​Former editor of the Seymour Herald and current reporter for the LaFollette Press will hold a book signing March 28 for his recently published work Human Ants.

​“Writing news is something I still enjoy and will continue to do, but I always wanted to be involved in the artistic side of writing as well,” author Joe King said.

​King, whose recent poetry book Human Ants was released by Sarah Book Publishing last May, said one of his goals for the work was to capture kaleidoscopic facets of the modern human collective conscious.

​“I didn't write just another a collection of poetry where I selfishly used the medium as a form of therapy,” King said. “I think too often those attempting to write poetry focus on their own emotions rather than crafting a character and allowing the character to speak the poem. When people write in that narcissistic way it creates sentimentality and begs the reader to provide unearned sympathy to the writer. To me, that's not what poetry is about. It's about creating a condensed story full of imagery and musical language devices.”

​To tackle this approach on poetry, King explored classical poetic form as well as experimented with the variety of the craft. ​“The construction of poem's form can be just as important as the words themselves,” he said. “Well placed line breaks, enjambment and spacing can create a visual appeal of the poem that can add a whole new level to the work.”

​As for content, explores subjects as grand as the end of the world to something as concentrated as the second before a car accident with humor, sarcasm seriousness and introspection, ​“Although often unapologetically contemporary when it comes to content, King’s poems acknowledge their intellectual predecessors; many are occupied by historical and literary figures,” poet Jessie Janeshek wrote in the forward to Human Ants. “King’s poems provide lenses through which to view our increasingly difficult present with keen intelligence and satirical humor. His work reasserts the belief that all writers try to keep believing; what we write on the page can become an agent of change.”

​With Human Ants available for purchase through Sarah Book Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, King said he would welcomes his upcoming book signing as a way to meet readers one on one.

​The signing will take place March 28 at McKay’s Books, 230 Paper Mill Place Way, Knoxville. ​For more information or to order a copy of Human Ants visit www.sarahbookpublishing.com. Readers can also purchase the book through a shop now button on Joe King’s Facebook page.

For those without Internet access, call your local your local Barnes and Noble and they should be able to order a copy. ​Author Joe King can be reached by emailing him at booksbyjoeking@gmail.com.