- At August 18, 2008
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In aware, Howard Junker, San Deigo
4
Sooo, still haven’t received all my paperwork for the position yet, so can’t reveal anything about that for a little while longer…
but, in life news, we are re-thinking our decision to go to Phoenix, due to stuff like air pollution, crime, surprisingly expensive rentals, number of creepy-crawlies, things like that. We are now (late, I know, to be re-thinking…) leaning towards the northern suburbs of San Diego after considering Flagstaff and Boulder as other alternatives. More expensive, but supposed to be ideal for asthma as long as you don’t live right downtown where the smog is. Anyone with tips on San Diego living (neighborhoods, poetry scene, etc) is welcome to leave them in the comments!
I found this lovely little analysis of my poem (“Aware for the Woman Who Disappears in Silence”) that was published in Mythic Delirium a little while back:
http://thefix-online.com/features/inspiration-of-others/
It was wonderful to read!
In other news, Howard Junker is retiring from ZYZZYVA! See here for more. Can’t believe it – in his blog he always sounded so enthused about his work at the magazine. Sounds like they might be looking for a new editor-in-chief!
Getting ready to change reservations for our trip out to rent-hunt, and going to my poetry group tonight, which I haven’t been able to attend much lately, so I’m excited!
So, some good news on the job hunt front…
Unless I mess something up radically in the paperwork (always a possibility) I’m going to start teaching a poetry seminar class for an MFA program this fall. It’s not full-time or tenure-track or anything fancy, but a great start. Squuuuueee! Now I’m nervous!!! I know some of you have been teaching forever, and it’s all old hat to you seasoned professionals, but for me, it’s thrilling. Name of program to be revealed later…
Did I mention both my parents are professors? So I couldn’t escape it. Plus, it turns out, what with all those guest-teaching stints and workshops that wonderful people offered me, I really loved teaching.
I guess this means I’m part of the po-biz now, eh Eduardo? Now, to get together enough funds to move AND start my own press…then I’ll really be shaking.
Did I already recommend taking b12 supplements? Awesome stuff. Why wasn’t I taking this ten years ago, since I’ve been borderline low at least that long? So much more energy!
Also, I wrote a new poem, first one in some weeks. And I liked it! It was partially inspired (gothic-mood-wise) by the book Daphne, which continues the gothic reading streak started by “Jane-in-the Box.” Daphne follows the lives of a contemporary graduate student in a Mrs. De Winter-marriage, Daphne du Maurier, a dubious Bronte librarian, and Branville Bronte. One reason to love the book is that the “Rebecca-type” character is a glamorous, thirty-something, brunette poet. Gotta love those kinds of villainesses, right? Also, repeated references to JM Barrie and Peter Pan, Henry James, The Snow Queen, Jane Eyre…
Yes, I’ve put the ad in the paper for the dreaded moving/garage sale for next Saturday. Getting rid of our stuff will put us a little step closer to being ready to move! We’ve moved a lot while we’ve lived in the Northwest (six times in eight years) but this is our first cross country move since 2000, and that was a corporate move (paid for by my company.) So we are crossing our fingers that everything goes well. I do hope that the positive parts of the move (better health for me, lower cost of living) outweigh the negatives (leaving all the people! And my otters!)
And, to finally do some poetry chapbook reviews, as I have promised. First up, Rita Maria Martinez’ chapbook from March Street Press, “Jane-in-the-Box.” A series of poems that catapults Jane Eyre and other characters into the present, I knew I was going to enjoy this, especially (sorry C. Dale – here’s that blurb thing) when I read the blurbs by two favorite writers, Denise Duhamel and Nin Andrews. The sensual “In the British Museum” and “The Jane and Bertha in Me” were two poems that really stood out. From “The Jane and Bertha in Me:”
“The Bertha in me believes leathery hands barnacled
with gypsy rings are an omen of fertility…
while the Jane in me wants to extract Rochester’s teeth
with her Tweezerman, stow them in a jar…
so she can feel his presence, so she can lay
that satchel on her pillow and wake each morning
to the prayer of his teeth marks on her pale cheek.”
A teensy bit of news…
http://www.winningwriters.com/new/wn_new.php
Check out August 2nd’s news! I totally missed it until today. Thanks Winning Writers!
Parents went home today. We had a great visit, including my first ever whale watching tour. There were lots of orcas, and a minke whale, and then they took us to an island covered with seals and baby seals, and nine bald eagles. When the boat drifted, the seals started swimming towards us. I just wanted to jump out of the boat and swim with the seals back to their little island and stay there, a la “The Secret of Roan Inish.” I know, not practical. Pictures to come!
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.
