So much is written about writing craft — I have a shelf full of books on poetics and two shelves full on the craft of prose (prosetics?) — yet very little is written about the things on which we write. I don’t mean keyboards or papers but the actual surfaces, which increasingly come to my attention as they distract me from my craft or art. For years I labored day and night at a desk…
Fringe publishes work that’s lively, accessible and fresh. Poetry editor Anna Lena Phillips focuses on just a few poems from one poet per issue (nice to be able to study several pieces by one poet). They also have a “Longer Poetry” that provides for the rare online appearance of multi-page pieces. In Issue 4, which featured a suite of my poems, there was also a wonderful long piece by Barbara Crooker, ” Not to be…
Friends of mine have organized what is sure to be a moving, vibrant and beautiful choral concert, Love’s Perfect Design. The event, to be held on Sunday, November 19 at 3 pm at Grace Cathedral, will honor David Hogan, a composer of liturgical music and conductor of several Bay Area choruses. David died ten years ago in the crash of TWA Flight 800. His daughter, Hilary Hogan, has followed in her father’s musical footsteps and…
By popular request, another installment in the memoir of growing up rocket. This one’s prompted by the photo of the Monterey coast in my last post. Anemone As we blew into the air tubes, she crossed her eyes and ballooned her cheeks so I would forget that my father had demoted me from being fisherman’s helper to being Mother’s little helper. After we blew up the air mattresses, Mom and I ambled over the white…
Title for this photograph? (comments welcome) Titling poems is my bete noir (hey, that might make a good title). I have found it so difficult I had to research all the existing articles on the subject, and found there were almost none. So I wrote one, which is often the way I learn something — researching it and collecting the information in my own article, which can be found here, in a back issue of…
I heard from Poetry Editor Meghan O’Rourke that The Paris Review has modified its policy on poetry submissions, as follows: The Paris Review will continue to publish portfolios, but will now in addition publish single poems in some issues. According to O’Rourke, the decision was about publishing only poets in portfolio, then quickly unmade because there were simply too many good one-off poems to turn them all down. They now alternate issues with folios —…
The Seneca Review, where Deborah Tall is editor and they are promoting a new species they’re calling the lyric essay. I landed a lyric essay there, a short, wild thing I didn’t know what to call. Also, don’t forget Kaleidowhirl, Cindy Reynolds’ fascinating online quarterly. Get in on the ground floor, before it really whirls away. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Good place to send work if you’re a woman, that is. Womb will launch with a January 1 issue they say will be “innovative, intriguing and electrifying.” They also plan to put together a comprehensive blogroll of poets who blog. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Oh my gosh. Visit https://racheldacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus.
Kate Benedict’s new venture, Umbrella, is looking for essays on poetry as well as new work. She’s also willing to publish already published pieces. Bravo! for this. A pet peeve of mine is that in most cases a poem’s debut is also its swansong. The insane preference for “new work” is ridiculous and vain among editors. As though a good poem deserves only one outing. How would you like to have had only one date…