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dumbfoundry

Poetry news, poetry blogs, poetry magazines, poetry journals, poetry sites, poetry links, etc.

Waccamaw (a journal of contemporary literature)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
is hot off the presses!

Sonnets and Static

Christine Klocek-Lim:
"I recently bought Jack Gilbert's new book, "The Dance Most of All," and on first glance it seems to be more of the same. He's one of my favorite poets and I'm certainly looking forward to reading his new poetry (it's all so comfortable), yet I can't help feeling as though he discovered one way to do something and hasn't varied since then. His poems all look the same: like a herd of horses, they're different colors and even breeds and beautiful, but still, all HORSES. I've noticed that other poets tend to do this, never changing that one style that works, that brings them recognition and awards. It's a trap.

"Both beginners and old-hands fall into this trap, in which there are two sides. On one side you write only for yourself, on the other you write only for other people. The best work of any poet straddles the sharp line in-between: where you understand how much information a reader needs to relate to your poem and you also understand that you must push the boundary of sameness and move into artistry."

Carol Ann Duffy first woman laureate?

...following Tennyson and Betjeman [and Motion]:
The prestigious and, some would argue, anachronistic job of writing verse for the monarch has been associated with great literary names such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Cecil Day-Lewis and John Betjeman. Today the laureate is no longer given the role 'in perpetuity'. What is more, the token annual salary of £100 and 'a butt of sack' (108 gallons of sweet wine) is no longer offered by the Crown. Instead, after the post was modernised by Tony Blair, the title is awarded once every 10 years and provides a more conventional, if still modest, annual income of less than £20,000.

Before Motion settled to the task in 1999, Duffy had been the favourite. However, her status then as the mother of a young child and as a woman in a lesbian relationship made her wary of taking up such a prominent national position.

Blogs, Art, and Inspiration (Overload)

Monday, April 27, 2009
Episode 7 of Erin Loechner's Dialogue video series brings artists into conversation about the blessings and the curses of blogging.

tongues of the ocean

...an online literary journal of Bahamian, Caribbean and related poetry

Some notes from "Chapbook Now: Producing Chapbooks"

"Everything begins with the title. Think of the title of the chapbook as the first poem."

Performing a Poem - Or How To Be a Better Public Speaker

Sunday, April 26, 2009
"The performance requires me, but is not about me."

Superstition Review

...is fresh.

Newest Dumbfounder Expounded

I'm Hannah Stephenson, also known as The Storialist.

I write the daily (well, weekdaily) poetry blog of the same name. The poems on The Storialist begin with the images on the (also mostly daily) genre-defining street fashion blog, The Sartorialist. My posts play with the original portraits--describing, imagining, inventing. I've come to think of the people-watching I do (in daily life and while involved in writing) as storialism.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day

Saturday, April 25, 2009
Today is the 445th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare.

Hobble Creek Review

...is fresh.

Shakespeare's Sonnets Debut in Drag

The Bard in Berlin:
"US stage director Robert Wilson has teamed up with pop star Rufus Wainwright to bring Shakespeare's sonnets to the stage in Berlin. Debuting on Easter Sunday, this highly stylized cross-dressing version of the archetypal love poems went down a storm with the audience."

Why Students Don't Like Poetry

Friday, April 24, 2009
"More and more, they groan when it comes to poetry..."

dumbfoundry's newest dumbfounder

Please welcome The Storialist to dumbfoundry!
I'm afraid we don't have many clues about The Storialist, apart from a previous posting about an aspect of the Canadian poetry scene, though we hope a fuller identity might be revealed in due course.

In the meantime, please make The Storialist welcome!
And if you'd like us to include your blog in our blog roll, or any other blog you believe to be equally noteworthy, please include it in your comment to this post. Thank you!

[Hat tip to Tom Clark for the name dumbfounder.]

Is that a poem in your pocket or...

Thursday, April 23, 2009
This April 30 marks the seventh annual Poem In Your Pocket Day.

After the Crunch

After The Crunch is downloadable book that's a collaborative response to the global recession from those operating in the creative economy. [UK]

Blog Spotlight

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
vviissiioonnss

Frieda Hughes, poet, author and artist

Pieces of me:
"My problem is that I am the daughter of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, but I wanted to be an individual. But we are, of course, a product of our parents. In denying them, you deny part of who you are. It's taken me years to be comfortable with that."

Poesy Planet

Poetry from around the world:
Mini-Podcasts featuring one poet per week. As soon as a few episodes run, the show will be available via i-Tunes and other sources, as well as the site itself.

NaPoWriMo during a crisis: Brent Goodman

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"This morning I had a heart attack..."

Please send positive thoughts.

Update: "Fear. Joy. Guilt. The emotions are intense and I tear up often. But always tears of happiness and gratitude."

Don't Slam It

Kevin Higgins on The Role of Performance in Contemporary Irish Poetry: [Ireland]:
"When I was in London recently, Todd Swift, a Canadian poet who lives there, told me he thought it was a mistake to include in my bio the fact that I had taken part in poetry slams."

The credit crunch Fair

"This is the first London Book Fair since the global economy collapsed..."

Autumn Sky Poetry

...is fresh.

Verse offers free classroom sets of Verse

Monday, April 20, 2009
...to the first 20 instructors [click here]:
We need to clear out some storage space, so we're offering free classroom sets (entire boxes) of Verse to the first 20 instructors (of literature and/or creative writing, at any level, in any setting) who request them. While we cannot guarantee specific issues, we'll try to meet any special requests. Verse will cover shipping costs, too. We just ask that you put the magazine into students' hands, gratis.
Update: sorry if it wasn't clear but dumbfoundry ain't got these books, folks, so don't miss out by wasting your clicking power. Click le link!

30 in 30: Poets Do Show Up!

Julie Wilson (of Seen Reading) invited Canadian poets to each submit an audio file of their readings of one of their own poems, and a poem by another writer. Thrilled with the enthusiasm of writers who wanted to be a part of the project, Julie excitedly reports, "Don’t let it ever be said that the poets don’t show up!"

Check out 30 in 30 (30 poets in 30 days), so far, here.

Poet Amy Winehouse?

Sunday, April 19, 2009
"Amy's been stimulated..."

Miscarriage poems: "Through"

Rachel Barenblat:
"I was amazed by how many women came up to me, as word quietly spread, and said that the same thing had happened to them. Having tangible proof that I was not alone -- that this was survivable -- helped me through."
[via Via Negativa {no, I didn't stutter...}]

Updated: Pica describes hand-binding Rachel Barenblat's chapbook collection "Through" here.
When a poet friend, Rachel Barenblat, had a miscarriage earlier this year and worked her way through the trauma and grief by writing poetry, yet wondered how to make these poems available to others going through a similar experience, I suggested a small hand-bound edition. Ten poems, title page, table of contents, acknowledgments: this adds up to 15 pages, plus one blank at the back. The magic 16. (Bookbinders think in multiples of eight and get super excited when all the pages add up to multiples of 32…) We settled on a tall, skinny format which conveniently fit on a standard letter-size sheet, folded in half: a pamphlet.

Poet adds Filipino culture to work

Saturday, April 18, 2009
'...her English and literature teachers kidnapped her for life':
[Luisa] Igloria said her adopted mother and biological mother were her first poetry teachers.

She said her mothers used to make her peel lima beans one by one, and then one day she realized that was not necessary in order to eat them. However, she connected peeling the beans to poetry - attention to detail is necessary.

Taking Poetry Public

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Adam Robinson:
"I don't expect that by doing this I'm going to change anybody's life," says Robinson. "But for the ten seconds people stand in front of it, I hope they just kind of wonder about poetry again."

Bloodaxe Editor Neil Astley advises what to do once you've finished your poem(s)

What next?
"The books I publish are those I respond to as a reader, and what interests me most is subject matter, breadth of vision and engagement with language. I look for an original voice, assured technique and poetry showing a lively interplay of intellect and emotion."

From Page to Pixels

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Evolution of Online Journals:
"Even as recently as three years ago, I still would have agreed—online journals were where you sent the misfits, the work that couldn't quite make it into print."

Poetry Exhibition Call for Poems

The Poetry Society at One Hundred:
To celebrate the Poetry Society's Centenary, there will be an exhibition at Forest Arts in the Autumn of 2009. One hundred poems will be exhibited - we are currently searching for those poems. The closing date for submissions is 30th June 2009.

The exhibition will be curated by Keith Bennett and this is the search for those poems. "What I am looking for are poems which have one of the following..."

FragLit

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
...is fresh.

Moving Poems

... an on-going compendium of the best video poetry from around the web
Video interpretations of poems are the main focus, but poetry readings, spoken word performances, and interviews with poets are also eligible for inclusion.

Ruth Stone


Ruth Stone from Neil Astley on Vimeo.

"Ruth Stone is a true American original. Now aged 93, she is still writing poetry of extraordinary variety and radiance. Pamela Robertson-Pearce filmed her in Vermont in September 2008. Ruth is almost blind but knows many of her poems by heart, and recites (or sings) several poems in this short film (prompted occasionally by editor Neil Astley). Born in Virginia in 1915, she has lived in rural Vermont for much of her life. In 1959, after her husband committed suicide, she had to raise three daughters alone, all the time writing what she called her 'love poems, all written to a dead man' who forced her to 'reside in limbo' with her daughters."

Philip Larkin's first interview

How Larkin rewrote the first, indiscreet article about him to appear in the British press.

The Quotidian and Poetry

Michelle Naka Pierce:
"...how do you make poetry more commonplace? I don't think it is necessarily in the topics you choose to write 'about' but how you incorporate it in your life."

Aphasia and Mediocre Poetry

Too close for comfort?
Aphasia is a neurological disorder that affects speech comprehension and speech production. It has been suggested that aphasic speech and poetry bear some resemblance.

In a recent study, Albert-Jan. Roskam found that poems of mediocre quality and aphasic transcripts may be indistinguishable, especially for men.
[via Wordsalad]

Quizzing Roddy Lumsden

Thursday, April 09, 2009
Do you think poetry is in rude health?
Artistically, yes. Commercially, no. As with all things in British life at the moment, I think there is far too much concentration (by publishers and the media) on a small number of often not very good poets. Our school curriculum favours poor poets with 'social messages'. Plain fare poetry often gets rewarded by plain fare judges. I'm a big admirer of 'elliptical / associative' poetry from the US, though it has been suggested that this strain of poetry had peaked.

National Poetry Month card #5

...by Via Negativa

Splendid

Art. Ideas. Experience [Australia]:
Australia Council has collaborated with Lismore Regional Gallery and the Splendour in the Grass music festival to launch SPLENDID, a groundbreaking initiative to workshop and showcase young and emerging Australian artists.

Ten young and emerging artists who work across the visual arts, theatre, dance, design, installation, architecture, digital art, text, sound and other creative areas will be chosen to undertake a three-week Arts Lab residency in Lismore in July 2009.

During the residency, the ten SPLENDID participants will not only be mentored in their own art form by some of the most recognised artists in the world, they will be encouraged to explore the concept of ‘’cross artform’’, working collaboratively within a dynamic environment that encourages critical thinking and experimentation.

The concepts workshopped during the residency will be further developed over a six month period and several will be commissioned to premiere at Splendour in the Grass 2010. This process will occur three times, with artworks commissioned for Splendour in the Grass 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Applications close 4 May 2009.

How a Poem Happens: Oliver de la Paz

Wednesday, April 08, 2009
How many revisions did this poem undergo? How much time elapsed between the first and final drafts?
"The poem underwent very few revisions after its initial composition. My revision process may be a little unorthodox. I tend to revise as I’m composing, so it winds up taking me a bit longer to compose a poem, but once it's "done", it's "done." So basically, very little time elapsed from the point of initial composition to the poem's "final" state."

Book [ends] with authors' portraits, several variants

Book support of powder-lacquered metal with motifs of our most famous authors [Sweden]:
Includes Astrid Lindgren, Dans Andersson, Nils Ferlin, Karin Boye and August Strindberg.
Yeah, apart from the first one, I didn't recognise any of them... they look pretty cool, though.

How to change a plug... in verse

"We invited four poets to reinterpret the familiar, humdrum procedures of daily life, in verse form."

A Celebration of the Chapbook

Thursday April 23rd, 2009 - Saturday April 25th, 2009 [NY]:
A Celebration of the Chapbook festival calls attention to the rich history of the chapbook and highlights its essential place in poetry publishing today as a vehicle for alternative poetry projects and for emerging authors and editors to gain entry into the literary marketplace. The festival will forge a new platform for the study of the chapbook inside and outside the academy and celebrate the importance of chapbooks to America’s cultural heritage and future.

The Mapmaker's Workbox

Tuesday, April 07, 2009
From Jacqui Rowe [UK]:
Journeys – real, imagined, your own life. Plot significant points, devise signs, triangulate and locate the arrow that says, ‘You are here!’ in a workshop led by Meredith Andrea and Jacqui Rowe where you might discover unexpected patterns in time and place.

1.30 - 4.30 pm, 18th April. Shakespeare Memorial Room, Birmingham Central Library
£17/£14 (concs)

To book contact Jacqui Rowe:
jacquirowe @ hotmail.co.uk
07971018825
PO Box 14779, Birmingham B13 3GU

For further details, see www.makingpoetry.co.uk

Guidebook

...an idiosyncratic mythology of small town America in which driveways yield to carnivals, interstates wind their ways to the edges of cliffs, and circuses erect themselves in backyards.

Poetry readership at 16-year low

A recent NEA report finds fiction reading on the rise, while readership of poetry has dropped significantly:
"...in 2008, just 8.3 percent of adults had read any poetry in the preceding 12 months. That figure was 12.1 percent in 2002, and in 1992, it was 17.1 percent, meaning the number of people reading poetry has decreased by approximately half over the past 16 years."

Poetry on Saturday Live

Monday, April 06, 2009
Visit the BBC archives.

Queens of Poetry

Call for Poems:
Queens of Poetry: A Tribute to Bosselaar, Duhamel, Laux, and Wier is an anthology under production by poet and editor Dustin Brookshire.

Anti-

... is fresh.

Poetry, interpretation and unpredictability

Thursday, April 02, 2009
...a reply to Neil Pickering:
In his article on poetry in health care education, Neil Pickering puts forward an argument of radical unpredictability: as we can never know in advance how a poem will be interpreted, it can be of no external use. It is, however, exactly this potential to give rise to multiple interpretations that makes the poem valuable.

Jill Alexander Essbaum's Poetic Feet

Wednesday, April 01, 2009
"Jill's feet are literally with the symbols denoting them as trochee (left) and iamb (right). Pure brilliance, in my opinion."