Hey everyone! Thanks for the intriguing discussion in the comments section of my last post. Maybe I’m just too much of a can’t-we-all-just-get-along idealist. As Dorianne Laux said, “Schools are for fish!”
Anyway, I’m neck deep in working on a rush-deadline freelance piece and battling tonsillitis and the below-30 temps (I know, but it’s cold for the Pacific NW!) so instead of making up my own post, I’ll post something from Jilly’s blog, a subject near and dear to my own heart:
“So what’s the deal? Why do the mainstream media hardly ever do articles or reviews about women poets? It is often hard to find ANY article to link to.
Are there more men poets than women poets? (When I got my MFA, the poetry students were mostly women.) Are men poets simply better poets than women poets? More interesting? Better at self-promotion maybe? Do articles in which the subject has a penis make for increased sales or something? Are men poets more likely to get published by a large press? What? Is? The? Deal? Here?”
To comment at her blog, click here! Kelli continues the discussion here.
And, Paul Guest is famous. And not just “poetry” famous. Check it out!
Plus, today, I saw a flock of trumpeter swans. Please post any homemade remedies for tonsillitis in the comments. I cannot take any more antibiotics, seriously, or I’ll turn into a superbug myself.
Jeannine Hall Gailey served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington and the author of Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and SFPA’s Elgin Award, Field Guide to the End of the World. Her latest, Flare, Corona from BOA Editions, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of PR for Poets, a Guidebook to Publicity and Marketing. Her work has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, and JAMA.
Diane Lockward
Stand in the shower for a long time under water as hot as you can take it. Put a washcloth over your face and breathe in the steam. Salt water spray but no medicinal sprays. Be better by next week!
Anne
I used to know someone who swore by vodka and pepper.
Hmm… that may have been for something other than tonsillitis, though.
Feel better!!
realitywrites
hey Jeannine, I’m a new reader to your blog but a longer fan of your work.
my remedy is gross but works! gargle and/or snort hot salt water. it will burn but kill a lot of the bacteria in your throat.
and follow it with a nice cup of tea 🙂
-emily
Sara
Ice cream! It may not fix anything, but it always cheers me up.
Oh, and if you’re wanting real food but can’t swallow, really smooth mashed potatoes does the trick.
Sara
Okay, so it probably says something about me that my suggestion is all about eating. My mom used to not believe I was sick because I was still hungry. Go figure.
Joannie
Regarding Jilly’s comment, I couldn’t find the right place on her blog, but I’ll note here that I think it’s rare to see mention of any poet in mainstream media. Lit media, however, is another matter, and yet imbalance seems to crop up there, too. Kelli illustrates this on her blog.
As for the tonsils, I hope they–and you–are feeling better. But I would avoid the ice cream and spoon up some sorbet instead.
jeannine
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I tried everything and some of them really helped (The hot washcloth and salt water gargle especially.)
Jilly
1 bottle vodka
a couple garlic cloves
a couple hot peppers
put the garlic and pepper in the vodka. keep it in your freezer.
hope you feel better.