I’m going to try to poem-a-day thing (otherwise known as NaPoWriMo) this April, but don’t quote me on that.
Here’s my first effort (note: this poem will self-destruct – I’m taking it down shortly.)
The Foxfire Books: In Case of Emergency, Learn to Make Glass
Poof!
In other Poetry-related news…
Amazon is acting very antitrusty, very monopoly-like, telling small publishers they’d better use their in-house (and lousy/expensive by reputation) POD printing service, Booksurge, or else loose their books’ “Buy” buttons. Holy crap, right? And, putting small publishers in a worse bind – Lightning Source’s (BookSurge’s main competitor) POD services include distribution through Ingram – Booksurge’s doesn’t. Looks like Amazon will lose a lot of good customers, and create a lot of ill-will among customers and authors, and for what – a few more pennies? More about this here, here, here, and here. Read this, and complain to Amazon about these lousy, non-small-publisher-friendly practices.
And, my April reading at Northgate has been cancelled. Sorry to all of you who planned on attending!
So, my dear readers, today is an interactive blog post! Any help is most appreciated!
Are there any journals you know of that pay for poetry book reviews? I have a stack of good books on my review stand…including Pattiann Rogers newest!
And, I’m working on a piece for non-writers explaining prose poetry. Do you have any suggestions about what they need to know? I’ve got all the usual background (French surrealism, Charles Simic, Frank O’Hara quote…) but am looking for more!
Also, I’m pleased that one of my friends (can’t say who or what contest) just got the phone call that told her she won a big poetry contest. I was so excited for her. Hopefully these things happen in constellations. I would love to have a phone call like that…
Speaking of good things happening to friends, what is Paul Guest talking about? That boy is such a big tease!
Have I mentioned already that we have to move again no later than September? Last night I dreamed Glenn and I were driving trying to escape hundreds of very dark tornadoes. Stress much?
Several good things happened today.
1. Hummingbirds at my feeder, after three months of having it up there!
2. An acceptance from Ninth Letter, which I’m very excited about, because I love them.
3. Two of my previously-published (in print mags) haibun poems are going to appear on this cool new haibun site:
http://www.haibuntoday.com/
Don’t know when yet, but this site is unique in that it showcases all different kinds of haibun, and has critical reviews and essays on the form as well.
4. The cutest set of words in the German language? “Eisbar Babys” and “Eisbar mama”
Isn’t “eisbar” (sounds like “ice-bear”) a much better name for this little animal than polar bear?
http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/eisbaer/videos.html
A very busy week with lots of social and work stuff going on, feeling overwhelmed, and still a little sick (darn these temps – ten degrees below normal for us – and all the accursed rain!) but these four things, along with a welcome visit from a poet friend, cheered me up immensely.
You know, I never thought I was one of those lazy bloggers who just posts links to The Onion, but…
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/novelists_strike_fails_to_affect
One of my favorite parts?
“No high-profile, red-carpet, star-studded telecasts of the PEN/Faulkner Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Awards, or the Man Booker Prize Awards were affected by the strike, since no such telecasts have ever existed. “
Of course, it would have been funnier, I think, if it had been a poet’s strike. Maybe I’ll go write for television.
Well, Hoppy Easter!
In honor of our favorite stale marshmallow seasonal treats, please check out the “Peep Show” in case you haven’t already seen it on the Washington Post – some demented dioramas!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032002753.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&sub=AR
(may have to register to view – and PS – don’t naively google “peep show” and hope this will show up, like I did!)
I’ve been doing some thinking about big changes in life – whether to move out of our new small town (our landlords decided they’d like to come back earlier than they thought), where to move, what kind of job I should be looking for…
I’ve begun to think that although I like freelance writing, something more regular, and more engaged with people, might be nice. I’m actually thinking of applying for (gulp) teaching jobs. It’s pretty intimidating stuff. Low-residency program work would be ideal, since it’s flexible, I could work from home most of the time, but still interact with people at residencies and through e-mail. And other kinds of work – editorial, publishing, working with magazines, or kids – also seem feasible. I’m starting to feel healthier as the weather gets warmer and drier (cue 40 degree weather and rain for a week…) and also more energetic. Which makes me antsy to start doing more with my life.
And if you had a chance to live anywhere, you have a known asthma problem and allergies to mold, where would you move? Here are some of the places that come to mind – the San Jose area, Boulder, Arizona, New Mexico…I’m looking for suggestions, so please throw them out!
(Some of the places I’ve had lots of respiratory problems – the Southeast, especially Florida, Cincinnati, LA, and, now that the relative years of draught have ended, the Northwest. So it seems like wet, moldy, and pollution-y places are on the outs.)
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.
