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Poem #2, PAD Challenge 2009

OK, here it is. Today’s prompt was to write an outsider poem, whether its the narrator, an inanimate object, or someone else as the outsider. This is my rough draft:

Sisters

Cuddled on the recliner,
two halves of the coin–
Black on black
with white paws barely touching.
What’s it like
to be a feline sister.
Ready to curl up, bookends.
Strike and swipe claws in skin
at a pin drop.
Chunk of fur flies.

What did you write today?

For more information about the challenge, go here.

Interview With Poet Dan Albergotti

Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale

by Dan Albergotti

Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days.
Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires
with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals.
Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices.
Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Look each way
for the dim glow of light. Work on your reports. Review
each of your life’s ten million choices. Endure moments
of self-loathing. Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it. Try to be very quiet, and listen for the sound
of gears and moving water. Listen for the sound of your heart.
Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait. Be nostalgic. Think of all
the things you did and could have done. Remember
treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes
pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.

“Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale” by Dan Albergotti from The Boatloads.© BOA Editions, Ltd., 2008.

I’ve been working on a interview project with Deborah at 32 Poems magazine, and she kindly allowed me to interview past contributors to the magazine. We will be posting the interviews throughout the coming months, and our eighth interview posted on Deborah’s Poetry Blog of 32 Poems on March 31. I’m going to provide you with a snippet from the interview, but if you want to read the entire interview, I’ll provide you a link for that as well. For now, let me introduce to you 32 Poems contributor, Dan Albergotti :

1. Not only are you a contributor to 32 Poems, you are a professor of English at Coastal Carolina University and have a full-length collection of poems published called The Boatloads. You also have an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Literature. Do you think poets have an easier time getting published with higher credentials? Why or Why not? Also of your “hats,” which do you find most difficult to wear and why?

Over the years, I’ve occasionally heard this suspicion that having a good cover letter can get you “in” at magazines and presses. I just don’t buy it. Only the work matters to editors. And if a lot of people being published have degrees in creative writing, isn’t there a rival hypothesis to the idea that the degree “got them in”? Doesn’t it make sense that someone who committed two-to-four years of his of her life to study writing at a post-graduate level might just have developed abilities to the point that he or she is writing poems worthy of being published?

I do wear a lot of hats, and it’s difficult in the sense that it stretches my economy of time very thin. But I’m lucky in that every hat I wear–as writer, teacher, editor–is wonderful, so it’s hard to apply the word “difficult” to any of it. I’m blessed, really.

2. Do you have any obsessions that you would like to share?

This will be my “J” response: Joy Division, Jack Gilbert, John Keats, Joss Whedon, Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel). I might be obsessed with the tenth letter of the alphabet.

3. When writing poetry, prose, essays, and other works do you listen to music, do you have a particular playlist for each genre you work in or does the playlist stay the same? What are the top 5 songs on that playlist? If you don’t listen to music while writing, do you have any other routines or habits?

I don’t really have any routines or playlists, but I love your question, and since you opened the door with your invitation of a “top five,” I will seize the opportunity to list my five favorite albums of all time, if for no other reason than to promote them to other people:

The Clash, London Calling

Radiohead, OK Computer

R.E.M., Murmur

Joy Division, Closer

Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane over the Sea

While these aren’t necessarily playing when I’m writing, they are all albums that I find inspiring. I remember that great moment at the 2008 Oscars when Glen Hansard, at the end of his acceptance speech for best original song, exhorted the millions watching to “Make art, make art, make art!” When I listen to these five albums, I want to make art in any way I can. And that’s always a good feeling.

4. What current projects are you working on and would you like to share some details with the readers?

Lately I’ve been writing in form a good bit, which is something I haven’t done in a while (all the poems in The Boatloads are free verse). But I’ve been writing new free verse poems as well. I have a very general idea of the shape that my second full-length manuscript will take based on the kinds of poems I’ve been writing. I don’t have a systematic project to fill a collection, and I tend to avoid such thoughts of larger structures when writing poems. So I’m afraid I have little more detail to provide than “I’m writing poems.”

About the Poet:

Dan Albergotti is the author of The Boatloads (BOA Editions, 2008), selected by Edward Hirsch as the winner of the 2007 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and other journals. In 2008, his poem “What They’re Doing” was selected for Pushcart Prize XXXIII: Best of the Small Presses. A graduate of the MFA program at UNC Greensboro and former poetry editor of The Greensboro Review, Albergotti currently teaches creative writing and literature courses and edits the online journal Waccamaw at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.

Want to find out what Dan’s writing space looks like? Find out what he’s working on now, his obsessions, and much more. Check out the rest of my interview with Dan here. Please feel free to comment on the 32 Poems blog and Savvy Verse & Wit.

Also, check out this interview with Dan on How a Poem Happens.

Poem #1, PAD Challenge 2009

OK, here it is. Today’s prompt was to write about an origin, whether its the origin of a word, an idea, a place, or anything. This is my rough draft:

Aging

Swirls in the primordial soup
Scooped up by my metal spoon
Wrap around the handle
Climb up my fingers
Bore into my skin
Entwine my joints.

Rigid
Calcified bone
Beneath gathered skin
Weathered like brown leather.

It started lucid
Like a sober man entering the bar after work,
But as the years passed,
Flexibility stretched to capacity
An elastic band that no longer holds,
But folds in on itself.

What did you write today?

For more information about the challenge, go here.

Poem-A-Day Challenge & Question

Ok, I’ve already warned you that this is the start of National Poetry Month! So Today is the day to decide whether you are crazy enough to join me in the Poem-A-Day challenge.

For a complete list of rules, go here to Poetic Asides.

Here’s the basics:

It runs from April 1 to April 30.

If you are interested in the eBook portion of the challenge, you must post your poems under the correct prompts at Poetic Asides, though poems can be written on days before or after the prompt day.

If you just want to complete the challenge, you must post a poem in the comments at Poetic Asides on the correct prompt for all 30 days to receive the “certificate and badge” for proud display on your blog, etc.

There is no special registration or fee for this challenge, though I’d love it if a bunch of you left your willingness to participate statement in my comments.


Also if you are interested in writing poems over a 30-day period for the month, you can check out NaPoWriMo.

Need some help with poetry writing, there is a great sale going on at Writer’s Digest for all the poetry writing books they have. 20% off. Check it out, here.

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On a side note, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Do any of you bloggers read poetry books and review them?

How often do you review them?

Or do you want to review poetry collections?

I’ve been thinking about making a list and posting it somewhere on this blog to collect the site names and contact information of bloggers interested in reviewing poetry books.

If you want to be on this list, please email me your URL, name, and preferred contact information.

Reading With Jehanne Dubrow & Richard Blanco

On March 29, I had the opportunity to take in some contemporary poetry from two exceptional poets, Jehanne Dubrow and Richard Blanco, at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Md. Part of the draw for me was to put a face, poetry, and personality of Jehanne Dubrow to the emails we exchanged as part of her 32 Poems Blog interview.

Sunil Freeman, The Writer’s Center’s Assistant Director, introduced the poet, and shed light on Jehanne Dubrow’s well-traveled life and her studies regarding the Holocaust.

Jehanne Dubrow read first and read from her latest book, The Hardship Point, which I picked up at the reading and Jehanne graciously signed for me.

The first section of The Hardship Point explains her personal myth, a retelling of what it means to be Jewish. The poems read from this section included “The Diplomat’s Daughter,” “In Vincenza,” and “Bargaining With the Wolf.” (I assume if I get the titles wrong, someone will tell me–LOL) “The Diplomat’s Daughter” goes over the good and bad of being a diplomat brat as Jehanne calls it. “In Vincenza” described a feeling of homelessness and always feeling like a visitor. “Bargaining with the Wolf” revisits childhood fears.

The second portion of the book examines Poland from a post-Holocaust point of view. Jehanne discussed how she is obsessed with sonnets, and some of them are in a Hackeresque style. “Isaac’s Synagogue” provides readers with a different view of Auschwitz as an adult compared to her childhood view of the infamous location. The most poignant of the poems in this section for me was “Souvenier,” which describes these figurines sold in Poland and how they depict the worst stereotypes of Jews, like weighing gold on a scale.

The final portion of her book deals with reconciling her views of Poland, and she attempted to write about her time in Nebraska, only to discover the poem was actually about Poland.

Finally, she read some of her latest poems from her forthcoming third book, Stateside, which examines what it means to be a military wife. Some of these poems have the best titles: “Nonessential Equipment,” “Against War Movies,” “Swimtest,” and “Navy Housing.”

Richard Blanco, who for a long time denied his Cuban heritage, renaming himself Richard, discussed his poems and his efforts to reconcile the ethnic disconnect he felt between his heritage and his American life. Sprinkled with humor throughout his explanations of each poem, audience members surely could see the nuggets of truth behind his quips about that struggle. Blanco is well published and some of his work appears in the Bread Loaf Anthology. He read from his first book, City of One Hundred Fires, and described himself as a reluctant Cuban. I picked up this book at the reading as well, and had Blanco sign it for me.

The first poem he read talked about his need to change his name to Richard, and one of my favorite lines was about how he wanted to wear a pinky ring like Richard Dawson and become all-American. “Mango 61” explored the Cuban equivalent to numerology, while “Mother Picking Produce” highlighted his epiphany as a youngster that his mother was human and made mistakes, but did the best she could.

I only have one word to describe “Shaving”: WOW. A fantastic poem from a son to a father. “Havanasis” is an interesting retelling of the creation story in Genesis where God creates Cuba out of chaos and the conga beat begins in the background.

The next book Blanco read from begins with a variety of travel poems and narrators looking for home. Other poems in this book examine the links between memories and places. His poems provide a great look at the struggles of immigrants entering the United States and reconciling their cultural heritage with their new culture.


I wish I had “live” pictures to show you of Jehanne Dubrow and Richard Blanco reading, but the battery on the camera died and it just didn’t happen. My hubby did get the nifty shot of the podium and of Sunil Freeman introducing Jehanne, but none of the poets reading.


The hubby did get a chance to take one shot with my camera phone of the old typewriters in the room, so I thought I would share that with you as well.

Mailbox Monday #23


Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday, sponsored by Marcia at The Printed Page.

I can’t believe I’ve stuck with this weekly meme for 22 weeks. Now, I think its a habit.

Here’s what came in my mailbox this week:

1. The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris, which I received from the author for a June 2009 TLC Book Tour.


2. Sway by Zachary Lazar, which I won over at Teddy Rose’s So Many Precious Books, So Little Time!


3. Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa for review from the author.


4. The Shipwreck of a Nation: Germany: An Inside View by H. Peter Nennhaus, which I received from the author for review.


5. Aesop’s Fables retold by John Cech, illustrated by Martin Jarrie, which I won from Booking Mama


6. Coventry by Helen Humphreys, which I received for review as part of the WWII Reading Challenge from W.W. Norton & Company.

7. Stroke by Sidney Wade, which I received from the poet for review.

8. The Hardship Post by Jehanne Dubrow, which I bought at her most recent reading at The Writer’s Center on March 29. More on that later.


9. City of a Hundred Fires by Richard Blanco, which I bought at his most recent reading at The Writer’s Center on March 29. More on this later.

Writing Goal Week #13

The last writing goal was to write some newer poems for Marked issue of Blossombones or some new poems for any reason. Not feeling very inspired these days with all the bad economic news, the closure of newspapers across the country, and other personal events. However, the best month of the year is coming, and I feel the tide turning.

Writing Goal Week #13

The distractions continued this week, but I have a new motivator beginning in the middle of this week. I will be joining the Poem-A-Day Challenge on Poetic Asides to provide me with additional incentive to get some poetic verse written, especially since April is National Poetry Month. Check out the list of judges for the PAD Challenge, and you’ll notice a familiar name; I interviewed Mary Biddinger, here.


NATIONAL POETRY MONTH:

I couldn’t get away with not mentioning National Poetry Month, which starts April 1.

The American Academy of Poets has some great information on the festivities, including how to get kids interested in poetry and poetry readings. You can even download a copy of the poster image “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe,” which I think is a fantastic creation.

Check out the list of events the academy has embarked upon since 1998. There is a list of events for 2009 on the main page as well, including Poem-In-Your-Pocket Day on April 30, 2009, the Free Verse Photo Project, and the National Poetry Map, where you can look up your state and get a list of events, journals, and other poetic tools near you. Check it out, become active this month!

Here’s what’s going on for National Poetry Month here at Savvy Verse & Wit:

1. There will be a swath of contemporary poetry book reviews this month, though I do have some fiction tour dates already scheduled for the month, so it won’t be all poetry.

2. I will provide you updates on my PAD Challenge progress and other poetry events happening in the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia area.

3. The poet interviews should continue this month as well in conjunction with 32 Poems. I urge you to subscribe to the magazine if you have enjoyed the poetry posted with this project and the interviews.

4. There will be updates about the upcoming Conversations and Connections Writer’s Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 11 and of course, the recap.

Our first Poetry related event, and its not even April:

Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD, Event, Sunday, March 29 at 2PM:

Poets Richard Blanco, author of “Directions to the Beach of the Dead” and “City of a Hundred Fires,” and Jehanne Dubrow, author of “The Hardship Post”

I interviewed Jehanne Dubrow recently, here.

Winner of Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich


Ok, there were only 14 entrants to the Plum Spooky Giveaway, but Randomizer.org to once again select a winner.

Randomizer Selected #4 Dar of Peeking Between the Pages

Thanks to all the entrants for taking a chance. Don’t worry there will be more opportunities to win books and audiobooks in the future.

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I received Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One from Miriam at Hachette Group, and I sent it off to my mom for review. So without further ado, here’s my mom, Pat, and her review of The Lucky One.

Logan Thibault finds a picture in the dirt on his third tour of duty in Iraq. He keeps the picture hoping that he will find the owner. His best friend and buddy has an explanation for Logan’s good luck, the picture is his lucky charm.

Logan walks cross country with his dog from Colorado, stopping in towns to show the picture to people he meets. Nobody recognizes it. He ends up in Hampton, North Carolina where he meets Deputy Keith Clayton, who is divorced from Beth. Clayton and Beth have a son, Ben.

The journey Logan takes to find the picture’s rightful owner is engaging and demonstrates the hardships family and friends can undergo. Sparks creates a heart-wrenching story. This is a must read, fast-paced novel. I give this five stars.

Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews

I received my copy of Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews from Book Club Girl for her BlogTalk Radio Show on March 25 at 7PM. Check at the end of this post for my thoughts on the show.

About the book (from the author’s Web site):

Chef extraordinaire Gina Foxton doesn’t expect anything to be handed to her on a platter. After years of hard work, the former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion is now the host of her own local Georgia public television show called “Fresh Start,” and she’s dating the show’s producer.

But when her show gets canceled, and she catches her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the boss’s wife, Gina realizes that she’s meant for bigger and better things. The Cooking Channel is looking for its next star, and Gina is certain that she fits the bill. Trouble is, the execs also have their eye on Mr. “Kill It and Grill It” Tate Moody, the star of a hunting, fishing, and cooking show called “Vittles.” Tate is the ultimate man’s man, with a dog named Moonpie and a penchant for flannel shirts. Little does Gina know, though, that she and Tate are soon to embark on the cook-off of their lives.

Mary Kay Andrews’ Deep Dish stars Gina Foxton an older sister who is eager to please, cautious, and naive when it comes to men. Tate Moody is the man’s man, grills, hunts, and loves the outdoors. Throw these two in a pot and stir. The results are hilarious, spicy, and steamy. In addition to these polar opposites, you have Gina’s ex, Scott, who is out for himself and every woman he can get his hands on; Gina’s sister, Lisa, who operates without a compass, is passionate, and unable to commit; Val, Tate’s chain smoking, pressure cooker; Moonpie, Tate’s adorable pooch; and let’s not forget D’John, the gay, hair stylist and makeup artist with a heart of gold.

As an aside, one of my favorite character was Moonpie; he seemed to soften the edges the characters create for themselves in an attempt to defend themselves against pain. D’John, the makeup and hair stylist for Gina and Tate, is outrageous, and he provides each of the characters an anchor and support column. Mary Kay Andrews does a great job creating well rounded main and supporting characters.

“‘Oh, my God,’ Lisa said. ‘D’John is so awesome. I love his place. And he always gives me samples of the coolest makeup and stuff. Lemme go too, okay?’

‘Deal,’ Gina said. ‘Just one thing.’

‘What now?’

‘While I’m in the shower, you change your clothes. We are not leaving these premises with you dressed like some hoochie-mama.’

‘D’John’s gay, Geen,’ Lisa said. ‘He so is not looking at me that way.'” (Page 75)

The impending cancellation of Gina’s regional cooking show, pushes her into a reality show cook-off with Tate Moody, who has a successful outdoor hunting and cooking show. Food Fight is where the fun really picks up and Gina is forced to go out and forage Eutaw Island for ingredients before she can whip up a meal and dessert to impress three famous cooks, one of whom hates her guts. Tate Moody is in for the fight of his life even in spite of his hunting prowess as he is forced to make amazing meals out of regular household ingredients, including Frosted Flakes, to impress three judges, even one who hates his guts.

Deep Dish is a look at how one woman can dig deep within herself to find the courage to take ahold of her life and her destiny as well as a book that examines how each of us holds something back from the world and will only reveal our own personality gems to those we love.

Some of the best parts of this book occur when the reality show begins, and though some of the plot is predictable, it is done in a refreshing and new way. Southern cooking is the crux, and readers will be exposed to cuisine they may not see otherwise. Gina’s flashbacks to her family life and her mother’s cooking are vivid and enjoyable. These sections will likely remind readers of times when they smelled certain foods that evoke memories from their childhoods. If you need a light read, this is the book for you.

Book Club Girl’s Show:

I really love how much food plays a role in Mary Kay Andrews’ life and her relationship with her husband. Though she hasn’t thought about writing a cookbook, she would be open to the idea. My favorite little tidbit was about her writing space and how she hangs up all her book jackets on the walls of her writing space to keep herself motivated and writing. And Moonpie is based upon her setter Wyatt–too adorable for words.

About the Author:

Mary Kay Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestselling SAVANNAH BREEZE and BLUE CHRISTMAS, (HarperCollins) as well as HISSY FIT, LITTLE BITTY LIES and SAVANNAH BLUES, all HarperPerennial.

A former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she wrote ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her “real” name, which is Kathy Hogan Trocheck.

She has a B.A. in newspaper journalism from The University of Georgia (go Dawgs!), and is a frequent lecturer and writing teacher at workshops including Emory University, The University of Georgia’s Harriet Austin Writer’s Workshop, the Tennessee Mountain Writer’s Workshop and the Antioch Writer’s Workshop. Her mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards.

Married for more than 31 years to her high school sweetheart, Tom, she is the mother of 24-year-old Katie Abel and 20-year-old Andrew. After a three-year hiatus in Raleigh, NC, she and her husband recently moved back to their old neighborhood in Atlanta, where they live in a restored 1926 Craftsman bungalow.

Check out her blog here.

Also Reviewed By:
Redlady’s Reading Room
Diary of an Eccentric