 issue. (Cistern Latitudes)

San Pedro River Review selected “Village Video” and “Marathon” for their recent issue (one from each)

Misfit Magazine selected “Cherry Dip” for their summer 2024 issue. (Nassau)

Book of Matches selected “Concession” for their summer 2024 issue. (Nassau)

My thanks to all the editors who chose to include my work alongside that of so many fantastic writers and artists. I deeply appreciate it.

My poem “Pastoral” placed in the Honorable Mentions for the Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize for 2024, alongside a bunch of great international poets as well as some local friends. The poem is set in upstate New York and looks at the ephemeral and distinct divisions between our human world and the natural one right on the other side of the fence line, late in the evening, when the wilderness and all it contains feels so much closer, larger, and more wonderous.

The poem also appears in my book Cistern Latitudes from Roadside Press, and will be released in April 2024. You can order copies from Roadside Press or look around at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. I’ll also have a limited number of signed copies.

My thanks to the judges for selecting the poem, and to Roadside Press for publishing this poetry collection.

Roadside Press and I are working on my next full-length poetry collection titled Cistern Latitudes, with a publication date slated for late spring 2024. The sibling publishing wing of Roadside Press, called Gutter Snob Books, previously published my poetry chapbook Proper Etiquette in the Slaughterhouse Line in 2022, and I couldn’t have been happier with how that one turned out, so I’m pretty excited. Roadside Press is just as dedicated to supporting their authors and putting out beautifully designed books, so I know this new book is in good hands.

Cistern Latitudes will contain 60 new poems, or as I called them, 60 small descents into moments and places that once witnessed tectonic shifts in destiny that are now as silent and still as subterranean pools of water, clear and dark and carrying the truth that life and the world may have lost its way, that tragedy may linger in the corners of our past, but there are still latitudes and geographies out there that harbor safe, calm, and magical futures if we look for them.

I’ll post more details when the book becomes available, but for the moment, here is a sample poem that will appear in the collection. Thank you for reading!