If you could time-travel, who would be your choice for a cozy chat? Being a novelist, mine would probably be Jane Austen, but as a poet, I’d have to have a talk and ramble with Emily Dickinson! With both dogs along, of course, her great big shaggy Carlo, and my dainty, shaggy little Nissa. In my magical realism novel, The Renaissance Club, characters have those engaging conversation — though they don’t get to choose. A…
I’ve read reports from more than one person of a Facebook account hack that seems particularly hard to quell. Some mischief-maker reports you aren’t a real person, FB suspends your account and you have to pass some sort of test of identifying photos of friends to get reinstated. And the worst part is the hacker can do it again — even if you change your passwords! Disturbing hole in the Facebook security — or is…
The beautiful thing about having missed AWP is that I can keep going today, after AWP is over! Looking for more poems about writing, today I pulled out Turtle Island, Gary Snyder‘s Pulitzer Prize winning poetry book. He read at AWP Denver in 2009, a brilliantly quiet and understated reading of concentration and polished intensity. Here’s one of his. Do you have a favorite poem about writing? As For Poets As for poetsThe Earth PoetsWho…
To celebrate this huge convention of writers, I’m giving myself a couple days of writerly retreat, reading, studying, writing, and listening. Here’s my favorite poem on writing, Stanley Kunitz’ perfect and transcendent The Round, which captures the ecstasy that keeps us moving the words forward. Kunitz used a perfect contrast as the center of his poem’s strategy in conveying this state universal to writers. He puts us writers in “the steamy old stinkpile” to which…
It’s all razzmatazz in the metaphor and slowslide down a jetlagged wall, the grunge and flash, the hugging, seeing, seen through windowpanes, and rapt, unwrapped, slapping silences after the end of the poem or the most absurd statement. And that’s why I will miss it — again. Mostly I don’t go to conferences and workshops. I loved the AWP I went to and swore never again. I made so many friends I still have and…
I did my NBT self-interview below, on the topic of my novel-in-progress, The Renaissance Club. Here’s TNBT from poet Sarah Sarai on her blog My 3,000 Loving Arms. The Next Big Thing asks the author to answer ten questions about his or her current writing project — could be poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Ren Powell tagged me, and I tagged Sarah and also Barbara Ellen Sorensen. Enjoy their interviews@ And stay tuned for more NBT…
In case any of you missed the fact that I maintain a list of publishers of poetry books that read outside of contests, here’s the link to my web page: Non-contest-poetry-book-publishers. If you have any additions, subtractions, or corrections, please email me or leave a reply here. And now … drumroll … for those of us again this year NOT going to AWP … I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED to discover that our cordial and…
Always cruising around to find good zines to send work to, good blogs to inspire and entertain me, I have recently enjoyed new work in the Manhattan-based BigCityLit. BigCityLit offers a profusion of categories, some of which I still don’t get, but here’s their basic on submitting: Individual Works: The New York edition accepts unsolicited submissions of individual poems for upcoming themes listed below and on the Home Page, whereby suggested themes are not intended…
Earth Lessons now on Kindle! I, who am famous for being opposed to poetry book contests (though I’ve entered my share), and about to venture my Book Left at the Altar to a few contests while also talking to some non-contest publishers. Who can solve the need for a new poetry book publishing paradigm, I wonder. Contests may give brief glory and a level up to the very few winners, but the fact that few…
I’m so excited that reissuing my first poetry collection, Earth Lessons, for the Kindle, has interested new readers. I love reading poetry books on my iPhone, and someday when I get a tablet, I’ll enjoy that form of reading too. Paper is nice, and poetry books are collectibles and even can be art objects, but let’s face it, a library in your pocket is excellent! Especially a poetry library. Thanks, those of you who got…