Back from Portland, exhausted but feeling like, although I am the middle of a crossroads (where to live, what to do for a living, figuring out general purpose of life, etc) things will work out. Got to chat with Pattiann Rogers a little while I was at school,and caught up with friends, which was cool, as well as catch a reading (Joe Millar and Claire Davis.) Stayed up too late visiting, though.
Actually had nice weather for once on the way down, so we stopped by The City of Roses’ actual rose garden, where some middle-aged folks were dancing around with scarves (Solstice celebration) and a bride with a train was walking awkwardly through the wet grass. Every color of rose was in bloom – lavender, peach, yellow, white with red stripes, tiny pink, giant pink, orange, climbing roses…and a view of a snowy volcano (Mt. Hood) in the background.
And now I’ve done my last reading for the summer, time to turn my attention to working (writing for money,) writing (poetry, not for money,) and sending out books/poetry packets. And maybe having some fun, visiting with family, my cats, and my husband.
Off to Forest Grove, Oregon to read tomorrow for the MFA program (and catch up with friends as well!) 2:45 in Marsh Hall for you Portland-ites who want to make the trip out to Pacific U.
Jeffery Bahr pointed out how Poets & Writers has snubbed me by having an article on literary writers who write about superheroes…but not a mention of “Female Comic Book Superheroes” or “Becoming the Villainess?” Honestly…
Feel free to start a letter-writing campaign on my behalf here (editor@pw.org) – let P&W know your outrage 🙂
Read Tony Hoagland’s new book of poetry essays, and really enjoyed his essay “Negative Capability: How to Talk Mean and Influence People.” I’m afraid I thoroughly agree with his assessment that meanness can elevate poetry and make it more incisive, witty, and less boring. Does this mean I’m a bad person? I was thinking about my favorite writers, and I’m afraid they all share a bit of this “mean” quality..all of Gluck, a lot of Atwood, Osamu Dazai, even that poem I love by Louis Simpson, “My Father in the Night Commanding No.” Eliot, HD, E.D.’s “Victory Comes Late,” ee cummings’ “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town,” Plath’s sense of humor, Haruki Murakami, Thomas Hardy, Ovid…Not a cuddly one in the bunch.
A belated thank-you to Kelli for calling this a thinking-blog. They may already have been nominated, but I nominate Jeffery Bahr (How else would I know what’s in Harper’s every month?) and Jessica Smith (always entertaining) and Ivy Alvarez and Kristy Bowen (both impressive thinkers) for these Thinking Blogger awards. Oh, and Mary Agner, for her great reviews of fiction and biographies and other books I might never read without her. Here’s the origin of the meme.
Bloggers invading dreamscapes: Last night I dreamed I was checking into a huge floating business hotel for a conference. At the desk, I got to introduce Rebecca Loudon to my mom, who for some reason were both attending the conference with me. All the rooms had no walls between connecting rooms and one glass wall that looked out on a cityscape.
Deb Ager has introduced me to the terrible addictive Goodreads.com. I spent 45 minutes there last night. Is that productive time? Still, a lot of fun to see what other people are reading, and I joined two groups – “Murakami fans” and “Mythic Fiction.”
I went into the local library to thank the librarian who put my book up in the “New and Interesting Reads” display. It was already checked out again! She was very sweet. Yay for good librarians who read poetry. Although she did divulge that she doesn’t usually put poetry up there, but she thought the cover was very cool.
I’m going to Forest Grove, Oregon this Thurday and again next Friday, for a reading and then my official graduation ceremony. It’ll be fun to see some of the faculty and meet some new students. They seem to get better every semester. Anyway, after that I have some downtime for the summer, which I should probably fill up with freelance work.
Glenn and I are thinking about moving a couple of hours away from Seattle this fall, to be able to afford a real home and not just a very small and somewhat dingy apartment home. We are looking at Bellingham and Port Townsend…where homes (real freestanding ones) still fall in the 300K range rather than the 750K range. I also feel this arrangement would be good for my writing. Suburbia has never agreed with me. I like the feel of the country and small towns, especially small towns with good parks, libraries, bookstores, and grocery shops (my homes away from home.) With a big city a comfortable drive away for access to hospitals, shopping, readings, etc. I think we would like to settle down and not move every six to eighteen months for a while, too. Maybe we could get a dog to go with our cats!
In a World weirdly controlled by the Blogosphere…
Today, a student of Mary Biddinger flew in from Ohio, went to the Elliot Bay Bookstore to look for a book by Peter Pereira, and by coincidence saw that I was doing my reading with Lynnell and came in to see some of the reading and say hi. Insert eerie music here…Dan dan dann…
(PS Lynnell was fantastic, funny and sharp. You would have liked her.)
Then later, my bookstore lusts not slaked by my Elliot Bay reading trip, I went into Open Books just as a stranger was buying Aimee Nez’ new book and I was able to say, hey, she’s a great writer and you’ll love the book!
Maybe it’s just all the best poets are all on my blogroll. And their fans are following me.
PS I also drove throught the Fremont naked bicycling solstice parade. Yup, you heard me.
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.
