Catching Up
Happy Patriot's Day! If you don't live in Massachusetts, this is the we celebrate the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the Revolutionary War. Because no matter what our Republican brothers and sisters try to insinuate, Massachusetts is indeed the birthplace of American liberty. That it's "the bluest of the Blue States" is hardly a coincidence. It ain't perfect, and part of me will always miss California, but I rather like living here. I've even warmed up to the Celtics ...
I have the day off work, and am mostly poking at Radius admin stuff and my own writing. And if you haven't read them, yet, there's great pieces by Laura E.J. Moran, Paulus Kapteyn and Sam Cha up right now. Of course, we're always looking for more.
Note to prospective contributors: We're taking our own sweet time reading submissions, reading things a few times and trying to make sure we're not making snap decisions on poems that need a little living-with. It slows things down, but on the whole, I think it's better. First impressions really aren't the best way to judge a poem. Indeed, some of the best poems need some time to settle with the reader. All that being said, anything submitted that's not a political poem will probably go up faster, because we get a lot of those. Personally, I'd rather see some elegies for poets, some critical theory or personal reactions to poems, some invented forms or even some translations. IJS.
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I've got a busy week:
Wednesday at noon EST, I'm on KUCI's Writer's On Writing program, hosted by the remarkable Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. This was originally scheduled earlier, but the date had to be moved, as happens in radio. In any case, it'll be good to chat with Barbara again about Radius, City of Insomnia and National Poetry Month, which she knows I kind of abhor.
Thursday at 8 p.m. is the official release party for Knocking at the Door: Poems For Approaching the Other at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City! The event will be hosted by editors Lea Deschenes & Lisa Sisler, and scheduled performers include myself, Corina Bain, Ann Cefola, Sam Cha, Jenith Charpentier, MaryLisa DeDomenicis, Jess Del Balzo-Cording, Dawn Gabriel, PD Goodwin, Nicole Homer, Daniel WK Lee, Heather Macpherson, Ivy Page and Dorinda Wegener! It's an eclectic combination of poets, from one of the most diverse anthologies I've seen. Come down and join the party! (And if you can't make it, watch it live on the Web!)
Knocking at the Door grand release party
Thursday, April 21, 8-9:30 PM
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
(Between Houston and Bleecker)
F train to 2nd Ave, 6 to Bleecker
Saturday is the season premiere of Doctor Who, and like a good geek, I'll be holed up and staring intently at the television set.
Monday I'm featuring for the Dirty Gerund Poetry Series here at 9 p.m. at Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner here in Worcester, with special musical guest, The Sneaky Mister! I'm still working out my sets, but right now it looks like the entire first set will be dedicated to my Toxic Waltz series, which is all reflections on my youth in and around SoCal punk rock, the reasons why that was attractive and its emotional fallout; and the second set will probably be the live debut of my prose poem/short story, Unwinding the Crash, which hasn't been read in public, yet, and is a meditation on journalism, authority and perception. There may be a few greatest hits, to fill things out, but basically, this show will be largely stuff I've only read in public occasionally, at best. Because I can't do a same-old set in Worcester. That would be criminal.
Victor D. Infante w/The Sneaky Mister
The Dirty Gerund Poetry Series
Monday, April 25, 9 p.m.
Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner
148 Grove St., Worcester
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Going to be delving into the "Heroes in 21st Century Literature" essays again, soon, after a long hiatus to concentrate on Radius. Have a couple strands in mind for the second run, including thoughts on Fringe, The Hunger Games, The Unwritten, Thursday Next, The Matrix and the Invisibles. Some people have suggested I read the Artemis Fowl books, but I know very little about them. Thoughts?
