Susan Rich's Blog, page 60

Are Poet Laureates a Threat to Public Safety?

This picture was posted at the Poetry Foundation today. Go to Poetry Foundation to read the full story and find links. And yes, that's former Poet Laureate Robert Hass who while trying to defend his students, gets assaulted by the Oakland police. 

Why Not Open Your Own Bookstore: Anne Patchett Starts a Trend

Josh Anderson for The New York TimesThe novelist Ann Patchett, right, and Karen Hayes are business
partners and co-owners of Parnassus Books in Nashville.
NASHVILLE — After a beloved local bookstore closed here last December
 and another store was lost to the Borders bankruptcy, this city once known 
as the Athens of the South, rich in cultural tradition and home to Vanderbilt 
University, became nearly barren of bookstores.

A collective panic set in among Nashville's reading faithful. But they
have found a savior in Ann Patchett, the best-selling novelist who
grew up here. On Wednesday, Ms. Patchett, the acclaimed author
of "Bel Canto" and "Truth and Beauty," will open Parnassus Books,
an independent bookstore that is the product of six months
of breakneck planning and a healthy infusion of cash from its owner.
"I have no interest in retail; I have no interest in opening a
 bookstore," Ms. Patchett said, serenely sipping tea during a
recent interview at her spacious pink brick house here. "But I
also have no interest in living in a city without a bookstore."

Continue reading this New York Times article right here.

Being Flynn: Congratulations, Nick! Coming to a theater near you...

Wow. I didn't know that it would be so exhilarating to see a poet's life in a Hollywood film. Nick Flynn worked in Boston at the Pine Street Inn -- a shelter for homeless men -- at the same time as a friend of mine did. His first book of poems, "Some Ether," about his mother came out the same year as "The Cartographer's Tongue", my first book of poems. I suppose the Boston connection and the poet connection interested me enough to follow his career. And here's his life -- or a version of it -- on the silver screen. There's no release date for the film yet, but with Robert DeNiro and Julianne Moore co-starring, it seems likely that the film will be out before the end of the year and positioned as an Oscar contender. Congratulations, Nick Flynn. As painful as much of this story is, you've been heard. Thanks to January O'Neil for letting me know this sneak preview was up and ready to share.

This just in: release date is now slated for May 2012!

Being Flynn: Congratulations Nick! Coming to a theater near you...

Wow. I didn't know that it would be so exhilarating to see a poet's life in a Hollywood film. Nick Flynn worked in Boston at the Pine Street Inn -- a shelter for homeless men -- at the same time as a friend of mine did. His first book of poems, "Some Ether," about his mother came out the same year as "The Cartographer's Tongue", my first book of poems. I suppose the Boston connection and the poet connection interested me enough to follow his career. And here's his life -- or a version of it -- on the silver screen. There's no release date for the film yet, but with Robert DeNiro and Julianne Moore co-starring, it seems likely that the film will be out before the end of the year and positioned as an Oscar contender. Congratulations, Nick Flynn. As painful as much of this story is, you've been heard. Thanks to January O'Neil for letting me know this sneak preview was up and ready to share.

This just in: release date is now slated for May 2012!

Sending Poems into the World this Holiday Season and License Plates

Don't put all your eggs in one basketLate last night  instead of doing the things I needed to be doing (grading, lessons, sleeping) I sent a few poems out into the world. I believe that sending poems at the start of the reading season serves poets best. In an ideal world I send my poems out in September and October. Unfortunately, this is exactly when the college demands the most from me.

Instead I've found that making a pledge to myself to send four packets of poems out a month works well for me. Four is a number I can handle. I usually try to do this at the beginning of the month and to send out all four envelopes (or emails) at once. Last night I managed three. Two on-line submissions (one an on-line journal and one not) and an envelope to send clear across the country.

I think I must be growing old. I've been sending poems into the world for 18 years. Certainly, I've done my part to keep the postal service solvent. My "system" is fairly simple. Aim high and send widely. In addition to sending only to journals I want to be seen in, I play the license plate game. Remember?

My parents would keep me quiet on cross-country trips by handing me those AAA cards to keep track of all the license plates we saw from different states. I still remember the thrill of my first Alaska plate in beautiful blue lettering. It's been a long process to try and publish a poem in every state. Imagine, Rhode Island for example. Only two journals in that little state. By the way. Roger, is a lovely journal that I am proud to be published in. There's other states where I am still waiting, the Dakotas, for two.  I seem to average about 2 new states a year -- but that has slowed down. Last month I had an acceptance from Virginia, next I will try for New Mexico. I feel in control having a system that doesn't depend on Poetry (Illinois) for satisfaction.

How do you handle the maze of journals and anthologies? What is your strategy for sending work into the world? I'd love to know.

Kathleen Flenniken's PLUME - Sneak Preview

I am thrilled that Kathleen Flenniken's second book, PLUME, will be out from the University of Washington Press in Spring 2012 --- only a few short months away. PLUME is a book of "innocence and experience" at the Hanford Nuclear Plant. It is also one of the best books of poetry I have read in that the line of the personal and political blur to unite as one. The book begins with an epilogue by President Obama on the 2008 campaign trail admitting that he had no idea what Hanford was but he assured the person who asked the question that he'd be up to speed on the issue before his plane took off.  This is followed by the opening poem in which President Kennedy visits Hanford in the early 1960's.
Yet at the heart of this book is a young woman trying to make sense out of her own personal history and the death of her best friend's father. All this makes PLUME sound weighed down in narrative; it is not.

Listen to this short video (made on an Iphone and then edited later) and enjoy one of my favorite poems in the collection, "Cayote." OK. I have many favorites. Look for Plume this spring in a bookstore near you.

Happy Birthday, Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton"I have been her kind" is the line that first comes to mind. Happy Birthday, Anne!

Poet Wanted: The Washington State Poet Laureate Returns!

2012-14 Washington State Poet Laureate: A call for applicationsThe Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington seek applications for the 2012-14 Washington State Poet Laureate.In April 2007, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill that recognized the value of poetry to the culture and heritage of the state by establishing the Washington State Poet Laureate. The legislation is the result of a collaboration between the Washington State Arts Commission, Humanities Washington, the Washington Poets Association, poets and poetry lovers from across the state and key legislators. Soon after signing the bill into law, Governor Gregoire named Samuel Green to serve as Washington's first Poet Laureate, from 2007 to 2009. Washington joins several other states in appointing an official state poet laureate position. Poetry is recognized at the national level as well: The Librarian of Congress annually appoints the U.S. Poet Laureate.Role of the Poet Laureate:
The Washington State Poet Laureate serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry — including the state's legacy of poetry — through public readings, workshops, lectures and presentations in communities, schools, colleges/universities and other public settings in geographically diverse areas of the state. The selected Poet Laureate will develop a two-year plan of activities, in consultation with the Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington. For an overview of the activities performed by Poet Laureate Samuel Green (2007-09), see below.For more information, click here.

Story Corps: My Three Minutes of NPR Fame and the Fulani

Fulani Nomads of Niger
What a wonderful surprise for a Monday morning! Last March  I was invited to the University of Wisconsin - Madison for the celebration of Peace Corps Africa: Honoring 50 Years. I joined with Peace Corps poets Derek Burleson, Sandy Meek, and Anne Neelon to read our poems and be part of the Peace Corps gala celebration in downtown Madison.

One of the high points for me was reconnecting with James Delehanty whom I had lost touch with in the intervening twenty-five years since we both left Niger. Jim was a Fulbrighter who had previously been in Peace Corps Niger and now as a graduate student was returning to Zinder and its environs. Jim invited me to be part of the Story Corps project. As it turned out, we met for the first time in twenty-five years just outside the recording room, moments before our air time. This week five stories from our time in Wisconsin were chosen to air on Wisconsin Public Radio. You can click on the link below to hear all five. What an odd and magical world where my life with Fulani nomads twenty-five years ago can now be broadcast around the world via internet. Perhaps Dari, Yabide, or Sa-ha might even hear this...

Here is an easier link to use. Click here!


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EnlargeSusan Rich of Seattle and James Delehanty of Madison. They are friends who served in Niger about 25 years ago.

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Happy 50th Birthday to The Phantom Tollbooth - Feifer and Juster

I read The Phantom Tollbooth at least six times when I was a child. I preferred Dictionopolis to Digitopolis, loved Tock and too closely identified with Milo. Years later, when I ran a bookstore in Amherst, Massachusetts, a man walked in bought a book, and handed me a check with the name Norton Juster. Somewhere along the line he'd become a Math professor at Hampshire College. He didn't seem to much care for me or for the fact that I'd loved beyond rhyme and reason his book. And yet, the visit caused me to read the story again. Is this where my love of travel came from? Is this where I learned word play and a passion for imaginative worlds? I'm ready to read it again. Happy Birthday!

Best line in the video here: "It was the 1950's we wanted to overthrow the world." In a way, they did.

Milo and Tock