Susan Rich's Blog, page 7

An Action Doll, a Librarian, a Fiction Writer, and a Poet - 7 pm, This Wednesday, January 17th

These two women were among the first that welcomed me to Seattle 18 years ago. A lifetime ago, for sure. How excited I am to host them at 7 pm, this Wednesday, January 17th at WordsWest housed at C & P Coffee. We are also co-sponsored by Hedgebrook this month with author, Allison Green gifting us her favorite poem.

There is so much more to say about these amazing women and this one of a kind coffeehouse come community center but for now all I ask is that you check out these links for Susan Landgraf, Nancy Pearl, and the emergency Go Fund Me Campaign to save our literary home at C & P Coffee Company. 

Please consider coming out and joining us for the new year. And just look at our theme!

WordsWest Literary Series Presents“Broken Promises—Resolutions, Riots, and Repair”with Nancy Pearl and Susan LandgrafFavorite Poem by Allison Green, Hedgebrook alumna7:00 pm, Wed., Jan. 17, 2018,  C & P Coffee Co. , 5612 California Ave. SW 98136Website:  WEST SEATTLE—In new year’s crush of resolutions, WordsWest Literary Series welcomes “America’s librarian” and author Nancy Pearl and poet Susan Landgraf for “Broken Promises—Resolutions, Riots, and Repair,” an unearthing of the stories that lie under promises made to loved ones and to the land, promises abandoned, and the incremental mending. WordsWest Literary Series is grateful Hedgebrook’s sponsorship of this evening, as well as for grant funding from Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and Poets & Writers, Inc. that allows us to pay our writers for their time and talent.
Nancy Pearl’s life has been shaped by her love of books and reading, and with the recent publication of George and Lizzie, she now adds “novelist” to the list of her accomplishments. Inspired by her childhood librarians, Nancy became a librarian herself, working in Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle. After retiring as Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library, Nancy wrote the “Book Lust” series, four titles filled with recommendations of good books to read. She has received many awards and honors, including being the 50th recipient of the Woman’s National Book Association Award and being named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal in 2011.
Susan Landgraf’s What We Bury Changes the Ground, a full-length poetry collection, was published by Tebot Bach in 2017. She’s published poems, essays, and articles in more than 150 journals, magazines, and newspapers, including Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Margie, Nimrod, and Ploughshares, and given more than 150 writing workshops, including at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference, Centrum, the Marine and Science Technology Center, and Kahini in Jamaica. Finishing Line Press published her chapbook Other Voices; Prentice Hall published Student Reflection Journal for Student Success. A book of writing exercises is forthcoming from Two Sylvias Press in 2018.Every third Wednesday, 7pm, at C & P Coffee Company, WordsWest hosts literary events that range from readings by published local and national authors, to craft discussions and guided writing explorations for every experience level. Each month a community member from a local, independent business shares his or her favorite poem as part of the Favorite Poem Project. On January 17lth, we welcome a favorite poem from Allison Green, memoir writer, novelist, and an alumna of  Hedgebrook , which empowers women writers to connect through residencies, master class retreats, workshops, and writing salons.WordsWest is curated by West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw, and this season's intern/co-curator is Joannie Stangeland. Join us on  FaceBook .For more information, please contact  WordsWest by email  or  visit our website .
Website link: http://WordsWestLiterary.com/ C & P Coffee Co . link: http://candpcoffee.com/ Hedgebrook  link: http://www.hedgebrook.org/ Facebook  link:  at https://www.facebook.com/WordsWestLiterary WordsWest by email  link: mailto:wordswestliterary@gmail.com visit our website link : http://WordsWestLiterary.com

After 30 Years, I Write a Poem

Dear Reader,

Now that I've practiced my literary confessions a couple of times, I think I'm getting the hang of it. So here goes something.

When I was in my twenties I joined the US Peace Corps and worked in West Africa as an English teacher at Lycee Korundaga, in Zinder, Niger. Many things happened during that time that still impact who I am now, 30 years later. The book I'm working on now goes back to that time and takes a look around.

This poem, published in Qu Literary Journal yesterday, took me 30 years to write. Qu is a Canadian journal that publishes on-line and in print. The editors have worked hard to make sure that I'm happy with how the poem looks. It feels very strange to have this poem in the world. Finally, after 30 years.


Post Abortion Questionnaire Powered By Survey Monkey1. Do you feel reluctant to talk about the subject of abortion?In the center of the ceiling a marigold weepsor perhaps it’s an old chandelier.Inside, there’s an interior glow,shards illuminated in violet-pink and layers of peeling gold leaf. Such minds at night unfold.
2. Do you feel guilt or sorrow when discussing your own abortion?The cabbage is a blue rose, an alchemical strip show. They scream when dragged from the earthonly to find themselves plunged into boiling water. The narrative unscrolls from cellsof what-ifs and hourglass hopes. 
3. Have you found yourself either avoiding relationships or becoming overly dependent in them since the abortion?If I could unhinge myself from myself,attach to bookshelves, severmy tongue, I would watchas it grew back, rejuvenatedand ready to speak.                               to continue reading, click here

An Early Confession: Poetry, Art, and "Gigantic Day"

I think this is the confessional Varos had in mind
Dear Reader,

This is my second ever confession. I'm still trying to get the hang of this.

Perhaps this should be the Poetry and Art Confessional. I am not one for making New Year's Resolutions as they seem a recipe for failure (for me) but I do want to work on making changes in my life. The first one is to keep Poetry more at the center of my world. There are lots of ways to do this.

This week I spent a few hours writing poems with a good friend and neighbor. Once a month we do this armed with strong coffee and light snacks (an orange, some almonds). One of us always writes something amazing (I think it's usually her, she oftentimes thinks it's me). No matter what we write, we have fun and get to share poems together and check-in on the other's writing projects. At the end of our time together, we share drafts of poems and provide suggestions for revision.

Writing with Elizabeth often leads to my typing up the poems I've written with her and that leads to looking at what other poems I might have in the "not quite cooked" category.


Revelation of the Clockmaker, Remedios VaroHere is a poem that Elizabeth brought this week to share. "Gigantic Day" by Michelle Boisseau captures that urban rush---when an ordinary day might seem epic --- especially if you are in a new environment. The location here  is (it seems) London but it could just as easily be Boston or Seattle. On the first read, I thought this was clearly a springtime poem but instead it may be any season at the New Covent Garden Flower Market. No matter.

What the poem captures is music and joy, "foxgloves juggling their freckled bells."

And as I head back to an overflowing work schedule this week, I want more than ever to keep poems of everyday celebration in my mind. The irony that this day is a "Gigantic Day" is perhaps what I love best.

Michelle Boisseau died of lung cancer last year and yet I am just being introduced to her with this poem. One resolution (I said I didn't make them!) is to live each day as if in its own way it is Gigantic. And of course it is for me -- how many days do any of us have left to celebrate?

Gigantic Day

We are bemoaning how the rising  deluxe condos will bully the river 
 when jittering toward us come irises  rocked in a beaming woman’s arms. 
 Then all along Millbank they come  hugging froths and sprays from the selloff, 
 blue dithers and nodding nasturtiums,  foxgloves jiggling their freckled bells, 
 from shopping bag and trolley dangle  panting fuchsias and apricot roses, 
 a Japanese maple whirls in a tango  through the taxis on Chelsea Bridge Road 
 and a warble of calla lilies opens up  to hit the high note that rumbles through us 
 as we all stream toward the tube stop,  past the humming double-decker bus 
 where every lap is plumped with bounty  and down we go following a crush 
 of petals onto the underground  platforms brimming for the rush.

                       Michelle Boisseau

My Weekly Poem / Not My Poem: The Bridge / C.Dale Young

Dear Reader,

I think discovering a new, amazing poem (even if it is only new to you) is one of the great joys in life. The Bridge by C. Dale Young  is the poem I woke-up to this morning (you can stroll down and read it now, or wait) . And perhaps because in Seattle today, the sky is oatmeal-colored, this poem seemed even more shimmery.

It's clear from the very first line that Young is risking sentimentality with I love. Altogether love is repeated 14 times throughout  the poem --- a nod perhaps --- to a traditional love sonnet. It doesn't matter --- the pleasure of this poem, for me, comes from being able to luxuriate in the specifics: first of words (parallel and then mirror) and then quotidian objects (ice cream, fountain pens, bubbles). The poem is overflowing with pleasure.

There is a great deal of cleverness here to enjoy: the mirroring of mirror and the parallel lines in parallel, for a few examples, but I am not a fan of cleverness for cleverness sake (although it is certainly fun here). Instead what I admire here are the different declarations of love --- including love of self and other.

But what I keep returning to is the final image of the suspension bridge, the Golden Gate bridge, swinging over the bay.  I can see these two lovers holding hands, swinging their arms out the way one does --- with lovers, husbands, or small children. There is an innocence here and a desire.

C. Dale Young- Poet/Fiction Writer/Medical Doctor
As I read "The Bridge" I don't know where I am going ---Narcissus, Achilles heel, the 1950's? And yet, I'm invited along for the ride. The poem is so intimate and yet never private.

I've never met C. Dale Young (except on-line and when he was kind enough, years ago, to take some of my poems for New England Review where he was Poetry Editor for a long time) but through this poem I feel welcomed into his life --- into the joy he shares with his beloved husband (or so I imagine). I can't remember the last time I read a contemporary poem that did this and did this so deftly, so beautifully.

My hope is to discover at least one amazing poem to share with you each week. The best kind of treasure hunt. And in case you are looking for more of C. Dale's work, the Poetry Foundation website is an excellent resource.

Until soon~

Susan


The Bridge

I love. Wouldn't we all like to start

a poem with "I love . . ."? I would.

I mean, I love the fact there are parallel lines

in the word "parallel," love how



words sometimes mirror what they mean.

I love mirrors and that stupid tale

about Narcissus. I suppose

there is some Narcissism in that.



You know, Narcissism, what you

remind me to avoid almost all the time.

Yeah, I love Narcissism. I do.

But what I really love is ice cream.



Remember how I told you

no amount of ice cream can survive

a week in my freezer. You didn't believe me,

did you? No, you didn't. But you know now



how true that is. I love

that you know my Achilles heel

is none other than ice cream—

so chilly, so common.



And I love fountain pens. I mean

I just love them. Cleaning them,

filling them with ink, fills me

with a kind of joy, even if joy



is so 1950. I know, no one talks about

joy anymore. It is even more taboo

than love. And so, of course, I love joy.

I love the way joy sounds as it exits



your mouth. You know, the word joy.

How joyous is that. It makes me think

of bubbles, chandeliers, dandelions.

I love the way the mind runs



that pathway from bubbles to dandelions.

Yes, I love a lot. And right here,

walking down this street,

I love the way we make



a bridge, a suspension bridge

—almost as beautiful as the

Golden Gate Bridge—swaying

as we walk hand in hand.



C. Dale Young, "The Bridge" from Torn. Copyright © 2011 by C. Dale Young. Reprinted by permission of Four Way Books.

What I Love About Teaching Poetry Workshops

The Joy of Writing in 2018
As the world outside my control becomes crazier and crazier, I am more thankful than I've ever been for poetry. Poetry is my longest relationship --- literally I began writing poetry as a child (thank you to Miss Schiavo, my third grade teacher). I think "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carol might have been my personal change agent.

I caught the attention of my middle school teachers and my poem, "Who Am I?" (no link here!) was the text for my middle school graduation. It was a truly surreal experience to hear my words coming out of different classmates' mouthes. I don't remember being proud, just simply stunned.

College was an entirely different story. Two male professors went out of their way and take me aside to deliver the bad news: you aren't a poet --- perhaps try children's books? Had I asked them? No. Dear Reader, I believed these two pompous fools and I put poetry away for nearly  a decade.

Perhaps this is why I became a professor and community facilitator of poetry.

My favorite teaching is collaborative. When Kelli Russell Agodon and I teach together, magic happens. I love our planning sessions, filled with laughter which makes for a great incubator for new ideas. And yes, we are teaching together soon! New Writing for Surreal and Uncertain Times and 21 Ways to Get Your Poems Seen By Editors.

Here we are in bed with Elizabeth Austen giving a poetry reading in pajamas!
I love that our teaching philosophy is based on playfulness. We invite students of poetry who are experienced (many have several publications, books, and MFA's) as well as the individual just wanting to enjoy a day of writing for herself. The way we structure the class seems to work for whomever comes along --- and many of our students return again and again which is something we never expected.

Here's what I believe: writing in a supportive environment when the rules are: be playful and yes, anything goes are a great recipe for success. Unlike most other workshops, we focus on creating our own writing prompts (new ones for each class) and for each one, we have a secret mission whether it is to write image driven poems or create new forms --- everyone leaves with at least six drafts of six poems they never would have written otherwise. Kind of wonderful.

I asked Kelli what she liked about our teaching and I love her answer:

I love teaching with Susan because our friendship brings a deeper element to the class. There is a lot of fun and laughter throughout the day no matter what we're discussing. We also have different opinions on things and we are able to share two ways of seeing things while respecting each others' views. The class gets the benefit of two poets for the price of one. We just go to work!

I love that the themes of fun and laughter show up for both of us. And we share that with each student. Past participants regularly mention that having Kelli and me teach as a team is what makes the classes work so well. Friendship and poetry are a great combination. In fact, we have each written poems for each other as well. Here's one for Kelli called 4 'o' Clock News in the House of Sky published by Diode Editions (a fabulous on-line journal).

If you are in the Seattle area or want to come visit (high today is 46 degrees) whether you are old or young, inexperienced or experienced, and no matter your gender --- YOU ARE INVITED!

And here is the "snack" -- please consider joining Kelli Russell Agodon and me on Saturday, February 10th, for our Winter Retreat (it's a long weekend so a great time to come to Seattle).

All the information you need is right here to register or for more details on each class. And if you sign up with a friend, the price goes down!

It would be lovely to meet you this February 10th! Seattle has an all-poetry bookstore Open Books: A Poem Emporium and many amazing gorgeous parks, fabulous restaurants, and fine writers. Why not come visit?  Or if you already live here --- all the better! We would love to have you and you are sure to leave with a half dozen new and different poems!

My First Confession

Explorations of the OronocoI love the idea of confession, not poetic confession or religious confession but blogger confession --- nothing too messy; nothing too dangerous. But what do I know? The true name of this activity is the sacrament of penance. It seems to be pretty popular. I came across this article on Andrew Greely's The Poetry of Catholicism: Living Between Absurdity and Faith. And without knowing his work I recognized that this is where I like to exist best: between absurdity and faith.

Dear Reader,

This is my first confession in actually, Forever.

How does one confess anything on an open access blog? Here the idea of  confession becomes inextricably linked with exhibitionism. It cannot be otherwise.

And yet...I promise to do my best to be authentic and even a little vulnerable.

I confess this feels a bit odd. I also confess that at one point in my life I seriously considered converting to Catholicism.

Something true: my manuscript newly titled, A Spy in the Afterlife, is a terrifying book for me to have enter the world. It details a time in my life --- 30 years ago --- which I still understand as my own personal apocalypse. It's taken 30 years for me to be able to write poems about this time --- to not be able to write except about this time. 

For better or worse, one poem, Shadowbox, was published by the Academy of American Poets so I guess the secret is out.

Did I say yet that I am not a fan of confessional poetry? Elizabeth Bishop was known to respond to confessional work with, "sometimes I wish they'd kept it to themselves." I agree with her. Of course I can also confess that I've taken her as my dead mentor poet. That's another blogpost!



I am looking forward to 2018 as my year of possibility and magic. I want to move through my life like the woman in Remedios Varo's painting(see above) --- Varos --- a Spanish painter who spent most of her life in Mexico City --- I've written about right here.  I have an ekphrastic poem inspired by this painting to be published this spring. This painting, "Creation of the Birds" has haunted me for years. The poem took years as well. Dear Reader, I am a very slow writer. As I get older, this bothers me more and more.

Creation of the Birds
And so dear Reader,

So what have I revealed? A love for the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop and the painting of Remedios Varo. My hope is that their work will inspire you as well. Oh yes, that I am working on a 5th book, A Spy in the Afterlife that gives a surreal retelling of a difficult time in my life.

Should you have any thoughts on Bishop, Varo, or A Spy in the Afterlife --- I would love to hear your comments. Is anyone out there? I'm hoping so. It was my first confession and I don't want to have to go it alone. Isn't that why we're here --- to be a little less alone?

Welcome to the Poets Blogosphere - The Alchemist's Kitchen Kitchen Sink Philosophy

Welcome to the newly revised BlogosphereIf you are visiting today, dear reader, you may well have just joined or rejoined the Revival Tour of Bloggers organized by Kelli Agodon and Donna Vorreyer. Welcome home!

Today marks my 9th year of blogging; I never really left the blogosphere although in the last few years it did seem the neighborhood had become a bit quieter.

I began this blog as a way to write regularly in a form that isn't as high-stakes as writing a poem can be. My plan was (and still is): be useful to other poets. I planned to offer ideas on sending out submissions, poetic revision, preparing for readings, choosing cover art, and to provide a  little overall exposure to great poems and poets.

And yes, this is also the place to announce community projects I'm involved with and readings that I may be participating in --- but these are more snacks than the main meal.

At the moment my writing (and editing) focus is on putting a book of poems together. I am "almost" finished with my fifth poetry collection now titled, A Spy in the Afterlife, which I hope to get out into the world sometime soon. Right now it lives in a flip binder in my living room. Do you like the title? Would love to know your thoughts on this. When I chose my cover for Cloud Pharmacy, readers offered ideas for art and ultimately helped me make my choice of a cover.

Cloud Pharmacy the day it arrived at my home
I learned a great deal about what makes a good cover for a book of poems and I blogged about it here. I am a fan of quick and easy lists: here is what you need to know about cover art!

Looking deeply into cover art seemed a natural progression from my focus on ekphrastic poetry -- poems inspired by visual art. You can check out the Ekphrastic Review where you will see the surreal and stunning photographs of Carol Sawyer --- a  Vancouver, BC visual artist I met through her art.

Looking at art was also a way to find which journals I wanted to submit poems to. Can we tell a journal by it's cover? Here is a blog post that I wrote about the journal Antiphon --- a British journal that I remain quite fond of. New places to send poems is a great service poets can provide to other poets.


Book arts - how I would love book art based on poems

I think of the Poets Revival Tour as a kind of Alice in Wonderland for poets. A way to connect with people who may become dear friends --- the amazing January O'Neil comes to mind right away and as a way to extend the poetry community worldwide.

Finally, one snack: along with Kelli Russell Agodon I teach poetry retreats twice a year: poetry winter retreat Come in from the Cold in Seattle is coming up for the day on Saturday, February 10th (all are welcome) and a weekend retreat Poets on the Coast: A Writing Retreat for Women will be September 8th - 10th but the cheapest registration prices are happening right now only until January 3rd. Every year women who we have met virtually speaking come out to Seattle or La Conner, Washington to meet in person.

A bit of poetry advice (this week for cover art, a new journal to submit to, some new friends, and a small snack: that's a good example of what happens here at The Alchemist's Kitchen. I hope you'll drop by again soon.

Finally, I oftentimes do interviews with poets I love whose work I want to support. For this week, here is an interview that the poet/farmer/teacher, Jess Gigot, did with me for the Skagit River Poetry Foundation blog. It includes links to poems.  Thanks so much, Jess!

Coming Soon to a Blog Near to You --- Or A Blog Far From You~

I started this blog in early 2009 which means that The Alchemist's Kitchen is 9 years old next month. Begun as a way to introduce my book, The Alchemist's Kitchen, into the world --- blogging became a way to face the blank screen unafraid, to communicate with the world --- and sometimes (thrillingly so) have the world respond back!

In this way, I got to keep up with friends near and far: Kelli Russell Agodon, January O'Neil, Aimee Nezhukumatathil --- the list goes on. I also helped set-up my friend Geraldine Mills -- and Irish poet, fiction writer and children's writer with her first blog. I think of blogging as the sweet spot where the lyric essay, scrapbooking, and pen pal letters all come together. A high and low culture of the internet.

On January 1st, 2018 poet bloggers around the country and (hopefully) beyond, will begin blogging with vigor, again. I know I love this long form (more in-depth than a tweet, more personal than a FB post).

Until then I wish everyone a glorious rest from the runaround that is (often) our everyday lives. I hope you are sitting somewhere with your second cup of coffee and choosing a new book that has come your way this holiday season.

And if you want to treat yourself to a poetry class (open to all) in February or become a Poet on the Coast (for women) for our 8th Annual event, you can check out the classes and workshops that Kelli Russell Agodon and I will offer in the new year.  Until Sunday!

Stolen Pleasure of the Poetic Kind(s)

A poetry thief on the loose in Friday Harbor!Imagine my surprise to find all four of my books disappeared from the Whiteley Center Library! One book might be misplaced, a second could be lost --- but all four? Doesn't seem likely. My poet friends think this is a first-class problem to have --- someone loving poetry so much they need to steal it --- like jewels or gold. Like a bank heist! Put that way, it does sound quite romantic, a little like a film noir: "Disappearance at Friday Harbor" or "The Case for Poetry."

Call me cynical but the issue could just as easily be that someone decided to scoop them all into the trash --- do a poetry cleansing if you will. Maybe there's a poetry hater among us. Could be. There are a lot of scientists roaming these grounds --- even a historian or two. Anything is possible.

I read today that facts don't change people's minds --- we construct the story that best fits our fears and desires. In that case, on the eve before Christmas Eve, I'll tell a story of hope and redemption --- how poetry saved a life --- and will keep on saving lives in impossible and unexpected ways. I know this has happened to me.

May the poetry force be with you --- and yes --- I've replaced the books and am interested to see if they will be here next year, or not...

Happy Solstice - A Blessing for What is Absent

So this hasn't been the best of years. At least not for our country. And yet, the lights are still on, the mortgage gets paid, I'm still working as a writer/poet/professor ---I've made it this far!

I offer this poem tonight to try and give thanks for what we don't have to endure --- and to remember the longest night of the year promises us more light very soon.

Wishing you all good things --- may the light find you...