Rust in August

Writer and journalist Greg Shaw brings us his first collection of poems just in time for his 60th birthday. Shaw's poetry is built on the memory of sadness and humor, despair and hope. Places-an airplane seat, an interstate highway, a cold urban street, an enveloping forest, a warm bed-stir the poetic senses. The trajectory of these places may begin with grief or awe, but the narrative progresses upward, toward humor and hope.

Nature and technology are often the inspiration. Shaw's influences can be found in fellow Oklahomans Ron Padgett and Joy Harjo and the poetry of Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Billy Collins.

Following stints working in grocery stores and on petroleum tank farms, Greg Shaw worked as a newspaper reporter in his home state of Oklahoma before going on to government and corporate speechwriting. He's authored, co-authored, and ghostwritten several bestselling nonfiction books. He founded Clyde Hill Publishing, which focuses on innovation, and co-founded Pulley Press, a poetry imprint. This is his first collection of poetry.