Susan Rich's Blog, page 40

Perhaps jars that contain elements of clouds?

Photographer: Amy Cameron Evans
I know I'm drawn to book covers that seem energetic and have motion combined with cool textures. This may need a more blue background color for me to be serious about it but I love the whimsey here. Just trying to find different ways to express Cloud Pharmacy in an indirect manner. Thank you for all the comments. I'm following every lead you are kind enough to send to me.

And then I found this one

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I seem to be a tad obsessive. All I want to do is stare into doorframes, bottles, and clouds. I'm also trying to expand ideas of what Cloud Pharmacy can mean. If you have images that intrigue you, I'd love to see them.

Really what I should be doing right now is working on my AWP talk on "Massholes" or how I came to be a writer living outside my home state. It's a talk that needs much levity and good timing. And I need to stop saying to myself -- does anyone actually care?

Instead, maybe I can write a piece called "Looking for Cover Art to Love."

Today's possible book cover image

Did you see the movie the King's Speech last year?  My favorite part was the wall in the speech therapist's office behind the sofa. The peeling paint and parched colors exposed an entire world. In fact, I think it is a type of abstract art form of which I have long ago lost the exact name.

In any case, here is a wall of shifting clouds, a curtain folded with wonder. There are clocks that have lost their time and a tall glass jar of something partially unseen. Is it too dark for a book cover? Too odd? I'm still looking as you can tell --- still drawn towards something haunting, something blue.

Variation on a theme - blue wall and bottles

Photograph care of Factory20.comI am so interested in what the eye gravitates toward. Shades of blue, rough textures, and a bit of whimsey seem to pull me in. I am transfixed by this image. And yet. Where else should I look for more ideas? I want to evoke Cloud Pharmacy without broadcasting the obvious. I want subtle, but not sad. I want love at first sight; I want a cover that grabs my reader and won't let go. I want beauty.

My most beloved image today; what do you think?

And is this more an album cover than a book of poems? I do love the subtle colors and the suggestion of clouds in the wall. Is it too sad? Too simple? Just right? Love to have comments!

Looking for the right image - can you help?

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Would you pick up a book with this cover? I'm in love with this image but not convinced yet that it is mine -- although it might be. If you are a photographer who is inspired by the notion of CLOUD PHARMACY, please email me at srich18(@) gmail.com. Since several of the poems deal with photography, this image seems especially applicable. It is both wonderful to get to choose my own covers and nerve wracking as well. A first class problem -- fun -- except when I'm turned down on an image I want --- which has happened at least once on every book -- including this one.

Any ideas? Any photographs? Please feel free to send them along. You can leave me a comment with the link or get in touch via email.  And by the way, what do you think of this one?

I'm in love with these bottles ... and so begins the search

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Might this be the image for my new collection of poems, CLOUD PHARMACY? I'm just beginning to look at cover art and am excited by the images that I"m finding. From my experience he right piece of cover art just jumps out at me when I find it --- but that jump may take some time to perfect. My preference is to use the work of an artist or photographer that is local. However, the images I'm finding at different sites online is startlingly wonderful. Maybe this is the one?

Dusty Trails World Poetry Tour 7:30 Tuesday at Richard Hugo House

Dennis Maloney took a chance on my poems fourteen years ago. On December 1, 1998, I received an email letting me know that he had secured funding from the Greenwall Fund through the Academy of American Poets.

That was the same day I totalled my car. All night I tossed and turned wondering if I could feel ecstatically happy and depressed at the same time. (I could.) That email changed my life for the better.

And almost four books later -- Cloud Pharmacy will be out next year, I am still grateful for the care and beauty with which White Pine Press has produced each and every one of my books. Come meet (and hear) Dennis along with four White Pine authors.

If you are interested in becoming a White Pine author, this is your chance to meet him in person.


Tuesday, February 26, 2013 - 7:00pm
Richard Hugo House
Seattle, WA
White Pine Press turns 40 this year, and it's hit the road to celebrate its birthday with the Dusty Trails of Poetry World Tour.

Founding editor Dennis Maloney joins White Pine authors Kelli Russell Agodon, Shin Yu Pai, Susan Rich, Andrew Schelling, and Carolyne Wright commemorating this milestone with a reading from works published by a leading nonprofit literary press of poetry, fiction, and work in translation from around the world.

The bar will be open, and books will be for sale by White Pine Press and the authors. The reading is free.

The Strangest of Theatres: Poets Writing Across Borders

After many late night conference calls and over a thousand emails, The Strangest of Theatres - Poets Writing Across Borders will be launched this March at AWP in Boston. Once upon a time my friend Ilya and I were talking about the possibilities young poets had in the United States. After finishing college, what avenues were open to a poet hoping to explore the world? Perhaps Peace Corps, perhaps a Fulbright (they are now available for those with a B.A.) but how would they know about such options?

Fast forward three years and Ilya Kaminsky has a new job at The Poetry Foundation. Remember, that idea we had, he writes. Want to do it? 

With the copiloting of Brian Turner and Jared Hawkley we began to dream. Who would we ask for essays on their time exploring the world? Carolyn Forche? Naomi Shihab Nye? Yusef Komunyakaa?

How grateful we were when each poet said yes.

The amazing poet and editor Catherine Barnett joined us six months into the project and made all the difference. She taught me the delicate balance of editing the work of prose as opposed to poetry. How to work with writers that one admires and is in awe of -- and still to offer suggestions.

The book is available for preorder now. I'll be writing more about it in the month to come. For now, you might just want to reserve a copy.

A Belated Happy Birthday to Miss Bishop

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love).I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.