Susan Rich's Blog, page 70

Free Poetry Books For Everyone! Have a Seat...

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The odds are with you. There are over 120 poetry books being given away by poets and poetry lovers across the country. Kelli Russell Agodon's Big Poetry Giveaway is listed here for you to browse. And honestly, you don't pay postage, you don't get your name on any lists, you merely get a free gift from the poetry universe. Why not treat yourself?

If you are interested in The Cartographer's Tongue by me (Susan Rich) or Ejo by Derek Burleson, you can click here. Happy Weekend! You have until midnight Saturday -- and then we kiss National Poetry Month good-bye until next year...

Who is the Karaoke King? Come Find Out Tonight at Elliott Bay Book Company

If you know me at all, you know I am not the type of woman who talks to strange men. Certainly I don't meet men in coffeeshops and invite them home with me. However, there's one exception: Harold Taw.

About three years ago, I was minding my own business at the C and P Coffee Company in West Seattle. Out of the blue I hear this guy on his cell phone talking about his novel. Those novelists! Always talking to their agents! Harold was on the phone with a potential agent and so I listened in. How could I not? Actually, I think the whole coffeeshop was listening. Harold went on to say he had just won a GAP Award from Artist Trust and was going to use the award to fund research in Thailand. Now I really was interested.

I had just won a GAP Award for a return trip to Bosnia and the idea that Harold and I were meeting days after our grants were announced seemed as good a reason as any to say hello. And besides, he has a black lab. Anyone who takes his dog to a coffeeshop is ok with me and so I said hello. It turned out that the agent Harold was talking to that day ultimately decided not to take him on, but here he is only a few years later with a brand new novel that I was lucky enough to read in manuscript form. It's simply superb.


Here's Harold Taw whose book, Adventures of the Karaoke King launches tonight at Elliott Bay Book Company. I promise this will be a night to remember -- please come!

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Thanks to Kathy Whitcomb and Central Washington University

Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series 2010-2011The Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series schedules readings every quarter and features nationally known writers reading their own work. We have hosted two winners of the MacArthur Genius Award, as well as the WA State Poet Laureate, and recipients of NEA Fellowships and other major prizes. Each spring, students enrolled in ENG 468: Contemporary Writers Colloquium (an upper level multi-genre writing workshop), meet with three visiting writers from the Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series. We also sponsor talks by professional editors and publishers, readings by faculty and students, including open mics, and an annual reading for students who have their work published in CWU's literary magazine, Manastash. Past readers in the Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series include Lucia Perillo, Anthony Doerr, Major Jackson, Kim Barnes, Linda Bierds, David Guterson, David Wojahn, Prageeta Sharma and Sam Green.Upcoming Readings:Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 7:30 pm    ♦   SURC Ballroom, Section ASusan RichSusan Rich is the author of three collections of poetry, The Cartographer's Tongue / Poems of the World, Cures Include Travel, and The Alchemist's Kitchen. She has received awards from PEN USA, The Times Literary Supplement, and Peace Corps Writers. Her fellowships include an Artists Trust Fellowship from Washington State and a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa. She lives in Seattle.Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 7:30 pm    ♦   SURC Ballroom, Section AAllen BradenPoet Allen Braden is author of A Wreath of Down and Drops of Blood and a fine letterpress accordion bookDetail of the Four Chambers to the Horse's Heart. Braden's recent work appears in Orion Magazine, Subtropics,Poetry International, Water-Stone Review and three textbooks. He lives in Tacoma.

Coming Attraction: The Massachusetts Poetry Festival

It's almost here! I am excited to announce that I will be part of this year's Massachusetts Poetry Festival the weekend of May 13-14. Thanks to the festival for featuring an article about my participation here.

Here is the beginning of the piece by Jacquelin Malone - you can read the rest right here

Susan Rich takes inspiration in events and things that require her to—as she says— "leap out of myself," which, perhaps, explains the diversity of her work. Rich, who will appear in two events on Saturday at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, has traveled to places that require her to "get out of my comfort zone." Human rights issues, springing from those places, are the subjects of many of her poems. But so are paintings.

Celebrating Earth Day with Poetry Books - Great Giveaway

[image error] Happy Earth Day to All!In honor of Earth Day it seems time to mention that the Great Poetry Giveaway continues until the end of this month. If you haven't already signed up for a chance at receiving ejo by Derrick Burleson or The Cartographer's Tongue by yours truly - simply click here to enter. If you want to check out the chance to enter another 60+ giveaways for 120+ books you can click on Kelli Russell Agodon's Great Poetry Giveaway list. Either way -- it's clear that poetry is part of our world and we are better for it.

In Celebration of a Life: Jeanne Leiby, Editor, The Southern Review

Jeanne Leiby 1964 - 2011I never met Jeanne Leiby, but I spoke to her on the phone for over an hour one lovely afternoon. Initially, Jeanne called to let me know that she was accepting two of my poems for The Southern Review. I think it was her habit to deliver good news personally. When she called and I wasn't home,  she left a message. Again, she didn't need to make that extra effort that I should re-contact her. When we finally did find a mutual time to chat, it was memorable.

Jeanne let me know what her staff had thought of my two poems and how they had debated different issues at their meeting. She went on to give me a goldmine of advice on how to be a poet in the world. "The hand written note is the new technology," she stated. She told me of her success sending TSR out for reviews with a small note and the resulting rise in reviews.

We discussed how she could encourage more women poets to submit their work to The Southern Review. She was adamant about her new vision for the journal. I told her about a small pr group I'd started to help women writers get their books launched. We shared ideas.

When the issue of TSR arrived I was spellbound by the cover art and the artist's portfolio inside.


I wrote Jeanne to thank her for including my poems in such a stellar issue and told her of my adoration of the cover. Her response was to pass my comments on to Edward Pramuk -- making sure my praise made it all the way to the artist. Again, she made that extra effort to connect people.

She had just posted to her FaceBook page early yesterday. I had read her posting in the morning so the messages that were adding up last night referring to her in the past tense, just didn't make any sense.

No, I didn't know Jeanne Leiby, but I felt like I did. I was looking forward to meeting her at the next AWP, I was planning on seeing what she thought of some new poems, I thought we had all the time in the world.

Lovely Evening for a Ferry Ride to Bainbridge Island's Fields' End

You are most welcome! Roundtables are held on the third Tuesday of the month from 7:00 – 8:30 pm in the Bainbridge Public Library Meeting Room. For questions, contact info@fieldsend.org.


April 19, 2011
Speaker: Susan Rich
Title: Ecstatic Poetry: Non-Religious Poems Lifting Us Beyond the Everyday
Poetry is the sushi and sashimi, the sweet potato pie and sugar snap peas, the burger and fries of many people's daily experience. Come listen to the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, Linda Pastan, and Rainier Maria Rilke; learn of new ways to incorporate poetry into our everyday lives. How do we lift ourselves into the world of poetry? Come see.
Susan Rich is the author of three collections of poetry: The Alchemist's Kitchen, Cures Include Travel,and The Cartographer's Tongue. She has received awards from PEN USA, The Times Literary Supplement, and Peace Corps Writers. Her honors include an Artist Trust Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa. She has worked as a staff person for Amnesty International, an electoral supervisor in Bosnia Herzegovina, and a human rights trainer in Gaza and the West Bank. She lived in the Republic of Niger as a Peace Corps volunteer, later moving to South Africa to teach at the University of Cape Town.

Basking in the Afterglow and 10 Tips for What Makes a Reading Work

I am thrilled to be on the other side of my Seattle Arts and Lectures Thursday night reading and to have survived intact. Thank you to Rebecca Hoogs, superb poet and organizer, for providing me this opportunity and assuring that the evening came off without a hitch.

What an intense experience -- in a good way. I thought it might be helpful to others (or humorous) to go over what I learned preparing for this reading.

Practice really helps. Somehow I need to learn this again and again.


I wrote out all my introductions to the poems and my thank yous although I didn't read any of them verbatim – except the opening remarks. The notes provided confidence and made sure I didn't come up with weird off the cuff remarks.


I read the poems out loud for quite awhile until my mouth knew the words by heart.

I wrote my own notations to stress a certain word or highlight words I might trip over.

I printed everything out onto one paper document rather than moving back and forth between my books. This way I could enlarge the font so the reading was easy for (ahem) middle age eyes. I also didn't get nervous as to what book to pull from next.

I remembered Terrance Hayes' advice to himself at the Skagit Poetry Festival: Know your start point and your end point. I wanted everything to go well — but I knew that I needed a strong opening and closing poem.

Get by with a little help from your friends. Before the reading I asked about six friends for suggestions on what I should read. They gave good (and often opposing) advice on individual poems but reminded me that humor is really important -- as is gravitas.


Boots make the woman. Yes, I went out hours before I had my sound check and purchased a pair of purple and black boots: zipper on one side, laces on the other. They were boots made to perform in and I didn't want to disappoint them.


Try to read something for a dear friend or a lover. I read poems to both because these are people in my life whom I love. The poems make me happy. I also knew that two people would be happy to hear their dedications. Audiences also like something real.

I started with "harder" subjects and ended with love.


What are your favorite reading tips? It's good to try new things...

I'd Like to Thank Our Other Sponsor: The Poetry Society of America and Alice Quinn

Alice Quinn has been a personal goddess of mine since she wrote to me seventeen years ago telling me that my poem "Haiti" had caught her attention. I was a new poet and had no idea that this was a big deal - to get a letter from an editor, the editor of The New Yorker, no less. I still have that letter and tonight I get to meet the woman who gave me confidence to keep going. Thank you, Alice! Alice Quinn is also the author of Elizabeth Bishop: Edgar Allen Poe and the Juke Box. Here she is on Charlie Rose talking about my all time favorite poet, Elizabeth Bishop. Ms. Quinn is now President of the Poetry Society of America.
Come see her in Seattle tonight! Doors open at 7:00pm.

Tonight's the Night: 7:30 pm with Major Jackson and Brian Turner

[image error] Have you heard? I'm reading tonight at 7:30 pm at Benaroya Hall as part of the Seattle Arts and Lectures Poetry Series. My old graduate school buddies Major Jackson and Brian Turner are jet setting into town. Whoever would have predicted all those years ago that we'd be having an on-stage reunion? Would love to have your support for this one night only event. See you there! Doors open at 7:00 pm.