Rubbin' elbow grease with writers

at the James River Writers festival-

Last today and best- Diane Mott Davidson- the culinary mystery writer - and a really nice person! She did at least 2 sessions today not feeling well, but didn't say a word about it until the end (and only to the last three people in the room). Had great advice, solid 'do your homework' stuff, sure, nothing new, but she's so personable and smart- I can't wait to hear her again tomorrow! (Jann Malone is a great interviewer, too).

Frankly, the attendees seem to be a step up this year- I never heard the idiot questions (maybe I was facilitating good sessions) but this group seems sharp, smart, and deadly serious about craft. No 'where do you get your ideas?' or 'how do I make money?'.

The poetry session was pretty good- though the title was a little off-putting "Happy poems-Are they ever possible?" The usual suspects were there: Claudia Emerson, Buffy Morgan, David Wojahn, Ron Smith (I do love them all, particularly Claudia, but geez- are there no other affordable poets in driving distance? - see below -My complaints are moot- I think there was only one hardcore poet in the crowd anyway- me- the rest were fans or dabblers).

Like most panels with indeterminate subjects (example:the memoir session hit the ground running)- it started off like an awkward first date- a little tentative until everyone got into a groove deciding what the title of the session really meant- I'm not really sure it got there, but the charm of the panel won at last, mostly due to dog doo and pigeon poo poems (sigh).
note to shann- the conference needs a way to make additional handouts when needed or tell panelists to not bring them

Maybe I'm a little spoiled by the Dodge Poetry Festival, where only Sharon Olds and Brenda Hillman comported themselves like goofball types who wandered all over the page and insisted on body parts as poetic device- everything else there was amazing!

but I digress- no one here was a goofball- though a personal note to David Wojahn- don't quote David Byrne to an over-sixty audience and think they'll get it- they won't. And maybe edit for time-

just saying (I liked the poem BTW)

tomorrow is another day....

and a little more about THIS and THAT
I think I offended a friend earlier this year by speaking my mind, but there must be a way to make poetry more important (and not so local) at one of these gigs- how about Charles Jensen from the Poetry Center? James Harms from West Virginia? BJ Ward (in New Jersey), I could go on- Ted Genoways was here Wednesday night- I dunno- I could suggest a dozen poets.

The other thing- David Robbins listed a zillion Richmond writers and not ONE poet- I know he could care about poetry, but we are actual writers- Diane Mott Davidson, upon being asked who she is reading right now listed poets- even the fact she'd just gotten Billy Collin's new book in the mail before she left-

Full disclosure- I'm a volunteer, I didn't pay to attend. I did, however, work all day today. With only one poetry session paneled by folks I already know well, I can't recommend this conference to a writer who only writes poetry.

another rewrite (here today, gone tomorrow)

'poem removed, you missed it!

Excellent reading by Kevin McFadden and Ted Genoway last night at the Library of Virginia- terribly underattended, though- a lot of people missed some excellent poetry!

* poem removed*

Two Local Poets make good!!

Check out these two over in the 40 under 40 list at STYLE!

Allison Titus and Joshua Poteet

Support Your Local Poets!!

(IOW BUY THEIR BOOKS- order from Fountain Bookstore, local independent!)

Tonight- Poetry at the Library of Virginia

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

The Poetry of Ted Genoways and Kevin McFadden

Time: 6:00 PM–7:30 PMPlace: Lecture Hall, Library of Virginia FREE EVENT

Join us for poetry readings by Ted Genoways (Anna, Washing: Poems) and Kevin McFadden (Hardscrabble). Genoways, the editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, won the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize for Bullroarer, his first book of poems. Anna, Washing features poetry set in the 1897 Klondike gold rush. McFadden, associate program director for the Virginia Festival for the Book, has published in a wide array of journals, including Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and Southern Review. McFadden’s Hardscrabble examines American identity through the latent possibilities of language. Co-sponsored by the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

chicks read

Womenspeak, all-female, all writers read tomorrow at art6 gallery from 3-5pm.

come listen, come Support

your local poets!

Billy Collins new book- buy it in hardback

You will want to, after reading this review

I saw Collins read at least three times at the Dodge festival last week. He is charming, funny, wry, and an excellent poet. I've heard people dismiss his work- well, whatever- there are plenty of poets to read out there, he's just one-one of MY favorites.

I read about half of the new book and found so many of the poems to be spot-on as a voice of my world. He's a bit older than I am- nine years- but still close to all the things I know and have seen. Together, we've seen the Twilight Zone, the Cleavers, the Kennedy's, watched cigarettes go from a relaxing weight-control aid to a horror movie monster. He knows my language (as does Tony Hoagland- my FAVORITE poet).

He read the poem "January in Paris"- it is a wonderfully crafted piece. Or is he just blowing smoke?

and another one bites the dust

Hayden Carruth died last night.

Here's from the Poetry Foundation

If you don't know his work, I suggest looking him up.

here

and here, here, here.

palin as post turtle

Too fricking funny...

"You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, she'll stay up there until someone takes her down, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with."

Poetry Bailout!! News

from Charles Bernstein

and poets talking trash about the GOP (Imagine!!)

(thank you, Ron Silliman, for keeping the links going concerning the word)

and from Clive James, part of a poem I must find the rest of... link to review

The book of my enemy has been remaindered
And I am pleased.
In vast quantities it has been remaindered.
Like a van-load of counterfeit that has been seized
And sits in piles in a police warehouse,
My enemy’s much-praised effort sits in piles
In the kind of bookshop where remaindering occurs.
Great, square stacks of rejected books and, between them, aisles
One passes down reflecting on life’s vanities,
Pausing to remember all those thoughtful reviews
Lavished to no avail upon one’s enemy’s book —
For behold, here is that book
Among these ranks and banks of duds,
These ponderous and seemingly irreducible cairns
Of complete stiffs.

(thanks, Jilly Dybka and her Poetry Hut)

Back from the land of poets! (New Jersey?? R U kidding?)

The 2008 Dodge Poetry Festival was amazing, frustrating, inspiring, and WET.

They must view it like the state fair here- a bringer of rain!

But, ah, the poetry!! A surprise visit last night by Gerald Stern, two hours with Billy Collins, a set as long with Ted Kooser, a joyful meeting with Naomi Shihab Nye, a reunion with Jane Hirshfield.

And more, so very much more!

I have a bag full of wet, stinky clothes, a few books, and the realization that poetry is not as dead as it sometimes seems here in Richmond, that poets are not all selfish and annoying, that some poets will walk miles to hear the right words in the right order...

and relearned that I am a poet because I write and read poetry, not because of an open mike and a captive audience.

Thank you Tom and David A. You are dear friends and I treasure your support.

off to the festival!

Fend for yourselves, family!

I'm off to the wilds of New Jersey for the Dodge Poetry festival!

See ya Sunday!

from a poet who won't be at the Dodge Festival

Wendy Cope- her thoughts on poetry and process

She's one of the few poets who will not be in attendance at the Dodge Poetry Festival, where I will be from September 25th- 28th. Twenty-thousand people, that's what they expect!

I wonder how many are poets? Half? More than half??

That's way too many poets in one place.

Even if I'm one of them.

Oh constant reader, did I tell you I'll be one of the poets featured at Art After Hours at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this coming January? It looks like Jan. 15, 2009 will be my spot.

Be there. I promise a good show!

A review of a reading- He's bona fide-

Matthew Donovan, that is- recent winner of the Levis Prize for a first or second book at VCU.

The reading was held in a truncated ballroom in the student commons last night- the worst room ever. It was claustrophobic and packed (young things required to be there- at least they were quiet and stayed for the entire event). I can't blame the English department, VCU has its ways, but this was pretty awful. There were not enough seats, some folks stood throughout. It was stuffy and claustrophobic.

It's difficult to say how it affected the reading, I heard several people complain of neck strain. I sat in the front row on the end, completely sideways in my chair.

Greg Donovan did his usual anecdotal "Larry Levis Lore" talk, always interesting - he seemed a bit uncomfortable, I can't help thinking the venue contributed.

Matthew Donovan (no relation to Greg) is a charming fellow, kind on the eyes, and has a great poet voice. His explanations for poems and process were appropriate (particularly since the crowd was not limited to POETS but filled with have-to-be-theres). I still wait for the writer who can balance explanations and poetry without saying too much-

The reception was 'around the corner' (but enough kvetching about location) and he affably signed books at the nice reception afterward.

Tumbling through his book at home was much better than the event, not because of him- he reads very, very well- but because his poetry is smart, funny (not ha-ha funny but witty) and mixes poetic language with current culture (I love the musical references, but I would). If I had to find fault, I'd have to say there is too much myth-tossing, too many locations- though in general the work holds together well and I will be rereading the whole in the coming week.

I'd love to know what the other, say, top ten contenders were- and specific reasons why THIS book (other than Mark Doty loving it). Only one poem sticks to me personally, the rest leave my head almost immediately as I turn the page.

That's not all his doing- I have a very specific range of work I cherish- there's so much poetry out there I don't feel obligated to love it all equally. I recognize competence, appreciate craft and all that, but the words that wrench me long after I read the page have to contain certain elements.

I have to be personally engaged, to understand what's happening, almost compelled to read a particular poem again RIGHT THEN. I don't mind doing a little research, or a word, or being befuddled occasionally- but don't bore me with your trip to Italy or Spain, don't hold yourself above me with your education and please don't try to talk in a voice you think is beneath you- or above you.

Does Donovan fit my narrow view? Ummm- yes and no. A few poems captured me, one in particular, but so many are just on the edge of academic over-write- the edge, mind you- that I'm not sure this book will come down from my shelf much, or ever after this week. What I do expect is more from him in the future, that Vellum will be a first book that demonstrates he deserves some poetic notice.

On the net, I read a some of the other reviews for this book. In general, the community sure does rally behind its children- most of the writers were full of overblown crap IMO. Those of us outside the clique have nothing to lose by saying our piece- this is an okay book, just okay. I like supporting poets, get books signed when I get a chance to see the poet in person, but I probably wouldn't have bought it without him being here in person. Just my take.

poetic aspirations? Smoke if ya got 'em

Amy King says.....

You will not have roses thrown at your feet. You will not make money. You will not become the celebrated guest poet at universities & bookstores coast-to-coast. You will not be invited to read your poetry all over the world. You will not have multiple book release parties. You will not be discovered and heralded as the next John Ashbery or Billy Collins or Elizabeth Bishop or Sylvia Plath or Ubermensch or Charles Bernstein or Susan Howe or Maya Angelou or John Cage or Lyn Hejinian or Rae Armantrout or Alice Notley. You simply will not.

Anyone who says otherwise is a LIAR!

yup

Thursday, Levis Prize Reading

2008 Winner- Matthew Donovan for Vellum

Thursday
VCU
8pm
Student Commons, Commonwealth A

If you care about poetry, you won't miss this!

First Poetic Principles reading cancelled

Poet Betty Adcock will not be reading at the Virginia Museum next Wednesday, September 17th for the Poetic Principle series. I don't have any information on why, only that she had to cancel. The web page has not been updated but Ron Epps, at VMFA informed me.

The series will begin with Virginia Poet Laureate Pulitzer and Weinstein Prize winning poet Claudia Emerson on November 5th at 6pm.

In the meantime, go hear Matt Donovan read at VCU on Thursday 8pm.

Here's a Betty Adcock poem for your perusal:


Why White Southern Poets Write the Way We Do

Because we were the last ones deserted
by the God of visions and serpents—

because an August field can levitate
on the ratcheting din of cicadas,

and the magnolia, offering its melted candles,
burns invisible prayers onto sunlight—

because every one of us has at least one
relative who plowed poor with a mule—

because the dead still enter our sleep as columns
of figures on the debit side of the ledger,

and there are darker voices in which we cannot speak,
black ghosts, smoke hanging in the twilit liveoaks—

because we found the broken words everywhere,
rolling like loose beads under the chiffonier,

and we weren't suspicious when our breath
restrung them in patterns heavy as scripture—

because a mist can sit in a pasture
like a cloud in a basket—

we never stopped believing the hoop snake
really does roll to assert the compass of time,
framing the vanished, the exiled dreamers, even
ourselves rising to occasion, almost reprieved
as the weed-strangled fields rise in autumn fire
to dance, to sing anyhow, to grieve.

short poems

Thanks, Tom- but the poems are gone now.

Good reasons to be a poet

from poet Reginald Shepherd, who died September 10th.


I write because I would like to live forever...

I write not to be bored...

And never to forget beauty, however strange or difficult.

more info and a poemfrom Harriet

Support the Arts!! be a Borgia!!

By supporting the artist- yeah, that's the ticket!

This July, I attended West Virginia Writer's Workshop at West Virginia University to study with Denise Duhamel (who is wonderful). I am going to attend the Dodge Poetry Festival September 25-29. This has all kind of tapped me out, though I have four part-time jobs (I also volunteer at the gallery and the Virginia Museum).

If anyone would like to contribute to the cause of poet- you can send a check to art 6 Gallery care of my name and I guarantee I will use it wisely. This is your chance to be like one of the great patrons of days long past!! You could be a modern day Borgia!! No poison involved!

Shann Palmer is certainly a non-profit entity, though not by the legal definition, but think of it as a mitzvah as the holidays approach- no, I'm not Jewish but I try to do a good thing every day myself.

Or you could stop by the gallery Thursday-Sunday and buy my chapbooks, poetry bags, and CD.

Or commission a poem!

yeah- all that- of course, I know personally most of the folks who read my blog and I know you could use the same favor. I should be grateful I have a healthy family, all the food I need, and a roof over my head. Every poet I know could use a patron. Bless us every one!!

Send it to the gallery instead as a donation- or any gallery of your choice! Or any poet of your choice!

Then go here or here or here or here or here and read a poem- it will make your world a better place!