AMIDST THE BOOKS, A FAREWELL AND … A HELLO!

Dear 9.5 Billion Peeps (at last count, that is):
We’ve had a fabulously great time, have we not, on this blog! Thanks for staying with me! And now, I hope you continue to fly with me onto my next blog!

Yes, this is the last post here. I will continue posting – with a more focused bibliophilic focus – over at my new blog:

EILEEN VERBS BOOKS!

As they say, please update your links to http://eileenverbsbooks.blogspot.com Do note that on the new blog, unlike here, comments are allowed, that is, welcomed and encouraged!

And it seems fitting that I leave with my last update here of my Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. I will continue this feature in the next blog. For now, please note below that, in the Publications section, if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects! More info on that HERE.


PUBLICATIONS
TOWARD THE YEAR 2014, Season’s Greetings Annual Poem-Card/Broadside by Sheila E. Murphy (as ever, absolutely FABULOUS. I think this particular poem may be my favorite yet from Sheila’s annuals!)

CARPE DIEM by Robert Frost, as a Holiday Broadside from The Poetry Collection of University of Buffalo/SUNY (a gift from Edric Mesmer – what’s not to like? Indeed, I love! Thanks Edric!)

REVELATOR, poem by Ron Silliman (masterful and mature. Makes the difficult seem easy with its not-at-all-uneasy-with-itself energy that seemed to have begun before the poem’s first word so that with that first word you already feel you’re in some majestic current. That is, wonderful propulsion – making it all the more lovely when the energy unexpectedly slows when a reader can’t help but pause to be affected by something read, in this case a reference to a son’s breathing – ultimately, lovely. Tho must return as sometimes the energy moves you forward so quickly that you just look by something you want to consider longer as if you’re on a train reading words on a wall rather than looking at a page. First word: “Words.” First two words: “Words torn…” Breathtaking. Will look forward to making it LinkedInPoetry Recommendation No. 100)

“SHE’S WELCOME TO HER DISEASE” DEMENTIA BLOG [VOLUME TWO], poems by Susan M. Schultz (innovative, moving, fabulous. LPR #94)

* DAS GEDICHTETE, poems by Patrick James Dunagan (much pleasure in these knotted meditations)

WE BURY THE LANDSCAPE: AN EXHIBITION-COLLECTION, poems by Kristine Ong Muslim (marvelous. LPR #95)

* IMAGO FOR THE FALLEN WORLD, poems by Matthew Cooperman and art by Marius Lehene (wonderful; unexpectedly elegiac. To be LPR #97)

* LITTLE “g” GOD GROWS TIRED OF ME, poems by Aby Kaupang (lovely. LPR #98)

* OF: VOL. I, poems by Ossian Foley (unexpected loveliness. To be LPR #96)

* THE ERRANT ASTROLOGERS by Felipe Benitez Reyes, trans. from the Spanish by Emily Toder (witty. Shakespeare-evoking. To be LPR # 99)

* HAITI GLASS , poems by Lenelle Moise (powerful and moving)

POEMS’ PROGRESS, poems and prose about their writings by Wendy Barker (it’s a type of book I’ve always wanted to write: poems and what led to their making. Here, the poems are okay but the prose is divine. LPR #93)

* TRIPLE CROWN: THREE CROWNS OF SONNETS by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright (masterful by a well-seasoned poet)

* A HUNDRED THOUSAND HOURS by Gro Dahle, Trans. by Rebecca Wadlinger

* BEYOND THE CHAINLINK, poems by Rusty Morrison

* TEXT (ISLES), poems by Nancy Kassell

* BEAUTY MARK by Suzanne Cleary

* PRACTICE ON MOUNTAINS, poems by David Bartone

* FOOL’S GOLD, poems by Norman Schaefer

* A BELL MADE OF STONES, poems by Lehua M. Taitano

* WHAT I’VE STOLEN, WHAT I’VE EARNED, poems by Sherman Alexie

* MANTIC, poems by Maureen Alsop

* AMIRI BARAKA & EDWARD DORN: THE COLLECTED LETTERS, Edited by Claudia Moreno Pisano

* HOUSE ORGAN, No. 85 Fall 2014, literary zine edited by Kenneth Warren

THE LAVENDER GARDEN, novel by Lucinda Riley

ROSE HARBOR IN BLOOM, novel by Debbie Macomber

THE CHRISTMAS BASKET, novel by Debbie Macomber


WINES
2002 Jadot Corton Charlemagne
2010 Dancing Hares
1991 Grahams port
2007 Elaine St Clair Syrah NV
2010 Entre Suelis "Castilla Y Leon"

I BUY POETRY!

Well, opening the Holiday Presents allows me to present my last updated list for the year as regards moi Recently Bought Poetry List of books by poets or about poets/poetry:

REVELATOR by Ron Silliman

I’LL DROWN MY BOOK: CONCEPTUAL WRITING BY WOMEN, Edited by Caroline Bergvall, Laynie Browne, Teresa Carmody and Vanessa Place

SEASONAL WORKS WITH LETTERS ON FIRE by Brenda Hillman

WHAT LIGHT CAN DO: ESSAYS ON ART, IMAGINATION, AND THE NATURAL WORLD by Robert Hass

THE COLLECTED POEMS OF PHILIP LAMANTIA, eds Garrett Gaples, Andrew Joron and Nancy Joyce Peters

HELLO, THE ROSES by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge

THE CODICILS by Mark Young

POEMS’ PROGRESS by Wendy Barker

THE MOON, COME TO EARTH {DISPATCHES FROM LISBON] by Philip Graham

JUST KIDS, memoir of life with Robert Maplethorpe by Patti Smith

BOUGH BREAKS by Tamiko Beyer

STAGE PRESENCE: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AMERICAN STAGE ARTISTS Edited by Theodore Gonzalves

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Two favorite Holiday Season greetings this year are Sheila Murphy's annual Season's Greetings poem-card, and a handwritten (!) letter from Rebecca Loudon!  THANK YOU!  And to you all, from Moi and the extended family:

Rebecca's handwritten letter is especially special to me.  I have these intermittent daydreams of living in a small town where the population numbers in the hundreds or hundred and I'm helping develop a "Main Street" by starting/operating a combined post office/library.  I don't know where these dreams come from, but I'm sure they say something about me.  Anyway, part of this dream is that there's no internet et al and the only way to communicate with the outside world is through letters, specifically handwritten letters.  So, THANK YOU REBECCA!  YOU DID BRING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT!

I LOVE MY LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY!

because, this Holiday season, it created this lovely Christmas tree!

I understand there are similar trees in the White House this year! Good choice, Michelle Obama!

ALWAYS A SEASON FOR RELISHING...

With this account, another Harvest List ends. Thanks Napa earth for forgiving my city slicker antics to gift me with what you’ve given. Any other normal human being would have gotten ten times as much but Moi with the brown thumbs is grateful for whatever I received.

And here are other relishes with moi latest update of my Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. As ever, please note that in the Publications section, if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects! More info on that HERE.


2013 SUMMER/FALL HARVEST
4 pumpkins
181 persimmons
4 honeydew
4 cantaloupe
15 red bellpeppers
50 green bellpeppers
100 jalapeno peppers
129 yellow Heirloom tomatoes
79 red Heirloom tomatoes
9 orange Heirloom tomatoes
7 red tomatoes
76 cherry tomatoes
55 green figs
32 black figs
37 Meyer lemons
6 yellow onions
27 apricots
47 yellow squash
20 strawberries
18 Italian cucumbers
48 sprigs of basil
42 lemons


PUBLICATIONS
* pleth, visual collaged poetry by j/j hastain and text-poems by Marthe Reed (brilliance and eros in a seamless unity. Highly Recommended. LinkedIn Poetry Recommendation #89)

* THE GARDEN: SYNTHETIC ENVIRONMENT FOR ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION, poetry and visual poetry by Ed Steck (incredible! And incredibly fabulous! LinkedInPoetry Recommendation #92)

* KEPT WOMEN, poems by Kate Durbin (quite witty and fabulously detailed. LinkedIn Poetry Recommendation #90)

* POCKET PARK: FOUR SEASONS IN POEMS AND PHOTOS by Claudia Carlson (Luminous poems. Gorgeous, ravishing photos. A treat! LinkedIn Poetry Recommendation #91)

* FORTY-ONE JANE DOE’S, poems by Carrie Olivia Adams (Interestingly interesting. LinkedIn Poetry Recommendation #88)

BLOOD ORANGE, poems by Angela Narciso Torres (just lovely!)

* THIS IS VISUAL POETRY, by Steven D Stark (charming)

* DISTURBANCE, poems by Ivy Alvarez

THE BOSS, poems by Victoria Chang

STELE, poems by Cole Swensen

* WITH OUR ENGLISH DEAD, poems by Christopher Willliam Purdom

PINE TREE POETRY COLLECTION, Book 6, 2013 (includes a poem by moi son!)

* THE NEW CENSUS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POETRY, Edited by Kevin A. Gonzalez & Lauren Shapiro

MAGANDA Magazine, "Bawal," issue 26, Eds. Raymond Sapida and Maria Vallarta (thanks for including one of my poems!)

WHY WE WRITE, Ed. Meredith Maran (interviews with Isabel Allende, David Baldacci, Jennifer Egan, James Frey, Sue Grafton, Sara Gruen, Kathryn Harrison, Gish Jen, Sebastian Junger, Mary Karr, Michael Lewis, Armistead Maupin, Terry McMillan, Rick Moody, Walter Mosley, Susan Orlean, Ann Patchett, Jodi Picoult, Jane Smiley and Meg Wolitzer)

AFRICA UNITED: SOCCER, PASSION, POLITICS, AND THE FIRST WORLD CUP IN AFRICA, journalism by Steve Bloomfield

THE TALL WOMAN, novel by Wilma Dykeman

THE TOURIST, novel by Olen Steinhauer

THE HIGHWAY, novel by C.J. Box

MAN OF DESTINY, novel by Martin L. Gross


WINES
2010 Argiano NC Rosso Toscano
2008 Amantis Birbanera
2011 Layer Cake cabernet
2010 Los Vascos Grand Reserve Domaine Barons de Rothschild Lafite
2010 Casa Lapostolle Cabernet
2011 Santa Rita 120
2010 Pride Mountain merlot Napa-Sonoma
2001 La Vieille Cure Fronsac
2003 Jones Family cabernet
Launois champagne Brut Le Mesnil Reserve
2008 Non Confunditur Rosso Toscano

A STORM OF FILIPINO POETS

So far, 129 Filipino poets from around the world will present poems for the fundraising anthology for Yolanda survivors that I'm editing: VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA: A STORM OF FILIPINO POETS. Looks like it'll come out by March (hopefully). My 10th anthology to edit or conceptualize -- but the first that'll involve not just(and mostly)  English but several Filipino languages -- Filipino, Cebuano, Bisaya, Waray, Hiligaynon ... hm: but not a single Ilocano (the only language where I can pretend some knowledge). Well, some pundit estimated it'd take at least 3 years for the region to overcome the damage so hopefully the book will create donations/funds. So watch for this: http://angelicpoker.blogspot.com/2013/11/poems-in-time-of-yolanda.html

THANK YOU, TIMO TUHKANEN

Timo Tuhkanen is a Finnish composer, artist, translator and poet. Timo recently contacted me because he apparently was working on new compositions related to some Enheduanna and Gabriela Silang poems in my book, MENAGE A TROIS WITH THE21ST CENTURY.  Well, what an honor!

About his composition, Timo explains:

“Much of my composing is related to a mixed media and conceptual art approach, I make films and write as well as compose and all of these elements are for me a singular output; in them materialise specific types of ideas, some of which create combinatory and layered meanings.

I have been reading these poems intensively when working on the pieces, in the case of Enhedhuanna I even found the name of my composition from your text. I feel that though it is not necessary to read them to understand the music, they are integrally linked to what I have written and I would like this information to be available for anyone interested in reading or playing my music.

The compositions are ‘a body unable to hold’ for 6 stringed instrument and voice, the name taken from Enhedhuanna. This piece has been performed on microtonal electric guitar.”

[Eileen Note to Tom Beckett: can you play Moi on your guitar? Heh.]

Timo also recently finished the final score and you can see it at  
http://issuu.com/pteronpressmusic/docs/cut_score_timotuhkanen Below is the text written on the first page:

“The composition CUT is the second composition in a series of compositions dealing with the works, poems and prose, of Eileen R Tabios. Explicitly CUT looks at “Gabriela couple(t)s with the 21st century”, a poem about Gabriela Silang, a female rebel leader during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines in the 18th century. 

It is in the poetics of the missing, the illogical, that form becomes incomplete, and it is this that the allegory, my composition, aim at, and towards which all the musical material gears up towards. It is an expression of The cut, an allegory through the absence of material: through a corporeal Musica Povera.

This piece was composed between the 18th – 22nd.11.2013

Thank you, Timo.  It’ll take me more time to feel my way through your engagement with my poems but I wanted to post now to show my gratitude and to introduce you to some of my readers!  I adore what you say about your aesthetic:

For me ideas choose their materials.

I like scents and types of pressures.

That’s just lovely!