Ted Kooser has selected my poem “Motor Lodge” for his column, American Life in Poetry (Column 540, July 27, 2015). It’s the first sonnet in a three-part sequence, "Summer Jobs," which originally appeared in The Paris Review (Number 131, Summer 1994). My thanks to Richard Howard for accepting the little sequence! It was reprinted in The Disappearing Town (Miami University Press, 2000), my first full-length collection of poems.

A review of Sea Level Rising appeared in New Pages on July 1, 2015. Click here to see the review on NEW PAGES. It was written by Kimberly Ann. Here's her review:

On June 26, I gave a reading at the Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, along with Margo Taft Stever and Jennifer Franklin. Margo read from her new chapbook, The Lunatic Ball (Kattywompus Press, 2015). Jennifer read from her first full-length collection, Looming (Elixir Press, 2015). It was a pleasure to read with them! The poems I read all had some connection to the Cincinnati area: "Sea Level Rising," "Falling in Love at the YMCA Pool," "Retreat," "A Boy's Room," "Thinking of Easter," "Matinee," and "Familiar World."

Earlier today, Jose Angel Araguz posted an entry about “A Boy’s Room,” a poem from Sea Level Rising, on his blog, “The Friday Influence.” Here's the link to Jose’s blog.

Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 pm: Poetry in the Garden series, Cincinnati Public Library (featured poet, along with Madeleine Crouse and John Cruze)

Thursday, April 23, 6:30 pm: Columbus College of Art & Design, Canzani Atrium, 60 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio (poetry reading by John Philip Drury)

Sunday, April 26, 6:00-8:00 pm: Tongue & Groove, Clifton Bed & Breakfast, 500 Terrace Avenue, Cincinnati (I'll be reading for about ten minutes of the program)

“Glassy Apparatus,” a poem in the opening section of Sea Level Rising, was featured on Verse Daily on March 28, 2015. Here's the link to Verse Daily.

On Tuesday, March 24, 7:00 pm, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, I'm going to give a poetry reading and sign copies of my new book, Sea Level Rising. That's the day after the official publication date, so it's also going to be the book launch. Here's the address, along with directions:

Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati OH 45208
(513) 396-8960

The bookstore is located in Rookwood Pavilion on the SW corner of Madison and Edwards.

I should explain why I’ve started using my middle name for the author credit on Sea Level Rising. A lot of people have recently congratulated me on my “new book” about George Herbert, and I’ve had to explain that it’s actually by another John Drury, who happens to be the chaplain of All Souls College at Oxford University. His book is entitled Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert (University of Chicago Press, 2014).

[To continue, click on "Read more."]

I’m grateful for the beautiful front cover of Sea Level Rising. Alex Pepple, my editor and publisher at Able Muse Press, designed it around a painting, “Big Wind,” by Robert Tharsing, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky. Bob’s wife and fellow artist, Ann Tower, represents his work through the Ann Tower Gallery.