Asheville after the storm


I missed the bus last night. Seems like I’ve been missing a lot this week. Work has been a storm of activity. A project, a Weekly Planner, I sent to press at the beginning of the month finally arrived and looks fantastic. But like two weather fronts colliding, the Weekly Planner crashes into another project, a paperback book, and it seems the days and nights wrestle for control of my energy.

I missed The Kakalak Poets on Saturday, but caught the Bernstein and Cabanis-Brewin reading at Malaprop’s on Sunday. Their reading centered around place; specifically Western North Carolina. It was an unusually balm mid-October afternoon and I felt like a stranger at the event even though I’ve been to Malaprop’s dozens if not hundreds of times. It was the way their work spoke of this region; deeply intimate.

Marvin Bell read at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center Wednesday night. I attend the reading. Arriving early, I found a place in the back and began reading through a copy of the American Poetry Review. It arrived last weekend, but I hadn’t had time to read it. Someone kicked my foot and I looked up to find a smiling Sebastian Matthews who found a seat next to me. That reading was marvelous and the conversation afterwards with other poets and writers was equally nice. I wanted to greet Marvin Bell, but I lost courage and remembered I had to get home and check on correspondence with the author of the paperback book project I’m developing.

Thursday night, after missing the bus, I realized I’d missed my exercise routine all week. I had a 30-minute, two mile routine that I try to accomplish three times a week. So I walked to the Asheville Transit Center as a way to get back on track. It’s two miles exactly. Since I was a block away from Asheville Brewing Company, I popped in for a quick pint of Ninja Porter and a Rocky’s Philly Cheesteak. I think Drinking Liberally was meeting there, but I had to dash off or I’d miss the bus again. I’m glad it’s Friday. I hope I don’t miss the weekend.

Resignation a bit rocky

For the last four or five weeks I’ve been tormented. Should I, or shouldn’t I continue contributing to Write Stuff. See, I’ve been extremely busy in my professional life (of publishing other people’s books) that I felt that my contributions were lacking the quality I wanted to deliver. So I emailed the site’s leader this weekend and politely resigned and promised to deliver one final contribution: Rainless among marram.

This morning I read today’s Write Stuff post about defining genres and left a comment that was DELETED! WTF! I mean, is it necessary to delete the comment?

My comment mentioned that genres are mainly decided by publishing companies to help bookstores sell books. In the same manner, the recording industry uses the same strategy to sell albums by differentiating their target audience by marketing a project as ‘country’ or ‘alt country’ or ‘punk americana country.’ I referenced Peter Rubie’s book Telling the Story: How to Write and Sell Narrative Nonfiction. It includes a section on how genres are defined. Rubie write to help writers pitch their work.

So, crassly speaking, genres help sell books. Or not so crassly, genres help publishers deliver titles to the correct audiences.

Why would that get DELETED? I don’t get it. Whatever. I go back to work now.

UPDATE: Not only was my post deleted, but someone else’s (username Square1) was also deleted. Thanks to Google Reader (I RSS the Write Stuff comments), I was able to learn this detail. I wonder if there is a glitch in their comments software, because Square1 left a comment on my final Write Stuff post, Rainless among marram that was not deleted.

Confessions : 06

01. I got less than five hours of sleep last night.
02. Three poem sketches were written due to this insomnia.
03. The first time I’ve written poetry since the writers residency in July.
04. I’ve been developing other people’s books for publication,
05. and neglecting my own literary efforts.
06. I am supposed to be writing regularly column for The Indie, but I haven’t submitted anything in two months.
07. I am supposed to be doing something important right now…
08. but one spreadsheet looks just like all the others…

Write Stuff: Pursuit of the personal essay

I’ve been sharing what I learned during a 5-week writing course in my Write Stuff columns. This week’s piece, Rain–everyone needs it like everyone needs a great narrative, continues the story.

Last week’s post, Rain intensifies the drama of the question, evoked the following response:

…one of the most profound statements I’ve ever read. —Tammi

DIWATA: poster design

DIWATA

[Click on image to download image]

A recently completed poster design for A Third World Asheville Gathering.

Write Stuff: The art of personal essay

For my Write Stuff post I’ve been sharing what I learned during a 5-week writing course. Later I will explore what I gleaned from a 1-week writers residency.

This week’s piece, Rain intensifies the drama of the question, continues the story.

Last week’s post, Where does rain come from?, evoked the following responses:

One of the things that I don’t like about taking classes… is the people who fall over themselves to impress the instructor and can’t follow instructions. —Finn

I believe that the majority of people there are just like you – they simply want to learn the ins and outs of the craft and ultimately become better writers…. At any rate, have more confidence in your writing abilities because… judging by what you’ve contributed to this blog so far, you are well on your way to becoming one of the greats. —Karen

I’m sure that your essay didn’t seem silly… the… polished pieces are jumping ahead of the process and undermining your teacher’s efforts. —Tammi

Write Stuff: Learning the art of personal essay

Write Stuff writers and readers have expressed their interest and learning what I learned during a 5-week writing course and a 1-week writer residency. This week’s piece [link] begins the story of my experience and what I’ve learned and hope to share.

Confessions : 05

01. I did not attend Bele Chere, Asheville’s biggest party of the year.
02. I wanted to.
03. No I did not.
04. I only wanted to attend the Kenny Wayne Shepherd concert.
05. My urban garden looks pathetic.
06. I am supposed to be writing regularly column for The Indie, but I haven’t submitted a story in over a month.
07. I am supposed to be contributing original street/citizen-journalism writings to a city blog called Asheviller. (If you are familiar with Gothamist and Seattlest then you get the idea of Asheviller.)
08. I designed and launched a new website, Coffeehouse Junkie, as a beta version, but haven’t had time to develop the individual pages.
09. I’m listening to Vanessa Boyd’s Unkept Woman on iTunes.
10. My laptop’s battery is at a critical depletion point and I need to rejuice the MBP.

Intense

Currently, I am in the middle of an intense writing class. When I came across this article (via Boing Boing [Link]) this morning I was struck by this well crafted introduction:

I didn’t want to go back.

When I began reporting from Iraq in 2002, I was still a wild and somewhat naïve twenty-four-year-old kid. Five years later, I was battle-weary. I had been there longer than the American military and had kept returning long after most members of the “coalition of the willing” had pulled out. Iraq had become my initiation, my rite of passage, but instead of granting me a new sense of myself and a new identity, Iraq had become my identity. Without Iraq, I was nothing. Just another photographer hanging around New York. In Iraq, I had a purpose, a mission; I felt important.

Read the rest here [Link].

As far as a personal essay goes, the first sentence gets the reader into the story by asking “why” and presents an authentic voice that hooks the reader into the story.

Blotter Blurbs & Words: June 16

The Traveling Bonfires invade Durham


The Traveling Bonfires prepare for their first appearance in Durham. Read the press release below:

Blotter Blurbs & Words: June 16: FAME: Summer LUAU
FAME is having it’s first “open reading” night! We look forward to this as we celebrate popular local magazine, the BLOTTER. Special guests poets Pasckie Pascua and Matthew Mulder from Asheville and his friends female songwriters Sally Spring (www.sallyspring.com) and Ophir Drive (http://myspace.com/ophirdrive). We look forward to hearing what they have to say!

Join us at RINGSIDE: 308 West Main Street, Durham.
Doors open at 10pm: 18+

Urban Gardening


Three months ago I pushed words and metaphors into the ground and despite the drought the ground broke with lovely green things and white flowers.

I think I should name them poems, but my children call them basil and tomato and peas and peppers.

Is Asheville the wrong place to try to make it as a poet?

A call from an acquaintance in NYC prompted me to ask the question: Is Asheville the wrong place to try to make it as a poet? The Check out the D.C. scene and the Baltimore scene.

Overheard on the bus:

A couple, who appear to be on intimate terms, converse at the bus stop.

The man (wearing a Cradle of Filth t-shirt) tells the woman: “Suicide Girls is art–not pornography.”
The woman (smokes her second cigarette in ten minutes): “No. The guy who takes photos of a thousand nude people in Mexico is an artist. Suicide Girls is pornography.”
The man: “Some pornography is art. Suicide Girls is art because they perform to music.”

Bus arrives.

Write Stuff: A definition poem

Recently inspired by the poetical form sometimes referred to as a “definition poem” (akin to a recipe poem), I offered a poem sketch on Write Stuff. Link.

Sebastian Matthews on national broadcast of The Writer’s Almanac

I woke up to the voice of Garrison Keillor reading “Live at the Village Vanguard” by Sebastian Matthews from, We Generous: Poems. © Red Hen Press. Link.

Tonight at Osondu Booksellers

Tonight, April 28, 7-9pm
The Traveling Bonfires & Osondu Booksellers present
Matthew Mulder, Margaret Osondu, Pasckie Pascua, and guest poets.

Osondu Booksellers, Waynesville, NC.
FREE.
For info, (828) 456 8062 or (828) 505-0476.

on the radio : a poem sketch

Rest my head in
hand near the table
where a small black
radio plays an
instrumental I
have never heard but
know it… know its
emotional
audio content.

Notes plucked
from guitar strings
weave and release
a story that
resonates deep
within my soul
and makes me want
to cry and hope.

The announcer
says his name is
Ottmar Liebert
but does not share
the name… the name
of the song that
makes me want to cry.

Vanessa Boyd : Hunger : Digipack Design


Copies finally arrived. Actually, they arrived more than a week ago, but I’ve been rather busy and I am just getting around to posting about its arrival.

The Hunger CD design was completed months ago. The design process was completed via teleconference (Vanessa Boyd living in New York City) and digital transfer (i.e. emailing art/corrections/finals via high-speed internet). It’s nice to see the final manufactured product. Click on the image to see the inside and back of the package design on my Flickr photostream.

Strange Familiar Place comic series

It has been awhile since mentioning a comic strip I’ve written and illustrated. The Indie has published the series since December. It is called Strange Familiar Place and features a magazine A & E editor (at least in the first two strips) and the main character Hudson Stillwater, a graphic designer.

Strange Familiar Place also features Heather (Hudson’s wife) and presents a slice-of-life drama of living and working (and losing a job) in a cultural creative urban mountain city (or at least a city that looks a lot like Asheville).

Published in The Indie, March 1, 2007
Published in The Indie, March 16, 2007

Beginning in mid to late April, Strange Familiar Place will be illustrated by someone else. I’ll still be the principal writer, but I hired an illustrator that I am confident will present the visual narrative with a higher quality of art.

Previous posts on this topic: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Write Stuff : The Economics of Writing

For some reason the term “economics” really spooks writers into silence. Why?

Weekly I post something on Write Stuff about writing or the craft of writing or anything relating to the writing process. I began a series on why writing contests are bad business for both writers and publishers. Here’s part one, two, and three.

The premise is this: economics is the study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Poets and writers produce literature that is distributed via publishers and booksellers to readers, book buyers, librarians.

I began the series of posts as a way to study what I do and why I am continually disappointed in writing contests and the works that win writing contests. For example, the Walt Whitman Award, presented by the Academy of American Poets (of which I am a member), is considered a prestigious contest. The Academy has published many fine poets. However, much of what wins and is published is considered informal personal narrative. That’s fine. It is a dominant form in America. But, as I discussed with a fellow poet at the Flood Fine Art Center poetry reading last week, it isn’t new–it’s the same tired narrative lyric every other professional poet is turning out. It’s like poetry in America is stuck in a rut and it can’t get out. Tony Tost’s Invisible Bride is one Walt Whitman Award winner that I recall in recent times that really pushed the vehicle of poetry in a new direction. But I’ll explore that more in this week’s Write Stuff post.

I’m not sure (because I’ve received minimal comments on the topic) if I’ve either struck a nerve with the folks at Write Stuff (they run a writing contest) or I’m being completely obtuse. What do you think?

(Literary) Weekend photo essay (with some comments)

The Flood Fine Art Center poetry reading series Friday night inspired me. Four talented poets read their work to a very supportive audience.

Stephen Kirbach

Shad Marsh

Jennifer Callahan

Lynette James

Sunday afternoon offered a Writers at Home Series at Malaprop’s Cafe & Bookstore. Patrick Finn and Michael McFee read from their work.

Michael McFee

Flood Fine Art Center Poetry Reading Tonight

Flood Fine Art Center

FRI Mar. 16, 8:30pm

Poetry reading series features:

Stephen Kirbach, Shad Marsh, Jennifer Callahan & Lynette James.

Flood Fine Art Center located in the
Phil Mechanic Studios

Press Release : Writers at Home

Writers at Home Series Continues March 18
Patrick Finn & Michael McFee

UNC Asheville’s 2006-07 Writers at Home Series continues with readings by local writers Patrick Finn and Michael McFee at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 18, at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. Writers at Home is part of the Great Smokies Writing Program, a consortium of Western North Carolina writers and UNC Asheville. The event is free and open to the public.

Finn’s fiction has appeared in many literary publications, including “Quarterly West,” “Ploughshares,” “The Richmond Review,” “Third Coast,” “Punk Planet” and the Houghton Mifflin collection “Best American Mystery Stories 2004.” He received a Distinguished Story Citation in the Pushcart Prize Anthology and is currently working on a novel set in a bowling alley in the California desert. Finn teaches writing at UNC Asheville.

McFee has published nine volumes of poetry, most recently “Shinemaster” and “The Smallest Talk,” a collection of one-line poems. His first book of prose, “The Napkin Manuscripts,” was released in 2006. Finn is editor of “The Language They Speak is Things to Eat” and “This is Where We Live,” both anthologies of contemporary North Carolina poems and short stories. He has received numerous awards, including the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award from the Western North Carolina Historical Association, the UNC Chapel Hill Students’ Undergraduate Teaching Award and Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. An Asheville native, McFee teaches poetry writing and North Carolina literature at UNC Chapel Hill.

Please call Elaine Fox@828/ 232-5122 with any questions you may have.