Susan Rich's Blog, page 87

Re-post from Kelli Russell Agodon's - Book of Kells - Literary Salon

Thank you, Kelli, for once again being the best photographer and best poetry friend a girl could have. Thank you Jan for sharing your home and your friends for a memorable evening of poetry. The following  is directly from Book of Kells.
The Beauty of Poetry Salons - Susan Rich reads in Port Townsend


Last Wednesday, I was invited to a Poetry Salon with Susan Rich. 

If you don't know what a poetry salon is, it's the new in-thing for poets.

Why?

Because poetry salons don't just offer poetry, but...

Reading-in-Progress: A Little Party Dress

I am in love with this man --- or rather --- his words. We have never met. And yet, through his book A Little Party Dress, lyric essays by Christian Bobin, I feel I know him intimately -- the workings of his imagination as one pathway into his soul. All this from only the first 13 pages. I thought I would spend the afternoon devouring him, but now I am fearful that this slim volume will end.  How can such a regular looking man have written words such as these? (Know in advance that excerpts d...

Poems for a Quiet Morning - - - Finding the Way Home

Here are two poems from the anthology Finding the Way Home: Poems of Awakening and Transformation edited by Dennis Maloney of White Pine Press. The book is large in ideas, but small in physical size. Perfect for a summer trip. The collection includes poems from China, from Japan, and the United States. It spans a few centuries. In copying these poems out, I found wonderful information on Rengestu. A poet that (dare I admit) is new to me. Enjoy!

Mountains Falling Flowers

We accept the graceful f...

A Poet You Want to Know - Elizabeth Austen

Today marks a new project for this toddler blog. I want to start introducing poets whose work I admire and who I think deserve a larger audience. Elizabeth Austen is a Seattle-based poet who has just published her first chapbook, The Girl Who Goes Alone, with Floating Bridge Press. I first met Elizabeth when I moved to Seattle eleven years ago this summer and have been a fan of her work ever since. In addition to her own powerful poetry, Elizabeth also interviews poets for the Seattle NPR aff...

Crab Creek Review at Centrum Creates a Stir

Last night Crab Creek Review and Willow Springs combined forces and produced a superb reading with poets that included Peter Munro, Kathleen Flenniken, Kate Lebo and Molly Tenenbaum. And like any good reading, the evening culminated with a trip for ice cream. Elevated Ice Cream. What could be better?

"Poetry's Small Planet" is a Universe to Me

Today's New York Times reviews a selection of poetry from the country's small presses. It's wonderful to see friends Brian Turner and Ilya Kaminsky featured (Ilya is the editor and translator for a Russian poet  published by Tupelo). What is even more wonderful is to be introduced to new poets. This article features many poets in translation and a few first books as well. I look forward to reading Lleshanaku and quite a few others. How marvelous to find new poets!

In his introduction to the ca...

Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood we have only 206 in our bodies.

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Isn't this an amazing "true" fact about the body? I learned this yesterday in a great workshop given by the poet Susan Landgraf at the Port Townsend Writers Conference. Where do the 94 missing bones go? A woman in the workshop wrote a gorgeous poem to her missing bones --- just beautiful. I'm always amazed at writers who can create something gorgeous during a 20 minute exercise ... my mind rarely works that fast. Instead, I will mull over this fact -- the magic of which overwhelmed me in the ...

Creating a Poetry Manuscript

I love that Port Townsend has its very own castle -- and that they serve Blue Hawaiians --- a drink that seems oh so 1950's. The last five years or so I've sojourned in Port Townsend for the Writers Conference. Mostly, I am incognito, attending readings in the evening - visiting with poet friends who come to town. This year, I am teaching two classes and it is fun to feel more involved in the festivities. Yesterday was "Documenting the Lyric: How to Create a Book." It was my first time teachi...

"Documenting the Lyric" and "Speaking in Pictures" ~ This Week!

I will be visiting the Port Townsend Writers Conference sponsored by Centrum this week. It's a gorgeous place and the conference allows for you to choose a plan from a week-long stay to just one afternoon. All of the readings and craft talks are free to the public. Workshops, I believe, are $50 each. It would be lovely to see a familiar face -- or blog address. I'll be teaching two workshops "Documenting the Lyric" - how to put a manuscript together creatively and "Speaking in Pictures: Ekphr...

Guest Editorship - What I Learned at Crab Creek Review

My experience as a guest editor at Crab Creek Review taught me many things, not the least of which was: many poets like to write about art. Although the issue with the ekphrastic portfolio isn't due out until October, I am done with the hardest part of my job: choosing poems. Here is what I have learned so far in a very random order:

1. Many poets like to write about visual art. I ended up reading close to 2,000 poems. Never in my craziest dreams did I expect so many submissions. Poetry and pa...