dumbfoundry

Word (in every sense) comes from The Guardian that Russell Crowe composed a poem to read at Sunday night's Empire Film Awards ceremony.

"...and I would also like to say that I think the Academy of American Poets, which is responsible for many fine programs (including one mentioned in the blog below!), took a big ol' misstep by trying to turn a grassroots project into a fundraising drive here."

Playing with punctuation helped me to create the following mirror poem, 'Left for right'... The mirror is central to this poem in subject matter as well as form. I also felt the slightly self-conscious concern with shape of the full (palindromic) mirror form echoed the feelings and concerns of the poem’s central character. Hopefully, the changes in punctuation in the second half help to underline the central point of the poem that a reflection is similar but not identical (a mirror image!) to reality.

Every time people ask me about what I do in Berlin and I tell them I am a poet, a spoken word performer, they ask me whether I write in English or in German? When I shoot back mentioning English, they ask me again: is there much interest in English-speaking performance poets in this town? My answer to the ignorant is yes, there is!

In fact Berlin’s spoken word scene is growing and events are popping up like mushrooms. A poetry and literature lover can trample across Berlin’s scene and never get tired of it. Events dashing the best performers from slam, to spoken word, to poets and novelists are by the dozens and they never stop developing. Berlin’s events are rich in diversity, the performers come from all over the world, and the stages differ in size from self-made wooden crates to theatrically lit and sound equipped, offering the listeners many events, literary festivals, poetry slams in assorted performance styles.

avoiding myth & message is primarily an MCA [Museum of Contemporary Art] collection based project featuring artists whose works have been informed by Australian literature.

The winners of The National Poetry Competition 2008 were announced last night at the Prize-Giving ceremony at The Savile Club, London.

In the latest Overland, Kris Hemensley criticises the Overland editors’ decision to allow a response by poet John Kinsella to a review of two of his works by Elizabeth Campbell. Hemensley wonders why we have accorded special favours for John, when it is not our usual practice to publish responses to a review. We did not, he points out, invite Elizabeth to participate in a debate. She has, in Hemensley’s eyes, been ambushed. All in all, in Hemensley’s view, we’ve used both writers to create a little sensation on behalf of the magazine.

"The plain style poet expects the reader to slide with ease across her words in order to focus better on her content, whereas the more resistant poet expects the reader to work at reading, to experience the textures of language as an integral part of the content."

"Nicholas had been a professor of fisheries and ocean sciences at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, but had left to pursue pottery at home. His mother killed herself on Feb, 11, 1963, when Nicholas was just past his first birthday; he was 47 at his death. He had long suffered from depression."

Concise Delight is dedicated to publishing the very best of very short verse, from one to nine lines in length (not including title). Many general interest poetry journals give little or no space to very short verse; Concise Delight specializes in it.

...newly revamped HarperCollins imprint William Morrow to give more than $3 million to Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the admittedly genius pilot who saved 155 lives by landing USAirways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January. Yes, Sully’s a bona fide hero, and after hearing his testimony in Washington about the conditions pilots work under, I believe a grateful nation owes him a big payday.

But wait: The crazy part is that the Sullenberger deal was for two books. The first will be a memoir, and the second is a collection of Sully’s inspirational poems. Who knew that next to the heart of a hero lurked the soul of a poet?

Being removed from American poetry’s competitive hothouse had its imaginative advantages, but her absence and small output made it crucial for Bishop to have a champion on the scene back home. Out of real admiration, as well as a sort of devoted sublimation, Lowell filled that role for years, helping her secure grants and prizes and eventually teaching positions. In return, Bishop provided ballast as he sailed off on the waters of experimentation and celebrity.

infusoria:
1. an archaic term for minute aquatic creatures
2. an exhibition of visual poetry by women from three continents

"The Kit to Thwart Writers Block" was created after being asked to find something I hate, change it and make it better, and then advertise it. Because I hate getting writers block, I researched the many ways to solve it, and created a packaged kit. I advertised it by silkscreening depressing doodles on napkins that look like they could have been drawn by someone in the throes of writers block. Folded on the other side of the napkin is the logo of the kit. Napkins were dispersed at coffee shops, and other locations where one might go to try and avoid writers block.

The StAnza experience is all about the live interaction between poets and their poetry, but in case you aren't able to come along, this year we are providing a number of podcasts.

Our first podcast gives you a flavour of what to expect at this year's festival. Including readings of Bill Manhire, Ros Brackenbury, Adam O'Riordan, Jenny Bornholdt and Robert Louis Stevenson read by Festival Director, Brian Johnstone, and Artistic Director, Eleanor Livingstone; music from singer/songwriter/playwright Gill Bowman; and readings from the poet Kate Clanchy.

There are four women and just one man among the five acclaimed poets in the running for the 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry.

"It's always cool to read to people who don't write poetry. Even who don't like poetry. Once they don't throw rocks or something, you might end up managing to have some sort of tiny subtle impact -- or they'll think you're a sap. Either or is fine. No rocks. That's the main thing"

Welcome to poem. a virtual poetry group. jill & carolee, poets, artists, moms, have tried for years to gather our poet friends together for weekly or bi-weekly poetry meetings, to no avail.
...
We decided to create our own poetry writing/discussion group, right here in the blogosphere.

"The animal wasn't going to give up and, as soon as I'd closed my eyes again, it was there tugging at my clothes with its yellow teeth. I snorted with exasperation and was about to get to my feet and resume my journey when it said 'It's me. Don't you recognise me?'

I felt obliged to give some sort of answer. 'But I don't know any sheep,' seemed to fit the bill. The sheep bleated a laugh, or laughed a bleat, and then said: 'It's me, your sister.'"

Paul McGrane: "There are are many, many FREE back issues of Poetry Review (pre-2005) available in the basement of the Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2 -- come and pick up as many as you like!

If you would like them to be posted, contact Paul McGrane: membership @ poetrysociety.org.uk or 020 7420 9881 (you would only need to pay for the postage).

Postage for 6 books is £4 (UK) or £7 (Europe) or £13 (Rest of the World)."

Watch Andrew Oldham in a glass box!

On the 9th March 2009, the writer and poet, Andrew Oldham, has been invited to enter a glass box. Will he be as annoying as the magician David Blaine? More than likely. Will you be able to watch him and laugh? Yes, you will and you can watch it again and again at: http://www.40days.info/

Welcome to My Place or Yours - a new kind of writer residency from Apples & Snakes, the UK’s leading organisation for performance poetry. Five poets are writing about places in England which inspire them, exploring new ideas and creating new poetry. You can click on each poet’s photo to read their work as it progresses.

"I used to go to poetry workshops. I brought my poems and the groups read them and responded. I did this for years. I lasted 4 years in one workshop and 2 years in another. As I grew as a poet, I became less dependent on outside feedback. The feedback in fact, became a negative thing when I found myself bringing more and more accessible poems to workshops so they would be easy for my readers to understand. I was dumbing or, according to Word™ spell check, dooming down for my readers. Once I realized that my revision process was intact, I realized I no longer needed the workshops or the feedback, though I miss the wine and cheese."

Then I read Christian Wiman's essay, "The Limit," and, to borrow Wiman's phrase below, it woke me up. It begins: "I was fifteen when my best friend John shot his father in the face." His story of growing up in West Texas, and his friend's hunting accident that only chance prevented from being his own, was lean and tense, and it made suffering through the rest of the anthology worth it. As soon as I reached the end, I went back to the beginning to read it again. The essay is included in his 2008 collection Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet, and the rest of it is as good as "The Limit." He manages to write about faith while maintaining intellectual integrity and his dry wit keeps his essays on poetics and philosophy from slipping into a heavy handed dullness.

Why a chapbook? Regardless of what you call it, the fact is that a pamphlet-sized collection of poetry can be an astonishingly beautiful thing. It’s not just for emerging poets anymore; a poet at any stage of her career might find she has a collection of work too long for a featured section in a journal and too short for a full-length book. And a chapbook designed to be read in a single sitting offers a nourishing alternative to a magazine or newspaper. With roots in the 16th century, it’s the original sleek and sexy mobile device.