tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post2849532528486499455..comments2024-02-12T16:32:03.714-08:00Comments on Book of Kells: Oh and what do you write? ~ A Poet's Guide to Protection.Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-14707561575767751182010-11-10T15:50:26.768-08:002010-11-10T15:50:26.768-08:00Lyle-- I think I can use "the stuff that Hal...Lyle-- I think I can use "the stuff that Hallmark doesn't use." That's great! And I like the gentle, "I write poems."<br /><br />"medieval historian" is another great conversation stopper, unless you're a poet and then you start asking questions. ;-)<br /><br /><br />Hannah-- Thanks for your note. And that's the best reaction ever. I probably would have hugged her. ;-)Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-11321025015299366252010-11-10T15:43:03.912-08:002010-11-10T15:43:03.912-08:00Shawnte - I like the "need-to-know" basi...Shawnte - I like the "need-to-know" basis. I also think that many times when there is an actually product (like a book or a chapbook), there is also a validity that goes with it. <br /><br />People understand that there is a sort of "destination" and the vision of one just writing poems alone in an apartment as a way to deal with things, but to see it as creating art, a larger vision.<br /><br />I like the idea of sending someone out the finished product. Sort of like, "If you didn't know I wrote, this will help you understand what I do."Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-68262593044947057832010-11-10T15:39:18.661-08:002010-11-10T15:39:18.661-08:00Terresa -- I think when friends know you write, it...Terresa -- I think when friends know you write, it's a way to discover who is really a good friend! <br /><br />Paul-- love this: "usually, they shake their heads as though I just announced the loss of a favorite pet or distant aunt, with something like phony commiseration. It is an awesome conversation ender!" <br /><br /> --Oh isn't that the truth. Maybe we should just say, "I am a Wordsmith to the 100th power..." <br /><br />And Terrance Hayes has a way with words. ;-) I like it.Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-69287826386241295632010-11-10T15:36:18.533-08:002010-11-10T15:36:18.533-08:00David: I loved that comment "But you're...David: I loved that comment "But you're such a normal guy". - sort of like learning someone is either a superhero or a mass murder (he was such a quiet guy...) <br /><br />Oh the poetry is fiction & internal editing that goes along when we fear someone may confuse the "I" with ourselves. They only thing I think to help this is to educate others that the "I" is not the poet but the speaker in the poem over and over again.Kelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-27866865035574895662010-11-07T23:04:40.943-08:002010-11-07T23:04:40.943-08:00Wonderful to read your blog and work. The lovely T...Wonderful to read your blog and work. The lovely Terresa sent me over here...<br /><br />Thought-provoking post on what we feel comfortable owning/owning up to, and with which circles in our lives. The comments are fascinating, too.<br /><br />Last year, I got some business cards printed declaring "Poet, Writer, Instructor." I was feeling rather nervous about it, but I am so glad that I did it!! <br /><br />I like surprising myself by telling people that I'm a poet when they ask what I do. I told the cashier at the grocery store that when she asked, and she gave me the best reaction of all time--she said, "Oh, congratulations!! I love poetry!" I felt like giving her a gigantic hug.Hannah Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15792203070774504501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-25888320509434213862010-11-07T18:24:03.495-08:002010-11-07T18:24:03.495-08:00I generally just come right out and tell people wh...I generally just come right out and tell people what I do, though it depends a little on the context. If somebody I've just met asks something like "where do you work?", I tell them what I do for my day job. If it's a more general question like "what do you do?" or "what are you into?", then I'll say "I write poems." (It seems to land a little more softly than saying "I'm a poet" -- I usually save that for gatherings heavy with writers.)<br /><br />I haven't gotten many weird or leery reactions, usually just curiosity. I get a lot of the "what kind of poems do you write?" kind of question, and I'll try to say something without mumbling too much. (Someone in one of the blogs once said that they often answer that question by saying, "The kind Hallmark doesn't use" or something like that.)<br /><br />The poet W.H. Auden said once in an interview that whenever someone asked him casually what he did (an idle conversation with a stranger on a train, that sort of thing), he usually would say "medieval historian," and that would shut them up for the rest of the train trip.Lyle Daggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10731915540520704368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-25150988918822392652010-11-07T16:09:09.848-08:002010-11-07T16:09:09.848-08:00For some reason, I never had much of a problem wit...For some reason, I never had much of a problem with "outing" myself to people I didn't really know. But I tried to keep it on a need-to-know basis in my "real life."<br /><br />Especially with family. The only reason I finally told my mother was because I started accumulating a modest amount of publishing credits, so I was worried that she might one day google my name and I would have felt guilty if that was the way she found out. But I still didnt really want to tell her in person or on the phone, where I would be stuck having an awkward conversation about it. So when a small press finally published a little chapbook of mine, I just mailed her a copy. She only lives about 20 minutes away and I see her on a weekly basis, but that just seemed to be the easiest way for me to do it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-82042986565395458242010-11-07T05:47:54.451-08:002010-11-07T05:47:54.451-08:00In response to David V., wasn't Terrence Hayes...In response to David V., wasn't Terrence Hayes' advice on this problem something like, telling them, "Just make shit up."<br />Paul DavidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-36139711429510813592010-11-07T05:44:06.084-08:002010-11-07T05:44:06.084-08:00Since writing is not my primary source of money, I...Since writing is not my primary source of money, I say what I do as a regular job. My wife loves to interect that I have a Masters Degree as well. Invariably they ask "What in?" "A Master's Degree in Fine Arts in the Writing of Poetry," I say. That way if they're interested we can talk. Usually, they shake their heads as though I just announced the loss of a favorite pet or distant aunt, with something like phony commiseration. It is an awesome conversation ender!!<br />Paul DavidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-39917832249412770482010-11-06T19:49:54.913-07:002010-11-06T19:49:54.913-07:00I'm still a closet poet, but many of my friend...I'm still a closet poet, but many of my friends know I write. They are awaiting a book. I reply vaguely then change the subject. I identify with other writer/artist types in many ways, as well as this post.*https://www.blogger.com/profile/06484208765656281917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-9917216392720182962010-11-06T13:05:52.677-07:002010-11-06T13:05:52.677-07:00Difficult. Many people in my community - at home a...Difficult. Many people in my community - at home and at work - know I'm a poet and most aren't really interested beyond that. The strangest reaction I've had on initial discovery was "But you're such a normal guy". Not much to say to that, really.<br /><br />That's why I have such a hard time defeating my internal editor sometimes. How do you get past the idea that your daughter's teachers might someday be reading the poem you're thinking of submitting?<br /><br />And if you have any tips for teaching novice poetry readers that poetry is fiction (ie: not all first person voice is ME; not everything in the poem must have REALLY HAPPENED), I'm all ears.David Vincentihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10572861860566117361noreply@blogger.com