This weekend was the Redmond Poets in the Park Poetry festival, which is still a fairly small, low-key event. I got to hang with some poet friends, workshop with Wanda Coleman, who is a very interesting personality, and get formal poetry tips from ex-nun poet Madeleine de Frees. Sold some chapbooks and got to reconnect with some folks I hadn’t seen in a while. This was my first big social event since the surgery, and kind of a warm-up for AWP. I was in some pain this weekend so hopefully over the next 8 days I will get all better. I’m taking my vitamins!
The funny thing about these events is that they almost always generate poems, and here’s why: when I zone out during the less, um, arresting poetry readings, I usually get hit with poems of my own. I wrote four this weekend, one of which I really like. So, yay for less than riveting readings.
The two foci (plural of focus?) of the weekend seemed to be formal poetry and performance poetry. Since what I write could not be characterized into either of those categories, (besides the odd syllabic) I felt a little out of the loop. It’s a problem, isn’t it, not fitting into any “school.” I’m not post-avant, I’m not new formal, I don’t slam…Perhaps this is why I’m having trouble getting my manuscript published. It’s just plain old fashioned regular lyric-narrative, persona-monologuing, mostly free-versey, pop-culture-and-mythic-archetype-referencing poetry. Anyone know a good outlet for that? 🙂 A friend at the conference recommended sending to U of Pittsburgh Press and Four Way Books. I’m open to any and all suggestions. PS Should I start my own school? PSS Even though I know AWP is coming up and I should be getting a jump-start on homework, I’m totally not. I’m just not feeling the essay feeling. Maybe I should eat some cheetos – junk food always helps. PPSS – My fans seem to be older men and lesbians, plus the odd goth girl and school teacher. Nothing against these groups, but I’m curious about why this is. Do you notice your fan base includes certain demographics? Do you think it’s something I’m wearing? Maybe I should ditch the bustiers and miniskirts. Just kidding, I don’t really wear those. Together, anyway.