I’m about 1500 words away from done with my memoir, and in an INSANE FRENZY that some might be inclined to call hypomanic but is more akin to I WILL BY GOD FINISH THIS BOOK IN 2007. There’s another book burning in my heart — one that’s been building my whole life but very suddenly became clear and pressing — and I want to finish this so I can work on that!

My agent and her boss read all but the last chapter this past week. Both really liked it and didn’t have that many edits. My former agent says my publisher is notorious for serious editing. So I have no idea what to expect!

What was the timeline for you from when you turned your books in to when you saw them on the shelves? What were some of the highlights along the way? How long did they take to edit?

Man, I’ll be so glad when I’ve already been through this once…hmmm, also what I said when I got my first tattoo.

More smoking, less sleep,
Stacy

I bought my best friend, Steven , a copy of ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves’ - he got as far as the introduction, which quoted a poorly constructed sentence and then said something like, ‘If you can’t see what is wrong with this sentence, you should probably put down the book now’. So he did. And hasn’t gone back to it since.

I just finished Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ - incredible book. Gorgeously written…and the ending, while not dramatic in a literal sense, was heartbreaking. I asked my Mum to get me more of his books for Christmas… I’m not holding my breath, though, as last year I gave her a THREE PAGE book list, and got a single book. Bless her.

Hope everyone is reading lots, feeling festive and having a grand old Christmas thus far X

M

As mentioned, I’m still wallowing in those anthologies, reconnecting with some of my favorites & those that knocked me upside the head when I was just starting out immersing brain in a poetry bath. Marge Piercy, Robert Hass, Roethke, Carolyn Kitzer this week…and at a reading last night, someone read Anne Sexton’s poem “Christmas Eve,” as usual not the most uplifting, but beautifully done.

Also last night, heard a KILLER poet at a reading last night. He seems to have a chapbook published—Michael Walsh. I’ll see if I can find out where to get it, and then you must read. Such gorgeous, precise, shot through with humor and pathos—for the acadmics among you, let’s all say “pathos” real serious-like and sound important…I must say I am not afraid of William Logan, to my regret, and have no idea who he is; I am sure this is very out-of-touch and intellectually gauche of me, but alas, so it goes. Ignorance perhaps is bliss, and allows us to wallow in the poems like we like to do.

Getting back to the fiction & nonfic. reading in a couple of weeks, to keep brain in prose while writing prose. Actually kicked out a little essay this morning, so at least I’m still thinking in long lines. Actually, weirdly, am spending a lot of time thinking about the long-line poem these days, and pretending to write one, reading C.K. Williams & A.R. Ammons on this—Ammons’ “Garbage” is brilliant, and a must read on both social-thought and poetic levels. Find.

Working on the poems — have found myself wandering into the territory of prose poem lately, as have a few other poets I know. It seems to be a virus. Such a weird & amorphouse form, so hard to define, hard to answer, hard to write, but I think really really good for thinking about the intersection of poetry & prose (obviously, duh), and the way writing of any kind needs to keep tight, and so clear it makes your teeth hurt. Prose needs to have that same tension to have the same impact, methinks…

Blast all, I have to go to therapy. For pete’s sake. And wouldn’t it be nice if we could all go floating around in our heads. Nah, not really. We need to live body & soul & brain in the world, or how the hell to we mediate/understand/write into the world? (I stole the phrase write into the world from a book of the same title…as usual can’t remember author…Terrence something? Will post when I am not too lazy to go downstairs and LOOK!)

Cheers!
m

I think, though, if I could only choose one author’s work to be stuck with on a desert island, it would be Toni Morrison. I know Beloved and The Bluest Eye have become required reading in a lot of high schools now, and I love them dearly, but my absolute favorite is Sula. It’s just so rich, both in language and story, that I could read it a million times and not get bored.

Lastly, on a completely unrelated note, if you haven’t read Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, do yourself a big favor and pick up a copy. I was dragged into reading it kicking and screaming by my father, convinced it was just another dry and dusty tome on the Civil War, but it’s just incredible. Breathtaking imagery, and just an amazing piece of writing. Plus it has a romantic subplot, which I’m always a sucker for.

Have you ever read Consilience by Edward O Wilson?

He does a great service to the insight of Bacon and plenty of others. I get the impression you’d like it if you haven’t already read it.

:]

Has anyone read Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. I know, I know, not nearly as cerebral or academic as some of the other stuff out there, but it is an amazing love story. Any other fans?

I really think memoirs are the way to go if you want to make money in this business anymore. True readers are dwindling at a frightening pace. It seems the only thing people can stomach nowadays are things “based on reality.” Maybe it’s because actual reality (funny that I have to qualify it) has become so surreal. I swear, you can find far more reality in a Francis Bacon painting than in a reality show.

*Steps down from soap-box*

Anyhoo, I’ve been reading the poetry of Paul Celan, coupled with his bio. He has this one brilliant poem titled , “Psalm.” That poem alone made the collection worth reading. He’s considered a surrealist poet (which doesn’t hold much water these days among the academics), but I also think he is a neo-romantic, or at least a precursor to neo-romanticism.

Question: has anyone ever read Vicente Huidobro? He’s not well known in America, though he was very influential among Chilean poets. Neruda admired him very much. He has a collection called, “The Poet is a Little God.” If you can find it, read it. It’s so different and fresh. My ex-professor, William Logan (a.k.a. the most feared man in American poetry) completely dismissed Huidobro as unimportant, but that’s only because Logan is a very conservative poet. Advice: never listen blindly to your poetry profs. They don’t know everything.

Also, Kate, I haven’t forgot about the poem. I just haven’t been able to bring myself to think. Sad, I know. I’m a moody bastard.

Hope that helps…and good luck with treatment! XXX