Susan Rich's Blog, page 54

A New Kind of Reading - The Writer's Life

Okay. Perhaps Geraldine Mills and I were not quite as cute as these twins - but our new reading style might at least be worth considering the next time you do a reading with someone you know (and whose work you admire). As you may know, the Irish poet and short story writer, Geraldine Mills, was visiting me last week from Galway, Ireland. Geraldine and I met ten years ago while in residence together at the Tyrone Guthrie Center. Since that time we've met up twice when I returned to Ireland and also kept in touch via email and the occasional phone call.

In other words, we know each other but not that well. When we first met we did a reading together at the Guthrie Center and decided to do a sort of call and response. Geraldine read one poem and I followed with a poem on a similar theme. It was a bit too choppy. This time we decided to create a twinned reading: to have one poet read two poems and then switch over to the second poet. At our reading on Bainbridge Island we did this together, both standing side by side at the podium while the other read. We themed our poems to be about mothers, fathers, art, and Ireland / America. It worked fine, but I wanted it to be better than fine.

So for our reading at Elliott Bay Book Company, we decided to change it up a bit. We began by introducing each other and explaining that we would be reading together. Geraldine began with poems of the United States starting with "Conquistadores" about receiving the American package as a little girl. I followed with poems of my time in Ireland at Anam Cara and the Tyrone Guthrie Center. We then moved on to poems drawn from our mutual interest in the visual arts. As a kind of intermission we read a "Wild Card" poem about anything we wanted. From there we transitioned to reading each other's work. What fun it was to read my favorite poems of Geraldine's and to hear my poems in her lovely voice. We ended with two of our own poems -- our favorite poems from our own work.

Many folks in the audience commented that the reading was complimented by the fact that they enjoyed listening to two poets who were clearly friends and admiring of each other's work. Two poets communicating back and forth, making jokes and chatting a little, creates a more dynamic atmosphere than one poet up on stage and then the other. Instead of a competition we offered a collaboration. All I know for sure is that it felt very different -- in a great way -- then just following one another. Geraldine and I have styles that I believe are complimentary and so the transitons were easy. Of course someone who was actually listening to us would know better if it worked. I just know that it's a format I hope to do again.

A Wonderful Week with Geraldine Mills - The Life of a Writer

Geraldine Mills at Elliott Bay Book Company before her readingIt's been a wonderful week with my dear friend Irish writer Geraldine Mills. Geraldine and I have each done six events in the past week - four of them together. We've taught classes at Richard Hugo House, read at Hyla Middle School on Bainbridge Island, and done a reading together at Elliott Bay Book Company. The week has flown by. And although I first met Geraldine at the Tyrone Guthrie Center ten years ago, it is in this last year that we've been able to spend time together. We've so enjoyed our time that we are already dreaming of teaching classes together again (but where?) and doing more twinned readings. What is a twinned reading? Glad you asked! More to come on this tomorrow. Until then, check out Geradline's new blog titled Blog with a small b.

What are you doing Thursday day? What about Thursday night?

Irish poet and fiction writer reads at Hyla Middle School this Thursday @ 6 pm
Come out to Hyla Middle School on Bainbridge Island to hear Irish writer Geraldine Mills and me read from our work. Or if you can't make it out for a ferry ride from Seattle, read here to find out all about Geraldine and her work. Geraldine and I will also be teaching a class at Hugo House as part of Write-a-Rama and her visit to culminate with a Sunday afternoon reading at Elliott Bay Book Company 2 pm, this Sunday, at Elliott Bay Book Company. I've admired Geraldine's work since we first read together ten years ago at the Tyrone Guthrie Center. Since then we've read on mountaintops and living rooms.

Here is a review of Geraldine's work from a few years ago. It includes her poetry, why not take a look?

Introducing Jack Straw Writer: Annette Spaulding-Convy

Forgotten LightFeb 27th, 2012 by jennie
Blending nature themes and rustic imagery, Annette Spaulding-Convy has created a collection of poems that brings the past to life. Her work delves into family history and tells the story of a lost ancestor. With grace and force, Spaulding-Convy pays tribute to a forgotten individual.Spaulding-Convy's full length collection, In Broken Latin, will be published by the University of Arkansas Press (Spring 2012) as a finalist for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize. Her chapbook, In The Convent We Become Clouds, won the 2006 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Contest and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have been published in Prairie Schooner, North American Review, Crab Orchard Review and in the International Feminist Journal of Politics, among others. She is Co-Editor of the literary journal, Crab Creek Review, and is Co-Founder of Two Sylvias Press, which will publish the first eBook anthology of contemporary women's poetry, Fire On Her Tongue, later this year.SoundPages was produced by Jack Straw Productions as part of the Jack Straw Writers Program. All of the writers heard in this series are published in the Jack Straw Writers Anthology, and featured online at http://www.jackstraw.org/.Music performed by Sean Osborn and recorded as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.  Standard Podcast Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Jazz Musician Jason Moran on Promoting the Imagination

I love what Jason Moran has to say on promoting the American imagination through listening to jazz or watching the choreography of a dance. Moran won a MacArthur Foundation grant last year and was recently made an artistic advisor to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. I met Jason four years ago at the Ucross Foundation artists' retreat in Ucross, Wyoming. Jason and his wife were expecting twins at the time and he was at Ucross to write two musical compositions that he had been commissioned to do. I remember the night he played different pieces for us in his log cabin studio and talked about music in a way that allowed me to understand sampling and American ragtime in the same breath. Listen to what he has to say here and know that he is just as wonderful as he appears. We all fell a little in love with Jason that summer, especially because it was so clear how much he loved his wife --- and making music.

Happy Birthday, Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

News from Our New Poet Laureate - Featuring Washington Poets

Artist Credit: Barbara Churchley
Less than two weeks after Kathleen Flenniken's appointment as Poet Laureate of Washington State she is already making a positive difference! For the first time ever, Washington State poets have a virtual home where they can find out about all things poetry including  literary events, journals, publishers, and the work of other poets. And who knew we had so many wonderful poets?

Check out the banner at the top of the page. I think there should be a prize for the person who can name all of these poets. There's several I can't identify -- such as the man to my left and the woman in the top righthand corner. Any ideas? What's amazing to me is how many really great poets are not on this banner, that our state has such a wealth of poetry.

Today at The Far Field - The Washington State Poet Laureate Presents my poem "Polishing Brass" is featured along with a gorgeous image of the original photograph of the same title  by Myra Albert Wiggins (1869-1956).

And for non-Washingtonians, The Far Field is a poem by Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) which begins, "I dream of journeys repeatedly."

Poet Geraldine Mills Visits Seattle for readings March 1st and 4th

In exactly two weeks, Geraldine Mills will visit Seattle direct from the West of Ireland. Hear her read "Not of Place" in the video above or even better, come listen in person when she reads at the following places the weekend after next. Listen to this short youtube to get a sense of her subject matter and her style.

I first met Geraldine when we were both awarded residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Newbliss, Ireland. That was ten years ago and we've been friends and poets in crime ever since.

11 AM,  Thursday, March 1st, Highline Community College,  Student Union - Free and open to the public.

6:00 PM, Hyla Middle School, Bainbridge Island with me (Susan Rich) - Free and open to the public.

2 PM, Sunday, March 4th, Elliott Bay Book Company with me, Seattle, - Free and open to public.

This is Geraldine's first visit to the northwest; I know she's a poet and fiction writer you don't want to miss.

More information on the following events to come.

First in a Series: What's this Residency Really Like: Anam Cara

An Irish morning at the cheesemaker's shedIt occurs to me that I have visited residencies in Ireland, Spain, and across the United States and that perhaps someone else might be interested in what I've learned in 12+ years of my adventures. I'm beginning with a piece on Anam Cara in the southwest of Ireland, outside Cork. This residency deserves much more attention than it has had in the United States. In Ireland, writers know it well and I met several Irish writers who have been coming regularly since the retreat opened more than 10 years ago.


One of the coolest thing about staying at Anam Cara is that you become part of village life in a faraway corner of West Cork. A fisherman may bring a salmon just caught that morning for evening dinner or you may arrange for a visit with Mary -- the village oracle. Unlike any other residency I know, Anam Cara (soul friend in Irish) was born out of a vision of one woman.  Sue-Booth Forbes who has worked as an editor at Oxford University Press and originally hails from Utah, came to Ireland with the express purpose of creating a retreat for writers. In the 12+ years the residency has operated, Sue has helped dozens of writers -- supporting them with professional editorial advice and in a myriad of quiet ways behind the scenes. 
The residency houses only five residents at a time -- and the very reasonable fee includes all meals and amenities. There are over three acres to wander through and two gorgeous walks to the sea --- which is visible through four of the bedroom windows. If the weather cooperates you can swim in the river behind the house or in the sea. A wonderful article on the entire experience mentions that Anam Cara was listed as the #6 retreat destination (not just writing retreats) by the Irish Times.
In addition to staying at Anam Cara for a personal retreat, six week-long workshops are offered each year in poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and publishing. My experience at this retreat was so magical that I am returning this summer to teach a week long poetry course, Speaking Pictures: A Poetry Workshop Concerning Art. I met writers from Denmark, England, Ireland, and the US -- in half the cases, the writers were returning for their second or seventh visit. More than half a dozen writers have moved to the tiny village of Eyeries after first discovering the place through a stay at Anam Cara.
The house itself looks out over the Beara Sea as well as on an array of mountains and cow fields. There are three bars in town, one teashop (which is also a family's front room) and two shops. A good internet connection (throughout the residency) will keep you connected to the outside world --- otherwise you might have slipped into a time warp where cheese comes from the local cheesemaker and walking is the preferred means of transportation.

Discovering a new poet: "Advice in the Form of Confusions"

From today's Poetry Daily
"Know this: you can, you can, you can."

Advice in the Form of Confusions
              I have been watching the young
struggle through their daily lives
              and waste the flesh we all remember
and I have seen the gardens they shine
              their leaves in, the kind invented
by distraction and devices that run
              on little lithium ion batteries, flat
disks that power music and voice
              into strong tremble and staccato chain
that barrels into the angelic orders
              we raise our heads to see, or hope
to see, but never do, for they have
              sprung into louder volumes and faster
rhythms that disorient and confuse.
              There are sounds we can no longer
hear, at our age, and we don't want
              anymore to know what we left
behind on that sill or under
              that abbreviated sun. I can't know
wry substitutions. I can't hear breath
              embrace five-minutes-ago or tomorrow
and there must be a word for that,
              but I don't know it. I know the sound
of thinking a hard whistle into the lung.
              I know the shape of houndstooth
and the hang of each tag's pricing
              itself out of so many's reach.
I swoon and recoil at the tresses blowing
              in an arbor without glow
or flame. These are reprieves. Respites
              in the demands of sensation
and flow. Know this: you can you can
              you can you can you can.
MARGOT SCHILPP