Whidbey Island MFA and my review of Oracle on The Rumpus

Hey guys! Glenn perked right up after being given a hefty dose of meds by the hospital docs so off we went to Whidbey Island’s NILA MFA Program as scheduled. Yesterday it was just lovely – high seventies, sunshine, so much wildlife. We drove out here, I taught my class, then we went mucking around on a couple of beaches (Double Bluff, Ebey’s Landing) and a garden (Meerkerk Gardens) and took lots of pictures. The locale of the MFA program is right on the water in Coupeville, a part of Whidbey I had never explored before. There’s a garden on the premesis and my cabin looks right out over the water. Today the day began with rain, but I’m looking forward to teaching a class and then giving a reading on the very last night of the residency.

Also, The Rumpus ran my review of Cate Marvin’s excellent Oracle right as I was leaving, so here’s a link to that. I talk about how the Cold War affects poets, why my pet peeve is women poets being compared to Sylvia Plath, and Marvin’s slippery use of persona.

Here are a few pics of Whidbey’s Captain Whidbey Inn, where the MFA program takes place, as well as wildlife, a view of Mt Baker, some inspiration-postcard-type shots of beach sunsets and beach clouds.