Creative-writing programs are designed on the theory that students who have never published a poem can teach other students who have never published a poem how to write a publishable poem.
“Show or Tell: Should creative writing be taught?” by Louis Menand in The New Yorker (via somethingchanged)
the definition of haiku
the definition of haiku is more than 3-line poems with no more than 17 syllables… the key is the revelatory moment…
Haiku… are short, unrhymed, poems… that juxtapose two images to capture a moment of insight about the world or about oneself. (via poetry foundation)
i wasn’t kidding when i said i have a 1000-page manuscript. here’s a photo of it on my drawing table. now if i can only find where i put my lighter…
speaking of ‘inadvertently burnt’ manuscripts… i came across this interesting piece about about William Carlos Williams’ first volume of poetry…
Of William Carlos Williams’ debut slim volume, Poems, which the young and popular physician of Paterson, NJ published privately in 1909 only two copies are known to exist. Of the second state, which differs from the first in only a few respects, a hundred copies were published in 1910 by a local printer Howell at 25 cents a copy. Dr Williams took a dozen of these to the local stationery store and after a month four had been sold, so he brought home the remainder and after distributing a few copies to members of his family, returned the rest of the edition to his printer. At some point Howell, as Williams recalled in his Autobiography, then wrapped them in a neat bundle and put them away for ‘safe keeping’. After they had ‘ reposed ten years or more on a rafter under the eaves of his old chicken coop ‘ they were ‘, Williams recorded ruefully, ‘inadvertently burnt’. (via bookride)
Field notes
just returned from the river arts studio stroll… number one kidlinger is jazzed, but can’t decide what to do, ‘dad, i can’t decide if i want to paint or do ceramics or glass works’ … awesome! & to top it off… clear blue sky, 72°F outside, plus 12 bones for lunch (we ate outside next to the river in the middle of november)… how cool is that?
Field notes
around 2 i walk into the fiddlin pig for lunch & the waitress has my table ready… as i slide into the booth this song by johnny paycheck comes on the sound system… i’m just glad the kitchen staff didn’t revolt & leave the place… because the bbq & ribs were delicious…
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
some days i dream of steamer trunks
some days i dream of steamer trunks & where they might take me… (via creativeinspiration)
today’s running soundtrack
Bang! You’re It! – Sophomore
Massive Nights – The Hold Steady
When We Were Young – Dolores O’Riordan
Light Up Ya Lighter – Michael Franti & Spearhead
Now I’m Gone – Juliana Hatfield
Right Hand On My Heart – The Whigs
99% – The Mooney Suzuki
Gilt Complex – Sons and Daughters
today the hill won…
maybe it was the temperature: 38°… or maybe it was the 5% grade… or the 170-foot ascent… or maybe it was the cookies & milk before i went to bed after the concert…
whatever it was… it took me 33.10 to finish 5k…
In defense of readers
Reading is a necessarily solitary experience—like dying, everyone reads alone—but over the centuries readers have learned how to cultivate that solitude, how to grow it in the least hospitable environments. An experienced reader can lose herself in a good text with anything short of a war going on (and, sometimes, even then)—the horticultural equivalent of growing orchids in a desert.
Despite the ubiquity of reading on the web, readers remain a neglected audience. Much of our talk about web design revolves around a sense of movement: users are thought to be finding, searching, skimming, looking. We measure how frequently they click but not how long they stay on the page. We concern ourselves with their travel and participation—how they move from page to page, who they talk to when they get there—but forget the needs of those whose purpose is to be still. Readers flourish when they have space—some distance from the hubbub of the crowds—and as web designers, there is yet much we can do to help them carve out that space.
the creative class
… the people of the creative class are fairly certain they are destined to be creative, but can never be certain about just how creative they are. So they must seek outward signs of their blessed inner superiority, must seek or contrive recognition for their creativity whenever possible. This is that class’s essential self-consciousness, and when it is acute, it becomes hipsterism.
“Creative writing and crippling self-consciousness,” Marginal Utility (via somethingchanged)
mutually assured humiliation
Young people may regret tomorrow what they make public today but I think we will all be protected by the doctrine of mutually assured humiliation (I won’t dig up your college-party picture if you don’t dig up mine).
Jeff Jarvis, “Openness and the Internet,” BusinessWeek (via somethingchanged)
malty: My post-it note confession
I miss reading
NOTE:
“i miss reading,” whatannaloves.tumblr.com, accessed November 4, 2009, https://whatannaloves.tumblr.com/post/220026161/i-miss-reading (page no longer available, web site deactivated)
Field notes
in my office, on my desk, is a copy of miles gone by. last night someone defaced the book cover. the book was intended to be a gift. really odd & disappointing on many levels.
screading
What is poetry?
how many pull quotes can you possible use to answer whether poetry is poetry, or prose?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge:
The definition of good prose is – proper words in their proper places; of good verse – the most proper words in their proper places. The words in prose ought to express their intended meaning, and no more… But in verse, you must do more; there the words [are] the media…
Housman:
Poetry is not the thing said but the way of saying it.
Frost:
poetry is what’s lost in translation.
Auden:
A poem must be a closed system.
(via)
When everyone is a book critic, no one i
this reminds me that i need to finish writing my book reviews for spr…
What I always say to creative writing students when I talk about book reviewing is that they’re entering a landscape vastly different from the one I entered, and I only entered a few years ago. Obviously, the Internet has rapidly and irrevocably changed the way books—and anything—are talked about. We now live in an age where some large segment of “professional” book criticism takes place in a medium somewhere between the customer comment and the fancy print book review. Literally, everyone’s a critic, if they want to be and can type. (via)
An argument for self-publishing your poetry manuscript
if you had $2000 to spend on publishing your poetry manuscript, why give that money to 76 publishers?
from the book of kells:
So in total, 76 presses had the opportunity to consider it over 5 years (plus 9 that ALMOST got to consider it…) Don’t do the math on how much it cost me in postage, paper, and contest fees (I’m estimating about $30 a shot) or you’ll end up with about $400 a year on submissions (I’d guess about $2000 total). This makes me a little ill as that’s a lot of money. Thankfully, it was over 5 years, so my family still ate well and was fully clothed while I tried my best to be published. (via)
this is a really good argument for self-publishing your own poetry manuscript… imho… i’m just saying, if i had $2000 to spend on my own book, i’d hire a professional editor, art director, & spend the rest on printing, ad/marketing & distribution.
Field notes
sometimes you just have to take a stand… pick up your junk & walk away…
Field notes
tonight: Natasha Tretheway and Katherine Soniat to read at Posana Cafe at 8 pm.
The Traveling Bonfires
a two-year absence from asheville, THE TRAVELING BONFIRES is back in asheville!
i’ll be reading some poems with other vagrant poets and musicians at firestorm cafe october 31. it’s free. it starts at 8:00 pm.
Civil debate
it is inspiring for me to see public intellectuals debate with reason, civility & wit… also noticed in this sneak peak that dr. marvin olasky (world magazine editor in chief) appears to officiate the debate…
thomasfitzpatrick: Preview of the first 13 minutes of the forthcoming documentary “Collision”. The film follows renowned author and anti-theist Christopher Hitchens and Pastor Douglas Wilson as they debate the topic: “Is Christianity Good For The World?”. (via)
confession: recently, i rode in a shuttle from a hotel to an airport with dr. olasky… but i was too shy to say anything…
(Source: http://player.vimeo.com/)
Field notes
tonight is poetry writing workshop at the flood gallery fine arts center… it’s raining… a prefect evening to soak in poetry & conversation…
Coffeehouse Junkie 