BTW, AWP

My replacement at this Friday morning's AWP panel on "Off The Page: Multidimensional Writings" will be Brice Brown. Brice is an artist and writer who paints sestinas. He is also co-editor of the Art/Lit mag called Sienese Shredder which recently published visual/text poems from John Ashberry. I'ma jes sayin'...

FLY OFF THE PAGE WITH MOI & CO.!

I guess AWP likes wine-tippling farmers. I think I've got a near-thousand batting average with getting approvals for panels that includes Moi. For next year's AWP Conference, I was pushed (grin) by Catherine Daly to organize and moderate a panel. So a wingtip scratched a lovely head, brewed up something, and sent it over to AWP. Well, it was approved! Over 900 panel applications were received and mine got in -- causing Nick Carbo over in France to celebrate this morning by drinking "dark red brulhois wine" (huh?).

Here's some panel information I sent to AWP and I hope it also interests you enough to attend next year!

"OFF THE PAGE: MULTIDIMENSIONAL WRITINGS"
presenting

Nick Carbo (sculptures and video)
Catherine Daly (paper craft, innovative book art)
Thomas Fink (painting)
Thylias Moss (film / video / sonic performances)
Eileen Tabios (conceptual/performance/community-based/visual art)

This panel presents poets and writers who work in a variety of disciplines encompassing video, sculptures, paper craft, innovative book art, painting, performance events, conceptual art, drawings, film, multimedia events, among others. Panelists discuss how other disciplines affect their texts and presentation of such texts. In some cases, the poetry book was transformed to not just present written poems. In other situations, community-based performances inspired new poetic forms and theories.

from STATEMENT OF MERIT
This panel explores a multidisciplinary approach to making poems. Eileen Tabios and Thylias Moss have created two new poetic forms (respectively, "hay(na)ku" and "poams"). Thomas Fink, by being a New York resident, will be able to bring actual small paintings to illustrate his paper. All panelists are at the forefront of poets exploring the making of poems beyond the writing of verse on page -- not just to create fetishized objects but to integrate communities / the world.

I was going to drop by next year's AWP anyway because I'd be in New York then, so now it'll be great to meet Thylias Moss in person! I'm particularly intrigued to meet her non-stinky "poams" -- "products of acts of making in which form embraces the possibilities of the assisted and unassisted senses in any combination in any location at any scale simultaneously, with a majority of her poams, most of which are available for free in the Limited Fork and the Limited Fork Music podcasts at iTunes, currently taking on visual and sonic iterations, with text existing as part of larger visual systems."

Here are some bios skewed by the poets to address their leap off the page:

Nick Carbo is the author of three books of poetry, the latest being Andalusian Dawn (2004). He is the winner of fellowships in poetry from the N.E.A. and N.Y.F.A. and residencies to Fundacion Valparaiso (Spain), Le Chateau de Lavigny (Switzerland), Moulin a Nef (France), and Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and VCCA (USA). His visual poems have been exhibited at Harvard University's "Infinity" show, and at galleries like Blueten Weis (Berlin), and The Studio Alternative (Armonk, NY). He recently taught visual poetry courses at the New College of Florida.

Catherine Daly is author of six books and eBooks, most recently Secret Kitty, a flarfy critique of flarf, To Delite and Instruct, a meditation on the poetry exercise, Paper Craft, including sound and visual poems in a foldable format, and Chanteuse / Cantatrice, a book of verse about collaboration and complicity that can be read in reverse.  She is also the publisher of i.e. Press, that is to say, a press publishing books appealing to the eye and ear.

Thomas Fink, a Professor of English at City University of New York—LaGuardia, is the author of four books of poetry, including No Appointment Necessary (Moria Poetry, 2006) and After Taxes (Marsh Hawk Press, 2004,)and two books of criticism.  In 2007, Fairleigh Dickinson UP will publish a collection of essays on David Shapiro that he and Joseph Lease edited. Heather McHugh and David Lehman chose his poem “Yinglish Strophes IX” for The Best American Poetry 2007 (Scribner’s).  His abstract paintings hang in various collections.  Recently, he has developed series of poems in abstract shapes that had also been used in series of paintings. 

Thylias Moss, the author of ten books, most recently TOKYO BUTTER, her first collection of poetry written entirely according to principles of Limited Fork Poetics: the study of interacting language systems, a literary theory she developed in October 2004 while at the Quality 16 cinema watching a film she can't recall.  The revelation led this MacArthur Fellowship and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient to the making of poams (products of acts of making) in which form embraces the possibilities of the assisted and unassisted senses in any combination in any location at any scale simultaneously, with a majority of her poams, most of which are available for free in the Limited Fork and the Limited Fork Music podcasts at iTunes, currently taking on visual and sonic iterations, with text existing as part of larger visual systems.  So far, her poams are not odor-emitting, so are consistent with neglect of olfactory systems, neglect which, in understanding the principles and interactions of Limited Fork, should be overcome eventually.  She teaches Limited Fork Poetics at the University of Michigan where she is a professor of English and of Art & Design.  Her other awards and honors include: a Whiting Writer's Award, the Witter Bynner Prize from the Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Dewards profiles performance Artist Award, an NEA grant, and inclusion in the Best of the Best American Poetry series.

Eileen R. Tabios has released 15 poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, and a short story book. Recipient of the Philippines' Manila Critics Circle National Book Award for Poetry, she released two multi-genre collections in 2007: SILENCES: The Autobiography of Loss (Blue Lion Books) and The Light Sang As It Left Your Eyes (Marsh Hawk Press, 2007). Her conceptual/visual art and poetry performances have been exhibited or presented in art galleries in California and Manila. Her poems have been translated by other artists into Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese and Italian, as well as Paintings, Video, Drawings, Mixed Media Collages and Sculpture. She is the publisher of Meritage Press (San Francisco & St. Helena), a multidisciplinary arts press.

BLESSINGS (aka, SHALL WE GO D2D?)

I am deliberately leaving out the horseshit I experienced at AWP because Moi am all about positive energy. Sip. Tonight, the 1997 Behrens & Hitchcock merlot "Rudy's Cuvee" Napa Valley...

But I do want to share more blessings because, you know, it's Moi blog and anytime I'm blessed, Moi's role is to alert you all that I'm blessed. Sip.

So, I learned at AWP that the "Footnotes" section from Moi ENGLISH BRICK has been used in at least two workshops for -- and I love that we're not talking typical poetry workshop here -- the Austin Street Senior Center in Forest Hills, N.Y. and the Berkeley Rehabilitation Center in White Plains, N.Y. Basically, the BRICK's footnote section has all white pages with 1-3 line footnote poems at the bottom of the page. I'd always envisioned it as a great teaching tool, e.g. that folks might write on the mostly blank page a story or something that presumably generated the footnote.

Good idea, yah? Well, it worked at the above senior citizen and rehab centers! Perhaps you teachers should check out that section too. I don't even care if you buy the BRICK and just xeroxed the pages from the book to pass out to workshop students. When it comes to Poetry, do infringe moi copyright anytime. And of course don't tell any of my publishers I said this. Sip.

Second blessing was to meet Janet Holmes .. and she told me that she'd bought a wine bottle(s?) from the occasional "Relished W*h)ines" list that I post on this blog and, to quote Janet, "It was GOOOD!"

But of course! Sip...

Michelle also got a bottle from my last Relished Wines list and apparently it's now being considered as a reception wine for her sister's upcoming wedding. Well, yadda and Sip. But I need to let y'all know though that when you buy a wine from those relished lists, be sure to note the year because the same winery can generate good or mediocre bottles depending on the year.

My last AWP tale. I was congratulating a poet on his first book. He happens to edit a wonderful poetry journal -- or so I realized because he started soliciting submissions. My response? In so many words, "Thank you but no need to discuss my work. This is about YOU! Congratulations on your first book!"

The point? I feel blessed that that though my EGO no doubt can go D2D with the big boys, when it comes to Poetry I no longer feel desperate for its markers. Markers are for Dawgs, Achilles taught Moi, and can I tell you how it's impossible to prevent a dog from lifting his hind leg to further dominance when he pees on someone else's pee? Anyway...Sip.

And if you can't figger out what "D2D" means, well, so much the better. Sip. Dang if this wine ain't the kitty's roar...!

POST AWP

I only have one thing to say: I adore people coming up to say they adore Moi.

Heh. But of course I have more to say!

So, first, check out the updated review copy list for Galatea Resurrects which I've augmented from AWP! Remember that next review deadline is May 5 so there's plenty of time for y'all to choose a book, have me send it to you, engage with it, then send me such review!

This was the third time I've attended AWP. It's also the first time I enjoyed the experience. I always knew I'd be in AWP next year because it's in New York (and I grab any excuse to visit New York to catch up on art gallery situation), but now I'm actually looking forward to the experience.

This year, at our Marsh Hawk Press table -- we sold more books than in prior AWPs (that I attended) and other publishers I spoke to say that book sales keep rising! I sold out of not just my Marsh Hawk books but those released by my other publishers -- xPress(ed) 1 , xPress(ed) 2, Otoliths, Moria -- such that I had to snatch the last copy of Dredging (an SPD pick last week!) right from under Sandy McIntosh's nose to give to someone else (but your copy, along with the (proverbial) check, is in the mail, Sandy!). Of course, it's still tough to cover costs -- I have a sense that publishers with plenty of titles to sell are more able to cover costs than small indie publishers (esp. those just starting out). But -- and I never thought I'd think this -- I, for one, am seriously considering doing a book table next year for moi Meritage Press --

...I sense something loosening with AWP. Maybe it's because I attended a few readings set up by indie publishers and they were fun! My first AWP, I attended the canonized events and that was enough to bore me into staying away for a number of years....

Which reminds me of another observation. Seeing the readings -- and the related "communities" around the indie publishers -- typically poets themselves publishing other poets -- was just such a radical juxtaposition against the poetry contest publishing scheme whose detritus also littered the conference. I can't tell you how many times younger poets who do the contest circuits have come up to discuss Marsh Hawk as a collective being a fabulous alternative...and so it seems to me yet again that maybe poets should band together to DIY rather than submitting to contests. Marsh Hawk, for one, was started by seasoned poets -- we've all been around for a while and have observed the constraints of traditional poetry publishing and decided to take things in our own hands....

Let me spend a few more paragraphs on this topic -- as I've heard it, one advantage (as considered by the majority but not by Moi) -- on contests is that the "winner" will have cultural imprimatur that would not necessarily exist if we're just talking about indie publishing -- a matter that certainly resonates when considered in the context of lousy poetry distribution (such that contest winners get an edge for being contest winners). But this is simply not true.

If you're interested in cultural imprimatur, you need not rely on contests to get it. You can get that third-party check (if so important to you) through blurbs -- a far cheaper way than an annual budget of several hundred dollars to cover submission fees. Here is a blatant example:

Otoliths (edited/published by one non-irascible person in Australia who still manages to publish U.S. authors for crissakes) just released its second round of books. Well if you check out Otoliths' list here -- some of the books got blurbs. What would be the cultural diff between Lyn Hejinian, Cole Swensen and Paul Hoover judging a contest and choosing your book versus the lovely blurbs they gave for the Otoliths publications (for Jordan Stempleman and Vernon Frazer). Nada mucho, baby.

Having said that, if you're doing contests, please do my publisher Marsh Hawk Press's contest. At least we're not corrupt. (Yes, I know ... but I'm not wiffle-waffling so much as choosing to accept that the issue -- contests vs no contests -- need not be a binary. As regards poets' desires for publication, my primary response is ... compassion)

Meanwhile, my panel on "Poetry From MultiLingual Homes" was fabulous but of course -- yes, Leny, I'm shooting over moi paper to you.

Seriously, I was delighted to meet many of you...too many to do a roll call. And that all of my meetings were wonderful also means I'm really sorry to have missed those I missed. Next year?

For now, re more catching up:

I see that while I was at AWP, Nicholas Manning did a close reading of moi edited Jose Garcia Villa's The Anchored Angel -- thanks for the attention and ... engagement!

And thanks for Tom Beckett for calling me "...one of the nicest people..." Nice is good, Peeps. Nice is nice! (I must be slipping; a few months ago, I would have highlighted being called "hot").

And here is my latest list of engaged-with books and wines:

BOOKS:
COMPLICATIONS, poem manuscript by Garrett Caples

DAYS POEMS, two volume manuscript totalling a million pages of poems by Allen Bramhall

LITTLE WAR MACHINE, poems by M Sarki

BECOMING THE VILLAINESS, poems by Jeannine Hall Gailey

WARS. THREESOMES. DRAFTS. & MOTHERS, heretic text by Heriberto Yepez

THE MAN SUIT, poems by Zachary Schomburg (Congrats on your debut collection -- it is a fabulous collection and 'twas my plane reading as I headed home from Atlanta. The "Beer" poem, though, got lost in translation onto the page ... wink. Hmmm...why am I writing as if posting this on blog would get to Zachary -- maybe youse who know him can forward my Congrats for his book: a wonderful combo of sublime mundanity with utmostly deadpan cool.)

KOOL LOGIC / LA LOGICA KOOL, with accompanying performance/spoken word DVD, by Urayoán Noel (Bilingual Press)

CADENZA, poems by Charles North

PAPER CRAFT, poems by Catherine Daly

CHANTEUSE / CANTATRICE, poems by Catherine Daly

OVERNIGHT, poems by Paul Violi

REPAIR, poems by C.K. Willilams

SAINTS OF HYSTERIA: A HALF-CENTURY OF COLLABORATIVE AMERICAN POETRY edited by Denise Duhamel, Maureen Seaton and David Trinidad

VANITAS 2, edited by Vincent Katz

MAX COLE, artist monograph

RUSSIAN JOURNAL, memoir by Andrea Lee

THE BONES OF PLENTY, novel by Lois Phillips Hudson

WHERE OR WHEN, novel by Anita Shreve

UNDER COVER OF NIGHT, novel by Linda Howard

I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT, novel by Allison Pearson


WINES:
1994 Mondavi Reserve cabernet
2005 Mollydooker shiraz
1990 Comte Armand Pommard Clos de Epeneaux
1999 Turley petite syrah
1987 Ravenswood Pickberry
2006 Yellow Tail chardonnay (moi AWP house white courtesy of Barbara and Sandy McIntosh)