Coming to the End of Poetry Month, and my birthday…
I’m exhausted but happy coming to the end of Poetry Month! A new class of poetry students, way too many scheduled readings to attend or even try to attend, wild, unpredictable weather, falling cherry blossoms, chocolate bunnies, my birthday – I mean, let’s face it, April can be hectic but fun. Along with celebrating turning another year older successfully, I’m about to be take the plunge into home ownership again, possibly start a new job (more on that later) and it feels like I’m entering a new chapter of my life. A good chapter. I hope! Less “post-apocalyptic survivalist reality show” and more “Girl Finds Love and Success in the Big City!”
It has also started to occur to me, at this birthday go-around, that if we want good things to happen in our community, if we want people around us to get to know and love poetry, that we need to take an active hand to make that happen. To paraphrase a popular saying, we have to become the arts advocates we are looking for.
I had a wonderful time working with local musician Joy Mills at the Bushwick Book Club event at Hugo House. Hearing the song she wrote based on “Sleeping Beauty Loves the Needle” was just fantastic, and she is pretty great live, too. I’m glad they didn’t ask me to sing! I just had to read the poem, thank goodness. Had fun meeting other local poets, too. Always a pleasure being at Hugo House.
And now, onto the birthday-end-of-month-scurry-to-get-packed-and-ready-to-move-and-some-other-things-I’ll-reveal-later!
Poets and Music at Hugo House!
Do you enjoy listening to local hip musicians? AND do you enjoy poetry! Then tonight’s event at Richard Hugo House, featuring the Bushwick Book Club‘s collaborative meeting of Seattle poets and musicians, is probably your kind of thing! It’s $8 at the door, but this kind of unique performance is totally worth it. My poem “Sleeping Beauty Loves the Needle” is going to be turned into a real, live song by the genius work of Joy Mills. Pretty exciting!
Poets include: Ed Skoog, Evan Peterson, Bill Carty, Daemond Arrindell, Elaina Ellis, Jeannine Hall-Gailey, Amber Flame and Elissa Ball.
Musicians include: James Kelly Pitts, Scott Adams, Joy Mills, Karen Lindenberg, Shawnmarie Stanton, Susy Sundborg, Elijah Sussman and Wes Weddell.
Hope to see you there tonight!
And, you know, I may post a bit more about this later, but you may want to keep your eyes open for the May/June issue of American Poetry Review. No special reason, you know, just…
The Rumpus poetry feature today, New Pages mention, and more!
My poem “The Robot Scientist’s Daughter [brushes with death]” is featured up on The Rumpus today: http://therumpus.net/2012/04/
A nice early birthday present – thanks Rumpus!
Also, NewPages.com coincidentally featured a link to my old essay on Poemeleon on women poets and persona poetry here:
http://newpagesblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/women-writers-and-persona-poem.html
So thanks to New Pages too!
A lot of poets are born in April, aren’t they? Tracy K. Smith celebrated her birthday yesterday with a Pulitzer for Life On Mars, which I also celebrated as a win for “geek” poetry! And for scientist’s daughter poets everywhere. (Women poets whose fathers are scientists include Margaret Atwood, Louise Gluck, Tracy K. Smith, Kathleen Flenniken, and me.) Yay! On the down side, fiction writers everywhere were kicked in the teeth when they didn’t choose any winners for fiction this year. Ouch. Personally I think they should have picked Helen Phillips strange, wonderful collection And Yet They Were Happy.
Remember to pick up a ticket to the April 26 event at Hugo House, “Poets and Music.” Local musicians put some local poets’ work to music, including mine! Collaboration at its finest. Joy Mills is producing a song based on a poem, “Sleeping Beauty Loves the Needle,” from my upcoming third book. I feel really honored.
Here’s a link with more info:
http://www.strangertickets.com/events/4784131/the-bushwick-book-club-seattle-and-the-richard-hugo-house-present
