Poetry Festival in Celebration of the Dodge Poetry Festival

I am thrilled to be participating in this poetry festival on Saturday, October 21. Organized by the fabulous poet and human being BJ Ward, the event includes 13 NJ poets, all of whom have read at past Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festivals. The purpose of the event is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Dodge Festival. I'll be participating in a panel discussion on "Favorite Memories of the Dodge Poetry Festival" and two Sampler readings. For the first Sampler each of the poets will read 2-3 favorite poems of their own. For the second Sampler, each poet will read one poem by another poet featured at a past festival.

It should be a fabulous day—and all the more so if you're there too!

West Caldwell Poetry Festival Features

On Sunday, May 17, I ran the West Caldwell Poetry Festival, something I've been doing for the past twelve years. For the first ten years the focus was on New Jersey's literary journals. Each year I invited twelve journals to participate. Each editor then invited two representative poets to come and read. Journals were on display and for sale in the reference area while readings took place in the Community Room.

Then last year I began to feel that a change was needed so switched the focus to poets with new books. I invited six poets to be featured at the festival. The journals were again included, but the editors did not invite poets to read. Instead, the six featured poets read in two groups of three, each for 15-17 minutes. Journals were for sale as were the poets' books. There was also a panel during which the poets discussed process. And there was a publishers' panel.

This year I decided to repeat last year's format but omitted the publishers' panel so that the readings could be a bit longer as could the browsing time.

Our featured poets this year were Charlie Bondhus, Anna Evans, R.G. Evans, Doug Goetsch, Therese Halscheid, and Adele Kenny. They were all terrific!

In order to extend the festival's reach, I have invited each of the poets to have a feature here on my blog. Those features will begin tomorrow, Friday, June 5. Please be sure to check in and get a sample of the wonderful poets and poetry we had at this year's festival.

Visitors browsing the journals and meeting the editors

Poets signing books after the panel discussion

Invitation to a Poetry Festival

Full Information and Directions

Schedule of Readings (times are approximate)

1:20-1:30—Welcome

1:30-1:40—Lips: Linda Cronin, Jim Gwyn

1:40-1:50—Tiferet: Mark Hillringhouse, Linda Radice

1:50-2:00—US 1 Worksheets: John McDermott, Sharon Olson

(20 minute break)

2:20-2:30—Raintown Review: David M. Katz, Rick Mullin

2:30-2:40—Schuylkill Valley Review: Grant Clauser, Sean Webb

2:40-2:50—Journal of NJ Poets: Tina Kelley, Charlotte Mandel

(20 minute break)

3:10-3:20—Edison Literary Review: Deborah LaVeglia, David Vincenti

3:20-3:30—Paterson Literary Review: Susan Balik, Francesca Maxime

3:30-3:40—Painted Bride Quarterly: Miriam Haier, Susanna Rich

(20 minute break)

4:00-4:10—Adanna: David Crews, Lynee McEniry

4:10-4:20—Exit 13: Jessica deKoninck, Adele Kenny

4:20-4:30—The Stillwater Review: Robert Carnevale, Madeline Tiger

Poetry Festival: The Morning After

Yesterday was the Poetry Festival: A Celebration of Literary Journals. This is an event I began 8 years ago with the idea that it would be a one-time thing. However, the West Caldwell Library, which hosts the event, wanted to do it again the next year, and the next year, and the next. So did the poets and the editors. Me too. It's now become a tradition.

I invite the editors of 12 journals to participate. I ask them to each invite two poets to represent their journal. The event is always held on a Sunday, 1:00 - 5:00 PM, a day the library is closed to the public. However, the library opens for the event and the public is invited to come. The Assistant Director works with me during the planning stages of the event and is present throughout the day. Volunteers man the book sale area.

The editors and journals set up in the Reference area, two journals per table. Computers are turned on around the perimeter of the room so that journal websites can be displayed. Editors answer questions and provide subscription information and submission guidelines. Journals are available for purchase.

The readings are held in another room, The Community Room. I divide the afternoon into four 30-minute sessions. Three journals—6 poets—read during each session. I introduce each editor who then describes his or her journal and introduces the two poets. Each poet is asked to read two poems, totaling no more than 5 minutes. Following each reading session, there is a 20-minute break, during which time people browse the journals.

There is also a Book Sale area at the front of the library where reading poets can offer books for sale—one title per poet. Book sales were down this year which was my one regret. However, journal sales were up and that's good news as the primary function of the day is to honor the journals that make it possible for us to publish our work.

We had a really good turnout, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Here are some photos which tell their own story.

Cookies donated by the West Caldwell Shop-Rite. These and the candy added to the fun.

Adele Kenny reading for the Paterson Literary Review

Anthony Buccino reading for the Paterson Literary Review

Audience. Notice the extra chairs at the back and the people standing in the doorway and hallway. Don't all these people look happy? Imagine how happy the poets were to read for an audience like this!

Peter Murphy reading for The Literary Review

Quincy Lehr, editor of The Raintown Review. Prize for best pants.

Ray Hammond, editor of New York Quarterly

Tables with journals, crowd browsing during break

Crowd browsing. Much excitement stirred up over the brand new Stillwater Review

Poetry Festival 2010: The Movie

Here's the video I made of this year's Poetry Festival: A Celebration of Literary Journals. It's a tad over 4 minutes, about one minute per hour of the festival. I hope it captures the flavor of the day and makes you almost feel like you were there. I hope, too, that next year you really will be there.





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Caffe Lena Poetry Festival

I am delighted to be part of this festival. I've read twice before in Saratoga Springs, once at the library and once at Caffe Lena. It's a wonderful area, full of poetry lovers. If you're anywhere near there next weekend, please join us.



For the second year running Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, will devote a weekend to the art of the spoken word, with more than a dozen accomplished poets offering words of freedom, beauty, challenge, and revelation. The festival will open on Friday evening with a full-length performance by renowned NYC slam poet, Taylor Mali, and will continue on Saturday with workshops and readings throughout the afternoon and evening.

Taylor Mali
Friday, June 4 • 8 PM
$15 advance / $17 at the door


Saturday Workshop Schedule:
12:30 – 1:30 Diane Lockward - Weird Is Good
12:30 – 1:30 Lucyna Prostko - Writing the Deepest Self
1:45 – 2:45 Christina Gelineau - Exploring Beyond the I
1:45 – 2:45 Naton Leslie - Writing Linked Poems: Writing Poetic Connections and Sequences
3:00 – 4:00 Frannie Lindsay - Writing Ugly Truth: the Poetics of Total Honesty
3:00 – 4:00 Daniel Nester - 5 Poems an Hour: Poetry & Prose Experiments

Workshops:
$10 each (must have day pass to participate)
Reserve your spot in advance by leaving a message at 518-583-0022 x94
Workshops will take place in the Glasby and Susman meeting rooms at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

Saturday Reading Schedule:
$10 ticket for as much or as little poetry as you like!
Readings will take place at Caffe Lena, 47 Phila St.

3:00 Don Levy
3:30 Naton Leslie
4:00 Christine Gelineau
4:30 Lyn Lifshin
5:00 Frannie Lindsay
5:30 Susan Deer Cloud

6-7—dinner break

7:00 Paul Pines
7:30 Joseph Bruchac
8:00 Diane Lockward
8:30 Lucyna Prostko
9:00 Daniel Nester
9:30 Barbara Ungar & Nancy White
performing From Eve to Barbie: women in myth and history…


Check the website for workshop descriptions, directions, and more information.

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David Crews Reads His Poem "Middle of the Night Blues" at Poetry Festival

This past Sunday, May 16, was the annual Poetry Festival: A Celebration of Literary Journals. I've been running this event for seven years now, each time at my local library. Seven years ago I thought it would be a one shot thing. But it went so well and the librarians wanted to do it again, so we did a second year. Same story.

I invite 12 editors to come with their journals, all print journals. They set up in the Reference Room, each editor getting half a table for their journals, subscription information, and submission guidelines. Editors sell their journals and talk with visitors throughout the 4-hour event.

I also ask each editor to invite two poets to come and represent the journal, so we end up with 24 poets, each of whom reads two poems. The readings take place in the Community Room which holds 80 people, plus standing room. That room stays close to full throughout the event. Readings are arranged into segments of 3 journals, 6 poets each. In between, we have 20-minute breaks for browsing the journals and the poets' books. The books are for sale at the Circulation Desk.

We had a terrific line-up of poets this year. Actually, we always do! It's a wonderful opportunity for us to hear some favorite poets and meet some poets new to us. Many of the poets tell me that they've never had the chance to read in front of so many people.

Other nice things fan out from the festival. For example, other readings are booked as we always have some venue hosts who hear new voices and run to book. Editors get new subscribers and later report submissions from poets sending to them for the first time. Certainly one of the most exciting results this year was hearing poet Joe Weil—the only poet who has read at all seven festivals—read from his new book, The Plumber's Apprentice, just published by New York Quarterly Books. Even more exciting was learning that the publisher, Ray Hammond, had heard Joe at last year's festival and approached him about submitting a manuscript. Thus, the book.

Another one of this year's pleasures was hearing David Crews read for us, his first time at the festival as a poet though he's been part of the audience before. David is a high school English teacher and a fine poet. I used my new Nano to grab his reading of one poem. Then I made it into a movie of just over one minute. Enjoy.

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Poetry Festival Schedule

Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Jose Rodriguez, Lesley Heywood at the 2009 Festival

POETRY FESTIVAL:
A CELEBRATION OF LITERARY JOURNALS

Schedule of Readings (times are approximate)

1:20-1:30—Welcome

1:30-1:40—Schuylkill Valley Review: Terry Culleton, Hayden Saunier

1:40-1:50—Tiferet: Therese Halscheid, Penny Harter

1:50-2:00—Lips: Jim Gwyn, Gloria Healy

(20 minute break)

2:20-2:30—Journal of New Jersey Poets: John Bargowski, Charlotte Mandel

2:30-2:40—US 1 Worksheets: Kathe Palka, John Trause

2:40-2:50—Raintown Review: Kate Bernadette Benedict, Rick Mullin

(20 minute break)

3:10-3:20—Paterson Literary Review: Okey Chenoweth, Jose Rodriguez

3:20-3:30—Edison Literary Review: David Crews, Jessica deKoninck

3:30-3:40—New York Quarterly: Iris Lee, Joe Weil

(20 minute break)

4:00-4:10—Exit 13: Adele Kenny, Bruce Lowry

4:10-4:20—Painted Bride Quarterly: Michael Broder, Jason Schneiderman

4:20-4:30—Up & Under: Don Kloss, Bruce Niedt

Schedule and Directions

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Praise for a Teacher

Two weeks ago I spent time at Chatham High School as the visiting poet for Mrs. Lori Roper's English classes. On both Monday and Friday I spent one hour with a group of seniors and then one hour with a group of freshmen. We talked a bit about poetry. Then I took the kids through two different writing activities. They were such terrific groups! They read their poems, and I was very impressed. But no surprise, really, as that's what happens when a teacher brings poets and poetry into her classes. There is simply no better way to get kids thinking creatively and playing with language. So kudos to Lori Roper for initiating the Guest Writers Series at her school.

When Mrs. Roper began teaching at Chatham High School, she inherited the school's dormant literary magazine. She held an Open Mic night and brought the journal back to life. Then she went a few steps beyond and applied for and won an Unsung Heroes Grant. With the money which is given for her discretionary use, she began the Guest Writers Series and a Poetry Festival. Not one festival per year, but two! One in the fall and one in the spring. It was my pleasure to be part of last Friday's spring Poetry Festival.

The event was held in the auditorium which was packed with approximately 500 students. Students came in for a single period as they were able to be excused from classes and/or during free periods. Each one-hour session included students who had signed up to read poetry or sing. The poetry could be something the student had written or simply something the student liked by someone else. The music was a wonderful addition to the festival. There were individual singers, duets, and groups. Lots of instruments. And in the background was a large screen where student art was projected. What a wonderful mixture of poetry, music, and art. My role was to read 3 of my own poems. It was quite thrilling to read for such a large audience—as well as a bit terrifying, especially in a dark room where I could not see any faces.

I loved being Chatham's Guest Writer and then reading at the festival. I hope the administration and students realize how fortunate they are to have Lori Roper on the faculty.

The Chatham Courier ran an article about my visit.

Here's the poem read by Mrs. Roper at the festival:

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

——William Ernest Henley

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Dodge Poetry Festival Heading to Newark

The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, announced this week that the Dodge Foundation has selected Newark as the location for the 2010 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. It had been previously announced that the 2010 festival would not take place due to serious funding issues with the Foundation. Also, Waterloo Village, the site of past festivals, was no longer available. Of course, the loss of the festival was met with great dismay. People wanted it back. People began to think of alternatives, other ways of funding, other locations.

Montclair suggested forming a partnership with Dodge. They offered funding and their town with its close proximity to NY and transportation and hotels, with its cultural history, its museum, its university campus. The idea appealed and Dodge began to consider the possibility. Then they invited other towns and cities to offer themselves as possible locations. Several did.

Recently the contenders were narrowed down to Montclair, Newark, and Trenton. Now Montclair has been thanked for providing the original idea, but the prize goes to Newark. Mayor Cory Booker is happy. The Star-Ledger quotes him as saying, "Newark is the state’s center of arts and culture and entertainment and having the festival in Newark is a testament to its spirit."

Newark once was a great city. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid. All the big department stores were there. I loved Newark and felt safe there. But in recent years Newark has been known as the car theft capital of NJ. And don't I know it. A few years ago, when I was poet-in-residence at a charter school, my car was stolen in broad daylight right off a main street. It was located later that day, abaondoned and left still running in Irvington. It had extensive damage, thanks to the thief having driven from Newark to Irvington in first gear. I was without that car for six weeks and out many dollars for the repair and car rental.

But I like Cory Booker and I hope he can restore Newark to what it once was. And why not? There's a fabulous library system, several museums, remarkable architecture. Just clean up the crime. I know the Mayor is trying to do that. Let's hope that poetry can help. I believe it has the power to work miracles.

This past week Newark has also received some attention from late-night talk show host, Conan O'Brien, who mocked the city! Booker immediately took to the airways and posted a video to YouTube. It only made me like him more. Take a look:

Just too bad he didn't add something about Newark also now having the Dodge Poetry Festival.

Here's Conan's subsequent response:

At the end of his video, Conan mentions that part of Newark Airport, from which Booker bans him, is actually in Elizabeth. Oh dear. I once had a car stolen in Elizabeth.

But I remain undaunted and will definitely be in Newark for the 2010 Dodge Poetry Festival. I will miss Waterloo with its bucolic setting, but it will be interesting to see how the festival works in a city setting.

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A Crown, Albeit a Small One

This past Sunday was the annual Poetry Festival: A Celebration of Literary Journals, an event that I developed six years ago and have run each year since. The festival is always exciting and fun, a day filled with poetry lovers, poets, poems, journals, conversation. This year was extra special for me. Read on and find out why.

This is Mayor Joseph Tempesta, of West Caldwell, NJ, where the festival is held and where I live. He arrived at the beginning of the third reading session and approached the podium. Here he is getting out his glasses so he could read a proclamation appointing me, yes Me!, the Poet Laureate of West Caldwell. (See Anthony Buccino in the first row snapping a photo? He provided photos of the entire day.)

Here we are posing with the proclamation in hand as the Mayor passes it to me.

And a closer shot

Then a beautiful cake helped to celebrate the event. The cake was provided by the Friends of the Library.

Here's the cake after everyone had a piece.

A close-up of the Proclamation

More about the festival coming soon.

Invitation to a Poetry Festival

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Poetry Festival: A Celebration of New Jersey’s Literary Journals (and Some Neighbors)
12 Journals and Editors: Edison Literary Review, Exit 13, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Lips, The Literary Review, New York Quarterly, Now Culture, Painted Bride Quarterly, Paterson Literary Review, River Poets Journal, Tiferet, and US 1 Worksheets

Journals will be available along with subscription and submission information.

Editors will answer questions about publishing.

24 poets will read throughout the afternoon.

Books will be available for sale and signing.

West Caldwell Public Library
30 Clinton Rd.
West Caldwell, NJ
1-5 PM Free
Contact library: 973-226-5441

Click here for full schedule and directions


Visitors browsing the tables at the 2008 Festival

Poet Hal Sirowitz reading for Tiferet at 2008 Festival

Poets and Editors chatting with visitors at the 2008 Festival

Unexpected Poetry Festival

It's true: sometimes good things happen when we least expect them. After completing a 5-day residency last week with third graders, I thought my school work for this year was done. And I was glad. Let the summer begin. But then on Wednesday, just as I was about to make an emergency run to the mall, the phone rang. It was poet Ed Romond. He was scheduled to do a festival the next day at West Morris Central High School in Chester, NJ. The other poet had unexpectedly become ill and had just canceled. Since the teacher running the festival was tied up in classes, Ed had offered to try to find a substitute poet.

I'm so grateful that I was still home to receive that call. I was free the next day and Chester is within reasonable driving distance, so I quickly said yes. That meant a busy day as I had to quickly put together my materials. It was well worth the effort as the day turned out to be just fantastic!

English teacher David Crews put together a wonderful festival. A genuine gift to his school. I met David a few years ago when he was in a workshop I gave. I remembered the poem he wrote that day as it was very promising. I also knew that he'd posted several of my poems at his contemporary poetry website. But I never expected to be on his campus. And I had no idea that he and some other teachers were actually teaching my poems! What a kick that was. As a result I was sort of "famous" and was greeted with what seemed like excitement. So off to a very good start.

It just got better. Instead of doing the workshops that I usually do when at a high school festival, Ed and I first did a 50-minute Q&A. The questions had been prepared by members of the literary magazine and were thoughtful and interesting. We were asked about how we deal with difficult subjects in poetry, how important revision is, if we write with an audience in mind, the correspondence between head and heart, and so on. For our second session, also 50 minutes, we each read our own poems. For the third and final session, we read favorite poems by other poets and talked a bit about why we were drawn to those poems.

For each of the three sessions, we had a new audience of between 100-150 kids. I thought that would seem like a lot and might create management problems. I need not have worried. There was not one sign of restlessness, no one was doing homework, and no one was chatting it up with neighbors. It was pretty amazing. And I feel sure the level of attention we received was the result of the love of poetry that infuses the English department. The teachers I met genuinely love poetry, attend poetry events, and even write poetry.

While Ed's and my role in the festival was just 3 hours, a lot had gone on before our arrival. A series of poetry workshops and seminars had been conducted throughout the morning by different English teachers. Some of the topics: Poetry for Men, Strip Poetry (With Your Clothes On), Sensing the Image, and What We Love about Like: A Workshop on Similes.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were more schools like this, more English departments like this, more days like this?

The day ended with David's gift to each of us of a cherry tree sapling. Mine is now dreaming of one day going outside and being a big tree among the others.

First-Ever Online Poetry Festival

There's a wonderful poetry festival going on right now. You can attend without even leaving your home. No flight, no long drive, no expensive hotel. It's all available via your computer. An outgrowth of the Wompo listserv, the Festival of Women's Poetry, 2008 has officially opened its doors to the public.

The brainchild of Moira Richards, this project has been under construction for months. It represents one of the ways that the internet and online poetry communities can spread poetry to all corners of the world. Moira was joined by a staff of volunteers who worked hard to assemble this exciting project. Like many projects, once underway it grew and grew, one good idea leading to another good idea.

Here's some of what's available: 1) A directory of the members of the listserv; each page includes a photo, links to the poet's website, links to reviews, links to sample poems, 2) A long selection of poems by international women poets, 3) Poems by Foremothers, 4) Discussion groups, 5) Some poetry inspiration, 6) An audio library. Plus more!

So pack up a nice snack and head on over to the festival.

Dodge Festival—Sunday

I had no assignments on the last day so was free to pick and choose. My plan was to go to "Conversation: The Poet As Citizen" with Chris Abani, Lucille Clifton, Robert Hass, and Ted Kooser. But that turned out to be the plan of a lot of people. By the time I arrived at the tent, it was packed. I had to stand at the periphery of the tent, outside and subject to the rain that was starting to fall. So I decided to just head for the nearest tent and take whatever was there as long as there was a roof overhead and a chair below . I landed at "Conversation: Going Public with Private Feelings" with Franz Wright, Linda Pastan, and Martin Espada.

This picture came to me courtesy of Anthony Buccino. My move from one tent to another turned out to be fortuitous. This was a terrific session. As I arrived, Martin was saying that as a lawyer he values privacy, but as a poet his responsibility is not to his particular family but to the human spirit. It was obvious from the audience's questions that there's excessive concern about offending people. One of the panelists pointed out that most of the people you worry about offending won't ever read your poems.

Wright spoke about the struggle with self-consciousness and our desire for attention. He spoke of his unique position as the son of a famous poet. He shared his recollection of wondering if his father's poems were about him, and he acknowledged feeling some pain about that.

Pastan said there are no poems that she won't write. All agreed that the standard for going public is the poem itself. The final decisions are more technical than personal. I agree completely with this observation.

Someone asked if more things happen to poets than to other people. Pastan replied that she's lived a very ordinary life. She claimed to be more daring in her poetry than in her life. That resonated with me. I've said very much the same thing about my own life and poetry.

Someone who had previously met Pastan and been disappointed to learn that the facts in her poems are not always real facts said that she now understands more fully that poems aren't autobiographies. Martin added that poets make up stuff in the service of truth. I loved that as a closing point. This is an ongoing subject of debate among poets. I always get annoyed by the people who assume that the poem is and must be full of facts. Seems to me that's not their business. Their business is the poem.

I then ended with a reading with Mark Doty

and Thomas Sayers Ellis

and Franz Wright. A terrific reading!

Had my last lunch in the Meeting House and headed on home with a long list of books to buy.

Dodge has now posted a number of videos at YouTube. These are readings from past festivals. This video library will grow. It's an amazing resource for teachers, poets, poetry fans. And everyone else. Here's a sample:



Dodge Poetry Festival—Saturday

Saturday morning I arrived in time to catch the final minutes of Conversation: Poetry As Disruptive Seed, Poetry As Centering Force. Poets above are Chris Abani, Robin Robertson, Martin Espada, and Patricia Smith. The poets were asked, "How do you deal with poetry when there is evil?" Martin replied, "I don't." He said the evil produces the poems, creates the tension that fuels the poetry. Patricia added that poetry brings peace, is at least a start. It helps us and others confront what's bothering us.

Then I remained in the same tent for a real powerhouse of a reading with Jan Beatty, Patricia Smith, and Joe Weil. With each one I thought that I sure wouldn't want to go next. But each of these poets completely held the stage. Jan's poetry is delivered in a fairly soft voice but is hard-edged, tough stuff. I liked the contrast between delivery and subject.

Patricia Smith is a past National Slam champion. She recites entirely from memory and is like a stick of dynamite! She read several persona poems, each in a different voice. Very convincing.

Joe Weil was the final reader. Thanks to Anthony Buccino. You can find photos of many other poets as well in Anthony Buccino's album. These three poets received a standing ovation from what looked like several hundred people in the audience.

One thing I don't get is why anyone would go to an open reading and miss the readings by the poets who are part of the festival. And yet I heard that most of the opens had more readers than could be accommodated.

My first assignment of the day was introducing Dovie Thomason, a storyteller. Then after lunch I went to the Main Tent to hear Linda Pastan, Chris Abani, and Sharon Olds.

Then off to introduce Billy Collins in another of the Conversations on Craft. He delivered a well-organized list of tips on what makes a good poem. He qualified that: "That is, if you want to write poems like mine." Here are some of Collins' tips:

1. For a lyric poem the maximum number of occupants is two—"me and the reader." This creates intimacy.
2. Begin with something any reader can accept. Then he's willing to accept something more challenging later. Start at the shallow end and lead the reader in.
3. The wastebasket is your friend. The saved line won't be useful elsewhere. Start fresh. (Do I hear voices of disagreement?)
4. The idea is not to be emotional but to cause emotion in the reader. (Can you have one without the other? I think he means the poet must restrain, control the emotion.)
5. Begin a poem by backing it up to its impetus. (And yet how often is that the very thing I, and perhaps you, cut out of subsequent drafts?)
6. Keep titles simple.
7. Let a noun speak for itself. ("The road to Hell is paved with adjectives.")
8. Think in stanzas. Think in lines. (Not this poet, not until numerous drafts in.)
9. Let surprise enter the poem. (Yes! yes!)

I probably missed something along the way, but the above gives you something to think about. Collins also advised front-loading contest manuscripts. (Aren't judges onto that strategy?)

I was interested to hear Collins say that he writes a poem in one sitting. He gets the next line before he moves on. He revises as he goes along. This is definitely not me. My first drafts are all over the place. And there are many drafts. I don't look for form until I'm pretty well along. But in spite of several points on which I disagreed, this was an interesting conversation and gave me much to think about.