tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post1198348441594674445..comments2024-02-10T03:45:25.354-05:00Comments on Blogalicious: Poetry Salon: Susan RichDiane Lockwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07614479152159652577noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-91990351607322220092010-07-10T01:58:03.251-04:002010-07-10T01:58:03.251-04:00Thanks so much, Stella. I am honored by your words...Thanks so much, Stella. I am honored by your words of praise. Here's a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lime. Stay cool.Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-18342544320260849592010-07-09T18:22:03.076-04:002010-07-09T18:22:03.076-04:00Thank you Susan, yes, I’d love a drink. A cool gla...Thank you Susan, yes, I’d love a drink. A cool glass of sparkling water, maybe, given this heat. <br />Thank you for your answer too. I admire the lyrical beauty of your poems, in particular how – however “slow” or difficult the process of writing may have been – the finished poems face their subject without losing their equilibrium: each poem achieving a resolution, making peace with its subject; reaching a fine balance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-72488425701446658962010-07-09T00:58:38.301-04:002010-07-09T00:58:38.301-04:00Hi Monica ~
I wrote a book of poems when I was in...Hi Monica ~<br /><br />I wrote a book of poems when I was in 3rd grade. I have no idea why. I loved my teacher and she loved poetry. <br /><br />Heard you on the radio tonight --- sounded great!Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-32031685470062303622010-07-08T19:20:44.427-04:002010-07-08T19:20:44.427-04:00Hi Stella,
Glad you could make it! I know you had...Hi Stella,<br /><br />Glad you could make it! I know you had a long trip. Thanks for coming! I feel so inadequate in terms of your question. I know that writing is hard for me. I am not one of these folks who "loves" to write. On the other hand, I think writing gets the best of me --- and I cannot imagine my life without it. In part the reason I began a blog was to feel like a writer more often. It also has helped me to be less fearful of the blank page. I am a slow poet, but that's not possible in the blogging world perse. I am a slow writer and to be honest, most of what I begin never gets completed, let alone published because I am a very harsh critic of my work. It is hard for me to feel proud of what I do because I always have another vision of where I want my work to be. I usually hate everything until I've put it away for a few weeks and then it sometimes is easier to feel interested in again because a different "I" wrote it. Wow. Long answer to your question and I'm not sure I am on the mark. Would you like a drink?Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-33089632517625071742010-07-08T11:19:27.252-04:002010-07-08T11:19:27.252-04:00Susan, thanks for your answers to both my question...Susan, thanks for your answers to both my questions -- it helps a lot! I do find that having a dedicated space to write/think is essential ... you said it perfectly: "a space different than where you pay bills."<br /><br />And of course I'm still here at the party. :)Midgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09975623928298261446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-64283953439171268752010-07-08T06:27:20.740-04:002010-07-08T06:27:20.740-04:00Susan, congratulations! I was wondering if you co...Susan, congratulations! I was wondering if you could tell us how you became a poet in the first place. What inspired you to write your first poem?Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03081973190512198022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-59939280456224544712010-07-08T02:06:52.200-04:002010-07-08T02:06:52.200-04:00Hi Diane. Hi Susan. Sorry I am late.
Congratulati...Hi Diane. Hi Susan. Sorry I am late.<br /><br />Congratulations on your book, Susan. Well done!<br /><br />I have been reading your recent blog and enjoying your entries on Rilke. My question for you links to Rilke who struggled with the “angel” and beauty as nothing but the beginning of terror we are still just able to bear... Having stopped the clocks, followed the ghost in your poem, Different Places to Pray, how do you find this kind of balancing act; and does it become easier with practice?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-51817467480966376452010-07-08T01:40:54.071-04:002010-07-08T01:40:54.071-04:00Midge!
Are you still here at the party? Maybe by ...Midge!<br /><br />Are you still here at the party? Maybe by the food? I didn't answer your question about writing tips. I do have one! Tell yourself it is fine if you don't write today; it's perfectly ok if you just sit and read and stare out the window -- but you need to dedicate some time for that in a space different than where you pay bills. As soon as I know it's okay, that I'm still a decent human being if I don't write, then I will be inspired to work on a poem. The trick is to relieve the tension. Hope that helps!Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-62720971457248283282010-07-07T23:24:27.664-04:002010-07-07T23:24:27.664-04:00Hi Michael,
Thanks for caring enough to ask quest...Hi Michael,<br /><br />Thanks for caring enough to ask questions! If you've read any of The ALchemist's Kitchen you know that I am not good at staying on one theme. I believe that chapbooks need to be cohesive on one idea -- but not full length manuscripts. My poet friends in other countries tell me that they only worry about publishing their best poems. I think I have a pretty short attention span so that helps me from going over the same material too often. The other side of your question is my challenge: how to make the themes cohere. Luckily aging and death have a natural connection so my work connects thematically. The invisible thread running throughout the book had to do with transformation - our ordinary lives into art, for one. The title of The Alchemist's Kitchen allows for, I hope, many different ingredients that come together in unexpected ways. Perhaps we can chat more over a glass of fruit punch?Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-84152958900872638662010-07-07T21:01:40.586-04:002010-07-07T21:01:40.586-04:00Susan, enjoy the questions and comments. Great ide...Susan, enjoy the questions and comments. Great idea. <br /><br />I'm curious as to what you do to balance the material in a manuscript to find connection between individual pieces and at the same time not be too redundent.<br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to respond to questions.Michael A. Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06015233939646285069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-27910374792907209662010-07-07T20:52:10.303-04:002010-07-07T20:52:10.303-04:00Oh, Maureen! I just went on and on about your ques...Oh, Maureen! I just went on and on about your questions and google refused the length of my comments. I guess one question at a time. They're both great ones. <br /><br />Yes, I abandoned about a dozen poems from the manuscript. Each one felt like a small betrayal. Yet, now that the book is done -- I don't miss any of them! Many were published in journals but they weren't strong enough for the manuscript or the topic didn't fit. I even took out what at one point was the title poem, "The Alchemist's Kitchen" because it wasn't a good fit with the rest of the poems. I am also very lucky that my publisher, White Pine, trusts me enough to allow me to add poems and take poems away up until 6 months or so before publication. I know it made this a much stronger book and I'm grateful to Dennis for that.Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-5228958049167332342010-07-07T20:47:35.862-04:002010-07-07T20:47:35.862-04:00Great questions, Maureen.
Yes, I abandoned about ...Great questions, Maureen.<br /><br />Yes, I abandoned about a dozen poems from the original manuscript -- including one that was at one point titled "The Alchemist's Kitchen." It's a poem I like, but I don't know that it's successful and it certainly didn't sound like my other poems. I had many poets (about five) read the entire manuscript and I asked them what to take out as well. The good news is that I was allowed to replace weaker work with many newer poems -- even a few I wrote last summer. Something about living in Spain in 100+ degree heat with no AC allowed for only necessary poems to come into being. It was too hot for weak work to survive -- although I had no sense of this at the time.<br /><br />Your other question is harder for me to give a single answer to. I am a chronic reviser. I need it as my first few drafts are usually quite flimsy. Having said that -- the number of revisions I do and how close to the original draft they happen, varies wildly. "Hunger is the Best Cook" started with a few lines scribbled in my notebook at the Frye Art Museum and then put away for several years. The poem went through perhaps 30 drafts -- that's not unusual for me. On the other hand, "Cruise of the Christians" I wrote in one 100+ degree in Spain. I made only a few revisions in the months afterward before it went in the book. But a longer process to complete something is more the norm for me. "A poem is never finished, only abandoned," resonates with me. Yet, I find as I get older (!) I like to not linger for years on the same poem. What is the difference? Why does one poem take one afternoon and another one take years? I have a theory about this. Poems that share a certain scaffolding with something I've written before don't need as much time as my unconscious has a pattern to follow -- but something that is brand new for me -- as writing about photography was for me when I wrote "Hunger," well, there 's a longer learning curve there.Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-77051892410822522562010-07-07T15:55:27.245-04:002010-07-07T15:55:27.245-04:00Susan, many writers revise and revise. What happen...Susan, many writers revise and revise. What happens after that first draft? Do you put it away and then come back to it? Revise right away. Were there any poems you "abandoned" because you decided you didn't want to include them in this collection? <br /><br />What wonderful projects you are working on?Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13290283101378474845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-74262982896352322482010-07-07T14:43:15.756-04:002010-07-07T14:43:15.756-04:00Katharine -
Yes -- poets to sustain me. I love to...Katharine -<br /><br />Yes -- poets to sustain me. I love to immerse myself in a writer's work. Right now, as you saw from my blog, it's Rainer Rilke. I have the new gorgeous selected translations by Edward Snow, the biography by Freeman, and as of yesterday, the letters between him and his lover, Lou, who eventually became a guiding muse and lifelong friend. THe letters span 25 years of his life. It helps me to immerse myself in a poet I admire in this way. And I feel as if I'm developing a relationship with their lives as well as the work. <br /><br />Rituals? I like to have long hours spread out before me when I write. I have a garage that I converted into a writing space two summers ago. It's my favorite place to write, but not the only one. Cool coffee shops work, too...Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-12915504872208987952010-07-07T13:23:51.951-04:002010-07-07T13:23:51.951-04:00Hello Midge, Hello Katharine ~
Balance? I think m...Hello Midge, Hello Katharine ~<br /><br />Balance? I think my writing self comes alive in the summer and during winter break. It is hard for me to sustain the inner quiet I need to write during the school year. That said, I have an amazing writing group that I meet with monthly so that I continue to write during the school year. Without this dedicated group, I shudder to think what would happen. If i write and complete one poem I'm satisfied with (!) each month during the school year -- that's huge for me.<br /><br />As to your other question: I am now working on two projects (at least). First, a poem sequence on the fires in Spain and the subsequent evacuation. I've a grant from the city of Seattle to write a chapbook length collection -- so I'e lots to do. I'm also working on a program with the Frye Art Museum writing poems from their founding collection and putting on an event. Oh yes -- and I have a commission to write a poem on "Night Fight" for the Washington State Humanities Commission. Yikes, I think I'm already far behind!Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-86937758317106877672010-07-07T12:15:26.347-04:002010-07-07T12:15:26.347-04:00Hi Susan, Hi Diane!
What a beautiful salon! I'...Hi Susan, Hi Diane!<br /><br />What a beautiful salon! I'm very interested in Susan's answer to Midge's question, which I was wondering about myself. I was also going to ask you if there are any daily rituals that keep you going--or any favorite authors (like Rilke) that sustain you. Do you have periods of doubt?Katharine Whitcombhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09735067296822087641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-37611391300776368372010-07-07T11:52:57.570-04:002010-07-07T11:52:57.570-04:00This is a fabulous salon -- thanks, Diane and Susa...This is a fabulous salon -- thanks, Diane and Susan! The food is absolutely gorgeous.<br /><br />I so enjoyed the reading (including the feline backup vocals!) -- and especially reading "Rental" along with the story behind it. <br /><br />A question for Susan: Can you tell us a little about what you're working on now, and how you achieve the Life/Writing balance? Do you have any tips for how writers can transform the challenges/stresses of a busy life into good work? (You do it so well!)Midgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09975623928298261446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-89490503762518560092010-07-07T11:42:30.094-04:002010-07-07T11:42:30.094-04:00Thank you, Kelli ~ Another cookie? Some watermelon...Thank you, Kelli ~ Another cookie? Some watermelon?Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-19313807260803719982010-07-07T11:02:13.671-04:002010-07-07T11:02:13.671-04:00Thanks, Susan! I appreciate your response. It he...Thanks, Susan! I appreciate your response. It helps me with my own emotions as I realized as my book comes closer, I've had a good dose of nerves as well as this huge excitement. <br /><br />It is a risk to put our work out into the world and yet, there is this other level where our book goes on without us and meets people and interacts with the world. A good thing, definitely.<br /><br />I love the idea of a restaurant reading! <br /><br />Thank you again for your response and words. And for The Alchemist's Kitchen as well. I have been enjoying it for the last few months!Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-72040395994942461082010-07-07T02:44:35.624-04:002010-07-07T02:44:35.624-04:00Thanks, Kelli,
Did you get another madeline? Some...Thanks, Kelli,<br /><br />Did you get another madeline? Some punch? You've asked a difficult question. I remember opening up the boxes and being so relieved that I absolutely adored how the cover came out --- then I was scared to read the book --- what if it didn't work as I had hoped? Finally, it still wasn't real, even when in my hands. I placed a copy by my bed, in the living room, the bathroom -- every room in the house so that I could start to believe that my years of work had really arrived in the world.<br /><br />To further answer your question, the book is still a new born ... just over three months old. I worry about whether it will be well received. Will people enjoy it? Be inspired? WIll it echo the lives of others? Too soon to tell -- although it has received some positive reviews. <br /><br />Yes. It is (mostly) happiness and excitement -- but not all. Am I letting others know about the book? Am I doing enough readings? Should I contact a restaurant about doing a reading (I really want to read in an organic, beautiful restaurant with a view). <br /><br />The important thing (I hope) is that i feel I did my best with this book -- and so believe that others will find the sustenance I intended in The Alchemist's Kitchen. Thanks for the question -- And I look forward to the arrival of your book, Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room.Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-29461775949243588592010-07-07T02:31:49.089-04:002010-07-07T02:31:49.089-04:00What a great idea! I loved this virtual salon. I...What a great idea! I loved this virtual salon. I feel nourished after reading the questions and responses. Thank you both for putting this together!<br /><br />And a question to Susan-- as someone who is having a 2nd book come out in the world in October, I'm interested in hearing how you feel when a book finally materializes from your words to a full book that is out in the world. Is it all (or mostly) happiness and excitement, or do you ever feel nervous or any other emotions?<br /><br />Congrats and thanks for such a wonderful virtual salon. I loved it!Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-85225842460511285582010-07-07T01:13:53.516-04:002010-07-07T01:13:53.516-04:00Thanks for this question, Elizabeth! And you are r...Thanks for this question, Elizabeth! And you are right there is an overlapping of themes which is intentional. As a reader, I enjoy poetry books more where the subjects are not segregated. So in The Alchemist I've tried to braid a number of different themes -- everything from imaginary men to a menu for angels; how inanimate objects stay forever young to the party directions for my funeral. And then because it is also part of my life: movies, civil war, and photography.<br /><br />Ordering books is incredibly hard for me. I work very hard to provide the reader with a way to understand the poems as a whole - when they are of course mostly written as single entities. With that said, the first poem works (I hope) as a lens for the rest of the book -- "Different Places to Pray" sets up a quest for how to live a meaningful life - what feeds us, etc. The section "Incantation" shows a more external world of the poet, sets the scene of a life - perhaps. "Transformation" happens next and includes the ekphrastic poems on the photography and life of Myra Albert Wiggins...Finally "Song" does a number of things -- celebration -- but also the most personal poems -- the reckoning that happens in "middle life" concerning aging, love, death...I feel the most exposed in the third section. I would love to hear how the book reads for you - and others. Thanks for your question!Susan Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11883699379179129887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-41791460020569155132010-07-07T00:49:35.160-04:002010-07-07T00:49:35.160-04:00Thanks for this - I'm especially glad to learn...Thanks for this - I'm especially glad to learn more about the cover and the photographer behind it. Susan, would you tell us more about how you organized the book? I have the sense of overlapping arcs. What kinds of decisions went into the deciding which poems went into each section, and how you developed each section?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-79066758505520426042010-07-06T22:57:39.955-04:002010-07-06T22:57:39.955-04:00Enjoyed this so much. Alchemist's Kitchen is ...Enjoyed this so much. Alchemist's Kitchen is in my cart, and What Feeds Us recently arrived in my mailbox, so I feel well nourished, you two!<br /><br />I have been handling some alchemy books where I work, so the title and definition resonate with me. As do the concerns in your poems, Susan.Kathleenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06559881249054540947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-70374640578588291882010-07-06T14:37:12.710-04:002010-07-06T14:37:12.710-04:00This is a wonderful idea and a great way to celebr...This is a wonderful idea and a great way to celebrate this fabulous poet and her book. Thanks!Sandy Longhornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735445958970512617noreply@blogger.com