Poetry Hut Blog

This site features great links to articles, sites, news, and podcasts. Check it out at:

http://www.poetryhut.com/wordpress/

Thanks for coming in, please stop by tomorrow for another living, breathing poet…

Poetry Tips Question 2: What Are Some Tips For Reading Poetry?

Thanks again to my readers who responded to five questions in February that will be posted one by one on Fridays throughout March into early April! Here are their responses to

Question 2: What are some tips for reading poetry?

Jim Murdoch responds with:

Persist. If you don't like one poet's style then look for another.


Barbara Smith responds with:

Read it out loud. Discuss it with poetry mad friends/colleagues. Maybe read more of that person's work. If it doesn't do it for you, try someone else. But you usually get in after a while of trying (took me ages to get into T. S. Eliot and then some).


Rob Mack responds with:

If you are new to poetry, getting hold of a good anthology is worthwhile. It will introduce you to a wide variety of poets and you can follow up on the ones you like best.
I also think it’s best not to be too hasty to criticise a poet because you find his/her work ‘difficult’ (or too simple, in some cases). It might be simply that you need to read more and learn more about where a particular poet is coming from.


Juliet Wilson responds with:

Subscribe to some literary journals that publish poetry. If there are individuals published there who particularly appeal to you then buy their books or try to hear them read sometime. Read the poetry that appeals to you, not the poetry you feel you should read. Having said that, extend your comfort zone all the time, read poets recommended by those you admire

Ben Wilkinson responds with:

If you're a beginner? Take it easy. Poetry doesn't have to be difficult, even if it's complicated. Remember that poetry usually works in a different way to prose. You probably won't fully get what the poem is saying in the first read (though if you don't get the poem at all after a few reads, that's most probably the poem's fault!) Most people I know who read little poetry usually complain about not understanding it, or its being 'difficult' or 'complex'. But it's no more complicated than a novel really, it's just that most of us have been reading novels (or at least prose of some kind) since we were kids. The more poetry you read, then, the more you'll come to understand it and enjoy it, and the more you'll appreciate its clever use of language; its combination of sound with sense. Give poems a chance: read them, leave them, come back to them. For one thing, they're much better suited to our busy lifestyles than the cumbersome novel: you can read a good few poems on the bus, train or tube, or whenever you've got ten minutes free and want something interesting and intelligent to occupy yourself with. If you're new to contemporary poetry, a good place to start is with poets that make good use of colloquial, everyday language: Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Paul Farley and Roddy Lumsden spring to mind as very strong poets in this area, among others. Some of those poets were definitely the ones who made me sit up and take notice of the exciting things going on in poetry today.

Cuitlamiztli Carter:

Read through it once just for cadence & word choice, then scan againfor meaning (of course, you will be unconsciously drawing meaning nomatter what). One could write a book on how to read poetry (Mr. Bloomhas, of course), but I think a basic tip is that one shouldn't lookimmediately for the meaning, or even scan intentionally to see wherethe rhymes and rhythms fall, or what the meter is, or any technicalbits. Just run through the poem, preferably out loud, to get theimmediate impact.

Hazel B. Cameron:

If you don't understand it after reading it, try and listen to the poet reading it. If you still don't get it, probably best to choose another poem.
One bad poem does not mean all bad. Read the poem not the poet.
Thanks for reading, please stop by tomorrow for another featured blog…

Damselfly Press Open Submissions

Thanks to reading the Luna Park Review’s articles on their new site, I stumbled upon this press. Happily, you will find that they read year round and you can submit on-line therefore saving you postage. Send 1-3 poems as an attachment and it must be Microsoft Word or .RTF to the Poetry Editor: Lesley AT damselflypress DOT net
No simultaneous submissions and please check further guidelines at the link below:

http://damselflypress.net/submissions/

As always I wish you luck and continued persistence. Please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips from the blog audience…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=13935
“For the Birds” by Ciaran Berry

http://juked.com/2008/02/slipperyhandles.asp
“Slippery Handles” by Evelyn Hampton

Thanks for reading and please stop by tomorrow for Open Submissions Thursday…

Ooops

Sorry folks, I put the same post on twice!
I won't be posting anything on Tuesdays until April, then I'll be rearranging some things.
Thanks for stopping in, please stop in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound!

Luna Park Review Site

I used to read their blog regularly for literary journal reviews and they now have a very user friendly site that they have moved to. If you are curious about what literary magazines you might like to try subscribing to then I absolutely insist that you read the reviews on their site. If you are going to spend your hard earned money on a literary journal you ought to be able to find out what journal fits your personal style or aesthetic, don’t you agree? Check it out at:

http://www.lunaparkreview.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for a Tuesday Feature in the works…

Luna Park Review Site

I used to read their blog regularly for literary journal reviews and they now have a very user friendly site that they have moved to. If you are curious about what literary magazines you might like to try subscribing to then I absolutely insist that you read the reviews on their site. If you are going to spend your hard earned money on a literary journal you ought to be able to find out what journal fits your personal style or aesthetic, don’t you agree? Check it out at:

http://www.lunaparkreview.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow…

Cynthia Rylant and Walker Evans

I picked up this book at the library titled Something Permanent where poet Cynthia Rylant has utilized the famous photographer Walker Evans’ photos of the Great Depression as inspiration for poems. The poems and photographs are paired up in this book and I think it is just fabulous. The photos are amazing and Cynthia Rylant weaves wonderful short story poems about the photos that definitely left me itching to try the same thing. The poems, like I said, are wonderful stories. One, titled “Tombstone,” is about the curious tombstone sculpture of a man and his dog and how people react to seeing this tombstone. The lines at the end captures their reaction perfectly: “each had shyly to/lean over and stroke that lovely dog’s head,/swallowing back the “good boy”/that was on their wondering lips.”
There is also another poem relating to a picture of a skinny church steeple butted up against a high-rise apartment building and the great opening lines are: “It wasn’t easy being a sinner/with God Himself living right next door,” and talks about the tenants feeling guilty of literally airing their dirty laundry underneath the cross of the church. The visual and the words are just perfect together. If you ever get a chance to read this book or buy it please do, you won’t be disappointed.

http://wvlc.lib.wv.us/cgi-bin/search/fcp.pl?words=wv&d=/center_for_the_book/In%20Their%20Own%20Country/Author's%20pages/rylant.htm

I had difficulty finding out much about Cynthia but the above link has an interview with her that I think you will enjoy. Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow!

Rope-A-Dope Press Blog

Rope-A-Dope Press publishes broadsides and hand-bound books on their blog. They are also in league with The So and So Series for these published items. It’s a great blog and I found them via the Press Press Press blog. If you are so inclined, support the poets featured by purchasing some wonderful items from them.
I asked them to tell me a little bit more about their press and here is daVie’s response:

"Thanks for the interest in the Press; the short and curly of are procreation came about through an old Sp-20 that we brought down to are studio about a year ago. In collaboration with Chris Tonelli's So-and-So series, both Mary Graham and myself host readings once a month that usually feature three poets. With one artist a month (selected by us) we conjure up these magnificent broadsides - a process that is completely hands-on by all individuals involved. After 6 months we then produce a book from the completely set of Manilla Broadsides. The first, published this month is titled "the Jungle". This book will be found for observation at The Beinecke rare book library and The Boston Public Library.
In December we printed and published our first chapbook by Chad Reynolds titled "Victor in the New World". Next week we are bringing out a book titled "Case Fbdy." by Kate Schapira.

With other literacy programs and in collaboration with Paper Picker Press, we also offer up the opportunity for elementary students to write their own stories that we print for the schools. These books are usually used for local book fairs or fundraisers for the schools, teaching these children the possibility of ownership and the economic value of the work created by them.

We are currently working on a schedule for open submissions for this year."

Check them out at:

http://rope-a-dope-press.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured, living poet…

Poetry TIps Question 1: How do you support living poets?

Thanks to everyone’s responses to my questions posed to readers back in February. Each week will be a different question with the responses from various people all over the world:

How can you support living poets?

Jim Murdoch responds with:
http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.com/

I think one of the best ways is through blogs that discuss and demystify poetry. There are so many approaches to poetry that it can become overpowering for a new poet. How do you find your own voice? How do you know you're doing it right? What's right?

Barbara Smith responds with:
http://intendednot2b.blogspot.com/
Buy their books/chapbooks, go to their readings, get to know them. Read their blogs if they have one. Converse with them. They're people just like you and will probably offer you some insight that will prove useful.

Rob Mack responds with:
http://robmack.blogspot.com
Buy their books, read them, tell your friends about them, buy them as presents for everyone you can think of, and go to live poetry readings!

Juliet Wilson:
http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com
Read their poetry, buy their books (or borrow them from the library), go and hear them read at slams or readings. Support your local poetry readings or think about setting up your own. Subscribe to some literary journals that publish poetry. Support online poetry networks such as Poets Who Blog (http://poetswhoblog.blogspot.com) or Read Write Poem (http://readwritepoem.org).


Ben Wilkinson:
http://www.deconstructivewasteland.blogspot.com
By buying as many contemporary poetry collections, pamphlets (sometimes called chapbooks or short collections) and anthologies as you can. There's no simpler way, and it benefits both poet and reader: the former gets a new audience and money to pay the bills (!) and the reader gets some pleasurable, thought-provoking and often illuminating reading. And though Amazon is a good place to buy reasonably priced poetry collections, there are some very good publishers who sell pamphlets and chapbooks direct at wonderfully affordable prices. Tall-Lighthouse is one (www.tall-lighthouse.co.uk), and another is Happenstance (www.happenstancepress.co.uk), both of whom offer you well-produced samplers of some of the most exciting and emerging new voices in UK poetry.
Cuitlamiztli Carter:
http://aristagoras.blogspot.com/
Buy books, for one. Unfortunately, poetry books are in my opinion abit pricey compared to novels or graphic novels. I wish more poetrypublishers sought to make a book of fifty pages much less than say,twelve bucks.But I think poetry supporters will be folks who regularly buy poetrybooks - and not just of their favorite poets. I also think thatbecoming a regular participator/commentator in the blogs of favoredpoets (if they have them, and many do) will help increase their webpresence.

I agree with all of the above. Especially when it comes to purchasing chapbooks and books because writers have a hard time making money just through writing, poets especially. Thanks so much to everyone who participated and keep a look-out each Friday for more tips provided from the poets above.

Hazel B. Cameron:
Apart from the obvious - buying their work and attending readings, it helps to eat chocolate, drink alcohol and read books with them; most poets need the creative support of other poets through discussion, critiques and general inspiration.
Give encouragement and advice to those who are at an earlier stage in their writing and acknowledge (without under-the-breath profanities) those who achieve success.
Thanks to all the contributors!
Thanks also for those reading the responses, hope you are able to use the tips! Please stop by tomorrow for a great blog…

Roadrunner Haiku Journal

Roadrunner publishes quarterly and accepts submissions via e-mail thereby saving you postage. Please send 5 to 15 haiku/senryu poems at a time to Jason Sanford Brown at jasonATroadrunnerDOTnet or to Scott Metz at scottATroadrunnerDOTnet. Be sure to title your e-mail “Roadrunner Submission” with your name included in the subject line. For further details use the link below and search through their site and be sure it’s the right place for you.

http://poetrylives.com/roadrunner/pages_all/submissions.htm

Good luck with submissions, see you tomorrow for Poetry Tips from the Audience!

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2008/02/ruiner.asp
“Ruiner” by Blake Butler, I love that it seems to ramble but makes sense all the same.

http://www.shampoopoetry.com/ShampooThirtyone/burns.html
“from Ambulatory Refrains” by Avery Burns, I can’t describe it, I just enjoy it.

Ideas for Tuesdays

Jim Murdoch suggested I list which poets I’ve posted that have passed away and perhaps asking the audience for more names to look for on the shelves. Here’s the list of poets I’ve already featured:
Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Octavio Paz, Dorothy Parker, William Carlos Williams, Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Ciarini, Myra Cohn Livingston, Ogden Nash, Mary Sarton.

Also, I liked Talia’s idea of showing a painting on Tuesdays for inspiration. I’ll continue looking into that.

In the meantime, any opinions? Would you like me to try different libraries to continue featuring poets who have passed away, or something different? Let me know!

Thanks, and please check in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Red Hen Press

This site features a Poem of the Day in addition to publishing Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction. They are also involved in making a positive difference in the world and have programs such as Poetry in the Schools in Los Angeles. There are lots of authors in the catalog and the site is interesting and easy to navigate. Please check them out at:

http://www.redhen.org/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow…

Frederick Seidel

I picked up Frederick Seidel’s book, Ooga-Booga, at the library and know that this book was quite popular for a poetry book when it came out. Born in 1936 in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Seidel has had about a dozen poetry books published and been deemed controversial in his subjects. I should warn some of you that his poems aren’t for the faint of heart.
An nice collection of audio poems from his book Ooga-Booga can be found at the link below with his name and web-site being one and the same. His poems can be a bit over my head at times but they are always entertaining. What I find interesting is that there are some poems that will be titled one way and then he will expand on the poem or change it up while keeping familiar lines and give it a new name. I’ve never seen that before and I think it’s great to include them because many poets write several versions or editions of a poem and who is to say you can’t include different versions of the same poem within the same collection? One example is comparing his poem “Fog” to his poem “Racer.” Both poems start and end with the same lines; the beginning line: “I spend most of my time not dying.” The ending line: “Taking digital photographs of my death.” Many of the stanzas are the same but for “Racer,” which is dedicated to Paulo Ciabatti, there are new stanzas that include a man with his saxophone which does not appear in “Fog.” I don’t have any information as to how this came about and for all I know Mr. Seidel has answered why there are two versions of a poem in other interviews but I haven’t found them. If anyone has any answers to that, let me know.
Among the many poems worth mentioning I was struck by the ending of the poem “East Hampton Airport” because it took me by surprise. He speaks of flying with an instructor and while I was distracted by language in a previous stanza I come to the fact that the plane is literally stuck in midair. I am also struck by the fact that the ending does not include how the plane and pilots made it back safely. The audience is left hanging in suspense wondering “what did they do?” This kind of surprise is refreshing because you don’t always need to give the audience what they crave to keep their interest and this poem is a perfect example of it. If you haven’t read this book already I highly recommend it. Not only are there surprise endings and poems that are alike and yet not alike but there are also times when Seidel pokes fun at himself or breaks his heart openly on the page, all are thrilling. In the meantime, you can read/listen to Seidel at the links below:

http://frederickseidel.com/

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=6136

Thanks for reading, please stop by tomorrow for another poetry web-site…