Poetry & Poets in Rags

It's a great week for laureates, and a great week for poets who workshop online. We begin with articles on Liz Lochhead becoming the Makar of Scotland just in time for Robert Burns celebrations. This is followed by articles on Derek Walcott, and then poetry by Seamus Heaney. We then find out what Kelly Cherry has to say about becoming Poet Laureate of Virginia.

But it's here we shift to online poetry too. Kelly Cherry was the judge for the 2007-08 Poem of the Year competition for the InterBoard Poetry Community (IBPC). Our next article is about Laurie Byro recently being named IBPC Poet of the Decade. That article misstates one point. She was not selected "based on votes from other poets who belong to the IBPC," but from esteemed judges consistently choosing more of her poems throughout the last ten years--this out of the thousands of poets and at least tens of thousands of poems posted on the dozens of fine poetry forums that have belonged to IBPC over the years. The online poets, however, did choose her poems to go forward for judging, and surely she appreciates their support, as she represented a few different poetry boards over the years, and still does.

That article on Laurie Byro is then followed by one on Margaret Griffiths, or Maz, or grasshopper, as she was known on line. This story is an extraordinary one of posthumous publication of poems the poet did not keep on file, a sort of reverse Emily Dickinson. Our next article is about our Great Regular David Biespiel, who was also IBPC's Spring 2006 judge.

We have plenty more poetry and articles this week. I'll let you get to your reading. Thanks for clicking in.

Yours,
Rus

Our links:

IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog

IBPC Home

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take on the mantle of Scotland's national poet, following the death of the only previous "Makar", Edwin Morgan, last year.

Her first declaration after being unveiled by First Minister Alex Salmond was to insist she was undeserving of the title, which was created for Morgan seven years ago.

The 63-year-old, who famously performed a poem specially written by Morgan at the opening of the Scottish Parliament building, will relinquish her role as Glasgow's Makar to take up her new post, which she will hold for five years.

from The Scotsman: Liz Lochhead becomes Scotland's national poet
then Reuters India: Scots cheer Burns with letter, laureate and museum
then The Scotsman: Liz Lochhead: What she read . . . .
then The Guardian: Scotland has the makings of a great makar in Liz Lochhead
then STV News: Liz Lochhead revealed as Scotland's new Makar

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Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, who was embroiled in scandal two years ago, was tonight named winner of the TS Eliot prize for the best new collection of poems published in the UK or Ireland.

He took the prize against competition from an eclectic group of poets, including fellow Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, Iraq war veteran Brian Turner and Sam Willetts, whose debut collection came after 10 years lost to addiction to and recovery from heroin.

from The Guardian: TS Eliot prize goes to Derek Walcott for 'moving and technically flawless' work
then Daily Telegraph: Derek Walcott's triumphant return to lyric poetry

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County Derry, Northern Ireland. His first collection, Death of a Naturalist (Faber) was published in 1965, and since then he has published nearly 100 books, including District and Circle (Faber, which won the 2006 TS Eliot Prize) and Sweeney Astray (1984). Heaney was Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1989 to 1994, and in 1995 he received the Nobel prize for literature. He won the 2010 Forward prize for best collection for Human Chain.

Uncoupled

from The Guardian: Extract: Human Chain by Seamus Heaney

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[Kelly] Cherry said she would like to focus on senior citizens, although she’s not sure precisely how she’ll do this — perhaps with readings at nursing homes, assisted living facilities or to senior groups. Mostly, Cherry hopes to reach out into Virginia’s communities, and she would like to hear from citizens on how she might do this.

from The News & Record: Halifax County produces newest poet laureate

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as the head of circulation for the Lee Memorial Library, but the Hewitt resident just received another distinction. Byro was recently named Poet of the Decade by the InterBoard Poetry Community (IBPC).

from Town Journal: While 'excited' by honor, poet hopes to just keep writing

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vast swathes of her work, they scoured the web, retracing her online footsteps to retrieve as much of it as possible.

Meanwhile, solicitors searched for a next of kin who could grant permission for the work to be published.

After months of work by a team of 17 from as far afield as Australia, Canada, and the USA, more than 300 of her poems now feature in a book entitled Grasshopper, after her nom de plume.

from Bournemouth Echo: Late poet from Poole gets her work published

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calls the "draft and revise" method. Most writers imagine a piece they want to write, draft it, then polish and revise it without straying far from the first vision. Eschewing this routine, Biespiel cautions: Avoid the first draft for as long as possible. It commits you to an immature vision of the piece. He writes about longing for "a method that allowed me to blur and get lost in a contained sort of writing reverie."

Losing control, even failing, is a neglected, unappreciated, but necessary part of the creative process.

from The Oregonian: Nonfiction review: 'Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces' by David Biespiel

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place in a future world where young people from less advantaged backgrounds may baulk at the idea of taking on tens of thousands of pounds of debt for the pleasure of spending three years at university in the company of the Romantic poets? "Yes there will be all kinds of challenges down the line. If I can lend my voice to the idea that creative writing is not some sort of frivolous endeavour but a robust subject with high values and produces high calibre work--I want to be part of that debate," he says.

from The Independent: Armitage: 'Creative writing is not a frivolous endeavour'

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For a bridge suicide

From four, six, eight feet, maybe even ten,

from The Guardian: Four poems by Richard Meier
then The Guardian: Inaugural Picador poetry prize goes to Richard Meier
then The Guardian: Don Paterson on finding the best new poets

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sexual subjugation too. Ms. [Meena] Kandasamy's poems are informed by a sense of gender relations that suggest being a woman in a largely patriarchal society is another form of being lower caste.

"You don't have to be a Dalit--by being a woman the caste is in you," she said.

from Wall Street Journal: India Real Time: A Female Dalit Poet Fights Back in Verse

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it as one of the best 'secret' things to look out for in London. Within two weeks Network Rail had painted it over whilst 'cleaning' up the tunnel. A huge press outcry followed. The story was covered in The Guardian, The Spectator, Time Out, The Evening Standard, and Poetry News and was even given a ten minute slot on Canadian Radio.

Christopher Hamilton-Emery, the director of Salt publishing that publishes Sue Hubbard's collection Ghost Station, in which the poem appears, began a Facebook campaign. The response was phenomenal. More than 1200 people signed up demanding the restoration of the poem.

from ArtDaily.org: Restoration Of The Much Loved Waterloo Poem by Sue Hubbard

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"Epistolary" you might find the following definition from wikipedia helpful: "An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use. The word epistolary comes from the Latin word epistola, meaning a letter."

Epistolary

from Marianne Combs: Minnesota Public Radio: State of the Arts: Minnesota Poetry: M.C. Hyland's "Epistolary"

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that each hand that writes writes differently, because "the universe induces/a different tremor in every hand." He offers as examples the widely contrasting "check-forger" and the Chinese "Emperor/Hui Tsung, who called his own calligraphy/the 'Slender Gold.'"

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Howard Nemerov's Writing

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as a reincarnation of an enlightened being, but the system of recognizing someone as Tulku or Lama does not exist. In Tibet, the first ever reincarnation was recognized after a little child who clearly remembered his past life and which was proved to be true. Later on, this system slowly and gradually nearly became a class structure in society. Because of this I have made it well known that there is a difference between Tulku and Lama. A Lama need not be a Tulku and a Tulku need not be a Lama or one could be both Lama and Tulku. The one who is qualified as a result of one's own study and practice is known as Lama. A Tulku, even without such a standard of education, enjoys status in society in the name of the former Lama. And there are many who lack the Lama's qualification and even bring disgrace. So I used to say since some forty years ago that there needs to be some system to regulate the recognition of Tulku. Otherwise it is not good to have many unqualified ones.

I consider my interest in the system of reincarnation as a service to the Buddha's teachings. In the case of the Dalai Lama's reincarnation, the four hundred year old tradition of the Dalai Lama as both spiritual and temporal leader ended with the direct election of political leadership by the Tibetans in exile in 2001. In 1969, I made it well known in my official statement that whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not would be decided by the Tibetan people.

from Tenzin Gyatso: The Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: Questions put forward to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by Chinese people from various cities in Mainland China

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("The Best of It") and prize-winning poet-translator Anne Carson ("Nox") were poetry finalists, along with Kathleen Graber's "The Eternal City," Terrance Hayes' "Lighthead" and C.D. Wright's "One with Others."

from Hillel Italie: Associated Press: Franzen, Patti Smith nominees for critics awards

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by Daniel Anderson

Summoned from a fresh page

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: The Bitter End by Daniel Anderson

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Circle
by Howard Moss

Now are we saying goodbye?

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Circle by Howard Moss

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French Toast
by Anya Krugovoy Silver

Pain perdu: lost bread. Thick slices sunk in milk,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: French Toast by Anya Krugovoy Silver

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The Plymouth on Ice
by Thomas R. Moore

On frigid January nights we'd

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: The Plymouth on Ice by Thomas R. Moore

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Somewhere in the World
by Linda Pastan

Somewhere in the world

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Somewhere in the World by Linda Pastan

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Three Perfect Days
by Linda Pastan

In the middle seat of an airplane,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Three Perfect Days by Linda Pastan

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Tuesday 9:00AM
by Denver Butson

A man standing at the bus stop

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Tuesday 9:00AM by Denver Butson

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said that, in his subjects, he kept the joy of discovery, the pleasure of the unexpected. In this poem celebrating Picasso, Tim Nolan, an attorney in Minneapolis, says the world will disclose such pleasures to us, too, if only we pay close attention.

Picasso

from Ted Kooser: American Life in Poetry: Column 305

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second language can provide us with a new self? On the evidence of Katherine Russell Rich's Dreaming in Hindi (Mariner; $14.95), immersion in another language results in moments of seeming "possession" by it. While less ecstatic, Deborah Fallows's Dreaming in Chinese (Walker; $22) is also a story about how learning a language permitted her to inhabit more thoroughly an alien culture. You could say that sympathy and possession are weak and strong forms of the same outcome--a change of mind following mimeticism.

from Ange Mlinko: The Nation: Languaging

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the Muses are truly subversive. "Lovely"--a word often condemned for being sentimental--is repeated emphatically by the translator, the Oxford archaeologist Hugh G. Evelyn Wright. (More Indiana Jones than dusty academic, he was present with Lord Carnarvon at the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb and was one of the first to gaze upon the prince's mummy, wrapped within its golden sarcophagus.)

Do we dismiss the "lovely dances" of the Muses as irrelevant to modern life or do we allow ourselves a moment of praise?

from Christopher Nield: The Epoch Times: The Antidote--Classic Poetry for Modern Life: A Reading from 'The Birth of the Gods' by Hesiod

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doesn't merely depend on that drama of where and when it [Chidiock Tichborne's "Elegy"] was composed. In that time of religious passion in all its ugliness, those violent energies don't drive the poem, either. The energy of the poem comes from a certain way of thinking and writing: an explosive intensity of focus, the ability to illustrate a dire situation with a series of compact metaphors, repeating the idea of early death while varying it just enough with each new figure of speech to concentrate the momentum by another degree.

from Robert Pinsky: Slate: Poets Under Pressure

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of the subsequent metaphors, lies an acknowledgement that the intense imaginative work of desire distorts and constricts, while intuition tells us it liberates and enlivens. Because that very acknowledgement is allowed into the poem, it seems that the art of balance striven for in the opening lines has been achieved, and that the clear air of reason circulates between the layers of rich poetic imagination.

[by Annemarie Austin]

Clothing

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Books blog: Poem of the week: Clothing by Annemarie Austin

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"The Thrift Shop Dresses" and a 2010 "Modern Love" essay, "In Grief, a Mother and a Wife Bond."

from Katherine Schulten: The New York Times: Poetry Pairing: Jan. 20, 2011

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that "the Earth is going to keep heating up," but he seems pretty sure we should care enough about it to do something about it.

None of this would bother [Neil] Gershenfeld, I imagine, because he goes on to say that "Truth is a model." It bothers me, though, because it makes me suspect that none of these people thinks very clearly.

from Frank Wilson: When Falls the Coliseum: That's What He Said: Unsettled science--knowledge and certainty

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Breakfast

I conned a muffin from the kitchen table

from The Christian Science Monitor: Breakfast

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by Catherine Lee

Their 1st blues set was tight all right,

from CounterPunch: Poets' Basement: Ford, Orloski and Lee

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we feature the work of Jim Russo who was born in North Beach. He moved to Santa Cruz County in 1963. As a former actor, he likes to write words that make people laugh, among other things.

My Tub
A big damn Polar Bear

from Good Times Weekly: Poetry Corner: The Poems of Jim Russo

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By Blake Morrison

from The Guardian: The Saturday poem: BONUS

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They shut the road through the woods

from Morning Star: Well Versed: The Way Through The Woods

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January 23, 2011 12:31AM

One moment

from Next: Poem: One moment

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Pheasants in the dry milo

from The Oregonian: Poetry: 'Evasion'

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By Charles Wright

I wish I had the capacity

from PBS: Newshour: Weekly Poem: 'Together'

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Overnight has brought a snowy sea

from Post-Bulletin: Poem: Overnight

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for juxtaposition, and the poems offer a great many startlingly moments. His figures also deploy repeated, identifiable strategies. Most notable are the upending of visual perspective, the heavy use of visceral imagery, and an absurd system of psychological exchange.

The alteration of visual perspective is an unusual but not uncommon gesture among poets. Steger's flair is in not pausing at the virtuoso moment, but brushing past as it drops.

from Powells: Review-A-Day: Impossible Objects

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By Michelle Paulsen

if it's the middle

from San Antonio Express-News: Poetry

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have become, as the author sees it, part of the same predacious herd, driven towards self-consumption. Bitter in its lament, John Kinsella's poem is a protest against such tendencies being "quickly forgotten".

Dogs

The pack moves through the lower paddock

from The Times Literary Supplement: Poem of the Week: Dogs

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Banks and bonuses form a contemporary pair,

from West Sussex Gazette: Poem of the Week: Bank Bonuses

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of poetry books: "A Taste of Pitch," "Thunder Lake" and "Tracings in Snow". His unique style of writing was used in the UW system to teach students the art of describing images in nature and moments in time. Scott was also an artist, concentrating on beautiful landscapes.

from Sheboygan Press: Scott John Brooks

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especially around the Isles of Shoals. He loved golf, basketball, following UNH sports and all Boston sports teams, singing, writing humorous poetry, and spending time with his many friends and loving family.

from Portsmouth Herald: Robert J. Crompton

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and was a poet; many of his Facebook statuses included sentences with poetic rhythms and his most recent note was a poem about his infatuation for another person, posted Nov. 25.

from Eagle News: In memory of Marcus Eriksson, sophomore

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to the arts are lauded as she was an accomplished writer and poet and most recently and actress. In December of 2010 'Parchment Pages' a compilation of her life's work in poetry and literature was launched. Recently a documentary on her life was produced by Howard University professor Steve Berry. It is entitled 'A Remarkable Woman'.

from El Guardian: Belizean poet and actress passes

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at age 17 as a trackman and transferred to the transportation department where he worked as a brakeman until his retirement. He was a survivor of the train wreck of the old 48. He was known as a poet, having written "The Wreck of the Old 48," and "The Ghost and the Boogieman," which was a true story from his youth.

from Mountain Statesman: George Gilbert "Gib" Gower, Jr.

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was a seamstress for Tursini Clothing Co. of Vineland for more than 20 years. She was a member of Sacred Heart Church, and enjoyed reading and writing poetry.

from The Daily Journal: Rita Guizio, 93

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died aged 98, poetry was nothing less than a way of life. Although she published several collections of her own work, most recently the retrospective Finding the Curve (2007, which I edited with Carole Satyamurti), it is as founder and organiser of the St Albans group Ver Poets that she will be best remembered.

from The Guardian: May Ivimy obituary

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"Meadow Measure" won first place in 2007 in a Poetry Council of North Carolina contest. More of his poetry is published on www.clevemathews.com.

from The Post-Standard: Cleve Mathews, retired Newhouse prof and NPR's first news director, dies at 84

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"Yeh Buddha ki dharti, Yuddha na chahe, Chahe aman parasti,", a song that is no less than an anthem for followers of Buddhism died here on Thursday. He was 81.

"He died a pauper. Till his end, he lived in a hut in a Ganeshpeth slum," one of his innumerable fans told TOI.

from The Times of India: Poet Uttam Mule dead

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in writing and speaking Persian, Arabic, Punjabi and other languages spoken in Pakistan. He wrote more than 40 books on poetry and prose, but he was indeed a true expert in instant poetry or in a way occasional poetry as well. He was regarded as 'Ustad' (Maestro) in creating Ghazal, Nazm, Salasi and Rubaai. His Rubaai were considered to be perfect in terms of technical requirements and fulfillment of meanings and expressions.

from The News International: Raghib Muradabadi: a poet who is no more

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award-winning writer.

In 1976, she won the Geri Joseph Memorial Bicentennial Playwriting Contest for her one-act play, "Wedding at Camp Douglas." The play was set in the Mineral County mining camp of Douglas, near Mina. When it was performed in Hawthorne, all the proceeds went toward funding a Hawthorne museum.

In 1977, three of her one-act plays--"Pride of Lions," "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," and "The Crimes of Johanna Altman" were performed at the Sparks Civic Theater.

from Reno Gazette-Journal: Teacher, poet Gloria Oberg dies at age 86

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of family life in small Southern towns, he [Reynolds Price] won the William Faulkner Award for his first novel, "A Long and Happy Life" (1962), which introduced the saga of the Mustian family. Over the next five decades he produced more than three dozen books of fiction, poetry and autobiography. Fourteen were novels, including the epics "The Surface of Earth" (1975) and "The Source of Light" (1981).

from Los Angeles Times: Reynolds Price dies at 77; author and longtime Duke professor
then The New York Times: Reynolds Price, a Literary Voice of the South, Dies at 77

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Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist Organization, and enjoyed reading and writing Haiku and Tanka, types of Japanese poetry.

from The Coloradoan: Sumie Reker

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Torrents of words poured out, puns in English mixing with Spanish, Tzotzil, Yiddish. The PRI, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, became "the longest-ruling political dynasty in the known universe"; John's native country was "Gringolandia," or, more recently, "Obamaland." Even his casual emails were like no one else's: "the end is a little nigh," John wrote in September when he learned the liver cancer had returned.

But all this shouldn't make us forget that John was also a serious political thinker--however hard he tried not to sound like one.

from MR Zine: John Ross and Los de Abajo
then San Francisco Chronicle: John Ross, author, poet, journalist, dies

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London on Dec. 27, 1930, the younger of two children of Francis Joseph Sheed, who emigrated from Australia with a background in law to become a street-corner evangelist, and Maisie Ward, a fellow Catholic Revivalist and author who was eight years her husband's senior, a descendant of a proud English Catholic family and, at six feet tall, a striking figure on the streets of London.

Together they founded Sheed & Ward (now an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield), which, besides publishing work by Chesterton, published the Catholic social worker Dorothy Day, the historian Hilaire Belloc and the poet Robert Lowell.

from The New York Times: Wilfrid Sheed, Writer of Gentle Wit, Dies at 80

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large rolls of paper tacked to the wall, reminisced and watched a slide show of Mr. [Tajeme] Sylvester's photos, some from a trip to Peru, and his poetry, much of which centered on themes of self-awareness and spirituality. (His father, Everton Sylvester, a poet who performed with the ensemble Brooklyn Funk Essentials, said his son would often e-mail him drafts of his poems, seeking comments. A couple were awaiting a reading at the time he was killed.)

from The New York Times: A Vibrant Force Lost, While an Arts Scene Mourns

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was a loan officer, but his real passion was playing basketball. She said he was on his way to a game last night when he was killed.

The high school sweethearts married on New Year's Eve in 2009. Throughout their relationship, Erika said Javier would write her poems and leave her notes.

from KFOX14: Ex-Wife Of Man Killed In Motorcycle Crash: My Worst Fear Came True

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