My third AWP was by far the best yet. Here are some highlights:
- I got to meet Frank X. Walker, perhaps my current favorite poet. He ranks up there, for sure. He signed my copy of When Winter Come and I got to tell him his book was the best I had read in a very long time. He also stopped by the Weave table and was very, very sweet.
- The whole Affrilachian poetry reading, in fact. Every one of those readers was fantastic. Patricia Smith read an absolutely amazing crown of sonnets. I got the chance to tell her this.
- The Weave table! I burned out a little by the end of each day, but I got to meet a few more of our contributors for the first and second issues there; Michael Ogletree, Karen Schubert, and Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán. Also, Weave sold fairly well (especially, I have been told, for our first AWP!) and we have some new subscriptions! Yay!
- Getting to escort Mary Biddinger on stage at the Anti/diode poetry reading.
- Meeting the absolutely lovely Dana Guthrie Martin (another issue 01 contributor) at the Anti/diode poetry reading.
- Talking to M. Bartley Seigel, the editor of Pank, whose third issue features two of my poems. He is also lovely. I'd gone to a panel he was on last year and recall completely agreeing with his editorial policies. Also, he gave me a free Pank tshirt! It has a typewriter on it!
- The one and only panel I was able to go to; Poet as Oracle. It was amazing. They talked about stepping out of the ego when writing poetry and poetry written during meditation (among other things, of course). The panel really spoke to me and reflected a lot of what I have been trying to do in my own poetry lately. It was wonderful.
- Starting up the dance party on Friday and Saturday night with Crystal. There were people who thought we had been paid to do so.
- Spending part of Saturday with my old friend Natalie who I literally had not seen in ten years. We worked at Girlscout camp together. It was wonderful to get to catch up with her.
- Hanging out with the lovely people of Akron; Mary Biddinger, Jay Robinson, Frank DePoole, and Eric Morris. Hopefully I will get to see all of them again very soon!
- Guerrilla poetry readings for Judy Johnson. Fantastic. Also lunch with Judy Johnson. Also being informed that the TypewriterGirls can now "officially" be affiliated with 13th Moon Press. Also planning a reading with Judy Johnson for April.
And, of course
- Spending the week with my two favorite girls; Crystal and Laura
I know a lot of superlatives were used in this post, but it's because I had such an amazing time and got to meet and spend time with so many amazing people that I can't help but gush a little bit. Pictures to come.
Hope your AWP was fantastic, too!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
New Issue of Goblin Fruit...
...is live and contains a lovely poem by the ever-so-talented Susan Slaviero.
Apotropaism is also an interesting one -- though my favorite part of Goblin Fruit is always listening to the readings posted with the poems. I haven't had the chance to take a listen yet, but certainly will at work tomorrow. I always find a poem that I didn't properly appreciate until I heard it.
This is one of the things that I love about journals like Goblin Fruit, The Dirty Napkin, and The Pedestal Magazine (to name a few) -- they give the poet the opportunity to send in a recording of them reading their poem, which I think is a simply lovely idea. It's one of the advantages of the internet. Not only is a poem readily accessible to the general public, but it can also be multimedia in such a way that it shows a poet's multiple talents and gets not only the poem out there, but also the poet's voice and reading. I don't think it is an idea that is properly appreciated by enough poets.
So take a look and a listen!
Apotropaism is also an interesting one -- though my favorite part of Goblin Fruit is always listening to the readings posted with the poems. I haven't had the chance to take a listen yet, but certainly will at work tomorrow. I always find a poem that I didn't properly appreciate until I heard it.
This is one of the things that I love about journals like Goblin Fruit, The Dirty Napkin, and The Pedestal Magazine (to name a few) -- they give the poet the opportunity to send in a recording of them reading their poem, which I think is a simply lovely idea. It's one of the advantages of the internet. Not only is a poem readily accessible to the general public, but it can also be multimedia in such a way that it shows a poet's multiple talents and gets not only the poem out there, but also the poet's voice and reading. I don't think it is an idea that is properly appreciated by enough poets.
So take a look and a listen!
Monday, December 22, 2008
New Issue of Pedestal Magazine...
...is up and I'm in it! You can read and listen to me here. I love that Pedestal will also post an audio file of the poet reading their work and am very surprised that not many people seem to take advantage of that opportunity. Then again, I needed my lovely boyfriend Mihnea to help me record myself and it is quite likely that not every poet has a Mihnea in their life.
Also, I am, as always, smirking in my photo. I can't seem to stop doing that.
Also, I am, as always, smirking in my photo. I can't seem to stop doing that.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A Lovely Poetry Day
Sunday was a very lovely poetry day. First, Laura and I hosted another poetry workshop through Weave where I got to meet some really cool local poets who I perhaps would never have met otherwise -- there was a great variety of styles and subjects. I love workshopping and it was wonderful to get to hang out and read some pretty awesome poems.
Also on the Weave front, Laura and I have begun working with one of our fiction readers and I am simply blown away by him. He is very serious and very skilled and clearly highly motivated. I can't wait to get the chance to work with him more.
When I got home from the workshop I had an acceptance from Hawk & Whippoorwill sitting in my inbox. I'd submitted about 5 months ago and it was very exciting to hear back from them. I write a lot of poems about woman in nature and am very glad they decided to pick one of them up. It was a lovely way to start off my evening!
No sooner had I sent out a couple of withdrawals for the poem Hawk and Whippoorwill picked up, than The Pedestal Magazine sent me an email accepting "Barefoot and Listening", the title poem to a chapbook I'm putting together.
I'd been feeling a little down about the submissions I've sent out lately - I've been trying to push myself and have gotten a lot of rejections of late. It's been a little demoralizing. To be honest, these acceptances have really lifted my spirits a lot and have shown me that pushing myself is what I need to do.
In other news, Juliet Cook over at Blood Pudding is putting together another multi-writer project. There are only about 7 slots left and I'd like to snag one of those, but I've been struggling with putting together my submission for her. I know I do have poems that would fit with her aesthetic, but the problem is finding and editing all of them.
Also! The Winter Issue of Arsenic Lobster is up! Hoorah!
Also on the Weave front, Laura and I have begun working with one of our fiction readers and I am simply blown away by him. He is very serious and very skilled and clearly highly motivated. I can't wait to get the chance to work with him more.
When I got home from the workshop I had an acceptance from Hawk & Whippoorwill sitting in my inbox. I'd submitted about 5 months ago and it was very exciting to hear back from them. I write a lot of poems about woman in nature and am very glad they decided to pick one of them up. It was a lovely way to start off my evening!
No sooner had I sent out a couple of withdrawals for the poem Hawk and Whippoorwill picked up, than The Pedestal Magazine sent me an email accepting "Barefoot and Listening", the title poem to a chapbook I'm putting together.
I'd been feeling a little down about the submissions I've sent out lately - I've been trying to push myself and have gotten a lot of rejections of late. It's been a little demoralizing. To be honest, these acceptances have really lifted my spirits a lot and have shown me that pushing myself is what I need to do.
In other news, Juliet Cook over at Blood Pudding is putting together another multi-writer project. There are only about 7 slots left and I'd like to snag one of those, but I've been struggling with putting together my submission for her. I know I do have poems that would fit with her aesthetic, but the problem is finding and editing all of them.
Also! The Winter Issue of Arsenic Lobster is up! Hoorah!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The digital chapbook issue of the always lovely blossombones has gone up! It is definitely worth checking out.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Issue 01 of Weave - On sale now!
The first issue of Weave Magazine is on sale now! Click on the link or head over to http://www.weavemagazine.net to get your copy today!
On (not) being prolific
Barring that embarrassing time in high school when I wrote a poem a day, no matter how horrendous the poem, I have never been a prolific poet. It was a good run when I wrote 6 poems in three months. In fact, it was the most I think I have ever written and been happy with in that kind of a time period.
I could blame my job, my family, my editorial duties, but even when none of those things existed it was very difficult for me to pump out the 12-15 poems I had to write each semester for my creative writing courses, and often what I did write I was not entirely happy with. There were times I was downright embarrassed to bring a poem to class, but I had to in order to hit my quota. I understand the need for a quota, of course, but none of the poems I wrote at the last minute because I had to have seen the light of day since. In fact, most of them never even made it near my senior portfolio.
I've tried different techniques to up my output over the past year or so (it was just unhealthy when my number of poems published in a year exceeded my number of poems written) - more freewriting, changing location of writing, using prompts (boy did that one fail on an epic scale), but the only one that has (sort of) worked has been writing at red lights. I have a tiny notebook and I write in it at red lights on my commute to and from work. For some reason that time in the car is the perfect time for my brain to work on poetry. I couldn't tell you why, but all the poems I have written since August have been written in part while getting honked at when the light has just changed.
This way of writing does mean that I only get a line or two down at a time, but I'm writing more than I ever have before. It's fun to figure out which lines fit together, to structure poems from the pieces. Maybe eventually the day will come when I write a poem a week, but for now I'm just happy to have my red light poems.
And because it fits, stolen from the lovely Mary over at The Word Cage:
1. When was the last time you wrote a poem? - November 15th
2. What was its title? - After the Cold Snap
3. What was one image from the poem (if applicable)? - tying knots in curtain tassels
4. Do you currently have a poem percolating in your brain? - yes!
5. If you answered "yes" to number four, what is one image from that poem? - a butterfly pinned to wax
1 point for each response. Partial credit available. No penalty for attempting. This is an open book test.
I could blame my job, my family, my editorial duties, but even when none of those things existed it was very difficult for me to pump out the 12-15 poems I had to write each semester for my creative writing courses, and often what I did write I was not entirely happy with. There were times I was downright embarrassed to bring a poem to class, but I had to in order to hit my quota. I understand the need for a quota, of course, but none of the poems I wrote at the last minute because I had to have seen the light of day since. In fact, most of them never even made it near my senior portfolio.
I've tried different techniques to up my output over the past year or so (it was just unhealthy when my number of poems published in a year exceeded my number of poems written) - more freewriting, changing location of writing, using prompts (boy did that one fail on an epic scale), but the only one that has (sort of) worked has been writing at red lights. I have a tiny notebook and I write in it at red lights on my commute to and from work. For some reason that time in the car is the perfect time for my brain to work on poetry. I couldn't tell you why, but all the poems I have written since August have been written in part while getting honked at when the light has just changed.
This way of writing does mean that I only get a line or two down at a time, but I'm writing more than I ever have before. It's fun to figure out which lines fit together, to structure poems from the pieces. Maybe eventually the day will come when I write a poem a week, but for now I'm just happy to have my red light poems.
And because it fits, stolen from the lovely Mary over at The Word Cage:
1. When was the last time you wrote a poem? - November 15th
2. What was its title? - After the Cold Snap
3. What was one image from the poem (if applicable)? - tying knots in curtain tassels
4. Do you currently have a poem percolating in your brain? - yes!
5. If you answered "yes" to number four, what is one image from that poem? - a butterfly pinned to wax
1 point for each response. Partial credit available. No penalty for attempting. This is an open book test.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
