September 19: Join us for Open Poetry on Baber Mountain in West Virginia

Join us Saturday, September 19th near Richwood, West Virginia, for wild and wonderful poetry hosted by Bob Henry Baber, author of Pure Orange Sunshine. All are welcome. 

September 4 & 5: National Beat Poetry Foundation Honors and Virtual Festival Open Mic

I am grateful to be among those being honored by the National Beat Poetry Foundation this weekend. Hearty congratulations to all the other honorees. 

This year's award recipients:

Donovan: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

John Burroughs: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Richard Modiano: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Ma Yongbo: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Belinda Subraman: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Joe Kidd: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Ian J. McKenzie: International Beat Poet Laureate (2026-2027)

Nancy Mercado: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Fadil Bajraj: New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2026-Lifetime)

Prince A. McNally: State of New York Beat Poet Laureate (2026-2028)

Jared Morningstar: State of Michigan Beat Poet Laureate (2026-2028)

P.W. Covington: U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate (2026-2027)

Please email Debbie Tosun Kilday at NBPF15@gmail.com if you're interested in participating in the Saturday open mic.

What I did for The Sealey Challenge this year

For this year's Sealey Challenge, I nearly finished reading Ghost City Press' 2017 Summer Series of digital chapbooks.

You can download and read them all for free at https://ghostcitypress.com/2017-summer-microchap-series/2017-summer-series-the-complete-collection-1.

Video: The All American Poetry Parade features my "Random Rules"

Thanks so much to Scot Young and Rusty Truck for including my poem "Random Rules" in their All American Poetry Parade alongside some mighty fine poets! 

Read my poem at https://rustytruck.wordpress.com/2026/08/28/john-burroughs-2/.

Watch a video of me reading it at https://substack.com/profile/116085178-scot-young/note/c-324606921.

View the entire parade by clicking the image below.

My "Random Rules" Appears in Free OPA Digital Anthology

My David Berman-inspired poem "Random Rules" appears in Our Poems to America, a new digital collection published by the Ohio Poetry Association and viewable and downloadable on their website.

https://www.ohiopoetryassn.org/poetryforamerica250

Other contributors include Doc Janning, Linda Brown, Alexis ThePoet Jackson, Michelle Tackla Wallace, Harry S. Stoughton, Cathryn Essinger, Holly Brians Ragusa, Benjamin Baughman, David Lee Garrison, and Justice Hill.

Video: Geoff Anderson of diVERSES Poetry interviews John Burroughs

It was good to chat about meaningful things recently with Geoff Anderson of diVERSES Poetry. Though I love the Ohio Poetry Association, I recently stepped away from my vice president role to focus more on some other priorities. At this stage of my life, I find I have more questions than answers. And some stories need a whole book (or library) to tell. This is a short promo clip. If you want to hear our entire hourlong conversation, it is now available at https://youtu.be/oMbKUSaFONM. 

Awash Returns Ashore!

[August UPDATE: These are now all sold out. Thank you so much to everyone who picked up a copy or two! The original post follows.]

My most recent chapbook, AWASH, was published in July 2025 in a very limited edition by Evansville's Pure Sleeze Press (alongside chaps by John Dorsey, Jason Ryberg, Scott Laudati, and Tony Brewer). AWASH has been out of print since that original run almost immediately sold out.

However.... 

I have just found (among things that I never fully unpacked from last year's road trip to the U.S. Southwest) FIFTEEN unread author copies of AWASH. I'm numbering them 1 through 15, signing them, and selling them on a first come, first serve basis to help fund my forthcoming revised and expanded edition of The Wrest of the Worthwhile.

While they last, if you want a copy (shipped to you free), send me $10 US via Venmo (@jesuscrisis), CashApp ($crisischronicles), PayPal (jc@crisischronicles.com), or cash/check to John Burroughs, 535 Parkside Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Reviews of AWASH:

"John's poems make me think and stop for a second and see things in a different way. Good writers do that."

     —Scot Young, author of Brautigan Meets Bukowski, All Around Cowboy, and more

In reading (and rereading) AWASH, I have only found more to admire in Burroughs' concision, precision, dexterity, and vulnerability. These are beautiful, tenderly-rendered poems.

     —Jennifer Browne, author of American Crow, The Salt of the Geologic World, and more

Throughout AWASH (Pure Sleeze Press, 2024), John Burroughs condenses the big stuff of life into fistfuls of resonant words like the strange debris that comes awash upon the shores of everyday consciousness. 

"Each step into abyss leads to

where feet become ungrounded,

hearts astounded."

(stanza 3, "Faithwalking")

"Potential Energy" from this beautifully produced poetry chapbook will be reprinted in the second volume of Stormwash: Environmental Poems (Seaker Press, August 2025).

     —Hiromi Yoshida, author of Umami, Icarus in Crete, Icarus Superstar, and more

Poems in Awash:

Faithwalking
Darshan
Shaktipat
Bilateral Heart Moon Resolution
Aura
Beacon
Hunger
A Wait, A Final Fall
Deluge
Critical Condition
A Superior Stimulant
But for Now
Potential Energy
Selkie

ISBN: 979-8-88596-400-5. 

Finally, deepest thanks to Jonathan S Baker, K Arizona, and Antoine Ball of Pure Sleeze for seeing this work into print in the first place.

July 28 on Zoom: Time to Arrive Open Mic features John Burroughs

I look forward to joining recent California Beat Poet Laureate Dane Ince and the Time to Arrive Open Mic community as their featured artist this Tuesday, July 28th at 9 p.m. Eastern (that's 6 p.m. Pacific and cetera). Find the Zoom link at eyepublishewe.com or click the photo below.

July 21: Poetry Speaks in Evansville, Indiana

Totally jazzed to be returning to Evansville, Indiana, on July 21st to read with the brilliant Jennifer Browne for Poetry Speaks at the Bokeh Lounge. Now I suppose I need to write a frog poem.

Bokeh Lounge, 1007 Parrett Street, Evansville, IN 47713

June 28: Allen Ginsberg Centennial Celebration in Bloomington, Indiana

On June 28th, 2026, The Writers Guild at Bloomington will present the Allen Ginsberg centennial celebration edition of Last Sunday Poetry, featuring Ian Uriel Girdley, John Burroughs, Joan Hawkins, Marilyn Wolf, Josh A. Brewer, Lylanne Musselman, and Mary Sexson at Morgenstern Books, 849 Auto Mall Road, in Bloomington, Indiana 47401.

More info: facebook.com/events/1319150030057218.