Happy Solstice, taking stock, blog housekeeping
Happy Solstice Lunar Eclipse Day, everyone!
I missed seeing the blood-red moon because of Seattle’s obscuring clouds but saw the pictures and it was beautiful. My parents got married on the winter solstice, which I always find very romantic. Happy 41 years, guys!
This time of year always catches me accidentally taking stock of things. Last night I watched a movie in which a woman received her 15-year high school reunion invitation and freaks out, dreaming of her high school boyfriend and wondering if her life is sexy/fun enough. My 20th high school reunion is next year, and maybe I haven’t freaked out enough yet, or maybe, mid-life crises happen later than they did ten years ago.
Speaking of taking stock, I’ve been checking over my blog roll and doing “blog housekeeping,” taking down blogs that are dead or inactive. If you want to be added to the blog roll, and I don’t have you listed, let me know!
Sprained my ankle last week (again) and yesterday had a full-blown food allergy reaction again, so I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, like thanks Santa! Maybe I can blame the eclipse. As far as taking stock, the lesson here is…um, I need to learn to keep my balance, literally!
I miss being around my family this time of year, my little brother playing video games and the nephews and nieces opening presents. But on the plus side, I am a thirty minute drive from many wonderful friends, which I am very grateful for.
Anyway, to avoid any depression or self pity, I will cheer myself up by celebrating that from here on, the days grow longer and sunnier, the world will get better. The sun will (eventually) shine again, and it won’t always get dark at 4 PM. The whole Christmas festival is about birth and re-birth, as well. Cheer up, don’t give up, all those twinkling lights and evergreen garnishes say!
On the plus side, I’m pysched about the fact that my new book is coming out next July and I’ve already started planning readings, I’ve been working with an excellent poetry manuscript by a friend and an article I’m excited about, and my husband is building me a poetry submission database for Christmas! Ho ho ho!
Little Kindnesses in the Poetry World, Holidays, Fa la la
Besides that, I was thinking about a kind remark on a rejection – this time, from a poetry book contest. I think it is so wonderful when an editor takes the time to make a specific comment – to say, look, your work is valuable, even if we don’t take it, it’s good, don’t give up. It makes the whole poetry submission process seem less like a dog-and-pony show and more like a civilized correspondence between literary acquaintances, if you know what I mean. It’s the same with reviews. I won’t write a mean review, although I strive to write a fair and truthful one every time. The reviews are so meaningful and valuable to the writer – and such unrewarding work for most reviewers – and something about the reviewing process reaffirms that there are readers out there that care about what writers produce.
I have also recently had poets out of the blue send me encouraging remarks, give me advice, offer help. I am thankful. The holidays this year are keeping me full of cheer, though we’re low on cash due to the move (isn’t that the story of my life!) and I’m far from my family back in Cincinnati. I haven’t been writing or submitting like I should be, but I remember that I have friends who need encouragement, students that need close readings and guidance. A little kindness means so much. I should remember, kindness, kindness, make it mantra.
Poem up at Rattle’s blog and we’re washing away…
My poem, “I Forgot to Tell You the Most Important Part…” is up today at Rattle’s blog. Please go check it out and comment on it or otherwise make a fuss.
In other news, there has been so much rain here I think we seriously need to sharpen our ark-making skills. Last night, the rain on the roads was making our little car sedan squeal and complain. Belts got wet and tires spun. The rain pelted our windows so enthusiastically it woke me up at four in the morning. The train from here to Portland was closed for mudslides.
I am done with my Christmas shopping, we have seen the Christmas boats, and I only have a few cards left to send out. Now, if I could only get a similar jumpstart on my writing and writing-related tasks…
Thundering Seattle and more…
Yesterday there was a lightning strike so close to our apartment building that I almost thought it hit us. It might have hit us. The phone went dead and the cable went out, but eventually the internet blinked back on. Lightning is very uncommon in Seattle, though where I grew up in Knoxville, we watched the storms come through every afternoon, we opened the door and watched the wind shaking our trees and smelled the clean electric smell of storms, and in Cincinnati, every thunderstorm meant the possibility of tornadoes (one struck while I was babysitting two young kids when I was about 13. Another tore up one of my high schools and gym – luckily, no one was in either when it hit. ) I have been listening to hard rain against windows.
AWP is going to be Seattle in 2014! I think this is a good sign that AWP is following me around. I think AWP should stop being in places like Chicago (so many times!) and the coooold East Coast in winter – let’s face it, no one wants to make that plane trip in Jan or Feb – and start having itself in warm, tropical venues – or at least San Francisco or San Diego. I think by 2014 I should have a permanent house, a permanent job, and another book. You know, if 2012 doesn’t get all apocalypse-y. Maybe that’s too optimistic, but I hope not. Then I can host AWP sleepovers!
In other news of good people getting good things, Ilya Kaminsky was named director of the Poetry Foundation’s Harriet Monroe Institute. I remember meeting him in Seattle when Dancing in Odessa had just come out. I loved the book and when I met him, I thought, what a charming and intelligent young man (well, he’s a little younger than my younger brother, so I can’t help thinking of him as really young.) I thought, I bet he’s going places.
(In a late addition: Remember Aimee’s book I mentioned in my last post, Lucky Fish? Well now it’s been chosen by The Rumpus Poetry Book Club. So Yay for her too!)
I’m spending too much time grading and not enough time writing poetry. Too much time worrying about Christmas “business-busyness” – cards, present buying, corporate party-going – and not enough on Christmas fun. (Although last weekend I did get to visit with artist Michaela Eaves and a pair of tiger cubs at the same time as we toured Port Defiance Zoo. Which was pretty great all the way around – holiday lights, good friends, meerkats and reindeer and Sumatran tiger babies…who could ask for anything more?) Maybe next week will be a bit more peaceful…
The Holidays…and the new book becoming a reality
The holidays are upon us. I keep being reminded of this by the cold cold weather and by the fact that we live down the street from a Christmas tree farm. We are going to go get our tree today, and do some festive light-seeing afterwards. I love driving around town looking at lights, because of my inner twelve-year-old-girl.
I have news about my new book, She Returns to the Floating World, that suddenly makes it all very real: I have a street date from my wonderful publisher Kitsune Books! July 1, 2011! And they’re going to send review copies out before that even! If you’re a reviewer who loves
a. my work, and wants to review my next book whatever it is about
b. books about Japanese anime characters/Japanese folk tales/the love of Japanese culture by American teens/all of the above
c. books with haibun and haiku
b. books about love, disappearing women, animated heroines, apocalypses, fairy tales in which women transform into animals or trees, Tennessee childhoods, foxes, or litte brothers…
Please send me an e-mail at jeannine.gailey@live.com with your mailing address and I’ll be sure to put you on my list!
It’s the holidays, and our minds turn to buying presents for our loved ones. May I recommend a book of poetry? Small presses are always struggling, and poets are part of the economy! Here are a few:
—Becoming the Villainess. Yes, that’s my own book. It’s perfect for lovers of Buffy, Wonder Woman, bad girls, fairy tales, and etc.
–Looking for a slightly more adult version of a fairy tale? Check out Lana Ayers’ A New Red.
—Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room by Kelli Russell Agodon makes a great gift for writers, or anyone who wants to think about life’s mysteries, from the star tabloids to the stars of cosmos.
–For those who love travel and recipes, The Alchemist’s Kitchen by Susan Rich.
—A Working Writer’s Daily Planner, for the writers in your lives.
—Lucky Fish by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Now, this one doesn’t technically come out til January, but you can pre-order it, and who can resist that cover?
These are but a few wonderful options. It’s time to browse some poetry, either in the local independent bookstore, if you’re lucky enough to have one, or online.
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.
