well, we leave for Las Vegas tomorrow after work. it's only a six-hour drive from SLC to LV, so it won't be too bad. one of our friends, who no longer lives in Utah, is getting married down there, so it should be fun.
i won't be posting while down there, obviously, but i do have plans to post, however, a third installment "hooked on phonics worked for me" when i get back. it's been a while since the last part, and i have some things that need to be talked about.
until then.
08 September 2005
06 September 2005
necessary like a revolution
i received a letter today from one of the best living poets. his name is Chris Cunningham and odds are pretty good, sadly, that you don't know of him. this will change soon as he has two books coming out in the next six or seven months. he is amazing. his poems are brilliant like ignited magnesium, painful like a lost dog, necessary like a revolution.
Chris's letters, too, burn. his words are such that i don't know whether to cry or rise up in anger and take on the world. crying is easier.
anyway, i just wanted to mention him because Hemispherical Press will be releasing one of his books early next year. it will be a MUST read. also, he was the winner of the most recent Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contest, and the winning manuscript will be released in the very near future. look for it. it, too, is a monster and will be the best thing Liquid Paper Press (Nerve Cowboy's imprint) has ever done. PERIOD!
back to the grind. the three day weekend, as usual, was too short. i don't think i'll ever see retirement, but jesus i hope i do.
Chris's letters, too, burn. his words are such that i don't know whether to cry or rise up in anger and take on the world. crying is easier.
anyway, i just wanted to mention him because Hemispherical Press will be releasing one of his books early next year. it will be a MUST read. also, he was the winner of the most recent Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contest, and the winning manuscript will be released in the very near future. look for it. it, too, is a monster and will be the best thing Liquid Paper Press (Nerve Cowboy's imprint) has ever done. PERIOD!
back to the grind. the three day weekend, as usual, was too short. i don't think i'll ever see retirement, but jesus i hope i do.
04 September 2005
poetic injustice?
well, what do you know? in today's Salt Lake Tribune, on the front page of The Arts section, an article titled Poetic Injustice? is featured.
the article discusses whether or not "accessible" poetry (or "approachable" poetry) cheapens poetry. it's a ridiculous notion, in my mind, but the article is well-written and includes the thoughts of Billy Collins (ex-Poet Laureate) and a number of local Utah academic poets.
as you'd expect, the academics/teachers argued that "accessible" poetry (i.e. poetry that can be understood) is "lesser" poetry; not as "poetic" as the more academic, unapproachable style that pervades the academic journals.
Billy Collins had a great line about why teachers feel this way: "Teachers tend to present poetry in the classroom that is difficult to understand, and they do it to protect their jobs, because only difficult poems need a teacher to help explain them." now, that's beautiful. Mr. Collins also said he gets a lot of flak, and is a sitting-duck, because he sells more books than most of the inaccessible/academic poets, and also because he doesn't have a tortured, misery-ridden persona, which seems to be a prerequisite for much of poetry.
he did say (and this is something i agree with even more), "I think more people should be reading it but maybe fewer people should be writing it."
amen.
read the article. it's pretty good and is pretty damn typical when it comes to what the academics think about poetry of non-academics. the fact that Billy Collins was ever Poet Laureate is rather amazing, if you think about the style and voice and "accessibility" of his poems.
i received the 18 poems that Eric Dejaeger of Belgium translated into French. it's pretty wild to see your own words in another language. he said some will be published in his journal Microbe and others will likely appear in other French-language journals in France and Belgium. what's even cooler is that i will receive a copy of each journal and magazine in which one of these translations appears. man, this is so exciting.
the article discusses whether or not "accessible" poetry (or "approachable" poetry) cheapens poetry. it's a ridiculous notion, in my mind, but the article is well-written and includes the thoughts of Billy Collins (ex-Poet Laureate) and a number of local Utah academic poets.
as you'd expect, the academics/teachers argued that "accessible" poetry (i.e. poetry that can be understood) is "lesser" poetry; not as "poetic" as the more academic, unapproachable style that pervades the academic journals.
Billy Collins had a great line about why teachers feel this way: "Teachers tend to present poetry in the classroom that is difficult to understand, and they do it to protect their jobs, because only difficult poems need a teacher to help explain them." now, that's beautiful. Mr. Collins also said he gets a lot of flak, and is a sitting-duck, because he sells more books than most of the inaccessible/academic poets, and also because he doesn't have a tortured, misery-ridden persona, which seems to be a prerequisite for much of poetry.
he did say (and this is something i agree with even more), "I think more people should be reading it but maybe fewer people should be writing it."
amen.
read the article. it's pretty good and is pretty damn typical when it comes to what the academics think about poetry of non-academics. the fact that Billy Collins was ever Poet Laureate is rather amazing, if you think about the style and voice and "accessibility" of his poems.
i received the 18 poems that Eric Dejaeger of Belgium translated into French. it's pretty wild to see your own words in another language. he said some will be published in his journal Microbe and others will likely appear in other French-language journals in France and Belgium. what's even cooler is that i will receive a copy of each journal and magazine in which one of these translations appears. man, this is so exciting.
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