Call for Entries: "Women and Words"
A juried show at art6 Gallery for the month of April as part of MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts 2010. Curated by Shann Palmer.
Women artists and writers are encouraged to submit (in collaboration or individually) for this exhibit. Works must include text as part of the work. All media will be considered, though two-dimensional work will be favored for this particular show as we have limited areas for pedestals.
Size should be under 4 by 4 feet, please inquire before bringing or mailing anything larger. If a work is mailed, please include return postage if it is not selected or does not sell. Up to two pieces per artist will be considered.
The entry fee is as follows: $10.00 per piece for Art6 gallery members, $15.00 per piece for non-members. (Collaborators may send an additional piece each or another collaboration with a fee).
There is room for a few works by men about women (or women's words), but this is primarily an exhibit for women. All rules apply to men as written below.
We encourage you to price your work to sell, you will receive 70% of the selling fee, the gallery 30%. You may donate part or all of the proceeds to the gallery if you would like to help our gallery stay open, but this will not impact whether or not your piece is accepted.
We will accept work March 20th and March 27th during our Saturday hours 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Please call to make an appointment on other days- DO NOT COME TO THE GALLERY WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT ON OTHER DAYS. Call 804-343-1406, email at art6ebroad@gmail.com or contact Shann Palmer at 804-335-9403 to make an appointment or with questions.
The show runs from Friday April 2, 2010(opening night) through Saturday April 24, 2010. Works Must be picked up Sunday,April 25th during the hours of 2:30 to 4p.m. The gallery will not be responsible for works left after that date unless other arrangements have been made in advance with Shann
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Monday, March 08, 2010
Poetry at VCU- Linda Bierds
Acclaimed Poet Linda Bierds Reads at VCU
March 11, 2010 at 8:00 pm
VCU Harris Hall Auditorium
1015 Floyd Avenue
The Department of English and the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to host a reading by acclaimed poet, Linda Bierds. The reading will take place on Thursday, March 11, at 8 pm at the VCU Harris Hall Auditorium (1015 Floyd Avenue - PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A VENUE CHANGE FROM THE PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT).
Bierds has published eight books of poetry: Flights of the Harvest-Mare; The Stillness, the Dancing; Heart and Perimeter; The Ghost Trio (a 1994 Notable Book selection of the American Library Association); The Profile Makers (winner of the Pen West Poetry Prize); The Seconds; First Hand and Flight: New and Selected Poems (Putnam 2008) Her awards include four Pushcart Prizes, the Virginia Quarterly Review's 2005 Emily Clark Balch Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, the Guggenheim, and the MacArthur foundations, and twice from the NEA. She is a professor of English at the University of Washington.
Ms. Bierds will also be available for an open Q&A session at 4PM that Thursday afternoon at 4Pm in Hibbs Hall room 308. This session is free and open to the public.
This reading at VCU is one of several events for the Spring of 2010 sponsored by the VCU Department of English and the Graduate Writers Association. It is free and open to the public.
For more information, please contact (804) 828-1329.
Sorry I'm going to miss this- I'll be at a rehearsal! But YOU should go!
March 11, 2010 at 8:00 pm
VCU Harris Hall Auditorium
1015 Floyd Avenue
The Department of English and the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to host a reading by acclaimed poet, Linda Bierds. The reading will take place on Thursday, March 11, at 8 pm at the VCU Harris Hall Auditorium (1015 Floyd Avenue - PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A VENUE CHANGE FROM THE PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT).
Bierds has published eight books of poetry: Flights of the Harvest-Mare; The Stillness, the Dancing; Heart and Perimeter; The Ghost Trio (a 1994 Notable Book selection of the American Library Association); The Profile Makers (winner of the Pen West Poetry Prize); The Seconds; First Hand and Flight: New and Selected Poems (Putnam 2008) Her awards include four Pushcart Prizes, the Virginia Quarterly Review's 2005 Emily Clark Balch Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, the Guggenheim, and the MacArthur foundations, and twice from the NEA. She is a professor of English at the University of Washington.
Ms. Bierds will also be available for an open Q&A session at 4PM that Thursday afternoon at 4Pm in Hibbs Hall room 308. This session is free and open to the public.
This reading at VCU is one of several events for the Spring of 2010 sponsored by the VCU Department of English and the Graduate Writers Association. It is free and open to the public.
For more information, please contact (804) 828-1329.
Sorry I'm going to miss this- I'll be at a rehearsal! But YOU should go!
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Poetry Wednesday night at the Library of Virginia!
2010 Series Kicks Off with Poets Jake Adam York and Kathleen Graber
RICHMOND, VA – The Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Blackbird/New Virginia Review, the Library of Virginia and Chop Suey Books present the first installment in the 2010 Fresh Ink literary series on Wednesday, March 3. The on-going series of readings by emerging authors continues with a chapbook festival and a fiction reading later in the year. Poets Jake Adam York and Kathleen Graber read from their work beginning at 6 p.m. at the Library of Virginia. The reading is free and open to the public.
Jake Adam York is the author of three books of poems: Murder Ballads (2005); A Murmuration of Starlings (2008); and Persons Unknown (2010), forthcoming in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry as an editor’s selection. His work has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize and has placed in numerous competitions. York’s poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Oxford American, Greensboro Review, Southern Review, Poetry Daily, and other journals. His work of poetic history, The Architecture of Address: The Monument and Public Speech in American Poetry, was published by Routledge in 2005. York is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Colorado Denver, where he directs an undergraduate Creative Writing program and produces Copper Nickel with his students. York is also a contributing editor for Shenandoah, a co-editor of the online journal storySouth, and a founding editor of the electronic journal Thicket.
Kathleen Graber’s first collection of poetry, Correspondence, was the winner of the 2005 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She was the 2007 Hodder Fellow in Poetry at Princeton University and the 2008 Amy Lowell Traveling Scholar. She is a member of the creative writing faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, and her new collection of poems, The Eternal City, is forthcoming this summer from Princeton University Press. Poems from the new book are forthcoming this spring in Blackbird, The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, and AGNI.
Fresh Ink is supported in part by the Carole Weinstein Endowment for Creative Writing at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.
RICHMOND, VA – The Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Blackbird/New Virginia Review, the Library of Virginia and Chop Suey Books present the first installment in the 2010 Fresh Ink literary series on Wednesday, March 3. The on-going series of readings by emerging authors continues with a chapbook festival and a fiction reading later in the year. Poets Jake Adam York and Kathleen Graber read from their work beginning at 6 p.m. at the Library of Virginia. The reading is free and open to the public.
Jake Adam York is the author of three books of poems: Murder Ballads (2005); A Murmuration of Starlings (2008); and Persons Unknown (2010), forthcoming in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry as an editor’s selection. His work has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize and has placed in numerous competitions. York’s poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Oxford American, Greensboro Review, Southern Review, Poetry Daily, and other journals. His work of poetic history, The Architecture of Address: The Monument and Public Speech in American Poetry, was published by Routledge in 2005. York is an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Colorado Denver, where he directs an undergraduate Creative Writing program and produces Copper Nickel with his students. York is also a contributing editor for Shenandoah, a co-editor of the online journal storySouth, and a founding editor of the electronic journal Thicket.
Kathleen Graber’s first collection of poetry, Correspondence, was the winner of the 2005 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She was the 2007 Hodder Fellow in Poetry at Princeton University and the 2008 Amy Lowell Traveling Scholar. She is a member of the creative writing faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, and her new collection of poems, The Eternal City, is forthcoming this summer from Princeton University Press. Poems from the new book are forthcoming this spring in Blackbird, The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, and AGNI.
Fresh Ink is supported in part by the Carole Weinstein Endowment for Creative Writing at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
me and the RTD
“I never stop talking,” Shann Palmer said as she stood on the ragged wooden floor of art6, a gallery on East Broad Street. Palmer is passionate about so many things—the gallery, downtown Richmond, poetry, music, life in general—that her passion spills out in words.
Often, in fact, the words are written. Palmer is a poet known around Richmond for giving readings, organizing readings, volunteering at readings and encouraging other poets to read. She’s also a church organist and choir director.
Palmer is curator of “Women and Words,” an exhibit and series of readings that is art6’s contribution to
Minds Wide Open. She expects the exhibit will be “90 percent by women,” but she will include a few
works by men that pay tribute to women or are collaborations with a woman.
“It’s a marriage between spoken word and art,” she said. The visual art for the exhibit must include text
in some way, whether it’s a collage made from pages torn out of a book or words painted on the wall or even “a poem put in a frame and hung on the wall.”
Although art6 has had women-focused exhibits and literary events numerous times before, Minds Wide
Open is another opportunity for women to show their work and receive promotional assistance from
the statewide initiative.
“I’m certain there will be work created new for this exhibit,” Palmer said. “Some of us have trouble not
doing something new.”
“Women and Words” will run during April in honor of National Poetry Month.
beginning April 2 check www.art6.org for updates.
Often, in fact, the words are written. Palmer is a poet known around Richmond for giving readings, organizing readings, volunteering at readings and encouraging other poets to read. She’s also a church organist and choir director.
Palmer is curator of “Women and Words,” an exhibit and series of readings that is art6’s contribution to
Minds Wide Open. She expects the exhibit will be “90 percent by women,” but she will include a few
works by men that pay tribute to women or are collaborations with a woman.
“It’s a marriage between spoken word and art,” she said. The visual art for the exhibit must include text
in some way, whether it’s a collage made from pages torn out of a book or words painted on the wall or even “a poem put in a frame and hung on the wall.”
Although art6 has had women-focused exhibits and literary events numerous times before, Minds Wide
Open is another opportunity for women to show their work and receive promotional assistance from
the statewide initiative.
“I’m certain there will be work created new for this exhibit,” Palmer said. “Some of us have trouble not
doing something new.”
“Women and Words” will run during April in honor of National Poetry Month.
beginning April 2 check www.art6.org for updates.
photo by Alexa Wekch Edlund for the RTD
article by Angela Lehman-Rios
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The scary truth of too much poetry
The inevitable truth is here-
I know exactly how bookninja feels, at an event I attended the other night at least two people wrote something to read WHILE OTHER PEOPLE WERE READING. They were not participating in the experience, they were trying put some unfinished thoughts on paper so they could get up in front of everyone and share their mental drool. If I want raw, I'll eat my carrots uncooked.
That's not craft, that's not attention to words and the magic they hold. That's just masturbating in front of a microphone.
Yes, I host readings. Yes, I support my local poets. Jotting down your thoughts, journaling is not poetry. Writing while other people are reading is rude. Period.
(to be fair, I was not the host- who did an excellent job- and the event was an open mike, not a poetry reading. I'm still sick of it.)
I know exactly how bookninja feels, at an event I attended the other night at least two people wrote something to read WHILE OTHER PEOPLE WERE READING. They were not participating in the experience, they were trying put some unfinished thoughts on paper so they could get up in front of everyone and share their mental drool. If I want raw, I'll eat my carrots uncooked.
That's not craft, that's not attention to words and the magic they hold. That's just masturbating in front of a microphone.
Yes, I host readings. Yes, I support my local poets. Jotting down your thoughts, journaling is not poetry. Writing while other people are reading is rude. Period.
(to be fair, I was not the host- who did an excellent job- and the event was an open mike, not a poetry reading. I'm still sick of it.)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Women and words exhibit coming to art6
Women writers and artists wanted for an exhibit during April celebrating women and words.
If you are a poet or novelist, readings will be held. If you are a visual artist, you may collaborate with a woman writer or exhibit your work that has text as part of the art.
Work due by March 28th at art 6, 6 East Broad St, Richmond, VA 23219
For more information or specific entry requirements email shannp (at) gmail (dot) com
If you are a poet or novelist, readings will be held. If you are a visual artist, you may collaborate with a woman writer or exhibit your work that has text as part of the art.
Work due by March 28th at art 6, 6 East Broad St, Richmond, VA 23219
For more information or specific entry requirements email shannp (at) gmail (dot) com
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Books for Sale, mostly poetry (MORE!!)
Books for sale cheap- make me an offer ($3-$5 each) for one or more- all are paperback unless otherwise noted, most are poetry (a fewcommentary) If you are in or around Richmond, email me and we'll meet somewhere. Sometime you just have to make room for stuff.
(revised list 2-16-2010)
LIST ONE
Adair, Virginia Hamilton Ants on the melon (hardback)
Aiken, Conrad Selected poems
Alvarez, Julia Homecoming (poems)
Amichai, Yehuda The Selected Poems of...
Ammons, A,R, The Really Short Poems of....
Ashbery, John April Galleons
Belieu, Erin Infanta
Bendall, Mollie Dark Summer
Bernstein, Charles Dark City
Berrigan, Ted Selected Poems
Berrigan, Daniel And the Risen Bread
Carroll, Jim Fear of Dreaming
Clark, Jeff Music and Suicide
Clifton, Lucille The Book of Light
Cohen, Leonard The Spice Box of Earth
collection SLAM
collection Ain’t I a Woman (Hardback)
collection Victorian Woman Poets 1830-1900
Crawford, Robert Talkies
DiPrima, Diane Pieces of a Song
Disch, Thomas The Castle of indukgence
Doran, Geri Resin
Dunn, Stephen The Insistence of beauty
Glazner, Gary Poetry Slam
Gluck, Louise meadowlands
Gray, Janet A Hundred Flowers
Hegley, John Love Cuts
Holstad, Scott C. Artifacts (chapbook)
Jewel A Night Without Armor (hardback)
Levertov, Denise Poems 1968-1972
Logan, William Macbeth in Venice
Lourde, Audre The Marvelous Mathematics of Distance
Mueller, Lisel The Private Life
Nisbet, Jim Small Apt
Plath, Sylvia Ariel
Reed, Lou Between Thoughts and Expressions collected lyrics
Rich, Adrienne What is Found There (plus 2 other books in one)
Talcott, William Benita’s Book
Turow, David The Torchbearer
LIST TWO (even more)
List 2
Bain & Beatty Norton Intro to Lit 6th ed HC
Barratt, Michele ed Virginia Woolf on Woman and Writing
Bryan, edited Where We Stand Women Poets on Literary Tradition
Budbill, David Why I Came in Judeville
Clark, Tom Like Real People
Fenza, D.W. The Interlude
Gallassi, Jonathan North Street
Gluck, Louise Vita Nova
Graham, Jorie The Dream of the Unified Field
Graves, Robert Poems About War
Heany, Seamus Opened Ground Selected poems 66-96
Heyen, William Diana, Charles, and the Queen
Kennedy & Gioia An Intro to Fiction 2nd ed.
Kirchway, Karl The Engrafted Word
Lattimore, Richmond The Odyssey of Homer
Levin, Phillis The Penguin Book of the Sonnet (signed)
Lowell, Robert Selected Poems
Lux, Thomas new & Selected Poems
Matthews, William Selected poems & Translations 1969-91
McCartney, Paul Blackbird Singing
McGrath, Campbell Pax Atomica
Merwin, W.S. The Vixen
Moss, Thyllias Small Congregations
Nemcosky, K.B. Drift
Olds, Sharon The Wellspring
Percham, Robert Mythic Instinct Afternoon
Pinsky, Robert Jersey Rain HB
Pinsky, Robert The Figured Wheel
Rivard, David Wise Poem
Roethke, Theodore The Collected poems of...
Sappho A garland trans Jim Powell HB
Schmidt, Michael Lives of the Poet
Seaton, translation The Wine of Endless Song from the Yuan Dynasty
Shapiro, Alan Covenant
Simic, Charles The World doesn’t end
Smith, Patti Auguries of Innocense
St. John, David The Red leaves of Night
St. John, David The Face
Stevens, Wallace The Collected Poems of ... HB
Suziki, Shunyru Zen Mind, beginner’s Mind
Swenson, Cole Goest
Tost, Tony Invisible bride
Tweedy, Jeff Adult Head
Wakoski, Diane Jason the Sailor
Wakoski, Diane Medea
Walcott, Derek Collected poems 1948-84
Waldman, Anne Structure of the World Compared to a Bubble
Wat, Phyllis The Fish Soup Bowl Expedition
Watts, Alan The Spirit of Zen
Watts, Alan The Book
Whitman, Walt Everyman’s poetry edition
Wiese, Anne Pierson Floating City
Williams, W.C. Paterson
Wright, Charles Appalachia
Wright, Charles Black Zodiac HB
Wright, Charles Chickamauga
Yeats, W.B. Great Irish Poets HB
Yeats, W.B. The Collected Poems of .....
write shannp (at) gmail (dot) com
(revised list 2-16-2010)
LIST ONE
Adair, Virginia Hamilton Ants on the melon (hardback)
Aiken, Conrad Selected poems
Alvarez, Julia Homecoming (poems)
Amichai, Yehuda The Selected Poems of...
Ammons, A,R, The Really Short Poems of....
Ashbery, John April Galleons
Belieu, Erin Infanta
Bendall, Mollie Dark Summer
Bernstein, Charles Dark City
Berrigan, Ted Selected Poems
Berrigan, Daniel And the Risen Bread
Carroll, Jim Fear of Dreaming
Clark, Jeff Music and Suicide
Clifton, Lucille The Book of Light
Cohen, Leonard The Spice Box of Earth
collection SLAM
collection Ain’t I a Woman (Hardback)
collection Victorian Woman Poets 1830-1900
Crawford, Robert Talkies
DiPrima, Diane Pieces of a Song
Disch, Thomas The Castle of indukgence
Doran, Geri Resin
Dunn, Stephen The Insistence of beauty
Glazner, Gary Poetry Slam
Gluck, Louise meadowlands
Gray, Janet A Hundred Flowers
Hegley, John Love Cuts
Holstad, Scott C. Artifacts (chapbook)
Jewel A Night Without Armor (hardback)
Levertov, Denise Poems 1968-1972
Logan, William Macbeth in Venice
Lourde, Audre The Marvelous Mathematics of Distance
Mueller, Lisel The Private Life
Nisbet, Jim Small Apt
Plath, Sylvia Ariel
Reed, Lou Between Thoughts and Expressions collected lyrics
Rich, Adrienne What is Found There (plus 2 other books in one)
Talcott, William Benita’s Book
Turow, David The Torchbearer
LIST TWO (even more)
List 2
Bain & Beatty Norton Intro to Lit 6th ed HC
Barratt, Michele ed Virginia Woolf on Woman and Writing
Bryan, edited Where We Stand Women Poets on Literary Tradition
Budbill, David Why I Came in Judeville
Clark, Tom Like Real People
Fenza, D.W. The Interlude
Gallassi, Jonathan North Street
Gluck, Louise Vita Nova
Graham, Jorie The Dream of the Unified Field
Graves, Robert Poems About War
Heany, Seamus Opened Ground Selected poems 66-96
Heyen, William Diana, Charles, and the Queen
Kennedy & Gioia An Intro to Fiction 2nd ed.
Kirchway, Karl The Engrafted Word
Lattimore, Richmond The Odyssey of Homer
Levin, Phillis The Penguin Book of the Sonnet (signed)
Lowell, Robert Selected Poems
Lux, Thomas new & Selected Poems
Matthews, William Selected poems & Translations 1969-91
McCartney, Paul Blackbird Singing
McGrath, Campbell Pax Atomica
Merwin, W.S. The Vixen
Moss, Thyllias Small Congregations
Nemcosky, K.B. Drift
Olds, Sharon The Wellspring
Percham, Robert Mythic Instinct Afternoon
Pinsky, Robert Jersey Rain HB
Pinsky, Robert The Figured Wheel
Rivard, David Wise Poem
Roethke, Theodore The Collected poems of...
Sappho A garland trans Jim Powell HB
Schmidt, Michael Lives of the Poet
Seaton, translation The Wine of Endless Song from the Yuan Dynasty
Shapiro, Alan Covenant
Simic, Charles The World doesn’t end
Smith, Patti Auguries of Innocense
St. John, David The Red leaves of Night
St. John, David The Face
Stevens, Wallace The Collected Poems of ... HB
Suziki, Shunyru Zen Mind, beginner’s Mind
Swenson, Cole Goest
Tost, Tony Invisible bride
Tweedy, Jeff Adult Head
Wakoski, Diane Jason the Sailor
Wakoski, Diane Medea
Walcott, Derek Collected poems 1948-84
Waldman, Anne Structure of the World Compared to a Bubble
Wat, Phyllis The Fish Soup Bowl Expedition
Watts, Alan The Spirit of Zen
Watts, Alan The Book
Whitman, Walt Everyman’s poetry edition
Wiese, Anne Pierson Floating City
Williams, W.C. Paterson
Wright, Charles Appalachia
Wright, Charles Black Zodiac HB
Wright, Charles Chickamauga
Yeats, W.B. Great Irish Poets HB
Yeats, W.B. The Collected Poems of .....
write shannp (at) gmail (dot) com
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Tony Hoagland's new poetry book is here!!!
Waiting for my copies of Tony Hoagland's new book
Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty
It's on the way from Fountain Books (my favorite local independent bookseller). I finally had to call and say "mail it". I don't know when we will have spring/no snow-
Here's a tiny bit for you to savor:
_______________________________________________
Dialectical Materialism
My god there is so much sorrow in the grocery store!
You would have to be high
on the fumes of the piped-in pan flutes
of commodified Peruvian folk music
not to be driven practically crazy
with awe and shame,
not to weep at the scale of subjected matter:
the ripped-up etymologies of kiwi fruit and bratwurst,
the roads paved with dead languages,
the jungles digested by foreign money.
Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty
It's on the way from Fountain Books (my favorite local independent bookseller). I finally had to call and say "mail it". I don't know when we will have spring/no snow-
Here's a tiny bit for you to savor:
_______________________________________________
Dialectical Materialism
My god there is so much sorrow in the grocery store!
You would have to be high
on the fumes of the piped-in pan flutes
of commodified Peruvian folk music
not to be driven practically crazy
with awe and shame,
not to weep at the scale of subjected matter:
the ripped-up etymologies of kiwi fruit and bratwurst,
the roads paved with dead languages,
the jungles digested by foreign money.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Poetry This Week- Perloff at UR and Art After Hours at VMFA
WEDNESDAY -
UR Writers Series: Marjorie Perloff — The American poetry critic and author in program at 7 p.m. in the Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall, University of Richmond. Free.
THURSDAY -
Art After Hours at the Virginia Museum- Tarfia Faizullah
Maybe the snow will be gone enough to get a place to park!
UR Writers Series: Marjorie Perloff — The American poetry critic and author in program at 7 p.m. in the Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall, University of Richmond. Free.
THURSDAY -
Art After Hours at the Virginia Museum- Tarfia Faizullah
Maybe the snow will be gone enough to get a place to park!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Art After Hours at the Virginia Museum- poetry and more
January 28
MUSIC: Crown Vic - Alt-Country Rock
6:30 & 7 pm ART OF POETRY: Caroline Cahill
7 & 7:30 pm TOPIC TOUR: Art a la carte
for more info go HERE
MUSIC: Crown Vic - Alt-Country Rock
6:30 & 7 pm ART OF POETRY: Caroline Cahill
7 & 7:30 pm TOPIC TOUR: Art a la carte
for more info go HERE
Friday, January 22, 2010
What He Said...
read about the supposed demise of poetry readers here
Dream On:
James Tate
Some people go their whole lives
without ever writing a single poem.
Extraordinary people who don't hesitate
to cut somebody's heart or skull open.
They go to baseball games with the greatest of ease.
and play a few rounds of golf as if it were nothing.
These same people stroll into a church
as if that were a natural part of life.
Investing money is second nature to them.
They contribute to political campaigns
that have absolutely no poetry in them
and promise none for the future.
They sit around the dinner table at night
and pretend as though nothing is missing.
Their children get caught shoplifting at the mall
and no one admits that it is poetry they are missing.
The family dog howls all night,
lonely and starving for more poetry in his life.
Why is it so difficult for them to see
that, without poetry, their lives are effluvial.
Sure, they have their banquets, their celebrations,
croquet, fox hunts, their sea shores and sunsets,
their cocktails on the balcony, dog races,
and all that kissing and hugging, and don't
forget the good deeds, the charity work,
nursing the baby squirrels all through the night,
filling the birdfeeders all winter,
helping the stranger change her tire.
Still, there's that disagreeable exhalation
from decaying matter, subtle but everpresent.
They walk around erect like champions.
They are smooth-spoken and witty.
When alone, rare occasion, they stare
into the mirror for hours, bewildered.
There was something they meant to say, but didn't:
"And if we put the statue of the rhinoceros
next to the tweezers, and walk around the room three times,
learn to yodel, shave our heads, call
our ancestors back from the dead--"
poetrywise it's still a bust, bankrupt.
You haven't scribbled a syllable of it.
You're a nowhere man misfiring
the very essence of your life, flustering
nothing from nothing and back again.
The hereafter may not last all that long.
Radiant childhood sweetheart,
secret code of everlasting joy and sorrow,
fanciful pen strokes beneath the eyelids:
all day, all night meditation, knot of hope,
kernel of desire, pure ordinariness of life
seeking, through poetry, a benediction
or a bed to lie down on, to connect, reveal,
explore, to imbue meaning on the day's extravagant labor.
And yet it's cruel to expect too much.
It's a rare species of bird
that refuses to be categorized.
Its song is barely audible.
It is like a dragonfly in a dream--
here, then there, then here again,
low-flying amber-wing darting upward
then out of sight.
And the dream has a pain in its heart
the wonders of which are manifold,
or so the story is told.
(article pointed out by poet Sam Rasnake)
Dream On:
James Tate
Some people go their whole lives
without ever writing a single poem.
Extraordinary people who don't hesitate
to cut somebody's heart or skull open.
They go to baseball games with the greatest of ease.
and play a few rounds of golf as if it were nothing.
These same people stroll into a church
as if that were a natural part of life.
Investing money is second nature to them.
They contribute to political campaigns
that have absolutely no poetry in them
and promise none for the future.
They sit around the dinner table at night
and pretend as though nothing is missing.
Their children get caught shoplifting at the mall
and no one admits that it is poetry they are missing.
The family dog howls all night,
lonely and starving for more poetry in his life.
Why is it so difficult for them to see
that, without poetry, their lives are effluvial.
Sure, they have their banquets, their celebrations,
croquet, fox hunts, their sea shores and sunsets,
their cocktails on the balcony, dog races,
and all that kissing and hugging, and don't
forget the good deeds, the charity work,
nursing the baby squirrels all through the night,
filling the birdfeeders all winter,
helping the stranger change her tire.
Still, there's that disagreeable exhalation
from decaying matter, subtle but everpresent.
They walk around erect like champions.
They are smooth-spoken and witty.
When alone, rare occasion, they stare
into the mirror for hours, bewildered.
There was something they meant to say, but didn't:
"And if we put the statue of the rhinoceros
next to the tweezers, and walk around the room three times,
learn to yodel, shave our heads, call
our ancestors back from the dead--"
poetrywise it's still a bust, bankrupt.
You haven't scribbled a syllable of it.
You're a nowhere man misfiring
the very essence of your life, flustering
nothing from nothing and back again.
The hereafter may not last all that long.
Radiant childhood sweetheart,
secret code of everlasting joy and sorrow,
fanciful pen strokes beneath the eyelids:
all day, all night meditation, knot of hope,
kernel of desire, pure ordinariness of life
seeking, through poetry, a benediction
or a bed to lie down on, to connect, reveal,
explore, to imbue meaning on the day's extravagant labor.
And yet it's cruel to expect too much.
It's a rare species of bird
that refuses to be categorized.
Its song is barely audible.
It is like a dragonfly in a dream--
here, then there, then here again,
low-flying amber-wing darting upward
then out of sight.
And the dream has a pain in its heart
the wonders of which are manifold,
or so the story is told.
(article pointed out by poet Sam Rasnake)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Art After Hours- Tonight!! Poet Sandra Beasley! MoDebree!!
serious fun will be had by all at the Virginia Museum!
6-9pm
poetry 6:30 & 7:30
come out of the cold rain!!
$10, cash bar, cash for food or just dance and party down!
6-9pm
poetry 6:30 & 7:30
come out of the cold rain!!
$10, cash bar, cash for food or just dance and party down!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Contemporary poetry tricks (and tips)
This is a great post over at HTML blog-
moves in contemporary poetry
I do many of these- hmmm- good to know.
moves in contemporary poetry
I do many of these- hmmm- good to know.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Shann Palmer reading poetry for First Friday
Come to the Richmond Public Library and hear Shann Palmer read her poetry along with Tom Prunier in their acclaimed show "Big Man, Little Woman."
"We begin at 7pm and go until they throw us out. We will have chapbooks and other items for sale." Shann Palmer (in an interview for her blog page.)
"The lightning round had me rolling in laughter- these two really know how to sling words!" William Talcott, The Dead Poets Literary Journal, San Francisco.
"Why isn't Shann Palmer famous?" Stephanie Scott, La Porte Herald (Texas)
Part of the First Friday venue, Shann Palmer is coordinator at art6 gallery, one of the Style Magazine Richmonders of the Year. Tom Prunier is a nationally known Slam Poet.
"We begin at 7pm and go until they throw us out. We will have chapbooks and other items for sale." Shann Palmer (in an interview for her blog page.)
"The lightning round had me rolling in laughter- these two really know how to sling words!" William Talcott, The Dead Poets Literary Journal, San Francisco.
"Why isn't Shann Palmer famous?" Stephanie Scott, La Porte Herald (Texas)
Part of the First Friday venue, Shann Palmer is coordinator at art6 gallery, one of the Style Magazine Richmonders of the Year. Tom Prunier is a nationally known Slam Poet.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy new year- here's a poem for today!
Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Come to the Richmond Public Library, downtown branch, for First Friday on January 8th!!
At 7pm, Tom Prunier and Shann Palmer will be reprising (and revising) their show:
BIG MAN/Little Woman
We read our original poetry, have a little poem lightning round, and tell you what's what in our inimitable ways.
and yes, I know January 1st is First Friday, but the downtown arts community decided that was just not a good idea- so we moved it!
At 7pm, Tom Prunier and Shann Palmer will be reprising (and revising) their show:
BIG MAN/Little Woman
We read our original poetry, have a little poem lightning round, and tell you what's what in our inimitable ways.
and yes, I know January 1st is First Friday, but the downtown arts community decided that was just not a good idea- so we moved it!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
An interview with Tony Hoagland, my favorite poet!
Check out this page- bookmark if you love poetry!
Tony Hoagland will be reading at the Library of Congress this Thursday at 6:45pm.
Would anyone like to go? I can pay for gas.
Tony Hoagland will be reading at the Library of Congress this Thursday at 6:45pm.
Would anyone like to go? I can pay for gas.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
FIRST FRIDAY Fundraiser PREVIEW TONIGHT at art6 and Artspace
FIRST FRIDAY PREVIEW TONIGHT at art6 and Artspace
6-10 pm, tickets reserved by phone (343-1406) are $25 (pay at will-call) $30 at the door.
There will be donated platters from local restaurants, a free drink at each gallery, cash bar, and a chance to see the THINKsmall5 show before anyone else in Richmond.
It's also a fundraiser and we need the funds. Grants have been cut, fewer people can afford art, rent is up and revenue is down.
We need you. Please come and see the art, It will be a smaller crowd than First Friday and a lot of great art sells tonight, you'll miss your chance if you wait.
Every two years, THINKsmall happens! This year we have over 300 artists involved from Short Pump to Budapest.
Come support local art, we won't be here long if you don't!
6-10 pm, tickets reserved by phone (343-1406) are $25 (pay at will-call) $30 at the door.
There will be donated platters from local restaurants, a free drink at each gallery, cash bar, and a chance to see the THINKsmall5 show before anyone else in Richmond.
It's also a fundraiser and we need the funds. Grants have been cut, fewer people can afford art, rent is up and revenue is down.
We need you. Please come and see the art, It will be a smaller crowd than First Friday and a lot of great art sells tonight, you'll miss your chance if you wait.
Every two years, THINKsmall happens! This year we have over 300 artists involved from Short Pump to Budapest.
Come support local art, we won't be here long if you don't!
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