The Bottom Line: If you sent me correspondence, rejections, acceptances, contributor copies, or anything else at my PO Box address during the last month, chances are I have not received it!
To Speak of the Woe that is the US Postal Office…
I was feeling a bit paranoid since I hadn’t received any of the PO Box mail I was supposed to be getting, but it turns out it wasn’t paranoia – the nice folks from the Sandeen Prize e-mailed me to tell me 1. that my MS wasn’t taken and 2. that their notification sent to my (expensive) PO Box in Redmond was returned undeliverable and stamped “Temporarily Away.” Holy crap! Checks that freelance customers had sent (!!!), untold rejections, all for three weeks being returned to sender. When I called the post office they couldn’t explain it, demanded to see the returned envelopes (Which duh, I don’t have, my business and writing associates would have) and generally were no help. I am writing to the Post Master about this! I could have bitten a Christmas tree in half this morning. If only more poetry book contests and open submissions took e-mail! Then I wouldn’t have these horrible headaches dealing with the terrible post office. Of course, I sent all my Christmas presents back to Ohio via UPS.
And I’m still sick. And obviously, no poetry news in the last three weeks, and I have to track down rejections from possible places that even might have sent me rejections…And the windy, blustery cold weather hasn’t really let up since I moved here. I tried to walk yesterday in the park by the ocean but the wind blew me down, and then I felt much sicker afterwards.
But, on the positive side, driving out to get soup from the coffee shop yesterday, a pair of white-headed sea eagles (commonly known as bald eagles, a terrible name) rode the wind motionless about fifteen feet above my car. I nearly wrecked trying to get a better look on them. They are really much more beautiful than you would think from their depiction on American money.
Let’s see, I got to see Matthew Zapruder and Seattle’s own Peter Pereira read at the festive Copper Canyon open house the other night. The reading was so crowded I couldn’t even see my six-foot-four husband sneak in the back of the room at the beginning, so I didn’t know he was there! I came away with some new books and a broadside and really enjoyed the reading itself – Peter read new work (which was really good!) and though I’d seen Matthew read a couple of times, this was his best reading yet.
Then yesterday we spent eight hours downtown shopping, from giant superstore Uwajimaya (notebooks, stuffed Japanese characters like Totoro and some new baby seal character, cranes in glass bulbs, so much eye candy! and actual candy!) to Nordstrom and their discount sister The Rack, and I think I actually set foot in about twenty other stores, bookstores, kitchen stores, but now I am done done done! I do love getting people presents, but…sometimes I wish I was one of those people who did everything by e-commerce.
I still have work waiting for me (another re-write of my essay, stress stress) but I was tagged by Karen W. to reveal seven crazy things about myself, so even though in general I don’t go for these meme things, I can’t risk the wrath of Karen!
–I lack the enzymes or something to process alcohol, so I can’t drink, not even a half-glass of wine. And sunlight? Pretty much a no-go as well. And garlic. So, I could very well be a vampire. Except I don’t really like blood. Even bloody meat makes me squeamish. Anyway, all those Sandals resort ads this time of year are like an evil parody of things I can’t do – tan, drink margaritas, etc. Sad. I am not, however, allergic to dairy, wheat, nuts or strawberries, or animals. So, it could be worse!
–I grew up on a farm with chickens and horses and like 20 roaming dogs and cats and acres of strawberries and used to do farm chores like gathering eggs and mucking stalls and currycombing and everything. Moving to the suburbs was very painful after that.
–When I was growing up my mother didn’t encourage me to wear pink or feminine clothes, because she didn’t think it was feminist (possibly also because she was encouraging me to wear my brother’s hand-me-down’s as well.) This may explain the amount of pink in my closet.
–I still get excited about the concept of XML.
–My single favorite Christmas present of all time was when my little brother tracked down a in-box lost toy (called a Nyamy kitten) that I was so upset someone stole at girl-scout camp when I was eight, that was only made for six months in 1980 because I believe it is stuffed with hazardous materials. It has a treasured spot in my home, with all its highly flammable parts and everything. (It actually has a warning tag that read: “danger – stuffed with iron filings.”)
Yes, the holidays are here, a time for making extra sugar cookies, seeing friends and family…and buying them presents! Specifically, poetry presents! Remember, supporting this industry (rather than some other multi-industrial-complex) might actually bring about a better, happier tomorrow!
So here are a handful of recommended poetry books (I can’t fit them all, this is just a sample of the terrific work out there) I propose you buy for your friends and family. I promise most of them won’t scare away poetry-phobes, and might be a good introduction to a whole new world of fun. The links are all to Amazon, but a lot of these are available through the publishers as well!
Becoming the Villainess is a book of poems in the voices of characters from Superheroes to fairy tale and mythological characters. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but it’s funny, approachable, and edgy – perfect for your daughter, wife, girlfriend, etc, especially if she’s supercool. A lot of guys like it too, I’ve heard.
Becoming the Villainess
Looking for more pop-culture references, play with language, and general goodness? Check out Lana Ayers’ new book, Chicken Farmer I Still Love You, worth the price of admission for the title alone, don’t you think?
Chicken Farmer I Still Love You
No, this isn’t about machine-languages, you techies. Laurel Snyder’s new book, The Myth of Simple Machines, is fresh, playful, melancholy, and fun to read. A can’t miss.
Myth of Simple Machines
For friends who can handle something a little more challenging, a little more complex, and a little sexy/grittier, I prescribe the dazzling books of Rebecca Loudon, Tarantella and Radish King:
Tarantella
Radish King
More hot, sexy, faintly disturbing, feminist genius work you say? Look no further than Kristy Bowen’s The Fever Almanac and Mary Biddinger’s Prairie Fever:
The Fever Almanac
Prairie Fever
Looking for some juicy and delicious poetry that magically makes everything taste better? Try Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s Miracle Fruit. Looking for moody, witty tales of love and grace? Try her At the Drive in Volcano.
Miracle Fruit
At the Drive-in Volcano
Elegant and graceful, Suzanne Frischkorn’s work has long been dazzling me, and soon will come to feature-length fruition! Til then, her chapbooks are available here:
http://www.suzannefrischkorn.net/books.htm
Does someone you know need a vacation from heartbreak? Try Collin Kelley’s Better to Travel!
Better to Travel
Have you got a doctor or other medical professional on your list? Nothing better than kicking back between patients with the work of Dr. Peter Pereira, Poet Doctor Extraordinaire.
Saying the World
What’s Written on the Body
Inspiring, humorous, strong and generous, Kelli Russell Agodon’s Small Knots deals with breast cancer, motherhood, love and angst in even-handed and surprisingly whimsical ways.
Small Knots
Also whimsical, heart-breaking, and defiant, Oliver de la Paz delights and surprises in Names Above Houses, and takes a more serious, elegiac view in Furious Lullaby.
Names Above Houses
Furious Lullaby
Dorianne Laux’s sensitive, earthy and passionate work is a good gift for almost anyone – here are links to her newest, Facts About the Moon, and her reissued Awake:
Facts About the Moon
Awake
I mentioned this list is incomplete, since there are so many good books out there I could go on forever – Diane Lockward’s What Feeds Us, Ivy Alvarez’ Mortal, Paul Guest’s Notes to my Body Double, Rebecca Livingston’s Your Ten Favorite Words, many chapbooks by poets lile Rachel Dacus and Charles Jensen, Kathleen Flenniken’s Famous, Matthea Harvey’s Modern Life, Catherynne Valente’s spooky, mythical stories and poems – and check the blogroll for more great books too – but if you buy, please support small presses like Steel Toe Books, No Tell Books, Switchback, Wind Publicatons, and a host of others that depend on little buyers like us to survive. And giving a subscription to your favorite small magazine is always a great gift too!
Update: the hard part of this post is I keep remembering so many great books and chapbooks that came out in the last couple of years. So please, help me out by adding your fave books to my comment field!
Thanks to Kelli for pointing out this wonderful interview with Dorianne Laux, one of my favorite poets, about her new books – and if you look hard, there might even be a mention of me right beside one of my other favorite poets, Denise Duhamel. I’m honored to be in the same paragraph! Thanks Dorianne!
Heading into Ballard for a poetry reading tonight. Had a lovely time yesterday at a holiday gathering of friends, despite a persistent head cold that has rendered any talk of venturing out into the blistering cold (temps in the 30s which is awfully chilly for coastal Washington) deeply uninteresting.
Just a few days left to finish up freelance work and finish Christmas shopping for my family…
Thanks to Allen B. for sending me a link to the New Yorker’s online slide show of Fairy Tale-themed artworks:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/11/05/slideshow_071105_chast
Cool, right?
The Snow Queen broadsides should be available right before Christmas, on the 21st or right after…
I’m almost finished with my review of Margaret Atwood’s The Door. It was a hard one to write because although I’m an ardent fan of almost all of Atwood’s writing, this book just didn’t hit me as hard as most of her others. I did enjoy the attached CD, however. Atwood’s reading voice and style are exactly how you would imagine them.
Then I’ve got to work on a piece about Modern Life and Japanese pop culture. Reading Japanamerica over again and will maybe watch some Ghost in the Shell or FullMetal Alchemist for good measure. When my prose work is done, then I can think about writing (and submitting) poetry again! Got to get those two book manuscripts out into the world.
This week is a whirl of parties and (other people’s) readings, social social social. Got to drag those party clothes out from the back of the closet.
- At December 07, 2007
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Dragons, snow queens
0
In the Mood for Dragons?
I almost bought a shimmery little stuffed dragon in a shop yesterday while Christmas shopping. But I refrained.
Here are two haibun about dragons from Poemeleon’s Prose Poem issue:
http://www.poemeleon.org/table-of-contents2/
They also encourage you to click on the link to their author bookstore. After all, tis the season…
Thanks for all your comments on Michaela’s lovely Snow Queen broadside. I’ll post something here when it’s available – it’s snowy! and evil! but in a holiday-themed way! (PS Not suitable for those who wear Christmas sweaters.)
Michaela Eaves (my book cover’s artist) has created my first ever broadside…
http://corvida.livejournal.com/252559.html#cutid1
Narrative Poetry for the iPod Generation, Comic Book Plots for Poems: or, Is Poetic Narrative Dead?
Ron Silliman’s blog has a long post about how Ron is tolerant of narrative in film but intolerant of it in poetry. I made a short comment about how narrative should still be celebrated, but it could be that the narrative type transforms every generation – so, for the generation growing up right now, texting each other and downloading scenes of television on iPods, reading manga – how will they define narrative? What kind of narrative structure will they need or want? But in the end, people are hungry for communication, for structure and story, for emotional and intellectual connection – perhaps it may look different, but at its heart, that is why we turn to poetry.
I just got finished writing an article about how pop culture may become more dominant for the new generation of poets…because it is the new universal language, because this generation have been taught to be constant consumers of media…for a lot of reasons. I have been thinking about Matthea Harvey’s Modern Life a lot, maybe because it represents a way of talking about serious subjects in pop culture language, avoiding the personal narrative for a surreal type of narrative, making ridiculous leaps and at the same time, keeping the reader emotionally invested.
I don’t believe, myself, that narrative will ever be dead, any more than poetry will ever be dead – it will be continually reborn in new ways, with new voices, in new modes.
Thoughts? Arguments?
5-Alarm Weather
Yes, we are safe, though the apocalyptic weather continues here in the Northwest. 15 inches of rain in something like 24 hours and high winds have caused quite the ruckus. Today, we didn’t really think about the weather, until, running errands, my 6-foot-4 200+ pound husband suddenly found it hard to walk in the wind – a few minutes later, trying to drive to Target, we drove past a huge downed tree leaning heavily against a power line, and then we had to turn around in the middle of the road where it was washed out and a car in the street was up to its windows in flood water. It turned out that if Glenn had been trying to get home from his work to our old apartment today, instead of working from home, he wouldn’t have been able to – the entire highway system back to our old place was blocked by mudslides and floods, the streets were parking lots or flooded, and the bottom of our old street – we lived on the top of the hill – is currently underwater. The little condo we rented for a couple of years – right on the banks of the flooding Sammamish river – and the Chateau St. Michelle wineries – also lowland on the banks of the same river – are both being threatened by rising water. And it hasn’t even rained for 40 days and 40 nights! Just a couple of days of heavy snow followed by heavy rain.
I’m thinking good thoughts for my friends in Seattle, especially North Seattle, Kent, Kirkland, and Woodinville, tonight. The street above beautiful Golden Gardens park has completely collapsed into sinkhole and mud. The highway I-5 to Portland is impassable by train or car because of mud and flooding. Many families had to be rescued by airlift and raft from their homes. Turns out the ocean is, in this case, safer than the rivers.
We’re grateful we have power on and that our house is dry.
- At December 02, 2007
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In artists, blizzards, Centrum, windstorms
- 0
Blizzard! And the arts!
Had a great time meeting and getting to know my fellow Centrum Young Artists Project art faculty (a couple of drama folks, visual artists, videographers and dancers) but did not so much love this afternoon’s activity – trudging around the Centrum Fort Ward buildings for an hour in 20+mile an hour winds and blizzard-levels of snow with freezing hard rain – they wanted to acquaint us with the spaces which I had already seen, and of course, as a writing teacher, don’t really need like the drama or dance teachers might. I have asthma and I had to sneak into the different buildings and take an inhaler twice (so embarrassing having asthma attacks!) and tonight I am coughing and hacking. Stupid lungs! Also the wind broke my umbrella that has survived over five years of Seattle weather.
It was really fun to sit around and talk about art with all these people who have sacrificed and worked so hard to practive their various art work, committed and dedicated and intelligent folks who all care about sharing their excitement about art with kids.
If you live in the Seattle area, and you have children in middle school or high school that you think might enjoy a spring-break or summer week of arts studies in creative writing, music, drama, and visual arts, check out this link: http://www.centrum.org/youth/yap-workshops.html They have scholarships for kids who need them. I think the middle-school kids might need to sign up through their school. It’s a pretty incredible program. And I’m teaching a class called “Superheroes, Mythology and You – Creative Writing” for two weeks in March and a week in June. Most of the time, Centrum’s campus is postcard beautiful and they have very nice, mild weahter. Not mostly blizzards.
Even more weather news – we are expected to have 70 plus mile an hour winds and storms tomorrow…maybe I’ll stay in with a nice hot gallon of ginger tea…
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.
