People in our Neighborhood -

Here are what a few of my favorite people/poets have been up to.  Enjoy--

If you haven't read this post by Collin Kelley, you should.

He asks:

So, I have questions for all of you who read this blog: How we can get back to the pleasure of the art rather than the jockeying for position, awards and writing personal attacks masquerading as "literary criticism?" How do we set a larger place at the poetry table for those working outside the academy? How do we make the art of poetry interesting and compelling to the next generation that doesn't want an MFA or teaching gig? How do we take the insular and make it open?

Important questions.  Important to both the poetry world and our own lives.

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Sandy Longhorn responds to the Poets & Writer article Face the Fear: A Rallying Cry for Writers by Rachel Kadish.

From Sandy's blog:


Later Kadish again affirms something that I too believe.  In writing about which authors succeed at having a long career in letters, she sates, "The people who keep writing are the ones who keep writing.  Talent is a prerequisite, yes; but ten or fifteen years out, the ones who are still at it are the ones who didn't stop.  There's no magic to it, only sheer bloody-minded stubbornness."  Stubbornness I've got to spare, just ask my family!  I try to teach my students the lesson of persistence, and I practice that lesson by submitting to journals over and over again, even in the face of rejection.  Now, I'm enacting that stubbornness with the second book as well. 

I recommend reading the P&W article as well (it's in the new issue with the big MFA letters on the front).

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Oliver de la Paz  has a new Book Trailer/Poem Video to watch (I'm not sure the correct term), but it's lovely and you can watch it on his blog.

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Martha Silano has a new book (and you can judge it by it's cover!)

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Best Line ever in regards to ranking MFA programs--

Such rankings do for creative writing what pornography does for love. 

***I want to blog about this later, but I think it's best (if you decide to get your MFA) to choose a program that is a good fit for you with writers and poets you admire, not because it's high on a list that was created by someone who is not you.

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Cheers, baby!



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