A wind storm blew out a transformer next to our house last night. I was looking out the window at around midnight, watching the wind, and all of the sudden, a bright blue light and an eerie hum for two minutes, then nothing. I thought for a second we might be abducted by aliens. However, it turned out to be the tranformer for half of our neighborhood. So far we still have power, so I’m going to take advantage of it to blog!
I had some good news this week (as well as four rejections – editors must be busy this time of year!) The first was that I have selected to read and teach at the Skagit River Poetry Festival this May, in beautiful La Conner, Washington. I’ll be reading, doing a workshop and a panel, and possibly something else – I’ll post when I have more details. But I’m very excited. I went to the last festival two years ago, and not only is the town super-charming, but the festival was well-attended by an enthusiastic audience, the poets were great (this is where I first met Dorianne Laux, resplendent in her South Park t-shirt) and the restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts fantastic. Though the town is famous for its tulips, I believe the iris fields may be in bloom.
The other was an acceptance to a Canadian journal that I sent work to strictly because of its name – Grimm Magazine. Sure enough, the poem they took was fairy-tale related. Coincidence?
Let me also announce that anyone thinking of submitting to Silk Road’s first issue should do so soon. Final decisions will be made in mid-April. Submission guidelines here – note that if you send via e-mail, which I suggest, to put your poems in the e-mail, not attachments. As a virus-stalker, I loathe attachments. Also note, don’t be limited by the whole “poem of place” thing. I intepret that phrase extremely loosely.
Also, I want to announce, for those in the Seattle area, a fund-raising event for The Seattle Review:
Sunday, February 19 at 2 p.m.
Town Hall, 8th and Seneca, Seattle
Award-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa in a benefit/celebration reading of his own work for the publication of the new anthology, Page to Page: Retrospectives of Writers from the Seattle Review, edited by Colleen J. McElroy. Tickets $20 (includes post-reading reception), available in advance at Elliott Bay starting Jan. 15, or at the door. Proceeds benefit The Seattle Review. Contact 206.624.6600.
I will not be there, since I will be in Pasco, Washington, trying my sci-fi convention/poetry hybrid experiment. But Yusef is a wonderful reader, and I used to volunteer with the Seattle Review, so get on out!
A note on my rejections: hmmm. I consider myself a sort of grrl-power feminist poet type. However, feminist journals seem not to agree. My biggest smackdowns tend to be the feminist journals. What’s up with that?