Things I Learned from my first big Public Event as Poet Laureate

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Inaugural Poet Laureate reading, yesterday. I’ve got some pics but they’re all from before the reading, because once it started, no one had time to mess around with the camera. Here are some things I learned:

–There are a ton of precocious smart kids in Redmond who are interested in technology and poetry.  It gives me hope for the future. Sample quote from a ten-year-old: “My friends and I get together to write poetry together after our regular classes, but I was wondering if there was a way to bring technology and poetry together?” Yes.

–You have to do way more PR than you think (we had posters, an article in the local paper, I posted about it on Facebook, twitter and blogs) but eventually people will find out about stuff. The audience that I was hoping to reach out to – people I didn’t know who were interested in poetry and the arts in Redmond – came. College students, young adults, parents with kids…they were all people I didn’t know who were very interested in poetry. Once again, it made me feel happy! The crowd actually cheered when I talked about removing the barrier between “technology and math people” and “Poetry people.” And asked for “Poetry for Geeks” t-shirts. Huh. Maybe I’ve started a trend?

–I was very thankful for my friends and loved ones who came and helped out with the event. There is no way an event like that can be successful without, say, a husband who helps sell books, a friend who pours drinks, etc. I’m a pretty good people-person, but after the reading I was overwhelmed just trying to talk to folks and sign books (I hope I was coherent!) so I was really grateful for the support.(Thanks especially to my husband Glenn and my friend Annette Spaulding-Convy, pictured below)

–I thought the combination of art and poetry went really well. People were interested in buying Michaela’s art and the SecondStory theater kept part of her art up as a several-week-long exhibition. We had an art show behind me on a big screen while I was reading, one sketch for each poem, and I think it helped keep people engaged. People specifically asked to be told about buying future books, and asked if they would have art in them! So that’s good! (Michaela and I pictured below – I’m only frowning because the sun was in my eyes, not because I wasn’t happy!)

–This event came at the end of a really stressful week for me, but those bad things didn’t ruin the reading. It’s good to remind ourselves that even though things might seem not that great leading up to event…the event will probably still be fine. Although now I would like to sleep for a week. It was a little like planning a wedding – with more of a performance aspect. So, I’m happy we did it, and happy it’s over, if you know what I mean.

My Inaugural Reading Tomorrow at SecondStory, A Story at Redmond Reporter and My Week of Unfortunate Events

If you are out on the East side and looking for something to do on Saturday afternoon, be sure to come by at 4 PM at SecondStory Repertory at the Redmond Town Center. I hear the new Redmond Poet Laureate is going to be reading for her Inaugural Poetry Reading and Party with an interactive art show by Michaela Eaves! (It’s similar to a laser show at a rock concert, but, you know, with poetry and art instead of lasers and rock music.) 20 minutes of poetry, followed by an hour of art and reception fun!
I’ve put together a good setlist of geeky poetry, appropriate for our techie-type community and my current Poet Laureate slogan (art work, of course, courtesy of Michaela as well,) there will be free snacks and drinks, and you will get to meet and mingle will all the artistic types on the East side and beyond! I promise you will have more fun than the usual poetry reading!

The Redmond Reporter kindly did an interview and article about the event and my goals as Poet Laureate here: http://www.redmond-reporter.com/entertainment/172850521.html
Thanks to Samantha Pak who wrote the article and did the interview!

Now, the last week, during which I’ve been trying to put together the above event, has been a little trying. It started when I knocked one of my front teeth loose, leading to emergency dental work. On the way home from the dental work, my cell phone died for good – right at the same second that our car, full of groceries, shut down unexpectedly – as in, everything turned off all at once – on the highway, forcing us to pull off and contemplate our lack of warranties or triple A service (our other roadside assistance program had, to our surprise, expired sometime during the last few months – along with our warranty.) All of this has led to a great deal of unexpected outlay of cash (Many dollars out of our budget, which was already stretched thin with the new townhouse and student loan payments) so we are now dead broke with a broken car and a broken cell phone a day before my very first official Poet Laureate event. Yay! (?)

I promise I have been trying to see the silver lining in the last few weeks’ events, which now include food poisioning, a concussion, a severely ailing-and-expensive car, I think I might have re-sprained my ankle again yesterday along with my jaw (emergency dental work not good for TMJ, note to self),,,on the plus side, the Northwest is having some beautiful sunny weather.
If you would like to send some positive energy, prayers, alien laser blasts, or anything else my way, I could definitely use it. For tomorrow and for general luck.

Countdown to the Inaugural Reading and the New Poet’s Market

The Redmond Reporter ran an article today about my upcoming Inaugural Poet Laureate Reading this Saturday…
http://www.redmond-reporter.com/entertainment/172142351.html
Sounds like fun, right?! Here’s the set up for Saturday, October 6th – a quick poetry reading by the new Poet Laureate (me!) with interactive video art show from 4:00-4:40, then Q&A, reception with wine and cheese and nuts and other fun stuff where you can wander around SecondStory Repertory looking at Michaela’s beautiful art collection curated for geeks (ie geek-friendly paintings of zombies, mermaids and foxes!) Feel free to hang out, ask questions, etc til 6 PM!

What would you set up for an introductory reading for the community if you had no budget limit? Would you have art? A band? a short opera? a rave? I’m super nervous about people coming to Saturday’s event so I hope you will come and bring friends, especially the kind of friends who have always been scared of poetry (most of the poetry will be youth-friendly, FYI.)

I picked up the new 2013 Poet’s Marketand really enjoyed Kelly Davio’s article on how to get out of the slush pile, Diane Lockward’s article on how to build an audience, and I might be in there too, though the article on chapbooks is slightly outdated, sorry! (Pudding House Press is out of business now, for instance, so don’t send there!)
One thing I noticed about the newest version of Poet’s Market is how much good solid introduction to poetry writing and submitting there is now, and how that makes it a great gift for the aspiring poet in your life! This year was the first year they also included original poetry, an interesting choice. I’m looking forward to paging through it at more length soon!

Cough, cough…so, what does a city Poet Laureate do?

Cough cough. My asthma combined with a bronchitis and sinus infection have conspired to keep me at home with my inhaler and antiboitics, so I thought this would be a good time to post on a subject that, well, I’ve been asked about a lot since I became Redmond’s Poet Laureate. What exactly does a Poet Laureate of a city actually do?

There was a bit of a dustup recently when LA announced they would pony up 10K for a city Poet Laureate. Predictably, some folks grumbled that a city as low in funds as LA was just throwing money away at the arts, and other people defended the decision.

So let me tell you what I’ve done this week for my Poet Laureate job, despite being laid low by my upper respiratory infection:
–Scheduled a high school class visit
–Solicited donations of food and drink for my October 6th Inaugural Reading, Art Exhibit and Reception at SecondStory Reperatory Theater. (Believe me, my budget does not stretch to a lot of extra food and drink, so every little donation helps.
–Talked to a neighboring city’s council member about how they might start a Poet Laureate Program.
–Set up and post on social media (twitter account and blog posting)
–Had my husband put up posters around town about our quarterly events (the Inaugural reading, a library reading program and book group, and a talk on social media and e-publishing for poets, so far.)
–E-mailed back and forth with Redmond’s Arts Council members about such things as the PR, payment, and details about planning next quarter’s events.
–E-mailed back and forth about setting up a teen workshop at the local Teen Center next quarter.
–Met with artist Michaela Eaves to go over the art exhibit content and planning.
–E-mailed with local librarian contact about getting more copies of our “Redmond Reads Poetry” first quarter book choice.

So you see, nothing earth-shattering, but lots of little things, planning, trying to get folks together in the name of the arts.  (And all while periodically going to the doctor, sucking on my inhaler, and manically gulping hot drinks with honey and soup! I am like a sickly superwoman!) Some weeks are harder – like, when I was asked by a local group to judge a limerick contest(don’t ask), or when I had to present a budget plan to city council.
So, is it important that a city devote a bit of their monetary resources to someone who cares about getting more poetry into schools, libraries, and the community? I think it is. But what do you think? What would you do if you were Poet Laureate of your city?

When is a Reading Worth Doing, Artist Collaborations, and Thanks to Rose Red Review

The question for poets when invited to read is often, “How do I know this reading is worth doing?”

You never know, and there are considerations in terms of costs, time, gas, energy, even our health, all the expenditures writers must make to do a reading. Recently, for instance, I drove an hour and a half to an obscure town with an audience of eight people, none of whom bought books or made any kind of enthusiastic response to the reading. So that felt like a huge waste of time and gas money (and of course, because I am a poet and not an automaton, came with those feelings of “why am I even a writer, no one likes my work, etc.” )

But last night’s reading at A Grape Choice with Northwest Bookfest, happily, was not that kind of reading. I have had a head cold all week, the kind that just keeps you in bed but keeps you from sleeping, if you know the type, and was actually thinking of calling the organizer and telling him I couldn’t go, but at the last minute decided to tough it out and do the reading. All the other readers were older men, slam poets mostly, and I was the only female (the other female reader did cancel. Maybe she had my head cold?) The venue was charming – a wine bar on the edge of the water in Kirkland – and it was packed. (I found out later the owner of the bar was a Kirkland Arts Council member.) The mayor of Kirkland showed up for the reading. I had a sore throat, there was no microphone, and the guys who read before me were definitely, let’s say, in a different vein that the kind of poetry I usually read. And several toddlers (at a bar?) near the reading area made a ton of noise the whole time I read, which is bad for me because I don’t have a big voice to begin with. But the audience was wonderful. Afterwards, women hugged me, whispered secrets in my ear, and cried. Men cheered. I sold a few books, which was nice. But even better was the feeling that – and maybe some of this was the wine – that people had actually connected with my work. Most of the folks there weren’t poets – in fact, the couple we shared our table with ended up being our down-the-street neighbors! Those are the times that readings feel worth doing. The moon was bright orange in the sky over the water as I left, happy, even more sore-throated, and exhausted, but happy I had pushed myself to go.

And I got the good news from Rose Red Review that they had nominated my poem “The Little Mermaid Loses Her Voice” for “Best of the Net” while I was at the reading. Thanks Rose Red Review! I really enjoyed the other nominated poems as well.

Today I spent the day with artist Michaela Eaves planning and collaborating for our October 6th Inaugural Reading/Art Exhibit. She’s doing an interactive art display on a screen during my reading that syncs up her art work to the different poems I’ll be reading, plus a conventional hanging of her work around the SecondStory Repertory theatre. We talked about introductions, wine, cupcakes, and other things that make readings great. I think it’s going to be a really good time. But I’ll admit I’m nervous about my first Redmond Poet Laureate reading! I hope it will be the fun kind of reading, not the other kind. Maybe the wine will help?

What do you think makes a reading work? What are the most important elements? And which are under a poet’s control, anyway? How do you know when to say yes to a reading? For me, it’s a combination of liking my fellow readers, liking the person that invited me, liking the venue – or, for me, and this is a risk – trying places I’ve never read before. Success at a poetry reading means more than book sales – it can mean finding a new poet’s work to love, making a new friend, or discovering a new venue you might ever have visited otherwise. But the simplest answer to “What makes a reading worthwhile” is “Did your work connect to a new reader? If so, then yes.”