Ars Poetica Poem Feature

My poem "My Husband Discovers Poetry" is featured today at Dan Waber's Ars Poetica site. The poem is part of an ongoing project on poems that express some philosophy about poetry. Here's Dan's description of the project:

"This is a themed blog (poems about poetry) that will lead to a print anthology. Dan Waber invited five of his favorite poets to send him an ars poetica they'd written along with the names and email addresses of five other poets. He then invited those twenty-five poets to do the same. He then invited those hundred and twenty-five poets to do the same. He then invited...you get the picture."

I was invited to submit I think about two years ago. I had a quick acceptance, but when so much time passed, I concluded that I'd been cast aside. So Dan's note this morning came as a lovely surprise.

The culmination of Dan's plan will be an anthology published by Paper Kite Press, a small press in Kingston, Pennsylvania. The press is run by Dan and his partner, Jennifer-Hill Kaucher. They also run an art gallery and a reading series.


(Image borrowed from Live Journal.)

Award for My Publisher

Sherry Chandler recently let me know that my publisher, Charlie Hughes, of Wind Publications in Nicholasville, Kentucky, has received one of the 2007-2008 Governor's Awards in the Arts. He received the award for his contributions to the arts in Kentucky. I was already happy to be one of Charlie's poets; now I'm even more so. (That's him on the right.) As is true of most, maybe all, small presses, his is a labor of love.

In addition to running his press, Charlie compiles the Kentucky Literary Newsletter, an online newsletter available for free for subscribers. It's a wealth of information and a wonderful service for those interested in the literary arts.

By profession an analytical chemist, Charlie also served for many years as the editor of Wind Magazine. When he moved into book publication, he turned the journal over to a different editor. Now retired, he devotes his full attention to Wind Publications.

Here's a short video of Charlie that was made after he received his award. It provides a behind-the-scenes look at how a small press works. I've never met Charlie in person—all of our communications have been via email—so I really enjoyed seeing his work area. I remember when he was building it. How nice to be surrounded by all those books! Look closely and behind Charlie you'll see my book, Eve's Red Dress, standing on the shelf. Towards the end of the video, you'll see Charlie taking a copy of my book, What Feeds Us, out of a box. I'll confess that those two scenes gave me a nice little thrill.

Congratulations to Charlie for this well-deserved honor.



Writer's Digest Interview

I'm delighted to be the subject of an interview with Robert Lee Brewer at Poetic Asides, the Writer's Digest blog. The interview is part of an ongoing series of interviews that Robert does with poets and editors.

The interview is preceded by a brief introduction and a sample poem from my book, What Feeds Us. Robert's choice of sample poem both surprised and pleased me. Then there are eight questions. I don't ramble on too long, so check it out.

While there, you can sign up for Robert's email list. He'll let you know when a new interview is posted. He also posts regular prompts for poets who are looking for ideas.

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.

Dodge Poetry Festival—Friday

My first assignment on Friday was to introduce Jane Hirshfield. I was delighted to have that one as I'd never heard Jane read. She is such a sweet and lovely human being. This was Teacher's Day, but her presentation on Poets on Poetry was perfect for any member of the audience.

Jane getting ready as we waited for the tent to fill.

Jane first read "The Envoi" and then spoke about some of the problems involved in its translation into Russian, e.g., there's no word for "thirsty" and "long-legged" had to be substituted with the Russian "spindly-legged" as the former apparently has negative connotations about Americans. She spoke also about a "sound-driven" poem—I like that idea—and "wandering rhymes."

She spoke also about our moods and said the one she finds least tolerable is anxiety. Yet she said that anxiety gives us good information: we need to change what is causing us anxiety. She spoke about training awareness, which is the purpose of Buddhism and something we need as poets. She then took questions and finished by reading poems by other poets. And she recommended a book: Metaphors We Live By. I plan to order it.

One of the buildings in the Village

Next I went to hear Naomi Shihab Nye, also on the Poets on Poetry Topic. She addressed quite specifically issues related to teaching as she has spent a lot of time teaching young people and has edited a number of anthologies for young readers. She advised that new poets write what comes to them, that they "take the swerve." She talked about the value of "I don't know." And she suggested as an activity for new group introductions that the teacher/leader go around the circle and have each person begin with "I am not." Sounds like fun!

Naomi also spoke of poetry as an international art, one that costs little money and one that we should pass on. Poetry, she said, encourages respect for other students. I always found that to be true when I was teaching. Even a hostile classroom warmed up when I brought in poetry, especially when I had my students write it.

This was another excellent session.

You can see here that the day turned dark with rain.

After lunch I went to the very long Poetry Sampler in the Main Tent. Huge audience. Tent was packed. 21 poets read, 5 minutes each (with a few violations).

My final assignment was to introduce the panel on The Mysterious Life within Translation. But Robert Hass just started, so my work was done for me. Above you see Forrest Gander, Coral Bracho, Hass, and Peter Cole. This was held in the same church where I'd been on Thursday with Maxine Kumin. Good turnout, lots of thoughtful questions and responses. This seemed to complete a nice circle for my day, taking me back to Jane Hirshfield's comments about translation.

Dodge Poetry Festival—Thursday

I returned yesterday from this year's Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. I was there for all four days, working as part of the staff along with other "Dodge Poets." One of the perks of this assignment is a nice hotel room. Mine was in the Holiday Inn Express. I had a lovely big room and wireless internet access. No restaurant, but I didn't need one as another perk is all meals provided in Waterloo Village's Meeting House. The food was excellent, and it was fun seeing all the poets assembled there in more casual moments. Two negatives this year: 1) rain for three of the four days, and 2) poorly functioning bathrooms! Yuck.

But the poetry was wonderful. Here are some photos and some notes from the events.

This photo is of the canal that runs by Waterloo Village. A group of students are planning their strategy. 5ooo of them altogether on Students' Day.

My first job on Thursday was introducing Maxine Kumin. This was one of several Poets on Poetry talks. She is frail as a result of her accident from 10 years ago. She made me nervous each time she leaned over to get a book from the side table. But when she spoke, her voice and mind were wonderful. She spoke about the value of memorization—and has clearly practiced that skill. She spoke also about the harm that negative feedback from early teachers can do. Asked why she writes, she replied: "It's a calling, an obsession. You can't help it."

Another shot of Maxine. She offered this advice: Join a group. Join workshops. Learn the craft. "Love yourself and love what you're doing." Asked how she knows when a poem is finished, she suggested that you put the poem aside and "let it come to room temperature." She suggested trying out the poem on others. "Sometimes the poem needs to sit for years in a drawer." She read a number of poems, ending with "Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief."

My next assignment was to monitor the Giving Voice session in the Gazebo. This year's poets were Etheridge Knight, Sappho, Anne Sexton, and Walt Whitman. Those who wanted to could go into the center of the Gazebo and read a poem by any of those four poets. I arrived while a previous session was still ongoing. I was amazed to see so many students lined up, circled up, piled up, to participate. Of course, there was some open reading going on as well. I got lucky here. The two people monitoring the previous session didn't want to leave!

So I went to hear Beth Ann Fennelly in another of the Poets on Poetry sessions. She has beautiful hair, full of red and gold. She reads well and had a lot of interesting observations. She spoke about writing poems on motherhood, and talked about the risk she took in shifting from writing about other people's lives to writing about her own. She is a morning writer and forbids herself to check email before noon. (Mental note for self!)

After lunch I went to hear Charles Simic. I wish you could visualize this huge tent completely full! Somewhere around 3000 people. He talked about his beginnings as a poet and living in New York after his discharge from the army and how lovely that was in spite of having no money.

I finished my afternoon with Sharon Olds. This session was one of several Poets for Teachers. She spoke of imagination and claimed not to have one, but said she has a "simile-making faculty." What was most interesting to me was hearing her say that she has done away with her earlier position of refusing to acknowledge that her poems are or are not autobiographical. "Of course they're autobiographical." But she still thinks it's most useful in class or workshop to talk of the speaker rather than "you" or "I." I agree with this. Her earlier position was important to me when I began writing poetry. I liked being free of the obligation to tell the back story. And still do. Olds now says she always thought it was obvious that the poems were autobiographical. "Who would make up that stuff?"