David Anthony Sam's Blog, page 204
March 8, 2015
Extra-Ordinary Words
Ordinary Words by Ruth StoneMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a book of extraordinary words, as Ruth Stone tries to understated mortality and then accept that it cannot be understood, only accepted. She looks at the "prison" of ordinary usage and grammar, and asks and explore how language can be made to reveal again, not merely conceal. Stone is an under-appreciated poet of the 20th Century who was still vital and relevant into the 21st. This 1999 collection is highly recommended, whether you read poetry on a regular basis or not. As we read, we are the "open-mouthed":
Vapor, a transient thing, a dervish
seen rising in a whirl of wind,
or brief cloud casting its changing shadow;
though below, the open-mouthed might stand
transfixed by mirage, a visionary oasis."
View all my reviews
March 5, 2015
A Fascinating Autobiography and More
Run-Through: A Memoir by John HousemanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A fascinating story on many levels: Houseman's life as a citizen of many nations and none, his coming to America and success as an immigrant, his fraught but creative relationship with Orson Welles, his work at the nexus of so much mid-20th Century art of the theater, Broadway, radio and finally motion pictures. All written masterfully by a man fluent in 4 languages.
View all my reviews
March 1, 2015
A Collection best read as aphorisms
The Infant Scholar by Kathy NilssonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
In "The Infant Scholar," Kathy Nilsson writes intentionally fractured verse, perhaps to reflect the chaos of life and the overwhelming flow of digitally provide information. This effect often works, as one line has much white space between itself and others and only an occasional grammatical connection. However, sometimes the technique seems used just for itself, frustrating a reader who wishes to travel with Nilsson through her experiences. It's not as bad as some verse written as if with a random line generator, not by any means. And there are some fine lines and trenchant commentary:
"The pills you take to help you sleep, sleep for you"
Or
"Free from attachment I live as though I were already dead"
In fact, if you read the book as a collection of aphorisms, you may enjoy it more.
View all my reviews
February 27, 2015
Watch two of my recent poetry readings in full on YouTube page
You can watch two of my recent poetry readings in full on my YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/user/dasam97
https://www.youtube.com/user/dasam97
February 23, 2015
Coverage of my appearance as one of two featured writers at the John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival
Coverage of my appearance as one of two featured writers at the John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival at Mountain Empire Community College on March 18, 2015:
http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/germanna-s-sam-to-be-featured-at-literary-festival/article_be2a933e-bafe-11e4-a68e-6370951bc1fb.html?mode=jqm
http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/germanna-s-sam-to-be-featured-at-literary-festival/article_be2a933e-bafe-11e4-a68e-6370951bc1fb.html?mode=jqm
February 22, 2015
Strictly for lovers of the post-everything minimalist/ironist school of writing.
Or, Gone: Poems by Deborah FlanaganMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Or, Gone attempts to play with biography and history, language and humor, science and invention. But I find its attempts at ironic wit and playfulness fall short. These mostly prose poems end up prosaic and even silly. Perhaps that was Flanagan's intent. It did not work for me. The concluding poem "According to Heraclitus" has some merit. This is strictly for lovers of the post-everything minimalist/ironist school of writing.
View all my reviews
February 21, 2015
If you read only one collection by Galway Kinnell, make it this one -- you will want to read more.
A New Selected Poems by Galway KinnellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I remember as well as one can after 43 years when Galway Kinnell gave a poetry reading at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I was stunned, not just by his reading, but more by the poetry. I went immediately to the Centicore Bookstore and bought what they had available at the time, I think Body Rags.
This collection affirms in my mind that he wrote some of the finest verse during the last half of the 20th Century. In "The Bear" he reveals the unity of all being even as he vividly and grimly describes the awfulness of the way of tracking and killing a bear from the inside out.
In "Little Sleep's-Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight" he bares the tender love of a father who sees hope and mortality in the growth of a child.
He writes passionate love poems that feel the bones beneath his lover's face. He weaves himself into nature and nature into his flesh. And his language is real, unadorned eloquence:
"In the human heart
There sleeps a green worm
That has spun the heart about itself,
And that shall dream itself black wings
One day to break free into the black sky."
or again::
"In the forest I discover a flower.
The invisible life of the thing
Goes up in flames that are invisible,
Like cellophane burning in the sunlight.
It burns up. Its drift is to be nothing."
If you only read one collection by Kinnell, this is a great one. But I guarantee it will leave you want to read more.
View all my reviews
February 19, 2015
Poetry should be made to be read aloud
My friend and fellow poet, Allan Peterson, and I have an ongoing friendly debate. He says he writes to be viewed on a page and read with the eyes. I have no objection to that as far as it goes. But my prejudice is to write also for the voice and the ear.
It is, as I say, a friendly debate, only about emphasis. Allan's poetry often lives well on the tongue. See, for example, "Placemat":
http://www.allanpeterson.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54:placemat&catid=34:poetry&Itemid=37
Lance Mannion makes the case for hearing the "poetry" in his playfully serious online article, "Why we need poetry: How William Wordsworth and I saved a marriage":
"You can understand the themes, know the history, be able to put it all in a critical, literary, and biographical context, but if you never really hear it, if you don’t know and love the sound of it, you've missed the point.
"You've missed the poetry."
http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2015/02/wordsworth-saves-a-marriage.html
You don't have to go as far as Gerard Manley Hopkins or Dylan Thomas, in whom sometimes sound overcomes sense. But poetry began in the dark around fires, in incantations accompanied by drum, breath, and grunts of Amen. It's soul and gut lies in that tradition, as the best Hip Hop artists know and demonstrate.
Don't miss the poetry in poetry. Let it live from the chest and ribs, off the tongue, and into the wind and ears.
It is, as I say, a friendly debate, only about emphasis. Allan's poetry often lives well on the tongue. See, for example, "Placemat":
http://www.allanpeterson.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54:placemat&catid=34:poetry&Itemid=37
Lance Mannion makes the case for hearing the "poetry" in his playfully serious online article, "Why we need poetry: How William Wordsworth and I saved a marriage":
"You can understand the themes, know the history, be able to put it all in a critical, literary, and biographical context, but if you never really hear it, if you don’t know and love the sound of it, you've missed the point.
"You've missed the poetry."
http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2015/02/wordsworth-saves-a-marriage.html
You don't have to go as far as Gerard Manley Hopkins or Dylan Thomas, in whom sometimes sound overcomes sense. But poetry began in the dark around fires, in incantations accompanied by drum, breath, and grunts of Amen. It's soul and gut lies in that tradition, as the best Hip Hop artists know and demonstrate.
Don't miss the poetry in poetry. Let it live from the chest and ribs, off the tongue, and into the wind and ears.
February 16, 2015
I am one of two guest authors at the John Fox. Jr. Literary Festival - March 18, 2015
RELEASE
3441 Mountain Empire Road
Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
(276) 523-7466
www.meccfoundation.org
MECC Foundation to Host 39th Annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival & Lonesome Pine Short-Story and Poetry Contests
Big Stone Gap, VA -- The MECC Foundation is pleased to announce the 39th annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival, featuring guest authors Donald Davis and Dr. David Sam, on Wednesday, March 18th at 10 a.m. in the Goodloe Center of Phillips-Taylor Hall. The festival will feature readings and discussion with the authors.
The MECC Foundation will also host the 28th Annual Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest and the 11th Annual Lonesome Pine Poetry Contest, in partnership with Lonesome Pine Arts & Crafts, Inc. Individuals interested in obtaining contest guidelines should contact the MECC Foundation Office at (276) 523-7466. Contest rules are also available on the MECC website (www.mecc.edu) and the MECC Foundation website (www.meccfoundation.org). Short stories and poems in the adult, high school (grades 9 through 12), and middle school (grades 5 through 8) categories must be submitted to the MECC Foundation office by Monday, February 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Contest winners will be announced during the Literary Festival on March 18th, and cash prizes will be awarded.
Donald Davis was born in Western North Carolina, a Southern Appalachian mountain world rich in stories. He grew up absorbed in the gentle fairy tales, simple and silly Jack tales, scary mountain lore, ancient Welsh and Scottish folktales, and – most importantly – nourishing true-to-life stories of his own neighbors and kin. Davis remembers, “I discovered that in a story I could safely dream any dream, hope any hope, go anywhere I pleased, fight any foe, win or lose, love or die. My stories created a safe experimental learning place.” For Donald Davis, storytelling is a way of giving and living life. He invites each listener to come along, to pull deep inside for one’s own stories, to personally share and co-create the common experiences that celebrate the creative spirit. Mr. Davis is a graduate of Davidson College and Duke University Divinity School, and is a retired Methodist minister. He has served as Chair of the National Storytelling Association Board of Directors, and as a featured teller at the Smithsonian Institution, the World’s Fair, and festivals and concerts throughout the United States and the world. He is a prolific author and producer of books and tapes of his work, including Tales from a Free-Range Childhood (2011). He also teaches workshops and storytelling courses and guest hosts the National Public Radio program “Good Evening.”
David Anthony Sam was born and spent his early childhood in McKeesport, PA, a coal and steel suburb of Pittsburgh. Later, his family relocated with his father’s factory to Belleville, MI, a far suburb of Detroit. These childhood homes afforded him many opportunities to explore railroad tracks, woods, lakes, and rural farm fields. These adventures influenced his poetry as well as his sense of the holistic ecology of all things. A grandchild of immigrants and first-generation college student, Sam is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University. He has taught creative writing, English literature, and composition at EMU, Marygrove College, Oakland Community College, and Pensacola State College. Dr. Sam has written poetry for forty years, and has two published collections, including Memories in Clay, Dreams of Wolves (2014). He has also been published in Carbon Culture Review, The Crucible, The Flagler Review, The Write Place at the Write Time, The Summerset Review, The Birds We Pile Loosely, and Literature Today. He currently serves as the President of Germanna Community College.
The John Fox, Jr. Festival will be followed by a reservation-only luncheon with the featured speakers at the John Fox, Jr. Museum in Big Stone Gap. Tickets for the luncheon are $23 per person and reservations can be made by calling the MECC Foundation office at (276) 523-7466. For more information on the MECC Foundation, please visit our website at www.meccfoundation.org.
3441 Mountain Empire Road
Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
(276) 523-7466
www.meccfoundation.org
MECC Foundation to Host 39th Annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival & Lonesome Pine Short-Story and Poetry Contests
Big Stone Gap, VA -- The MECC Foundation is pleased to announce the 39th annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival, featuring guest authors Donald Davis and Dr. David Sam, on Wednesday, March 18th at 10 a.m. in the Goodloe Center of Phillips-Taylor Hall. The festival will feature readings and discussion with the authors.
The MECC Foundation will also host the 28th Annual Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest and the 11th Annual Lonesome Pine Poetry Contest, in partnership with Lonesome Pine Arts & Crafts, Inc. Individuals interested in obtaining contest guidelines should contact the MECC Foundation Office at (276) 523-7466. Contest rules are also available on the MECC website (www.mecc.edu) and the MECC Foundation website (www.meccfoundation.org). Short stories and poems in the adult, high school (grades 9 through 12), and middle school (grades 5 through 8) categories must be submitted to the MECC Foundation office by Monday, February 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Contest winners will be announced during the Literary Festival on March 18th, and cash prizes will be awarded.
Donald Davis was born in Western North Carolina, a Southern Appalachian mountain world rich in stories. He grew up absorbed in the gentle fairy tales, simple and silly Jack tales, scary mountain lore, ancient Welsh and Scottish folktales, and – most importantly – nourishing true-to-life stories of his own neighbors and kin. Davis remembers, “I discovered that in a story I could safely dream any dream, hope any hope, go anywhere I pleased, fight any foe, win or lose, love or die. My stories created a safe experimental learning place.” For Donald Davis, storytelling is a way of giving and living life. He invites each listener to come along, to pull deep inside for one’s own stories, to personally share and co-create the common experiences that celebrate the creative spirit. Mr. Davis is a graduate of Davidson College and Duke University Divinity School, and is a retired Methodist minister. He has served as Chair of the National Storytelling Association Board of Directors, and as a featured teller at the Smithsonian Institution, the World’s Fair, and festivals and concerts throughout the United States and the world. He is a prolific author and producer of books and tapes of his work, including Tales from a Free-Range Childhood (2011). He also teaches workshops and storytelling courses and guest hosts the National Public Radio program “Good Evening.”
David Anthony Sam was born and spent his early childhood in McKeesport, PA, a coal and steel suburb of Pittsburgh. Later, his family relocated with his father’s factory to Belleville, MI, a far suburb of Detroit. These childhood homes afforded him many opportunities to explore railroad tracks, woods, lakes, and rural farm fields. These adventures influenced his poetry as well as his sense of the holistic ecology of all things. A grandchild of immigrants and first-generation college student, Sam is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University. He has taught creative writing, English literature, and composition at EMU, Marygrove College, Oakland Community College, and Pensacola State College. Dr. Sam has written poetry for forty years, and has two published collections, including Memories in Clay, Dreams of Wolves (2014). He has also been published in Carbon Culture Review, The Crucible, The Flagler Review, The Write Place at the Write Time, The Summerset Review, The Birds We Pile Loosely, and Literature Today. He currently serves as the President of Germanna Community College.
The John Fox, Jr. Festival will be followed by a reservation-only luncheon with the featured speakers at the John Fox, Jr. Museum in Big Stone Gap. Tickets for the luncheon are $23 per person and reservations can be made by calling the MECC Foundation office at (276) 523-7466. For more information on the MECC Foundation, please visit our website at www.meccfoundation.org.
