I had several conversations today about how to fit a creative live (non-paying, of course) into the necessary life (maintaining the material aspects – body, dwelling, dependents, etc.). One of the most interesting questions I was asked was “What is important to you about reading books?” I surprised myself by answering without hesitation, “Learning about myself.” Of course we want to learn about each other and about the world around and beyond us, but what…
Over at Mindbook, T.R. Hummer is being witty about Ascent magazine going digital — “killing paper.” WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH PAPER? Did they blog on vellum — a laborious process, but you know there had to be some bored monks who availed themselves of the odd piece of sheepskin to vent — about how terrible was this new thing, the printing press? How it spelled the END OF CIVILIZATION? (Sorry for all the shouting.)…
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend. I ended mine with the news that six of my poems that had previously been featured in Fringe Magazine would be featured this week in a Vintage Fringe issue, one of a series of features from past issues. The issue is now up, and I’m very happy to have this feature re-emerge, thanks to the interest of the editors at Fringe. (By the way, if you’re on…
This just in from Poetry Hut Blog: Psychological Therapy 32 Times More Cost Effective at Increasing Happiness Than Money. Apparently, money can buy you love, but you have to know where to spend it. At the therapist’s. And that is just one sample of why you should read Jilly Dybka’s Poetry Hut Blog. Kelli Russell Agodon has a wonderfully honest and inspiring blog, History of a Manuscript, about how long it took her to win…
I’m assessing which contests to enter my manuscript in, and one of the surprising elements are the perks you get just for entering. I find it makes a difference to me to get a copy of the winning book, even if the entry fee is $5 more. It also makes a difference if they name the judge in advance. I mean, there are just some poets who aren’t going to like my work. I know…
Susan Rich’s blog, The Alchemist’s Kitchen, has just the right recipe to make a delicious read: a little memoir, some travel, tips on such lit-biz topics as how to successfully apply for a residency and the fact that women poets might have an edge now in submitting to the Southern Review, as well as notable literary events, like the celebration of Madeleine DeFrees’ 90th birthday at Elliot Bay Books. Susan, I’ve added yours to my…
Have you encountered the new-new thing? It’s Facebook for poets, a new site called ReadWritePoem. Now, I know what you’re thinking — one MORE social networking site to keep up with? Of course, if you have FriendFeed, keeping up with all your social nets is easy, but even if you don’t, just imagine it: Facebook only for poets! Founder Dana Guthrie Martin’s idea is in its infancy, but think Google when it was just a…
Those of us who cherish the book, a thing to hold in the hand, sometimes a literary object that also has visual beauty, find the new world of poetry publishing morphing into something electronic so fast you can almost hear the quarks fizz past. Tonight I encountered the inevitable consequence of the increasingly new way to submit poems, using online “submission managers.” Concomitant with online submitting is getting rejections via email, which means even on…
My father is dying. When I got the news, and before I can get there to see him, I found myself wanting to reread — and possibly rewrite — my memoir of growing up with the crazy rocket engineer. Rocket Lessons has not (yet) sold, but I can post a few excerpts here to give you an idea. It’s really why I started this blog, to surface the book. I think I really will have…
I did it. I joined National Novel Writing Month, better known by the unpronounceable acronym as NaNoWriMo. The compact is to write novel in a month. A novel, for those who haven’t yet googled word count for it, is 40,000 words. I started with 11,000 of a novel I began four years ago and keep meaning to get back to. So now I must do something along the lines of 1,200 words a day. Nobody…