Diane Lockward's Blog, page 42

The One True Fact Revealed

In my last post, I included five alleged facts, only one of which was really true. Your job was to decide which one was true. The answer will now be revealed.





1. I lived in five Southern states before I was two.

This is the one true fact. My father was in the military and apparently we moved on a regular basis. I don't recall any of it except for one incident when I stepped on a bottle my brother had smashed on the sidewalk. Everything else is hearsay.


2. Of my three children, two are adopted.

No, I hatched them all.


3. I have had four surgeries which required prolonged hospitalization.

Aside from the 3 hatchings, I've never spent time in a hospital. No operations, no broken bones, no stitches. Well, one nasty little bit of biopsy, but I was in and out. And then was lucky.


4. I think that chocolate-covered caramels are disgusting.

How could this possibly be true? Who doesn't absolutely adore chocolate-covered caramels? Don't tell me if you are one of those weird people.


5. Until I was 16, I lived on a farm and was in charge of the chickens and goats.

No, never happened though there was a time when I wanted to live on a farm, when that seemed like a lot of fun. I had a friend who lived on a farm and had a feather mattress and comforter and whose mother made real pickles. I wanted those things, too. Never got them. Stuck in the suburbs.

Some Sweet Love for Blogalicious

 How nice to discover that my blog has been nominated by Kristin Berkey-Abbott for the Memetastic Award, created by Jillsmo at the Yeah, Good Times blog, a Mommy blog. Apparently, Jillsmo prefers to conceal her identity so I can't give you her name.



According to the rules, I must do the following:


link back to the blogger who awarded you (DONE)


display the graphic from award creator (DONE)


post 5 facts, four of which must be lies (See Below)


pass the award on to 5 other bloggers who must follow these rules (See Below)


link the post back, so Jillsmo can follow its trajectory (DONE)

My five nominees are:


Ken Ronkowitz Lots of poetry news, poems, links to cool stuff. Companion to his Poets Online site
Gabriel Scala Recent addition to my blogroll. Substantial commentary on poetry, plus interviews, poetry prompts
Erika Dreifus I couldn't begin to list all the wonderful material offered at this blog—contests, paying markets, new books, conferences, etc., etc.

Adele Kenny A fairly new blog but already a formidable presence with lots of great prompts, practical poetry information, and lovely photos
Marion Schembari Here's the one that probably won't seem like it's a good fit here, but this tech site offers terrific information about blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and other things technological. Marion is also very funny. I always learn something and have a good laugh.

My five facts—and please indicate in a Comment which you believe is the one true fact—are:


I lived in five Southern states before I was two.
Of my three children, two are adopted.
I have had four surgeries which required prolonged hospitalization.
I think that chocolate-covered caramels are disgusting.
Until I was 16, I lived on a farm and was in charge of the chickens and goats.

Cookies, Anyone? Soup?

Look who's reading my new book!


On Friday, February 4, food blogger and children's author Jama Rattigan featured one of the poems from my new book, Temptation by Water, at her wonderful blog, Alphabet Soup. The poem she chose is If Only Humpty Dumpty Had Been a Cookie.



Along with the poem, Jama included the most amazing photos, such as the one above which is now one of my very favorite photos in the world. The photos of cookies will make your mouth water. Bring a bib! There's also a very cool prompt using cookie tiles, each with a word on it. Give it a try. There's even information about a poetry contest for a forthcoming book entitled Whitman Cooks. I'm delighted with this feature and hope that you will pay the site and my poem a visit.






Another new reader!


As if that weren't enough delight, Jama has posted another of my poems in this week's "Friday Feast," a poetry feature that appears each week. This time it's No soup for you!, a poem that found its inspiration in the Soup Nazi, a character from the Seinfeld show.



Jama has really outdone herself. The photos of soup will leave you drooling with desire. Then comes the poem, followed by my commentary on it. The commentary developed from some questions Jama sent me. There's also a recipe for mushroom soup. And finally, there's a Book Giveaway. Go to Jama's post and leave a comment with the name of your favorite soup. That's all you have to do to enter to win a copy of my book, Temptation by Water, a signed copy of Jama's book, Dumpling Soup, and the t-shirt you see being modeled by the bear above. You can get extra chances by blogging, tweeting, or facebooking about the Giveaway. Let me know if you win.

Gender Issue: The Movie

I've been back in the movie-making business. Several months ago, precisely on October 8, 2010, Nic Sebastian recorded a poem of mine for Whale Sound. This is an audio journal or library of Nic recording poems by a wide variety of poets. The common denominator is that they are all what Nic has named "web active poets," meaning that they have a substantial presence on the internet via blogs, websites, and social networks. That limitation is intended to increase the audience for Whale Sound.




Due to the success of the venture, Nic has now added an audio chapbook component and a blog, Voice Alpha. Voice Alpha is a companion to Whale Sound. There Nic and others discuss the art of reading poetry aloud. Guest bloggers are invited to contribute. Those wishing a critique of their reading skills may contribute a recording. It's all very positive. Nobody gets annihilated. It's also very instructive.




Whale Sound includes an index of all poets recorded, bios, links to the poems, and, of course, the recordings. My poem is Gender Issue, which first appeared in Margie and then in my second book, What Feeds Us, and then online in Poemeleon. I loved Nic's reading and began mulling over how I might get more mileage out of it. I decided I'd use it as the soundtrack in a movie. Nic kindly sent me the mp3 and I went about gathering appropriate images. Here's the result.

Adanna: Call for Submissions

 A new print journal is about to enter the literary world. It's called Adanna,
a name of Nigerian origin, pronounced a-DAN-a, and defined as "her
father's daughter." As the name indicates, this journal is dedicated to
women. Work appearing in the journal will in some way reflect women's
issues and celebrate womanhood. However, it is not exclusive; men are
welcome to contribute their thoughts about women today. As the bright
red cover suggests, we hope for a lively, passionate journal.



Adanna: A Journal for Women, about Women will be an annual perfect bound print book publication, first issue Summer 2011.




Editor: Christine Redman-Waldeyer

Guest Editor: Diane Lockward



I am delighted and honored to be serving as Guest Editor for this new journal. Check out the guidelines here and consider submitting some of your work.



CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS



The reading period for this first issue begins on January 31 and closes April 30. Please send your submissions to adannajournal@yahoo.com


Adanna accepts poetry, short stories, essays, and reviews of books and visual arts.
We welcome both National and International submissions in English. 
Please submit only unpublished pieces, 3-6 at a time.
Submissions should be one file in one attachment. 
Include your name in the header of each page along with current contact information including e-mail and phone number. 
Simultaneous submissions accepted. 
Please notify us as soon as possible of any accepted work. 
For works accepted, the author will receive a free complimentary copy.

Visit the Adanna Website   



Visit Adanna at Facebook

Spilling the Beans

Two interviews have recently been posted in which I blab on endlessly. Well, not really. The first appears in The Patch, a fairly new online newspaper that is spreading across the country. Go to the base site and see if your state has one. Click on the State and then see if your town has one. They're great for up-to-the-minute local news—like is school open today. Also great for restaurant listings and local events. My Patch has an arts feature and that's where I come in.



Feature columnist Joanne Van Zuidam interviewed me recently for her column on local artists. She asked me about my background, my sources of inspiration, how I go about putting a book together,
my current resolutions and future plans, how I stay motivated, and what a typical day of
working at poetry consists of. Read all about it HERE.



The second interview appears in The Habitual Poet series at Poemeleon, a very nice online poetry journal hosted by Catie Porter. With each issue, Porter posts an interview template. Then she invites anyone who has work in the current issue to respond to the questions. I did that back in September. The interview was just posted.



In this slightly zany interview, I discuss my book buying and reading practices (you will learn whether or not I read in bed), how I practice my craft, how I go about revising and publishing, how swamped I am with fan mail, which vowel I'd most want to be, and my piece of advice. Read all about it HERE.

Print Journals That Accept Online Submissions

Cream City Review, FIELD, CutBank

Time to once again update the list of print journals that accept online submissions. The list has grown this time by nine journals. Clearly, more and more print journals are moving to online submission managers. I suspect that means more submissions received, which might be good or bad. And I'm sure it means a lot less paper in the office and fewer paper cuts. It certainly is a boon to poets. Far less paper used up, no mailing envelope or SASE, and what a savings in stamps! Thank you, Journals!



Journals new to the list (not necessarily new journals) are indicated with a double asterisk.



The number of issues per year appears after the journal's name.



The reading period for each journal appears at the end of each entry.



Unless noted otherwise, the journal accepts simultaneous submissions.





As always, please let me know if you find any errors here. And good luck.



Agni—2x

Sept 1 - May 31



The American Poetry Journal—2x

September 1 - April 30



Baltimore Review —2x

all year



Barn Owl Review—1x

June 1 - November 1



Barrelhouse—2x

at this time closed for submissions--check before submitting

all year



Bat City Review—1x

June 1 - November 15



Bateau—2x

all year



Bellevue Literary Review—2x

all year



Boston Review—6x

Sept 15 - May 15



Caesura—2x

August 5 - Oct. 5



Caketrain—1x

all year



Cider Press Review—1x

April 1 - Aug. 31



Columbia—2x

September 1 - May 1



Copper Nickel–2x

all year



Crazyhorse—2x

all year



**Cream City Review–2x

August 1 to 1 November

December 1 to April 1



**CutBank—1-2x

October 1 thru February 15



Feast—4x

print and online journal

all year



**FIELD—2x

all year

no sim



Fifth Wednesday—2x

no Jan, Feb, June, or July



Gargoyle—1x

next reading period will begin June 1, 2011



Greatcoat—1 or 2x

all year



**Grist—1x

August 15-April 15



Harvard Review—2x

Sept 1 - May 31



Hawk and Handsaw—2x

Aug 1-Oct 1



Hayden's Ferry—2x

All year

pays



The Hollins Critic—5x

Sept 1 - Dec. 15



Hunger Mountain—1x

all year



**Iron Horse Literary Review—6x

all year



Jubilat—2x

September 1 - May 1



Kenyon Review—4x

September 15 - January 15

no sim



The Literary Review—4x

Reading period begins September 15



The Los Angeles Review—1x

Submit to Poetry Editor: lareview.poetry@gmail.com

Sept 1 - Dec 1



The Lumberyard—2x

all year

open submissions begin August 2010



Lumina—1x

Sept 1 - Nov 15



The MacGuffin—3x

all year



The Massachusetts Review—4x

October 1 - May 1



Meridian—2x ($2 fee)

all year



Mid-American Review—2x

all year



The Minnesota Review—2x

all year



The Missouri Review–4x

all year



Naugatuck River Review—2x

for the Summer issue January 1 through March 1

for the Winter issue July 1 through September 1 (contest only)



New England Review—4x

no sim

Sept 1-May 31



New Madrid—2x

August 15 - November 1



New Ohio Review—2x

Sept-May (summer okay for subscribers)



New Orleans Review—2x

Aug 15 - May 1



The New Yorker

weekly magazine

all year



New York Quarterly—3x

All year



Ninth Letter—2x

September 1 - April 30



Parthenon West Review—1x

Jan 1- May 1



Ploughshares—3x

June 1 - Jan. 15



Poetry—11x

year round

no sim



**Poetry Northwest—2x

September 15 - April 15



Post Road Magazine—2x

check website for submission dates



Potomac Review—2x

Sept 1-May 1



Puerto del Sol—2x

September 15-March 31



The Raintown Review—2x

all year

considers previously published



The Raleigh Review—1x

All year



Rattle—2x

year round



Redactions—1x

year round



Redivider—2x

all year



Red Rock Review—2x

No June, July, August, or December

no sim



Rhino—1x

April 1-Oct 1



roger—1x

Aug 1-Jan 1



Rosebud—3x

All year



Sakura Review—2x

Check submission periods



**Salt Hill—2x

August 1-April 1



San Pedro River Review—2x

Jan 1 - Feb 1 / July 1-Aug 1



Slab—4x

currently open for submissions



Slice Magazine—2x

Feb. 1 - April 1



Smartish Pace—2x

All year



Sonora Review—2x

All year



The Southeast Review—2x

All year



Southwest Review—4x

No June, July, August

$2 fee



Sou'wester—2x

August 15 - May 15



Spinning Jenny—1x

Sept 15 - May 15

No Sim



Sugar House Review—2x

All year



Tampa Review—2x

Sept 1 - Dec. 31

no sim



Tar River Poetry—2x

via email

Sept 15 - Nov. 1

no sim



Third Coast Review—2x

August 2 - April 30



Tiferet—2x

Sept 1 - June 30



Tinhouse Magazine—2x

September 1 - May 31



**Tygerburning Literary Journal—1 x

October 15-December 15



Upstreet—1x

Sept 1 - March 1



Versal—1x

Sept 15 - Jan 15



Verse Wisconsin—4x

All year



**Washington Square Review—2x

August 1 - Oct 15

Dec 15 – Feb 1



Weave Magazine—2x

April 15 — July 31



West Branch—2x

Aug 15 - April 15



Willow Springs—2x

all year

Poetry from Paradise Valley

Click HERE to Order

 I love poetry anthologies. As a reader of an anthology, I enjoy the variety of voices and styles. As a contributor to an anthology, I appreciate the opportunity to have a previously published poem reach a wider audience. As both a reader and a poet, I am happy to recommend to you a new anthology, Poetry from Paradise Valley, edited by Edward Byrne, the editor of Valparaiso Poetry Review, one of the first online journals I ever submitted to and still one of my favorites. Once the journal reached its tenth year, Ed decided to celebrate this milepost with an anniversary anthology of poems he's published in the journal. Rather than stuff the collection, Ed limited it to 50 poems.



Here's how Ed describes the collection:



Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts. . .



Not bad! Needless to say, I am delighted to have my poem, April at the Arboretum, included among the poems of such a "stellar" group of poets.



You can purchase the book at the Pecan Grove website. There you will find an order form or you can use the convenience of PayPal. The book is also available at Amazon, but the publisher's site is the better deal.



Here's the list of poets included in the anthology:



DAVID BAKER * JOHN BALABAN * CLAIRE BATEMAN * J.P. DANCING BEAR * MICHELLE BITTING * JARED CARTER * KATHARINE COLES * BILLY COLLINS * MARK CONWAY * ALFRED CORN * BARBARA CROOKER * KWAME DAWES * CORNELIUS EADY * LYNNELL EDWARDS * W.D. EHRHART * CLAUDIA EMERSON * BERNARDINE EVARISTO * PATRICIA FARGNOLI * ANNIE FINCH * DAISY FRIED * BRENDAN GALVIN * PAMELA GEMIN * REGINALD GIBBONS * DAVID GRAHAM * H. PALMER HALL * JONATHAN HOLDEN * T.R. HUMMER * GRAY JACOBIK * ALLISON JOSEPH * DAVID KIRBY * DORIANNE LAUX * LAURENCE LIEBERMAN * FRANNIE LINDSAY * DIANE LOCKWARD * SEBASTIAN MATTHEWS * WILLIAM MATTHEWS * WALT McDONALD * ELISE PASCHEN * KEVIN PILKINGTON * STANLEY PLUMLY * SHEROD SANTOS * MARGOT SCHILPP * FLOYD SKLOOT * DAVE SMITH * VIRGIL SUAREZ * DANIEL TOBIN * CATHERINE TUFARIELLO * 
BRIAN TURNER * INGRID WENDT * CHARLES WRIGHT 


Eve's Confession: The Movie

Many months ago I was contacted by a composer named Paul Carey. He had come across my poem, "Eve's Confession," from my first book, Eve's Red Dress, and wanted to set the poem to music. He offered to pay me! How cool was that! We quickly arrived at an agreement, a contract was sent and signed, and Mr. Carey got to work. Weeks later he sent me an mp4 of the result—my poem set to music and sung by the Women's Choir of the University of Illinois. I love the operatic style and the grand drama of the entire production.



Here's Paul's description from his website:

The text for this piece is from Diane Lockward's collection of poems called Eve's Red Dress, a quirkily brilliant deconstruction of the Eve story. This poem really pokes a lot of good-natured fun at Eve—she just can't resist the modern-day apple fritters (and who can blame her—I mean really, WHO can!).

The musical setting is all hustle and bustle as Eve goes shopping for the fritters and then in an endorphin-fueled frenzy just has to gobble them all up. I also added in some faux medieval organum for fun toward the end—after all, why not reference the church when the word "guilt" shows up in the poem? But right after, Eve gobbles up the last fritter anyway and the piece ends uptempo and loud.



After receiving the mp3, I thought it might be fun to take it one step further and make a video of the poem with Paul's music as the sound track. I set about finding appropriate images, fiddled for hours with the timing of each clip, and ended with the movie you find now displayed here. Before watching the video, it's probably a good idea to first read the poem. I think it will enhance your appreciation of the music.



Eve's Confession



Sunday morning I slipped

out of bed, ran to the bakery,

and bought two apple

fritters, bulging

with fruit and slathered

with sweet white frosting—

breakfast in bed for me

and my husband.

     While he slept on

in innocence, ribcage

peacefully rising
and falling, the kitchen

filled with essence

of apple. And oh!

those fritters looked

divine. I broke

off a sample—wickedly

good—then another

and another.

     Of course, it was

my husband's fritter

I sampled. I stuffed

my mouth. Globs

of tart gooey apples slid

down my throat, apple

after apple, and chunks

of dough, crusty

from the fryer.

     I could feel

my cholesterol rising,

arteries hardening, and I
didn't care. That fritter

was delicious.

     As the calories

mounted, guilt entered

the kitchen. And still,

that pastry beguiled me.

"Eat of this fritter," it called.

"Okay," I said, "one last bite,"

but I knew I was going to fall

and fall, knew in my evil

heart I was going

to eat it all.

The Twenty-Sixth Poem

Man reading poetry while waiting for his wife to get ready for a night out




Novelist Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) has an excellent article in the January issue of Poetry. Entitled Happy, Snappy, Sappy, the article details Handler's poetry-reading practices. Like many of us, Handler values poetry because it can be tucked into odd moments. He reads poetry while sitting in a large, comfortable chair in his living room as he waits for his slower-dressing wife to get ready for their evening out. Excellent.




A long-time lover of poetry, Handler likes his poets and poems in small doses. He says, "But even with a standard volume—you know, about eight years of work for some poets, or a week and a half for Charles Simic—there are only so many poems by a single poet one can read in a sitting. I read two or three poems by Campbell McGrath in a row, and I'm infused with joy at the enthusiasm of his breadth. I read seven or eight, and it is truly admirable that he can maintain a consistency of tone and yet always be surprising. Ten or twelve and that just might be enough Campbell McGrath for a little bit, no offense. Eighteen poems without a break and, seriously, Campbell, shut the fuck up."




Oh dear.




It seems, then, that Handler prefers to dip in and out of a single collection rather than take it in all at once. I think that's too bad. I think he's missing something.




While he appreciates the number of years it takes to accumulate enough poems for a book, Handler seemingly fails to appreciate the intensive labor that goes into assembling those 40-50 poems into a coherent, aesthetically-pleasing whole. He should know that the artistic arrangement of those poems takes many hours, many attempts, and lots of brain and heart work before getting it just right.




Most of the poets I know find this one of the most difficult aspects of their work as poets. Most of them ask at least one other poet pal to read the manuscript in progress and see if it coheres. Workshops are offered on this part of book development. Some poets with editorial expertise have made a cottage industry out of manuscript assembly and critiques. But why should we bother if readers are reading just for individual poems?




Because they should not be reading just for individual poems. The book is not a bunch of poems; it is a collection of poems. That distinction is often the very one that gets a manuscript accepted or rejected by a knowledgeable publisher.




I doubt that Mr. Handler would think it was okay if readers of his novels chose only to read a few chapters and then called it quits. Enough already, Daniel! But he might rightfully argue that a novel has plot and character development. Most poetry collections do not. Nevertheless, I want to argue that something is missed by the reader who reads only for the poems. And I want to suggest how a collection might more profitably be read.



First, I want Mr. Handler to read an entire collection, whatever book he now has at hand. He should read as he usually does, concentrating on the individual poems, but he should read them all in the order in which they appear in the book. Then the next day or next week he should move onto a more careful reading and consider the following:



The overall organizational plan of the collection

Does the book's title give a hint as to the overriding plan or theme? Why might the poet have chosen not to use sections? Is there some kind of parade going on, some movement or progression? If there are sections, why 3 instead of 4? What seems to be the mission of each section? Are there section titles, and if so, do those give some clue as to what's in each section? How are the sections related to each other? Is there any connecting link between the first poem and the last poem in each section? Between the first poem and the last poem in the book?




There must be some reason why the poet ordered the poems as he did. Is there chronology or shifting time? Alphabetical order? Seasonal arrangement? Is geography in any way involved? A pattern of images? Maybe from darkness into light or back and forth? What's going on with mood or tone? Is there a shift from despair into hope? Is there a foolish inconsistency or a sensible one?





The careful reader will find some
continuity, some pattern at work. Yet the pattern must be subtle
or it becomes predictable. Too much sameness and the reader becomes
bored.





The connections from one poem to the next

Does the end of one poem somehow lead into the beginning of the next? Is there continuity of tone or perhaps some intriguing shift? Is there a repeating image or perhaps a contrasting one? Remember that cardinal from the first poem—does he resurface ten poems later? Then maybe again and again? Is his female partner introduced? Or perhaps some new kind of bird? Do images recur? Is there a constellation of related images?




These connections should ideally be subtle. That's why some readers miss them. That's one reason why a poetry book invites us back for multiple readings. Yet these connections, even if missed, if we read the collection as a whole book, work some kind of magic upon us. A later repeated reading, done more carefully, will very likely reveal some of these connections. When that happens, there is a frisson of pleasure. An oh yes kind of moment. When made throughout the collection, these discoveries are as delightful as when they are made within a single poem.






So I'd like to suggest that Mr. Handler continue to read poetry books for the poems and continue to be part of the audience for poetry. Blessings on his good head. But I'd also like to suggest that he consider each poem as part of the whole. That he move beyond a bunch of poems and discover the collection. That he tell his wife to take her time getting dressed.




Robert Frost said something to the effect that if a book has twenty-five poems in it, the collection itself must be the twenty-sixth. Please, Mr. Handler, find the twenty-sixth poem. You'll be glad you did. So will Campbell McGrath.