Jeannine Hall Gailey's Blog, page 36

Happy National Poetry Month, April Gloom (and Blooms,) and More Post-AWP Thoughts

 

Camellias

Happy National Poetry Month!

Are you enjoying April so far? We’re having our longest, rainiest, grayest stretch so far this year in the Seattle area, and I have been down both physically and emotionally, so not a lot of getting out and about, though I have a couple of shots of cherry blossoms at the Seattle Japanese Gardens. I am planning to get up to the tulip fields sometime soon, too! Those always cheer me up.

 

April Blooms (and Gloom) and NaPoWriMo

Do you try to write a poem a day (NaPoWriMo?) in April? It’s National Poetry Writing Month as well. I don’t love prompts (or the pressure to write every day) but I always do write a bit more during April. April is also my birthday month, so I always have a lot of emotion – blossoms, birthdays, poetry, and always, always, inevitably, some damn medical testing! LOL. I went in for some routine blood work to see if I was well enough to start a new MS drug, and the results came back that I was severely anemic (like, enough to get an iron IV?) and sicker than I thought. I had felt a little tired and groggy since I got back from AWP, but I thought it was just MS and allergies. So I am doubling up my iron (steak! mushrooms! beets!) as well as supplementing with iron, folic acid, and b12 and apparently need to rest and get better from a big upper respiratory virus. I’ve been trying to read more, sleep more, take my vitamin c and up my liquids. I have written maybe five poems that I’ve liked so far this month, and lots of weird fragments. The black hole (of course) inspired one, and somehow every time I have to walk into a hospital in spring I write a poem about it. I’m also working up the courage to send out my two in-progress poetry manuscripts out some more – one is very political and feminist, and the other is more somber in tone, about getting diagnosed with cancer and then MS, and all the surrounding solar flares and eclipses. I also have to send out some work – during my down time after AWP, I’ve gotten lots of poems back (hello rejections!) so I have to get on the ball. I was encouraged that I got a positive, ‘send more’ rejection from the one piece of fiction I had out – I don’t have more, but it was nice. I may try to write another fiction piece this month if I get inspired – it’s much harder work for me than writing poems. I listened to a Sylvia Plath reading and realized how much her sense of line and sound – I started reading her at around 19 – had influenced my own work. Her voice was pretty great, too, kind of deep and clipped and a pronounced New England accent. I also have a review or two to do. I find that reviewing takes a different kind of mental energy than poetry writing – or even fiction writing. I also have plenty of reading from the stack I brought home from AWP! Which reminds me…

A Few More Post-Mortem AWP Thoughts…

A few more thoughts from Portland’s AWP now that they’re over and I’ve had some time to think.

A Greater Influence of Social Media – I noticed this for the first time at this AWP, and no so much at AWP LA (2016.) Many people – including the nice people at registration – mentioned how they followed me on Twitter, Instagram, the blog, or Facebook. I had lots of people come up already familiar with my writing, my life, and tell me things that had inspired them or that they loved. That was really nice, and different. I literally could not walk (or wheelchair) anywhere without stopping to talk to people who recognized me (again, this did not happen at AWP LA.) So what does this mean? All of our work on social media is not in vain, after all? That it really does help build community? Especially meaningful: writers who also had MS or other medical problems who told me reading about my journey had helped them. Wow. Also got a lot of positive feedback about talking about the discouragement of rejection. Interesting!!
Bigger Bookfair: I missed seeing some big names at the Bookfair (some pretty big places decided not to have a table this year) but it had to be one of the biggest bookfairs ever – I don’t think anyone could hit every table over three days. And there was a bonus off-site small-press bookfair for local small presses that couldn’t afford AWP (I loved the idea, but did not make it.)
It’s Hard to Take Your Own Advice: So, remember all those posts about eating and drinking enough and getting off-site from AWP and enjoying the city? I got off-site exactly one time, and ended up subsisting on handfuls of carrot sticks with Greek yogurt in between events, and sometimes string cheese. Never had time for room service or a regular meal of any sort, because I was rushing around so much – partly because it was hard to get around and to and from the hotel due to construction, but partly because I expected to have the same pace I had when I was younger. I should have scheduled much less. I’m afraid AWP had more of a toll on my health than I should have let it have. Note I am still mostly in recovery mode!
AWP: A husband’s perspective. Glenn was able to come to all of my events because of the “accessibility assistant” ticket he got to AWP, and besides the difficulties getting into off-sites and into the conference area itself (“they need to do a better job of making off-sites handicapped-accessible,” he said, “and the entrance was much too far from the bookfair”) he seemed to have a pretty good AWP experience. I always think about how weird industry conferences appear to outsiders – after all, I’ve been to robotics conferences, web security conferences, and Microsoft tech conferences – but people were very friendly to Glenn – many recognized him from pictures on social media – and he thought all the readings were very engaging. He was sad we didn’t get to see more of the bookfair, which he felt was much easier to navigate than, say, the art-and-comics fair at San Deigo’s ComicCon, in a wheelchair. We do have a lot of friends around the country now – which made the whole conference feel more convivial.

Overall, I am glad I went, but probably won’t go for the next few years (San Antonio, Kansas City, and Philly are all pretty far from Seattle, and travel can be problematic with a wheelchair and a faulty immune system.) I hope the next time it comes within my orbit it will be a little more disability-friendly. We can always hope! That would have made things a little easier. I’m glad I got to see so many friends and faces from the literary community across the country – friends from Florida to California, and all points in between, and it’s always nice to discover new lit mags and publishers that might not have been on your radar. I wish I had gotten out into Portland more – it was mostly beautiful weather and I had a plan to hit a couple of bookstores and art galleries that didn’t happen. And now, into April – hoping I can get my energy (and iron) back, get out into the tulips, and get some more writing and submitting done!

 

AWP Part III: Panel on Poetry and the Body, Reading with Moon City Books, Coming Home, and All That Swag

 

Me posing with sci-fi writer Felicity Shoulders

AWP Part III: Panels, More Bookfair, Moon City Reading, and Going Home

Feeling pretty wiped out by Saturday, I wanted to go see more panels and readings, but it was a beautiful day, so Glenn and I went for a quick trip through the Lan Su Chinese Gardens, where magnolia, camellias, and cherry trees were in bloom. We admired the architecture and ran into some poets but didn’t have time to hit the tea house because I wanted to put in another hour at the bookfair before my panel.

This time I was mostly in my wheelchair, because my legs by then were not cooperating, but still got to visit lots of friends I hadn’t seen yet and finally, finally pick up some books and lit mags and t-shirts! I loved meeting one of the editors of the beautiful newish lit mag F(r)iction, and Kelly Link from Small Beer Press, an old friend from University of Cincinnati, and also got to see my friend Natasha Moni at her book signing at Two Sylvias. 

Jeannine and Peter at the panel

Me and Joannie Stangeland, our virtual panel!

But I needed to get to my panel because afterwards I had promised to meet a Portland sci-fi writer friend (Hi Felicity Shoulders!) for coffee before my 6 PM Reading with Moon City Press. The other fellow on the panel had had to stay home because of a family emergency, and I was sitting in for Kelly Davio in London, so it was just me and Peter Gloviczki. I have some video I’ve put up on YouTube, that my husband took with his phone, just my “remarks” part of the panel and the Q&A afterwards and a bit of shaky cam, due to with technical difficulties. (It would be great if AWP streamed all the talks because I know a lot of people missed panels they wanted to see but couldn’t because of conflicts. Maybe next time, AWP?)  But in real life it seemed to go well (I talked for the first time in public about my disability, someone asked a question about the spirit so we talked Miyazaki and Christianity,) and talked to a lot of people afterwards. And my friend Joannie Stangeland was doing a panel right after us, so we got to do a “virtual” panel together!

I was late, but my friend was also running late, so we went back to the bookfair and just as it was closing, got to say goodbye to friends and meet my friend who got there just as the doors were closing. Now it was less than an hour til my reading. So we took my friend back to the hotel so we could catch up while I changed clothes again, has some hot tea, took a Benadryl (allergies really acted up on this trip – construction dust and other environmental stuff had resulted in some fun hives, so I was trying to get those to go away and not be so tired that I wouldn’t be able to read. By this time I wasn’t able to walk much and my hands were shaking.

I had to ask Mike Czyzniejewski, our host and editor of Moon City Press, once again, to read early, and I had to sit down to read and have Glenn hold my notebook as my hands were shaking too hard to do it. (MS can be a real bitch when you’re tired.) The bar (the White Owl Social Club) was full of rowdy drunken folks, so it was really loud, and I struggled to hold the mike close enough to be heard, which was tough. Not perfect circumstances, but it was great to meet other Moon City authors briefly and some of the staff of the press, before I went back to the hotel to back up, eat something for the first time that day, and get ready to drive home. In the old days I might have been up for an after-party, but this time I was just ready to get home to my own bed (did I mention the hotel bed was five feet off the ground and I needed a step to get onto it? I am not that short, hotels! The bed is too high!) 

Sylvia, who climbed on top of my pile of AWP swag as soon as I had it out!

Going Home and AWP Swag

We drove and got home at about 2:30 AM on Sunday. The daffodils had burst into bloom while we were gone. The next day I was walking (groggily) around my house and two quail popped out of the bushes. I followed them with my camera while cherry blossoms fell all around me. Then we saw the peacocks from the winery down the street.  I was never so happy to be home. And ready to read everything I brought home!  Tomorrow I’ll do a rundown of my overall impressions of AWP, what they could have done better (hint: read this in Publisher’s Weekly), and what I got out of it this year that I didn’t before.

 

AWP Report Part II, A New Poem in The Pinch, and a Video Reading

Sylvia with the new issue of The Pinch

A New Poem in The Pinch

First, thanks to The Pinch, who published my poem, “Another Rescue Attempt,” in their beautiful latest issue. Here’s Sylvia posing with it! And here’s a preview of my poem. My first fairy tale poem in a while:

With my lovely editors Kelli and Annette at Two Sylvias Press and Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson

Report from AWP Part II, with Pics and Video

I finally got to go through the bookfair for a short time after the book signing. It was wonderful but dizzying – so many thousands of booths that you couldn’t possibly see them all, especially if you stopped to talk to anyone. I never saw many booths I specifically wanted to make it to, but this was my first pass through. I got to hit Cincinnati Review, my publisher Moon City Press (where they had just sold out of my book Field Guide to the End of the World after this picture – on Friday!) and Barrelhouse Review to see lovely and talented Killian Czuba. 

By 4:30 PM, we went back to the hotel room. I was planning to meet a friend (Hi Lesley!) for dinner at 5:30 and then go to my offsite reading at 8 PM. So I’d have to change, wash my face, and make it fifteen minutes away in rush hour traffic, and eat, and my body was feeling…well, I was basically lying prone on my couch and my legs and hands didn’t want to move. I had no idea how I was going to do the reading at 8 PM. Remember yesterday when I was talking about AWP making me feel my disability more clearly? This was one of those times. When I was younger, and healthier, I totally could have made this schedule work – but now, with my current stuff, I couldn’t. So I rested, drank hot tea, took some of my MS treatment medications, changed clothes, and went to the offsite reading. It was in a crowded hipster brewpub not far from the conference.

I asked the host from the Spoon River Poetry Review if I could read early, as I hadn’t eaten all I day and was shaking all over. So I went fifth and got to watch a few more readers before I had to go. I was really impressed – one, by how young everyone was (I think I was the oldest person in the room) and by the wonderful women poets of Obsidian Press, and the editor of Noemi Press. It was honestly a pleasure listening to all the readers and I left wishing I could have told all of them how great they were.

I went back to the hotel room with its eerie, mostly-construction view through the now empty beautiful, oddly-eighties-esque hotel lobby (see pic of me in reading outfit with Hotel Lobby collage art) and Glenn made some food (food allergies make most room service a no-go, so I subsisted mostly on string cheese and carrots for the three days I was there) for me and I put together my panel notes and reading for the next day and fell asleep. The third day was actually my biggest in terms of what I had to do – a panel on Poetry and the Body, a visit to the bookfair, and a reading that night before taking off for home – so I needed to crash in order to have some energy for the next day. Looking back, I wish I could have seen more people, socialized more, stayed later at things, but I know these days I have to be very careful about preserving energy – with MS, you go from fine to zero in about 30 seconds. 

Here’s a clip of one of the poems I read at the reading, “My Life is an Accident,” which is forthcoming in the next issue of Spoon River Poetry Review and part of my newest manuscript. (It’s not a flattering angle; forgive me for being vain!)

Next: AWP Part III, Where I talk about our panel “Poetry and The Body,” the Saturday Bookfair, and the final reading with Moon City Press.

Happy Poetry Month! And AWP Report, Part I: Welcome to Portland! Disability Readings, Disability Issues, and Seeing Writers in Real Life

 

Cherry Blossoms in Portland

Happy Poetry Month!

It’s also my birthday month, and my favorite time of the year. When we got in groggy at 3 AM on Sunday from Portland, I noticed the weeping cherry in the yard was in full bloom and all of my daffodils had bloomed while we were gone. I’m so glad I went to AWP, but I was happy to be home! And that spring is really here, if a little late.

I wanted to write a blog post yesterday, but I was so danged groggy from being tired – no one sleeps much at AWP. I’m going to post about AWP Portland in parts. This was my busiest, most packed AWP in terms of events – three offsite readings, a panel, and a book signing – EVER! And my first since my MS diagnosis. So that was exciting! Also left not enough time for the bookfair and friend-visiting, so maybe next time, I’ll take it down a notch.

Me posing with sparkly poet Beth Ann Fennelly

AWP Portland 2019 Part I:

Day 1: On day 1, we drove in from Seattle, got our hotel room (there was a snafu with the accessible room I’d booked months in advance not being ready, so we had to switch to a “regular” room, which cost us time), literally sprinting to try to get to registration on time, and try sprinting with MS and a cane. It’s hard! There was no space to drop off a handicapped person at the Conference Center because of construction, and no handicapped parking spaces available around or in the garage, and once you got to the entrance, it felt like a half-mile of dim, dusty, not well-signed corridor to get to the registration, bookfair, or panel rooms. Note: I would love it if AWP could book a place that’s not under construction. I stayed in a hotel across the street from the conference, but had to use my wheelchair over construction-non-sidewalk for five blocks to get to it, because, you know, construction. During my panel “Poetry and the Body,” on the last day of the conference, the moderator Peter Gloviczki, said, “I never feel more disabled than in the airport.” Which felt very true. What struck me as true as well – I never feel as disabled as at AWP. They really need to hire someone in a wheelchair or other difficulties walking to test out venues ahead of booking them, and make sure to have adequate handicapped parking, accessible drop-offs, registration right at the entrance, etc. At home, I feel great about walking around with a cane, even going to parks, gardens, museums, but there was no way I could have done this convention without a LOT of help from my husband Glenn – driving, parking, carrying things, getting doors, pushing the wheelchair when I needed it – and I needed it a lot. (I don’t use it much at home.) It was so far from the entrance to registration that even “normal” people were complaining about the walk, so it was extra hard for anyone with a disability.

Me and Tamara Sellman at the Disability Literature reading.

So I got there just as registration was closing, got my badge and bag, and ran back to the hotel room (finally available) to get ready – in a hurry – for my first offsite reading, at the Disability Literature Consortium reading, organized by Wordgathering. I had two unexpected friends in the audience (thanks Tamara and Lesley Wheeler!), which was great, and the readings were wonderful and the people warm and welcoming. I particularly was moved by Susanne Antonetta’s non-fiction account of the long-term damage that resulted from electric shock treatments she had been forced to endure as a child. The effects sounded so similar to my own symptoms from brain damage from my MS flare/lesions, it was uncanny.

I also ran into a friend in the hotel lobby, in fact, I kept seeing poets in my hotel – Ellen Bass, Kim Addonizio – it was like being in Hollywood, instead of seeing movie stars, you’re seeing famous poets everywhere. I didn’t take enough pictures the first day, but I made up for it the next two!

Book signing at Two Sylvias’ booth – a beacon of light in the bookfair!

Day 2: The next morning I woke up brighter and more alert and ready to take on my Friday, which included the first event: a book signing for PR for Poets at the Two Sylvias Booth, where I got to visit with my beautiful editors, Kelli Russell Agodon and Annette Spaulding-Convy – really well attended, thanks to everyone who came by and bought books! It was a wonderful opportunity to chat – albeit briefly – with some people I have been friends with online for literally over a decade! I could hardly breathe because I was hugging so many people. Really, I love doing readings and panels, but hugging your friends is the best part of AWP, or telling someone how much their book meant, or thanking editors/publishers. It’s the people that make the event what it is. Swag is terrific, but human interaction between writers is even better.

Posing with my editors, Kelli and Annette, at the Two Sylvias booth pre-signing

Tomorrow I’ll post more in AWP Part II: wherein I haunt the bookfair, the Spoon River Poetry Review/Obsidian Press/Noemi Press reading, the panel (and video from it!) and the Moon City reading. 

Spring is Here, Poems in French on RealPoetik and in StorySouth, Where I’ll be at AWP and those AWP jitters

 

Cherry blossoms

First Week of Spring

The first week of spring here has blossomed suddenly and I’ve been trying to lug my camera everywhere. Daffodils, plum blossoms, early magnolias and cherry trees – every doctor’s and apartment building parking lot is lit up with beauty. I’m trying to get my readings together for AWP and write my remarks for the panel on Poetry and the Body, but the flowers keep distracting me wherever I go.

Poems in StorySouth and in French in RealPoetik

I’m happy to say I have a poem “They Say You Can’t Go Home Again” in the new issue of StorySouth. (Follow the link to read the whole issue which has poems and fiction by a ton of great writers.)

I’m also happy to say my poems have been published in a second language – the first was Japanese – and this time it’s French. Paris Lit mag RealPoetik has published three of my poems in French (with English translations.) Two are new and one is from Field Guide to the End of the World.

Where I’ll be at AWP and Those AWP Jitters

I’ll be coming in Thursday night, reading at the Disability Literature Consortium at the Courtyard by Marriott at 6 PM.

Friday, I’ll be signing PR for Poets (and She Returns to the Floating World) – and passing out some swag – at the Two Sylvias Booth (in the 9000’s, I think) from 2-3 PM. I hope to see a lot of you there!

Then Friday night, I’ll be doing a reading that night with Spoon River Poetry Review, Obsidian, and Noemi Press at Beulahland at 8 PM.

Then Saturday, I’ll be speaking on a panel:

Poetry and the Body at 3 PM in B116, Level 1. S252. Poetry and the Body: Writing the Corporeal. (Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Alex Lemon, Jeannine Hall Gailey)  In this poetry craft and criticism panel, we aim to have a meaningful dialogue about how the corporeal and related elements enter into our creative processes and how they also inform the delivery of our work in public settings. Drawing from history, memory, and geography, we aim to more fully place the corporeal among the elements that guide our work. We hope poets in the audience will be inspired to consider how the corporeal informs their own creation, forms, content, and delivery.

Then, that night, I’ll be reading at the Moon City Press offsite reading at the White Owl Social Club, 6-8 PM.

Whew! I’m feeling beat just looking at that schedule! I’m having last minute jitters, just like I bet a lot of you are. At least now they’re saying we’ll have nicer weather, no (or just a little) rain, mid sixties. Maybe even a day of sun! I’ve been seeing people on my Twitter feed saying they can’t make it to AWP because they’re getting sick (still flu season, people! Take that vitamin C!) I’ve also seen my female writer friends stressing out about what to wear. Guess what? People there will be happy to see you no matter what you’re wearing, I swear! Although these days with the intimidating number of selfies, yeah, I get it. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping – waking up with panic attacks about, say, dental work or whether the hotel I’m staying at will have an elevator not working so I’ll be trapped there. The joys of travel!

But for real, I’m looking forward to seeing so many old friends – I’ve been going to AWP since I was in my fresh-faced late twenties, and it’s such a wonderful chance to see editors and publishers who have done nice things for you in person, and to see friends you remember from that one party in 2008, and to see writing heroes and mentors. I want to celebrate! I don’t want to waste my energy worrying. I hope you get a chance to celebrate too. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Spring, Supermoon, AWP: Day Trip to Skagit, In-Depth on a Poem, and Surviving AWP Portland Part II: Last Minute Tips

 

Snow Geese in Flight with Mt Baker

Happy Spring and Supermoon! A Day Trip to Skagit Valley

Last week was rough – dental work, three specialist appointments, and a little under the weather. So Glenn decided to take me out to get my mind off health stuff and AWP and do some nature-watching up North in La Conner and Fir Island. Hundreds of snow geese, dozens of trumpeter swans making their signature calls, bald eagles, great blue herons, and seals. Nothing was blooming yet, but temperatures in the seventies made it feel like it was already spring. The last supermoon is happening tomorrow on the spring equinox. A good time for sky watching.

Behind the Poem

Thanks to Chris Rice Cooper for using interviews and photos to tell the backstory of the poem from Field Guide to the End of the World, “At the End of Time (Wish You Were Here).”

Kitten Sylvia with Lee Ann Roripaugh’s new book

I also got my review copy of Lee Ann Roripaugh’s Tsunami Vs. the Fukushima 50, which from a basic quick reading, seems terrific and definitely worth your dollars. Here’s my literary kitten Sylvia posing with the book. It basically hits all my must-haves:  persona poems, comic book characters, monsters, the environment, radiological pollution.

 

Glenn and I in the sun on St. Patrick’s Day

We had a low-key St. Patrick’s Day (I was a little under the weather) but Glenn and I managed to enjoy a little sunshine. One thing I really admire about Irish culture is how they treasure the written word: from Yeats to The Secret of Kells – a great time to do some reading (or watching.)

 

 

How Not to Panic at AWP Part II: Last Minute Tips for AWP Portland

So glad the last post on AWP tips was so useful to people! I thought I’d put up a few more last minute tips for AWP Portland. The weather report looks like normal Portland spring weather, mid-fifties and drizzle, so definitely pack things for that kind of weather. (Last time I said comfortable, weather-proof shoes and a jacket easy to throw on over your clothes or a travel umbrella; I reiterate these recommendations.) Ladies: Northwest fancy is a dress/tunic with leggings, boots, and a scarf. Men: can basically wear anything because techies. Toned-down but unique is the aesthetic out here (purple hair, little makeup, one interesting piece of jewelry.) Perfect manicures, high heels not required. I hope we’ll have some sun breaks so people can see how beautiful the Pacific Northwest can be, with its green gardens and volcanos. Crossing fingers!

If you are nervous about talking to other people, remember that most of them are writers, and therefore also uncomfortable talking to other people! Offering others help is always a great place to start, so I like to make a little map in my head in case people ask me where things are, (and as a disabled person, I especially take note of quiet places, places to get a drink or snack, and accessible restrooms). Expressing genuine enthusiasm for other writers’ work is always pretty safe.
The readings and panels are great, but know that you won’t be able to do all of them. Be a little picky. And allow enough time to get from one thing to another. If you need a break at your hotel, schedule that in – maybe twice a day. At least putting your feet up, getting away from the crowd, and having a drink or snack will make you feel much more sane and able to keep up with the zaniness of AWP.
Look at the map for the bookfair in advance and note where the literary magazines and publishers you are interested in learning more about are located. This is a great opportunity to actually see what the literary community is producing! And if you’re thinking of sending your work to people, consider buying something they publish and reading it. Note styles, cover art, the voices they are interested in. And for goodness sake, and this is especially for women and the super-shy, introduce yourself to publishers. Nothing fancy, just say “hi” and what you admire (maybe a recent book you read) and relevant info about yourself if possible. If you are interested in volunteer opportunities, say so! Do not go up to every publisher and offer them a copy of your manuscript, but if the conversation goes well and they invite you to send something – your CV, your manuscript, or some work – make sure to jot down the name and place and send them something!
Exchange cell phone numbers with friends you want to make sure you see. Make a coffee date to go “off campus” and catch up with an old friend and explore Portland. Catch up with that person from the East Coast you never get to see. (If you’re from the East Coast, of course, catch up with your West Coast peeps.)
If you, like me, are nervous about performing in front of strangers, whether doing offsite readings or official panels, just remember it’s not just about you, it’s about what you’re giving others, whether your poems, or your advice or information that could be helpful. It’s so hard for me to not feel self-conscious these days – my MS has amplified the things to be self-conscious about now – walking, talking, remembering things/people’s names – but mostly people are too preoccupied by feeling self-conscious themselves to even notice the things you’re worried about. Putting people at ease is as important as anything else.
I said this in my last post, but I’ll reiterate – Portland is weird but it’s a great city to explore. Not as pretty as Seattle, maybe, but full of great unique shops, restaurants (and food trucks,) gardens, Powell’s, VooDoo doughnuts, hipster-people-watching, coffee, and some beautiful parks. Get away from the conference and take in your surroundings when you can. Gluten-free, vegan, looking for a comic book shop or craft beers? Yep, yep, yep.
Some practical advice: if you’re driving, feel free to load up on lit mags and new books all you want and just stuff them in the car. If you’re flying, make sure to leave some space in your luggage for new acquisitions or bring some packing materials and plan to ship stuff home from AWP from your hotel or a local UPS or post office. It might cost a little money but might beat schlepping 50 pounds of books through a couple of airports. I’ve done it many times! If you have food allergies, bring some non-perishable snacks that are safe or stop by a grocery store on the way in (again, easier with a car) and stock up on items pre-conference. (I also do this as I have 20 food allergies.) Here are some things I always forget to pack but might come in handy: allergy eye drops (all hotels make my eyes itchy), Benadryl (sleep/hay fever), Emergen-c packets (can’t hurt), Pepto Bismol (in case something doesn’t agree with you), extra lip balm because you always lose one, mini-hand-sanitizer, and maybe a little bottle of lavender essential oil (comes in handy for helping you sleep, putting in the shower for relaxing purposes, and making your hotel room smell less hotel-y. I also use this trick for hospital stays!)
Remember why you’re there. What are your goals with this AWP? Are you seeking information about various MFA programs? Do you want to catch up with old friends, or make new friends? Are you looking to learn about publishing or teaching, find out more about the literary magazines in your area, or trying to get the word out about your new book? Maybe take a few minutes now to write down a couple of things you want to make sure you cover while you’re there – and if you can, while you’re there, write down a few impressions at night or first thing in the morning – in a mini-notebook you can review when you get home. It’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind and get overwhelmed that we forget why we go! (And writers are so grumpy about AWP sometimes – don’t do things that make you unhappy, people! Do the things you like, but if the bar isn’t your scene, (and I can’t drink alcohol, so it isn’t really mine) that’s fine! If you don’t like schmoozing at parties, don’t. If you’re terrible if you don’t get enough sleep, go to bed early. Yes, the crowds can be overwhelming, but it’s up to you to take time out if you start to feel overwhelmed. Especially for those of us with health issues, don’t beat yourself up for not doing more – you’re doing plenty!)  Prioritizing ahead of time the things you find most important/fun – and having a friend or loved one check in on how you’re doing – will help you have a better times and fewer regrets at AWP Portland!

Note: And if you want to say hi in person, my events are listed on the right side of this page, but once again: Thursday night reading at the Disability Consortium at the Courtyard Marriott 6-8 PM, Friday 2 PM-3PM book signing at the Two Sylvias Press Book at the bookfair, Friday night reading with Spoon River Poetry Review at Beulahland at 8 PM, Saturday panel on “Poetry and the Body” at 3 PM, Saturday night reading with Moon City Press at the White Owl Social Club and then I’m taking off! My books will be available at the bookfair at Moon City’s table, Two Sylvias Press’s table (especially if you’re looking for PR for Poets), and I’ll bring them to my readings too.

Getting Ready for AWP, Part I: Schedule, Packing Tips, And How Not to Panic

Shakespeare and Sylvia with Joanna Russ’s How to Suppress Women’s Writing

Getting Ready for AWP, Part I

It’s two weeks from the big conference, so I thought it would be a good time to post about how to get ready for AWP, list my schedule in case you want to see me, get some packing tips in, and also, a bit about how not to panic.

The picture of my cats contemplating the excellent Joanna Russ’s How To Suppress Women’s Writing is here to inspire some pre-AWP reading – of course you’ll come home with a bunch of new reading material, but I’m trying to warm up – trying to place a review of a new book, Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic, (excellent!)  and I’ve been trying to mix up my feminist reading material – sometimes being outside of academia I feel I miss out of some books that are familiar talking material in the academic world, and this book is one of them. (It was mentioned heavily in Sophie Collins’ Who is Mary Sue?) It’s a fascinating, fairly easy read, sharp and funny in places. Joanna is a science fiction writer as well as a critic, so I’m going to look for more of her work.

Glenn and I so you can spot us at AWP!

Where I’ll Be at AWP! Here’s my schedule at AWP:

I’m coming in Thursday night for a reading with the Disability Consortium (read here for more details and a list of readers and sample of their work, including mine. It’ll be at 6-9 PM at the Courtyard Marriott near the conference center.
Friday I’ll be signing books at the Two Sylvias Press table from 2-3 PM, and then I’ll be part of the Spoon River Poetry Reading that night at 8 PM at Beulahland.
Saturday I’ll be participating on a panel at 3 PM on Poetry and the Body: Writing the Corporeal. (Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Alex Lemon, Jeannine Hall Gailey) and then that night I’ll be reading with Moon City Press authors at White Owl Social Club, starting at 6 PM.
I’m leaving Saturday night, so if you want to catch me for coffee, it’s between Thursday night and Saturday night. I’ll have a car with me and I’m staying at a hotel near the conference center, so send me a note! You can also find me at the bookfair where I hope to spend a lot of time (at least as much as my MS-y body lets me spend!)

Seal statue – a travel emblem of the Pacific Northwest for luck!

How to Pack for AWP?

Well, I’m a bit of an expert at how to dress for the weather in the Pacific Northwest, so I’ll try to include some tips for packing, along with my regular advice:

Weather can be variable in late March, from sunny and seventy to chilly rain and forties so the old chestnut about layers applies here. People in the Northwest tend towards lots of fleece and dark colors, plus practical, rain-suitable footwear, in case you want to blend. (I stick to at least a pop of pink, as you can tell from my pictures) I recommend shoes you can stand to stand in for hours, too – no nonsense. You do not want to be nursing sore feet in case you have a late-night party to hit. A big extra tote for carrying your goodies to and from the bookfair is a must. I’d pack a sturdy travel umbrella (it’s a myth that locals don’t do umbrellas) and a lightweight, warm jacket that repels water is probably a good idea.  Velvet and satin shoes are a risk.
For your health: hand sanitizer, Emergen-C, hand wipes (or face wipes that can double,) and of course your regular prescriptions plus something for headache or stomachaches – those things can crop up with, um, little sleep, unhealthy food, and extra drinking (I don’t drink, but I’ve observed a lot of aftereffects at my many AWPs!)
Comfort is key for hotel room time – a pair of cozy slippers and a robe (in case you order room service at least once) and pack a t-shirt, yoga pants, and flats for “hang out time” in between performances. I always find I change clothes at AWP more often than, say, when I’m writing at home!
If you’re driving instead of flying, it’s not a stupid idea to bring a cooler for your room, where you can stash extra water (without paying exorbitant mini-bar prices,) energy bars, maybe an apple or orange for extra health. If you’re a tricky sleeper, you might want to pack your own pillow (I always sleep better when I bring my super-flat pillow from home).
A small notebook and pen for jotting things down, business cards so you can leave your contact info with any new friends, and maybe, if you’re one of those PR for Poets people, a few book cards to give to people who might be interested. And of course, a couple of copies of your books in case your publisher sells out (or isn’t there – it happens!) I noticed that people ask about my books outside of the bookfair area, like at coffee shops or after-parties, so a small tote to carry around your own books is ideal. (I’ve regretted it when I didn’t do this.) Also, funny story, one publisher once insisted that Glenn give him his latest manuscript at AWP, even though Glenn didn’t have a manuscript, so just in case, maybe a copy of your latest manuscript in an envelope.

How Not to Panic at AWP – for People Who Are Introverts, Have Chronic Illnesses or Disabilities, or Are Just Plain Anxious About Being Around Thousands of Writers

This is a big one. If you’re used to spending most of your days by yourself – or at most, a class of students a day – it might be a bit of a shock checking into a hotel where 10,000 people might be milling around – including former professors, classmates, random poetry heroes, etc, appearing at any time – so maybe prepare ahead of time by taking a few days to get your sleep schedule in order, wearing real pants during the day (if you’re not used to it), clocking how long it takes you to get ready to go out in the morning (I don’t do the full “hair blow dry-makeup” ritual most days myself, so I have to build that into my wake-up schedule.) Get yourself used to West Coast time if you are coming from the East Coast a day or two ahead of time, by staying up a little later and getting up a little later.
Also keep in mind if you are prone to low blood sugar, have medications you need to take at a regular basis throughout the day, or are prone to under-hydrating, so you can build in breaks even during the hectic conference to maintain your health. Do not forget about drinking water – I meet a lot of people in the bookfair just about to pass out from dehydration and low blood sugar every year, no kidding. Sipping coffee is fine, and a writer’s vice for sure, but remember to sub in an actual water once in a while. Grab at least one bottle at the hotel because you never know about availability at the convention center. You will not be able to perform at optimum levels if you are hungry or thirsty.
If you, like me, have a disability, map out accessible restrooms and entrances/exits the first day.
If you have a chronic illness, like I do, or are just sensitive to crowds and noise-overload, do not be ashamed to opt out of extra activities to go back to the hotel, put your feet up for a few minutes, and rest. If you can’t get back to your hotel, do not be ashamed to ask where the “quiet room” is at the conference. You don’t need to be everywhere all at once, although somehow FOMO really takes hold of some people – the cool people are always at some other reading or party or panel – so just rest. You’ll meet the people you need to meet, and if not, there is always texting and arranging for a coffee meetup.
If you have to work a table, remember to hydrate (can’t state this one enough) and definitely wash your hands as soon as you can get out from behind the table (this goes for people giving talks or working the bookfair in any way. You forget how many people we shake hands with! PS Hugs are actually less germy than handshakes!) Plan for a little break after your service time.  It’s still flu season and the Pacific Northwest has had, of all thing, measles going around.
If you, like me, have some neurological issues and do not remember names and faces well, just state that upfront, and ask people their names or tell you to remind them of how you know them. I am constantly embarrassed by this but MS has made it a real necessity – there is no way to fake remembering faces in a huge crowd. If I ask you about who you are, or re-introduce myself, please remember I have a big hole in the control center of my brain that messes with my memory, and please do not be offended. I try to be helpful by always wearing my name tag where people can see it! They can be annoying, but they are useful.
Focus on one thing a day that you absolutely must do – and the other things can be “nice to haves.” If you have to give a panel, maybe give yourself a break from panels that day. If you have to work the bookfair, give yourself a pass on other socializing that day. And so on.
A manageable thing for introverts is to ask one person a day to have coffee, away from the crowd. That way, you can focus on one good conversation. Sometimes it’s better than trying to have fifty less-quality encounters than just one genuinely enjoyable one.
Lastly, get away from the conference a bit and experience the weirdness of Portland! The city has much more to offer than just the area around the conference center. Especially if you’ve never been there before and you spent good money to fly out here! If it’s sunny they have a beautiful rose and Japanese garden and views of some gorgeous volcanoes, if not, they have a famously huge bookstore (Powell’s,) burgeoning art gallery scenes, and a great food truck culture (which we don’t really have equally in Seattle) and decent coffee shops (ahem, I want to be faithful to Seattle, but Stumptown Coffee is very good.) Go to the Pearl District to shop, or birdwatch at a local park. Portland has more traffic than they used to so prepare for a “city” city rather than the big small town Portland used to be. Some areas are more walkable than others, if you are disabled I recommend having a car handy to get to some of the tourist sites.

I hope this is helpful! And please include your “surviving/packing/enjoying” AWP tips of your own!

 

 

Zoo Visit, Poetry Readings, PR for Poets in the News and Submission Fatigue

 

Red panda cub

A Chill in Seattle and a Weekend of Poetry and Zoos

Brrr! Writing from a very chilly morning here in the suburbs of Seattle. This weekend was full of excitement. I had been a little under-the-weather since I had three fillings earlier in the week, so by Saturday I was sick of being house-bound and it was sunny though not warm so we ventured out to the zoo, mostly to see the little red panda cubs again. Then Sunday was the book launch for Martha Silano’s Gravity Assist, a fascinating collection that examines the space race as metaphors for family relationships.

Martha, Kelli, Rick, and Me

The Launch of Gravity Assist with Guest Readers at Open Books

A great pleasure to see the introducing readers, Kelli Russell Agodon, Molly Tennenbaum, and Rick Barot, as well as Martha’s reading from Gravity Assist (check out one of the poems from the book, “Instead of a Father”) and to see a lot of friends from the Seattle writer community come out to support each other. Glenn also snapped a shot of PR for Poets on Open Books’ shelf!

I was a little nervous (I don’t do great in crowds with the MS thing), but it increased my feeling that I’ll probably do fine at AWP – except for remembering anyone’s name or face in a crowd (still troublesome for some reason, so if you see me at AWP, be kind and remembering my brain doesn’t function totally 100 percent in overload, when you say hi, remind me of your name, the name of the person next to you, and probably my own). I was especially happy I went since a friend had a small emergency during the reading that I was able to help out with. You never know when you might be useful!

 

Glenn and I at the Northwest wing of the Woodland Park Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo – and Animal Eye Contact

It was freezing cold but always a pleasure to see extremely rare and endangered cute red panda cubs in action. We also had a pair of wild, non-zoo-related bald eagles sweep low over our heads – turned out they have nested in the Northwest wing of the zoo! The white wolves were sleepy, but a lot of animals – jaguar, red pandas, meerkats, snow leopards – seemed to make eye contact with me! Maybe it was something shiny or they liked my sunglasses, but it meant I got some good snaps of the animals!

Here are a few more: a blue heron that invaded the penguin habitat, a flamingo, a snow leopard hunting the peacock in the previous picture from the back of her enclosure:

PR for Poets in the News!

Thank you to Cati Porter who wrote about PR for Poets for her local paper The Press Enterprise about how to prepare to market your upcoming book in this article. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, order it now or pick up a copy at Portland’s AWP at the Two Sylvias table!

Submission Fatigue

I know submitting poetry is part of the job, but I’ve got serious submission fatigue. It’s not that I’ve gotten more rejections in 2019 than unusual, but it’s felt like more. I’ve sat down to submit poems a couple of times this week, and ended up…not. I’ve got a brand newish manuscript to submit, but I haven’t sent it. Is this part self-doubt, part-self-protection?

Some times I think I get too discouraged with the poetry world in general. Maybe it’s my reading material – started reading How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ and of course Sylvia Plath’s Letters Volume II. Possibly not the most cheerful reading for a woman writer. I feel like I’ve been fighting off a bug, which has increased my MS symptoms, especially the dreaded nausea. Do these things contribute? They might. It takes energy to send out work these days – submission windows that close in a single day (Hello, Coffee House Books!) and submission windows that shift year-to-year, month-to-month – it’s tough to keep track on your Excel spreadsheet, then tracking down the current editors, reading a current issue (or at least a few poems from one, if available,) then going through your own Excel spreadsheet to see what’s available and what seems like a good fit. I’m not really a submit-at-random girl. So, yes, maybe a lack of forward motion, a lack of belief in the system in general, the lack of belief that the world needs more of my poetry. (Eek! A peek into the abyss!) Usually I am a pick-yourself-up-and-get-on-with-it person, but lately, when I pick up my spreadsheet and look at sending out, I’m just…Hmm.

Do you get submission fatigue? What do you do to get over it? How do you renew your belief in a system that maybe isn’t particularly for you – your gender, whatever – or the type of work you produce (weird, offbeat)?

New Poem Up at Rise Up Review, New Review of PR for Poets, and Spring/AWP Approaches

Spring Flowers After Snow

New Poem Up at Rise Up Review

First of all, thanks to Rise Up Review for publishing my new poem, “Every Child a Legend.” 

I don’t write a lot of political poems but these last two years…well, I guess I’ve started.

A New Review of PR for Poets

Also, thanks to Debbie Okun Hill for this new review of PR for Poets! It’s always nice to hear from people who found that book useful. I’m really hoping to get the word out at AWP about PR for Poets and hope to get it into more people’s hands.

Spring is Coming, and AWP

Glenn and I in the sunshine

We’ve had some sunshine after the coldest February in Seattle on record, and we have snow in the forecast again next week, so the cold isn’t letting up yet. But I know intellectually spring is coming.  I know I can plant new flowers to replace that ones that were killed by ice and snow. I just…wish it would get here soon…

Just like I know AWP is almost here! Now I’m doing some offsite readings, a panel, and a book signing at the Two Sylvias Booth on Friday for PR for Poets. I hope to see a lot of you there. I’m also hoping my health holds up for the duration. Inspired by Selma Blair’s interview and Oscar party appearance, I bought myself a fancy new cane. Gotta get fancy for public appearances, right? Incidentally, I’m nervous, I think, about this year’s AWP – not just the usual I’m going to forget someone important’s name (though that’s definitely there) but more health-ish.

Me with new pearly-handled cane with hummingbirds

What happens if I get sick, or have to go to the hospital while I’m there, or can’t make it through a reading and fall over?

So, to be clear with my AWP tips:

–Drink enough water. Bring a water bottle to panels and the bookfair, because they are always so dry. And hard candy for coughs!

–Use lip balm. Eat nutritious food when you can, and be sure to sit down with friends over coffee earlier in the day (because catching up with them at the bar at night may mean they don’t remember catching up.)

–Pack layers – late March in Portland could be cold, could be very wet, could be spring-like. Wear comfortable shoes because you’ll be on your feet a lot, even when you don’t think you will.

–If you’re a bit iffy health-wise, like I am, take extra time to rest between events, drink even more water (and maybe a hot tea) and wash your hands (and bring hand sanitizer in your tote!) Don’t plan to be active from sunup to midnight unless you plan to also crash the next day.

Anything else? Leave your tips in the comments?

 

 

Six New Poems in the newest issue of Rosebud, and When You’re Not the Chosen One

Sylvia posing with Rosebud (and tulips)

Six Poems in the New Issue of Rosebud

First of all, a big thank you to the editors of Rosebud, who decided to publish six of my poems in the latest issue of their magazine (pictured here with Sylvia and a vase of parrot roses.)

These were some of my favorite poems from my new manuscript, so it meant a lot to me.

Here’s one of them, “Summer of Bombs.” (I scanned this with my new tiny printer. I’m so excited about it!)

When You’re Not the Chosen One

You would think, by my age, as long as I’ve been submitting poetry (um, more than twenty years) that somehow rejection would stop getting to me. But you know what? It still does. In the last two days, I got one regular rejection, and three – three!!! – book rejections. For two different book manuscripts. It always takes guts to send out your book manuscript that you work and agonize over, and then, you get (mostly) impersonal announcements, plus telling you about who they will be publishing, not you.  Well, that is going to take more than a chocolate chip cookie to get over. You look at the winners. And you think, why is that person chosen? And why not me?? Why am I not the chosen one? (If you want some reassurance, go back to this post and see what Sylvia Plath had to say when she lost the Yale Younger Poets prize to George Starbuck. Let’s just say she was not gracious about her loss. It’s okay to vent sometimes. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be human. The poetry game can be brutal!)

Intellectually, you know they might simply be writing poems more to the taste of a certain press’ editorial team, or your book might have been too similar to a book they just take, or they’re taking into account (shiver at the thought) your author platform and you don’t Twitter enough or have enough Instagram followers or you’re not male enough or young enough or cute enough or whatever. You don’t become a writer at all if you don’t have an ego. Sure, you love your art, blah blah purity (as Sylvia paraphrases), but really, you don’t write to not be read, as the older woman writer reminds Glenn Close’s character in “The Wife.” (See it! Great things to say about the writing product vs the writer him or herself. Also watched the extremely bleak “Can You Every Forgive Me?” which is literally every female writer’s neurotic nightmare of failure and poverty in one movie! Although I kept thinking of every other way to make money besides forging famous writer’s letters…) On second thought, maybe don’t watch either movie the day you get a really big rejection (or three.)

I have been watching the frustration of some much loved writer friends who send out their first manuscripts over and over and get a ton of “finalists” but don’t get chosen. At least not yet. It’s a shame because these are very strong writers and I want to hug them and tell them to ignore the noise and that they’re terrific. If I had my own press I would have already published them. I don’t want them to feel that they are “less” as people or writers because today’s trends or editors don’t validate their work. In the letters of Virginia Woolf I’m reading, she tells another younger writer that she didn’t publish a thing (besides reviews) in her thirties. And her forties were when she wrote and published nearly all of the work we consider ‘important’ today. Sometimes it takes time to come into your own.

I’ve also watched some friends get wonderful news – my friend Kelli Russell Agodon just won a PSA prize for lyric poetry – and Martha Silano has a new book, Gravity Assist, coming out with a book launch in a few weeks – which, yes, I am actually happy to celebrate. You want your friends to succeed. You cross your fingers for them and cry when they cry and rejoice when they finally get the good news. As a reviewer, I come across a lot of poetry books – some of which absolutely blow me away. They are so good they are humbling.

Tomorrow I’m meeting up for coffee with a new friend who not only does poetry but documentary filmmaking (which seems an even more difficult world than poetry.) I think the best cure for feeling unloved, rejected, is to get back out there, send out your work (which I’m doing right after this post – carrying a poetry manuscript – a paper submission – to the post office) and get together with other creative folks.

This is also a great time to remind you not to feel “less than” when you go to AWP next month. It doesn’t matter if you’re not “poetry famous” or whatever. The most important thing is to go, try to have fun, talk to a few other people in your line of work that you like about their survival tips, and talk (gulp) to editors and publishers. (There are publishers I decided never to send to because I didn’t like the way they acted at AWP, I’ll admit – and I’d rather know ahead of time about the type of person that runs a press than get an unhappy surprise later!) Don’t worry about your fame level, worry about your fun level. Make plans to meetup with some online friends for the first time in real life. Dawdle at the book fair over a table of beautiful chapbooks or lit mags.  Go to a Portland art gallery or museum or, if the weather is kind, the famous Rose/Japanese garden (or Powell’s or VooDoo Doughnuts – you do you!) The point is, use it an empowering exercise rather than a way to make yourself feel small because someone looks at your name tag and turns away – hey, it happens. But discover great books, make new friends, and take advantage of a proudly weird city to do something out of the ordinary that you find fun. Dress up. Be proud that you are out there and trying in a world where most people never even try.