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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
January 30th forum announcement
Dear Poetry Aficionados,
Poetry & Poets in Rags
Long-overdue thanks to Cherilyn Ferroggiaro, the InterBoard Poetry Community's Assistant Editor, who was off line this past month. This situation created a snowball-to-avalanche effect of my appreciating the enormity of what she does for the IBPC poets at contest time. She receives the poems, strips them of their board and poet origins, and forwards them in a both poet-friendly and judge-friendly format for judging. I was asked to do help out around the 23rd, and Pascale Petit received the poems on the 24th.
Easy-peasy, right? Even though I mentally knocked on whatever wood was handy, that nothing else could go wrong, I know that three things did: (1) one poet had two poems get through (Laurie Byro, representing Desert Moon Review, who's poem "Wolf Dreams" won--her pre-specified choice, fortunately); (2) the name of a forum got through (Blueline Poetry, which sent in Flint Michigan by Stevie Jean Reed, which got an HM); and (3) I believe I technically formatted AnnMarie Eldon's 2nd-place poem Brrmm, representing MiPo's cafe' cafe' incorrectly. So the avalanche was dodged, but not without the peril.
My thanks go to Pascale Petit, not only for the superb and timely judging she has done, but for her good heart and patience. She is wonderful to work with. And congratulations to all the poets who made Pascale's list:
IBPC's Winning Poems.
I'll leave all the news in Poetry & Poets in Rags for your discovery. Each section should be perused by the true poetry aficionado. Thank you for clicking in.
Yours,
Rus
Our links:
IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags
Poetry & Poets in Rags Blog
IBPC Home
IBPC Newswire
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetry & Poets in Rags
Long-overdue thanks to Cherilyn Ferroggiaro, the InterBoard Poetry Community's Assistant Editor, who was off line this past month. This situation created a snowball-to-avalanche effect of my appreciating the enormity of what she does for the IBPC poets at contest time. She receives the poems, strips them of their board and poet origins, and forwards them in a both poet-friendly and judge-friendly format for judging. I was asked to do help out around the 23rd, and Pascale Petit received the poems on the 24th. 
Easy-peasy, right? Even though I mentally knocked on whatever wood was handy, that nothing else could go wrong, I know that three things did: (1) one poet had two poems get through (Laurie Byro, representing Desert Moon Review, who's poem "Wolf Dreams" won--her pre-specified choice, fortunately); (2) the name of a forum got through (Blueline Poetry, which sent in Flint Michigan by Stevie Jean Reed, which got an HM); and (3) I believe I technically formatted AnnMarie Eldon's 2nd-place poem Brrmm, representing MiPo's cafe' cafe' incorrectly. So the avalanche was dodged, but not without the peril.
My thanks go to Pascale Petit, not only for the superb and timely judging she has done, but for her good heart and patience. She is wonderful to work with. And congratulations to all the poets who made Pascale's list:IBPC's Winning Poems.
I'll leave all the news in Poetry & Poets in Rags for your discovery. Each section should be perused by the true poetry aficionado. Thank you for clicking in.
Yours,
Rus
Our links:
IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags
Poetry & Poets in Rags Blog
IBPC Home
IBPC Newswire
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: [Charles] Dickens was referring
to Fanny Longfellow's shocking death six years earlier, apparently after her dress was ignited by candle wax as she was sealing an envelope containing a snippet of hair from one of her six children. [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow's white beard hid scars from wounds he suffered while trying to smother the flames.from Smithsonian Magazine: Famous Once Again
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: Dr [Peter] Swaab said: "Since her death
her work hasn't been well-represented even in the major collections of Victorian women poets, even though she has a lot to say to female readers today. This may be because she is still seen by many academics as a sacrificial offshoot of the family business, having devoted so much of her time to editing her father's work."[by Sara Coleridge]
Doggrel Charm
from Telegraph: Coleridge's daughter hid her poetic passions
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: "I hope you are as warm
as I am; as serene in your room as I am here," the young lieutenant [Wilfred Owen] says, his attempt to reassure so telling of that bond between mother and son. "Of this I am certain, you could not be visited by a band of friends half so fine as surround me here. There is no danger down here or if any, it will be well over before you read these lines."from The New Zealand Herald: War poet's last post of hope from a tiny cellar
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: It helps only a little to know that
this dreadful mess was called "Chaplinesque." One of Crane's friends later knocked on his door with Charlie Chaplin in tow, and the three went out on the town until dawn. Having learned this, a hundred American poets will begin odes to Angelina Jolie.from The New York Times: Hart Crane's Bridge to Nowhere
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: Many, like Virginia Woolf, were struck
by his [Thomas Hardy's] kindliness, and he insisted on calling himself an "evolutionary meliorist," not a pessimist. But [Claire] Tomalin quotes an astonishing letter of condolence that he wrote when Henry Rider Haggard, the adventure writer, lost his 10-year-old son: "To be candid, I think the death of a child is never really to be regretted, when one reflects on what he has escaped."from The New York Times: Thomas Hardy's English Lessons
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: Poetry, said LKJ, is "a way of grieving,
a way of remembering. . . .And that's when the personal and the particular become universal, because we all lose our loved ones, and we all know what it is to suffer loss." When the NPR host asked [Ted] Kooser what he thought of LKJ's work, Kooser replied, "I wish I could write a poem like that."from The Progressive: Linton Kwesi Johnson Interview
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: "Governments in our part of the world,"
he [Ibrahim Nasrallah] continues, "have sole ownership and full authority over all means of expression, from school books to the media." If a writer tries to work outside the system, "the government will try either to buy or punish him or her, as has been the case with myself and many others".from The Guardian: Writing of Jordan, dreaming of Palestine
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: DH [Doug Holder]: What has your experience been
like as a Haitian American in academia?
DLG [Danielle Legros Georges]: Wow. Doug, man. I don’t know if I want to go there. It has its challenges especially in this enlightened area in which we live. It’s probably no different from any industry where you are not in a majority. There is a lot of freedom in the academy. It is a complicated question.
Another Ode to Salt
Danielle Legros Georges
from The Somerville News: Danielle Legros Georges
~~~~~~~~~~~
DLG [Danielle Legros Georges]: Wow. Doug, man. I don’t know if I want to go there. It has its challenges especially in this enlightened area in which we live. It’s probably no different from any industry where you are not in a majority. There is a lot of freedom in the academy. It is a complicated question.
Another Ode to Salt
Danielle Legros Georges
from The Somerville News: Danielle Legros Georges
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: [Torquato] Tasso's poem practically begged
other artists to borrow and steal. Even Milton filched a scene (a conclave of devils in Hell). Tasso's descriptions also seem directly inspired by the artistic milieu around him. "And now he sees a woman's face arise/and now her breasts and nipples, and below/where modest eyes would be ashamed to go./So would a goddess or a nymph arise / from the stage in the theater at night."from The Washington Post: Torquato Tasso, a Poet Both Obscure and Ubiquitous
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: But the metrical sprawl
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produces moments of real bathos; "a tragedy where I played a leading role myself" is far weaker than the equivalent lines in Surrey or Dryden, and the declining stars passage comes across as overwritten and too intent on provocative effect ("dank," "sweeping"). The last 60 years or so have not produced a verse rhetoric that will sustain a long poem, except as a series of jolting fits and starts, so jolting fits and starts are what we get.from The Washington Post: The Founder of Rome
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven (Back Page): Fair fa' your-honest sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o' the Puddin-raceAboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe or thairm.
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang as my arm.
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Millions of Scots, from Aberdeen to Adelaide, will hear these words this week as they celebrate the Jan. 25th birthday of Robert Burns.
from The Edmonton Journal: Raise a dram or two
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: [Micheal O'Siadhail] opens with
an animated examination of the chaotic state we're in, painting a convincingly bleak picture of a fatally destabilised globe in which "shifting landscapes shape and are reshaped" and there is a real chance that "what's knitted over centuries/Could unravel half-noticed".from Sarah Crown: The Guardian: Plunging headlong into the abyss
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Happy are men
who yet before they are killedCan let their veins run cold.
Does this rhyme? Yes and no. "killed" and "cold" are what is technically known as a para-rhyme--a not-quite rhyme. Owen uses such verbal near-misses to magnificent effect (brothers/withers, fleers/flowers, groined/moaned), to create an eerie effect of dissonance.
from Terry Eagleton: The Times: How to Read a Poem: Part 2: Rhyme and metre
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Today that wholesome sense
of a season with its own characteristics and merits has been undermined by anxiety, the press has been full of letters recording strange out-of-season flowerings and we are perhaps in danger of falling out of love with the mildness for which we used to be envied by gardeners in, say, New England. We look at a flower in bloom and think: O my God--it's a freak!from James Fenton: The Guardian: How does your garden grow?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Dylan Thomas has fashioned
a remarkable drama, portraying his youth and the farm where he spent it. His colorful language use describes the setting in such as way that it communicates true feeling without becoming sentimental in it execution or maudlin in its discovery.from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Dylan Thomas' ''Fern Hill'
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Poem: "The Past Is Still There"
by Deborah Garrison, from The Second Child. © Random House.from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: For the week of January 29th, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Grief can endure a long,
long time. A deep loss is very reluctant to let us set it aside, to push it into a corner of memory. Here the Arkansas poet, Andrea Hollander Budy, gives us a look at one family's adjustment to a death. For Weeks After the Funeral
from Ted Kooser: American Life in Poetry: Column 096 (pdf)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: [Ruth Padel's] aim
(which she calls "a quiet bid" but is in fact pretty noisy and passionate) is to shake lethargic booksellers and literary editors into giving poetry more space, and to bolster the "many people [who] have lost confidence in approaching poems" and who "sense there is something there they may need but do not know how to go about getting it".from Andrew Motion: The Guardian: Following on
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: [Charles] Bernstein deliberately writes
with the crudity of a beginner, and with an ironic distance from that crudity, though he means everything he says. That's a complicated process, and a complicated conception, but the poem's actual lines are immediate and--phrase by phrase--uncomplicated: "A democracy once proposed/Is slimmed and grimed again/By men with brute design/Who prefer hate to rime."from Robert Pinsky: The Washington Post: Poet's Choice
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: That moment is often loaded
with irony ("Here is the war. Where is the enemy?"--a line for our times) or self-deprecation (as in "Chases in Arras," in which the speaker is awakened by a drunk playing the trumpet in the middle of the night at the Jersey Shore).from John Timpane: Philadelpia Inquirer: Finding a world of happiness in the heart of home
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Lying in bed would be
an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a coloured pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling. This, however, is not generally a part of the domestic apparatus on the premises.from Daily Times: Purple Patch: On lying in bed --G K Chesterton
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: We live amid surfaces,
and the true art of life is to skate well on them. Under the oldest mouldiest conventions, a man of native force prospers just as well as in the newest world, and that by skill of handling and treatment. He can take hold anywhere. Life itself is a mixture of power and form, and will not bear the least excess of either.from Daily Times: Purple Patch: Skating well --Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: The cry is essential to cante.
Not unlike the guitar, in fact, the voice of the cantor is considered an instrument of the cry, the cry that dares to break the silence, just as the hands are an instrument to break the stillness, as are the feet. The Cry
from Good Times Weekly: Poetry Corner: Living Inside a Poem
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Bewildered
[by Ibrahim Nasrallah]from The Guardian: Salvos of Mercy: A selection of poems by Ibrahim Nasrallah
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: At the January Hoot, Fred Samuels
read a poem that could serve as the basis for a New Year's resolution for us all:Musings at the New Year
allegro preachy
from Portsmouth Herald News: Spotlight Poems from the Hoot
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Regulars: Twenty-five years ago this month,
the TLS published a page of six poems by Paul Muldoon; the following week it had occasion to print this piece, small, but pregnant with possibility.The Son of the King of Moy
after the Irish
from The Times Literary Supplement: Poem of the week
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: In 2002, [Ismail] Cem founded
the New Turkey Party (YTP) along with Hüsamettin Özkan, known as the right arm of Ecevit and 65 deputies from the DSP. On Monday Özkan said: "I am deeply moved by the passing away of my political comrade. He left us great memories and hope saying 'I did my best, you finish the rest' just like he wrote in his poem 'Farewell.'"
from Turkish Daily News: Ismail Cem, man of peace, passes away
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: [Christopher Chapman] liked writing poetry
and playing the guitar. He loved crowds and liked to be the center of attention. He loved snow.And he loved helping people.
from Potomac News: Death shows dangers of inhalants
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: Becky Combs, 89, a retired Montgomery County
elementary school principal who volunteered with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, died Jan. 11 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring of complications from a stroke.
from The Washington Post: Longtime Montgomery Co. School Principal Becky Combs
~~~~~~~~~~~
from The Washington Post: Longtime Montgomery Co. School Principal Becky Combs
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: [Karmenu Ellul Galea's] works
were published in several literary magazines and newspapers, amongst others Il-Pronostku Malti and il-Malti. He published a book of poems titled Twemmini. Other publications include It-Trejdunjonizmu f'Malta (four volumes), L-Istorja tat-Tarzna and Pijunieri tas-Sigurta' Socjali.from The Malta Independent: Death of veteran trade unionist
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: The young baseball player [Anthony Leland Gee]
"did a lot in 16 years - he was energetic, he was talented, he was modest, and he loved life," his mother said. Although his four siblings and step-siblings were all older, he was "in many ways like the father--he had such wisdom and zest," Kathryn Gee said. A budding poet, he was "extremely loyal to his family" and cared for the family's dog and two cats, she said.
from Vallejo Times Herald: Hunt persists for shooter of baseball player
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: Recently, however, she [Illeana Hess]
was starting to turn her life around, he said."She loved to write, mostly poetry and lyrics to songs," George Hess said. "She was finding her way."
from Asbury Park Press: How did Illeana die, grieving family asks
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: Apart from establishing the vanguard
cultural organisation in 1961 along with some other enlightened persons, he [Wahidul Huq] also founded a number prominent cultural and poetry recitation organisations like--Kanthashilon, Nalonda and Anandadhani.from Drishtipat Group Blog: Wahidul Huq - A legend in the cultural world passes away
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: A person punished all day by the sun,
by a thirst that can't be satisfied, maltreated and weakened, has to sleep.He has to. And then he cannot!
It is too stuffy. Damp, sticky air fills the room. But then, it's not air. It's wet cotton. Inhale, and it's like swallowing a ball of cotton dipped in warm water. It's unbearable. It nauseates, it prostrates, it unhinges.
[--Ryszard Kapuscinski in The Soccer War]
from The Independent: Kapuscinski: A disptach from the late master of reportage
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: Tin Moe died gracefully, and the nation lost
a great national poet who deserves to be honored in his homeland, but the military leaders clearly are afraid of a poet and his poems.An excerpt from Tin Moe's poem Meeting with the Buddha (2000) captures the power of his spirit and words:
Meeting with the Buddha
from The Irrawaddy: The Great Poet Is Dead But Not Forgiven
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: "He was reserved, but when he knew you,
a friendly, witty guy. He was more of an artist, poet, philosopher," said Robert Olsen [of Army Spc. Toby Olsen]. "We couldn't understand him taking the path (the Army). He was trying to make ends meet; it was something to give him a further education."from Honolulu Star Bulletin: Mililani graduate dies in Iraq attack
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: [Carla Ann Pulliam] had various talents
and enjoyed painting and beading, making her own jewelry. She also wrote, whether it was journals, writing letters or poetry.from Idaho Mountain Express: Carla Ann Pulliam
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetic Obituaries: "Her work also deals with the human condition
in this, our 21st century."Among [Juanita] Tobin's published books of poetry are the titles Under the Crooked Pine and The Ransom Street Poems.
Tobin's final poem was written in haiku form and reads:
from The Mountain Times: Poet Juanita Tobin Dies
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
January 23rd forum announcement
Dear Poetry Buffs,
Poetry & Poets in Rags
Our first three articles are about three imprisoned poets. Note that one contains a call for reader action by Amnesty International. We follow these with a few articles that have splendid poetry in them before we get to what would otherwise have been our headliner. Seems Coleridge translated Faust. This find has been slow to enter the news. But, now that it has, it's big news. Read all about it.
I have been remiss in not bringing one of our Great Regulars to you each week, The Scotsman's "Poem of the Week." I have been looking in the wrong section of the paper. This week, we have the most recent three of them. Also returning, is Cate Setterfield of The Santiago Times, but not with a translation of Chilean poetry as she gave us last year, but with an article about Gabriela Mistral.
And we have a new Great Regulars this week, brought to us by The Times. Terry Eagleton has a new book out called "How to Read a Poem" and The Times is bringing him to us in a weekly series of the same name. This should be good.
Yours,
Rus
Our links:
IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags
Poetry & Poets in Rags Blog
IBPC Home
IBPC Newswire
~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetry & Poets in Rags
Our first three articles are about three imprisoned poets. Note that one contains a call for reader action by Amnesty International. We follow these with a few articles that have splendid poetry in them before we get to what would otherwise have been our headliner. Seems Coleridge translated Faust. This find has been slow to enter the news. But, now that it has, it's big news. Read all about it.
I have been remiss in not bringing one of our Great Regulars to you each week, The Scotsman's "Poem of the Week." I have been looking in the wrong section of the paper. This week, we have the most recent three of them. Also returning, is Cate Setterfield of The Santiago Times, but not with a translation of Chilean poetry as she gave us last year, but with an article about Gabriela Mistral.
And we have a new Great Regulars this week, brought to us by The Times. Terry Eagleton has a new book out called "How to Read a Poem" and The Times is bringing him to us in a weekly series of the same name. This should be good.
Yours,
Rus
Our links:
IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags
Poetry & Poets in Rags Blog
IBPC Home
IBPC Newswire
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: [Jumah al-]Dossari, who denies
any connection to Al Qaeda or terrorism, and has never been charged with any such crime, has repeatedly attempted to commit suicide while imprisoned. His most recent attempt, according to Amnesty International, was in March 2006, when he tried to slit his throat. Death Poem
By Jumah al-Dossari
from Harpers: The Waste Land: Declassified poetry from Guantánamo Bay
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: "Qazi is being punished
for his dissent," Dr [Hanif] Sharif said. He said the police picked up [Mubarak] Qazi when he was on duty at the Pasni Fish Harbour. "A poet represents public aspirations," he said. "He can be enchained but not his views."
from Daily Times: Baloch authors want nationalist poet released
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: Recommended actions:
Please send courteous letters in Azeri, Russian, English, Turkish or your own language. Express concern about allegations that the criminal charges against Sakit Zahidov were politically motivated and that the heroin was planted on him in order to incriminate him.
Express concern that Sakit Zahidov was not given a fair trial and about the uncertainty surrounding the evidence on which the conviction was based.
State that Amnesty International is calling for an immediate retrial in line with international fair trial standards.
State that the Azerbaijani authorities must ensure that no criminal charges are brought against journalists solely as a result of their lawful exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
Urge the Azerbaijani government to implement the March 2003 recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the July 2005 recommendations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Representative on Freedom of Media, in regard to freedom of expression.
from Amnesty International USA: Azerbaijan: Appeal Cases: Well-known satirist Sakit Zahidov imprisoned following an unfair trial with questionable evidence
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: Asa Boxer is the true warrior bard.
A Montreal poet and critic who won the 2005 CBC Literary Award, the Good Soldier learned the meaning of sacrifice in the Israeli Defence Forces. He has published work in magazines such as enRoute, Poetry London, ARC, and Books in Canada. This piece was selected from his first book of poems, The Whim Wheel, which is forthcoming with Signal Editions.Terror in Jerusalem
from Maisonneuve: Truly Verse-atile
~~~~~~~~~~~
News at Eleven: One day while [James] McKusick was working
in the Huntington Library, [Paul] Zall walked up to him and plopped a 2-foot-tall stack of documents on his desk.It was a tower of manuscripts, clippings, lists, handwritten notes--Zall's entire Coleridge/Goethe/"Faust" translation journey.
Handing it over, Zall said to his young charge: "I bequeath this to you--Godspeed."
from Missoulian: UM Honors College dean cracks mystery of Coleridge and 'Faust'
~~~~~~~~~~~
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