SNAPSHOT OF A POET (#8): “WHAT ARE YOU READING?”

[Poets are invited to participate in this series of snapshots of poets’ reading habits. For information, go HERE.] 

SS Prasad on Reading 

What are you reading now? As well, what is in your To-Read-Soon stack? Please share comments about your readings:

The Policeman by Arun Kolatkar (A Wordless Play in Thirteen Scenes) [First published in 1969, Lost and Found in 2005 by Pras Prakashan, India Rs.495 / L25/ $40]

This is the first book of wordless poetry from modern India. Viparita Alankaram, the ornamentation of extremes, is at work.

‘A Wordless Play’ = ‘A Wordless Play’

The book comes with a jacket including a drawing and words.  The hard cover inside the jacket contains nothing but the single drawing from the front cover.  I’ll present excerpts from section 3 of this book:

The drawing on pg.26 shows a single snail approaching in the direction of the policeman.

“SNAIL”

The drawing on pg.27 shows passage of time in animation; snails multiply.

transforming the word in this representation of its plurality. 

SNAILSNAILSNAILSNAILSNAIL

Arun Kolatkar STANDS with his STANDPOINT on God.

*

Ramachandran

Ramachandran?

I asked.

Ramachandran,

he said.

Which Ramachandran?

I didn’t ask,

he didn’t say.

“Ramachandran’ (translation mine) from Nakulan’s ‘Selected Poems’ published in Tamil original in 2012 as Therndeduttha kavidhaigal by Kalachuvadu publications, Nagecoil, Tamil Nadu (India) which I purchased on Infibeam for Rs.66/- after discount.

Nakulan also wrote in English in his real name, T.K.Doraisamy.

What I liked about this poem is the eeriness of communication. In the conversation above, the talk that seems to happen between two parties is apparently NOT an intended communication. A dual of this is cross-talk: a third party interference, unintentional in the main conversation, which is noise, may at times add value to the conversation. In Tamil Vaishnavite tradition, Yadava Prakasha returned to Ramanuja based on his mother’s interpretation of a conversation happening between two other people in the Kanchi Varadan temple. This kind of information exchange is given a specific name in Sanskrit grammar which I am unable to recall now, but it is not eavesdropping in English.

*

Translations Without Originals by Julio Marzan, 1986, I.Reed Books, USA purchased from Select Book House for a price I can’t remember.

Translations

     Without

     Originals

is a signal I could pick at the first glance from the cover as it is. The book opens with the poem, “The Pure Preposition”

“Poetry’s Caliban, nigger

minus image or color”

…………………

“Minding us our labor is a product of small parts:

With, by, for, in, on, against”

Poetry of the everyday, of ordinary people and experiences, irony, humor:

Yes, play with the root canal.

Save the tooth!

I need it for smiling.

(from Emergency)

The book is replete with poems like “The Desert Walker”, “The Ringmaster”, “The Tightrope Walker”, “The Carousel Boy”, “Friday Evening”, “Sunday Morning in Old San Juan” and so on.

*

Letters on Poetry, Literature and Art, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, (First issued in 1972; Fourth edition, 2002), Rs.90/-

Sameness and Variety in Poetry (pg.31)

Ordinary poems (and novels) always write about love and similar things. Is it one point against ordinary (non-spiritual) poetry? If there is sameness of expression in spiritual poems, it is due either to the poet’s binding himself by the tradition of a fixed set of symbols (e.g. Vaishnava poets, Vedic poets) or to his having only a limited field of expression or imagination or to his deliberately limiting himself to certain experiences or customs that are dear to him. To readers who feel these it does not appear monotonous. Those who listen to Mirabai’s songs don’t get tired of them nor do I get tired of reading the Upanishads. The Greeks did not tire of reading Anacreon’s poems though he always wrote of wine and beautiful boys (an example of sameness in unspiritual poetry). The Vedic and Vaishnava poets remain immoral in spite of their sameness which is in another way like that of the poetry of the troubadours in mediaeval Europe, deliberately chosen. Variety, vaicitra, is all very well, but it is the power of the poetry that really matters. After all every poet writes always in the same style, repeats the same vision of things in “different garbs”

25.5.1938

Obviously, it is not desirable to repeat oneself …………….. The only recipe I know is to widen oneself (or one’s receptivity) always. Or else wait in the eternal quietude for the new “white word” to “break” it- if it does not come, telephone

30.8.1937

*

The Yearning of Seeds by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Harpercollins India, Rs.200/- , 2011

*****

TO READ LIST:

Collected Poems by I K Sharma, Book Enclave, Rs.750/- (I think I purchased it for Rs.540 on infibeam.com)

I.K Sharma is a familiar name in the Indian small press. I came to know of his work through The Journal of Indian Writing in English edited and published by G.S.Balarama Gupta from Gulbarga, Karnataka; “Bombay” appeared in one of its issues in the early 2000’s and I liked it. ‘

“In today’s literary circles, when poetasters and single-text writers indulge in all kinds of gyrations for self-publicity, Sharma’s five and a half decades of literary ‘Sadhana’ or journey towards self-realization, is eloquent about his caliber and his achievement.”

The cover contains the picture of Hawa Mahal and declares “a perfect poem in pink”.

The blurb and the allusion to perfection in the front cover are misleading. (‘poet among poetasters = one-eyed man among the blind?) Of interest is GS Balarama Gupta’s anthology on neglected voices in Indian prose which he edited: “Bright Candles in Dark Lanterns”. Five generations down the line, I am more interested in knowing about the literary climate that marginalized these voices.  I would have loved it if our small press poets shone at least like electric bulbs in hurricane if not as stars. Sharma has an instantaneous sense of humor (Ezekiel on my Scooter) and irony that attract me to his work.

One of the advantages of living in nanoyuga is that I can order books online. This is how I got to own two of Gopi Krishnan Kottoor’s books which I wouldn’t have found anywhere in bookshops. Poetry in our age is easily accessible.

Victoria Terminus (Poems: Selected and New) , 2010, Authors Press

Vrindavan Rs.295/-, 2012, Authors Press  

Landis Everson’s “Everything Preserved”, $15, Graywolf Press, 2006

Ben Mazer’s “Tales of the Bukman Tavern”, Rs.200/- 2012, Poetrywala.

Watch out Srinjay Chakravarti! “Occam’s Razor” (1994) and “Appolo’s Breath”(2009), both published by Writers Workshop, Kolkatta have just arrived.

MUSIC AS FUEL

"I thought the story was about me." 

--perhaps The First Sentence

I began writing MY RUSSIAN NOVEL (working title) today, in part because Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto so put me in the mood for what I believe will be the novel's sensibility.  By which I mean I kept playing different renditions that I love -- here are three:

I mentioned that certain COMMAND.  :: Arabella Steinbacher has it -- she commands technique, not the other way around.  She also sees/hears the composition rather than what she (or others) want to hear…

…. like the poet getting out of the way of the poem, which is paradoxical (attesting to its difficulty) when the matter is, as I describe it, also one of command:

*****

And here's a ravishing and commanding rendition by Frank Peter Zimmerman:

*****

So many ways to define command (it's like reading a poem!)....here's Kyung Wha Chung (so inspiring; heck, if she can go Russian so can I!)

A BREAKFAST CONVERSATION

147 MILLION ORPHANS will be the first book-length haybun poetry collection.  A "haybun" consists of a hay(na)ku tercet followed by prose.  

Though I invented the hay(na)ku, I've never been one of its most adept or prolific practitioners.  Indeed, the first book-length hay(na)ku poetry collection to be released was NOT EVEN DOGS by Mexican poet Ernesto Priego.  I've always thought my maximalist tendencies hindered me from the hay(na)ku … 

But the haybun incorporates aspects of my beloved prose poem form and so perhaps it makes more sense that I would inaugurate its first book manifestation.

Anyway, I was telling my son about 147 MILLION ORPHANS as he ate breakfast this morning because it wouldn't have been possible without him.  That is, every single hay(na)ku in the book was (randomly) generated from one of his school projects.  In 8th grade, he had been  encouraged to learn English by learning 25 new words a week for the entire school year.  From that list of words, I created tercet prompts for haybun by simply lifting six words chronologically from his list.

To which he responded positively but in a non-heightened way (for lack of a better way to put it).  By "non-heightened," I mean that he wasn't responding THAT'S COOL! or NOT COOL! in some manner that would recognize the topic to be special.  The topic wasn't "special" per se; the topic was just a normal topic, much like weather or football.  And this is what I appreciated the most -- that poetry was ASSUMED to be part of one's life, not something in some special-but-Other category separate from our "normal" lives.

That was making my day.  But that's not all.  During the conversation, I had David Oistrakh playing in the background.  And Michael said, "Mom, that's pretty good" (though with a slightly surprised tone because he usually thinks my music choices suck). 

A bit taken aback, I said, "Ah. You should listen to more classical music."

My Eminem-obsessed son replied, "Sure."  Sure, l echoed in my mind, with a full heart, as I saw him with my mind's eye wearing his brand new Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt.

I tell you -- there is something special about watching a child (continue to) blossom.  Five years earlier when he came into our life, he had been so small-ified by what he'd experienced thus far in his life.  Now, he's blossoming (and in ways many "experts" with orphans would not have thought possible for him).  When a child is raised not orphaned by Love, it shows -- on the right, he's on Varsity Soccer with two teammates I know also to be loved by their families. 

What I didn't tell Michael is that 147 MILLION ORPHANS ends with this in the Acknowledgements section:

Last but not least, much love to Michael who is so good in English he even writes poems.  Thank you for sharing your words. If it needs to be said, this book is about 147 million orphans, not you who is a beloved son.

Well, I began posting about a book and end up discussing … my son.  But, the artist is always informed by hir life.  Reminds me of that violinist-character in "A Late Quartet," another Netflix movie I binged on recently.  He told this younger violinist, "If you insist on playing the [Beethoven's] '131' prematurely, read his biography first" before going to his bookshelf and taking out a three-volume biography.  This, I think, says something -- not just about violinists wanting to hearken the speed of the virtuoso Heifetz but the poets who focus on technique to the detriment of (not content but) soul.

This post seems to be going all over the place.  But that's probably why they say breakfast is the most important meal -- to set one up for the rest of the day…

So I might as well digress further by sharing yet another drawing by Michael.  He calls it "Star."  I call it "St-ars Poetica."  Because isn't a star also subjective, all in the beholder's subjectivity, recognized or not by a soul? The first time I saw this drawing, I wanted to write a new book just so I could place the image on its front cover!

I always feel blessed when Michael spreads his Son-Shine.

ON THE DEMANDS OF SCALE

One reason I'm relieved to find a publisher for 147 MILLION ORPHANS is that it's the last completed poetry manuscript in my files.  After this book, as well as my Fall 2014 release, SUN STIGMATA, I feel I can go back to something I've always wanted to do but never was capable of doing before:  a HUGE NOVEL.  And I think I was incapable of writing that particular novel because I hadn't experienced/matured sufficiently for its type of effort.

It's like Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto -- maturity may matter.  (I say "may" because I don't really know, but am hazarding forth this speculation though no doubt there are exceptions.)  Compare the young violinist Sayaka Shoji's rendition with the seasoned David Oistrakh's (longer link below)… I want to write a novel the way Oistrakh plays his violin.  What Oistrakh reveals is a particular COMMAND (Shoji has it, too, but in a different way) … that translates to a poignant luminosity for which effect there is no shortcut.  One must bring a certain history to its manifestation. And history requires/ed time.

When I was in about 6th or 7th grade, I used to walk around middle school with huge Russian novels.  WAR AND PEACE and such.  I didn't read them then (I began but couldn't finish them); I just walked around with them because I loved their heft.  I admired the ambition of the HUGE TOME.  I was weighed down and loved the physical feel of being weighed down by their heft.

And now I want to be the one creating rather than only receiving that effect.  Forty years later, I can begin.

But I couldn't get here, I felt, if I shortchanged my efforts for Poetry.  Clear space and all that.   Some of you have asked about my prolificness -- this explains it.  I will have released over twenty (I've actually lost count) poetry collections by the end of this year.  I would have done so in less than 15 years (with the generosity of numerous publishers willing to facilitate my journey--thank you!).  

Until this post, I've never particularly tried to articulate my rush to release my poetry out there. Well, it's because I was eager through the years to get to this particular phase -- that writing of this HUGE NOVEL.  What I also appreciate about this phase?  I don't know if I'll succeed … and I welcome that uncertainty.  Because Poetry trained me not to fear instability, flux, and the unknown.  Poetry taught me faith.

So these 2014 poetry books, 147 MILLION ORPHANS and SUN STIGMATA, may be the last poetry for a while as I … go old-style Russian[+plus] in the 21st century.

In the best 49 minutes, six seconds you may devote to your screen (none of this twittery stuff), here is the MAGNIFICENT David Oistrakh with Tchaikovsky and Bach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds4XPlhgq_k

POEM FROM A TRUE STORY (#5)

I'm binging on Netflix and just watched a wonderful movie, "Le Concert."  And it moved me to write:

BEFORE THE CONCERT 

--for Tchaikovsky

Notes exist everywhere 

looking for harmony  

an anguished desire 

like mine to feel 

my parents watching 

me, seeing me 

as they have never 

known me, the violinist 

incomplete before the climax 

that never happened 

or will yet happen

Perhaps I'll always tear up over Tchaikovsky' Violin Concerto ...  A different feel HERE ...

PANIC AS A MUSE

Yesterday morning, I couldn't find the print-out of a manuscript-in-progress.  I could feel my heartbeat elevate as I scoured the house top and bottom looking for the print-out.  I had an electronic file version in my computer but I also knew that I had written various notes on the print-out that the e-version doesn't capture.

Well, I couldn't find it.  So, in a panic, I went to the computer and printed out the e-version just to have something in hand and to look at it closely and perhaps redo some notes on it to the extent I could remember such notes.

My husband tried to calm me down but observing, "You're having a First World Problem."  That didn't help.  (Well, okay, it was amusing but I didn't laugh until the end of the day for reasons I'll  note below.)

So, I then had this print-out and started looking at it.  And looking at it.  And looking at it I realize that, actually, I might have enough in it already to create a new book!

So I formatted and edited and, actually, wrote 3 more poems to flesh out what I had and, Yep: I had a new book!

Then I checked my emails, learned about gradient press, a new press focused on experimentation and headed by the brilliant Jukka-Pekka Kervinen.  I emailed out a query to him in Finland (I adore these RADIANT FINNS and, truly, Jukka's radiance is linked to his brilliance!).  And, yep, this morning, my manuscript was accepted.

All in 24 hours and started by a panic attack.  This, my friends, is how I get my books published.  And, as it turns out, this book will probably be published sooner than my Fall 2014 scheduled release, SUN STIGMATAS.  Jukka doesn't mess around.

INSERT DRUM ROLL and entonces dear friends, I am pleased to announce the forthcoming release of my new 20th poetry collection--and the first book-length haybun collection:

147 MILLION ORPHANS (MMXI-MML)

I hope you'll find interesting this book that, in addition to addressing the plight of orphans worldwide, also addresses the poetic authorial persona and boxing.  More on such later as, for now, I just want to wallow in the feeling of birthing a new book.  It's a moment -- thank you, Poetry: you always like to mess with Moi but are also so generous with your rewards...under the category, "Poetry as a Way of Life."

OH THAT "SAVIOR COMPLEX"

I don't do Facebook (there's an "Eileen Tabios" Facebook page but I think FB generated it; I didn't).  But I understand that Amy Tan's Facebook page described how fellow author Mitch Albon was/is in the Philippines and wished to help resurrect school libraries in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan (known as "Typhoon Yolanda" in the Philippines); as a first step, Mr. Albom called upon bandmate members (a band whose members are writers) to donate 10 copies each of their books.  Everyone was in -- Dave Barry, Scott Turow, James McBride, Greg Iles, Stephen King, Sam Barry and Amy Tan herself.  Then the bandmates were asked to forward the donation call to folks they knew and pledges that came in within hours included Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), Alice Hoffman, Harlan Coben, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Yiyun Li, Robert Haas, Brenda Hillman, Rabih Alameddine, Arthur Golden Mark Childress, HarperCollins, Billy Collins, Sheila Kohler, Jason Roberts, Lisa See, etc.

In response, a couple of Filipino poet-scholar-critics noted that Filipino and Filipino-American writers seemed to not be called to participate (at least to the date of their comments) from this well-intentioned act.  And without such involvement, saith one respondent, it becomes just another instance of the "white savior complex" ("white" here is symbolic as well as literal).

The incident came to my attention because VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA and my name were mentioned in the reactions to Amy Tan's post, specifically with the hope that Amy Tan consider spreading the word about this fundraising anthology through her obviously wide network.

I don't have a dog or pony in this show (did I just mangle a metaphor?) and am not inclined to get involved in this particular controversy beyond blog-noting this incident for the files (yes, I use my blog as also a file cabinet).  But I am aware that international humanitarian aid is a complicated and messy affair.* This would seem to be one of those complications probably not expected by Amy Tan and the other well-intentioned authors.  

I also wonder if Philippine publishers are doing something similar or if they can afford to do so; it certainly would be nice to stock up Filipino libraries with … Filipino literature.  Maybe Western writers and their publishers could send books not necessarily by themselves or the authors they publish.  

At this point, I would "normally" say what many relief organizations ask, "Please just send money instead."  The reason I don't is that cash, even money charged with buying books, would have the risk of being co-opted by corrupt elements, hence my call in the prior paragraph for continuing to send books if that's what the group wants to donate, but with choices made sensitive to the riches of "local" literature.  Or, if you send money, at least be sure the group to which you send the money can be trusted to apply it for the stated purpose.  Like I said, international aid is complicated and often messy.

*

P.S.  I wrote the above last night ... and the more I think about it (this morning), the more uneasy I become over the notion of libraries sprouting up -- in a country that's already gone through centuries of colonialism -- with offerings that are dominated by Western offerings partly because they have the resources to donate.  When it comes to culture, money is undeniably an influence.  But surely we should do better today when WE -- after decades (since this is an old story) of studying/researching/understanding cultural influence, culture, and influence -- can pinpoint the implication of books not representing one's culture being the dominant presence in one's library.

As rebuilding takes place, there's talk about rebuilding "better" in terms of more safe infrastructure, more environmentally-friendly infrastructure and the like.  Let's rebuild libraries to reflect ALSO the culture of the people who hopefully will be reading in them.  Western books should be present -- YES! But so should Filipino authors ... how is this being addressed?  

And let's not wait for "Westerners" to address this for us.  While I repeat my hope that Western authors and publishers (who usually have more money) can help out with rebuilding libraries in a more appropriate way than doling out their books, Filipino authors and publishers also can act.  Hopefully, there'll be more news along this front that I can report in the future...

(*  Synchronistically, I just finished reading an interesting memoir, CHASING CHAOS: MY DECADE IN AND OUT OF HUMANITARIAN AID by Jessica Alexander.)

WRIT ON THE ARMS!

Sometimes teen hi-jinks just amuse me so!  Michael just showed me his latest drawing, which he did a la tattoo on his arm:

Thing is, it reminds me of a real tattoo John Bloomberg-Rissman put on his arm, an image I so loved I used it for the front cover of one of my books, FOOTNOTES TO ALGEBRA!  Here's John's arm:

John's, of course, quotes from Walter Benjamin writing about the Klee painting, "Angelus Novus":

A Klee painting named Angelus Novus shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.^[1]

Michael's thesis for his arm drawing is equally cerebral.  He says it's an astronaut walking amidst fire, an image he drew because, uh, he liked it.  Works for moi!

BEFORE AND AFTER...FOR A BOOK I WISH DID NOT EXIST

It's a moment.  It's always a moment when you see the first published book from what once were scrawled/printed on pieces of paper.  Here's a "Before" and "After" shot of VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA:

BEFORE

AFTER

The book's not ready for release yet, but ... it's a moment. And I want to wallow in it for a while because a new book, [insert pause] I was going to say, "a new book is always a blessing."  But, actually, this is the one book I wish didn't have to happen.  Because it surfaced only because of Typhoon Haiyan.

If one lives long enough, one lives long enough to see the unexpected, such as a book about which I write in my Editor's Introduction: "I conceptualized and serve as editor for this anthology--[but] I wish this book did not exist."

Ars Poetica: One's gotta do what one's gotta do.

THE MARSH HAWK PRESS REVIEW is FRESH!

The Spring 2014 issue of The Marsh Hawk Press Review is live!  Thanks so much to guest-editor Mary Mackey for including one of my poems, "(THE SECRET OF HER HAPPINESS" which is part of my forthcoming SUN STIGMATA book.  I'm blessed by the company in this issue:

Al Young
Susan Terris
Eileen R. Tabios
Paul Pines
Marge Piercy
Jane Ormerod
Dennis Nurkse
Daniel Morris
Stephen Paul Miller
Joshua McKinney
Sandy McIntosh
Richard Loranger
Burt Kimmelman
Joan Gelfand
Edward Foster
Norman Finkelstein
Thomas Fink
Thomas Fink and Maya Diablo Mason
Claudia Carlson

Go HERE for Table of Contents and to check out the poems!

POEM FROM A TRUE STORY (#4)

This weekend, the hubby barbecued steaks for dinner.  Our son took this photo which turned out pretty nifty, moi thought:

In turn, it inspired a poem (initially titled "Fearless Dad" before I edited it to be titled by its initial first line).  I'm not entirely comfortable with this result below, but since these "Diary Poems" are possibly just drafts, I'll post it anyway.  To Blog is ... to begin.

FIRE IS NOTHING 

That which caused 

an eagle to eat 

a Titan's liver 

everyday to manifest 

a God's edict for 

"eternal torment"-- 

That which decimates 

mountains with 

the slightest breeze-- 

That Fire is nothing 

fearful

 

but fuel 

           to be controlled 

 

when it comes 

to your Family--

That rib's eye 

          you present

floating amidst 

the salsa of 

tomatoes, coriander 

garlic, salt and 

the love that fires 

up our made Life

VALENTINE'S DAY 2014

...let dazzle arrive 

--from "Forget Valentine's Day, and instead" by Kelli Russell Agodon

What a treat to have been among those who received a Valentine Postcard from wonderful poet Kelli Russell Agodon!  And how fitting that she presents Frank O'Hara along with her lovely Valentine poem -- their words hang out together with much amiability.  Here's the front and back and click on the images to enlarge and read their words:

Thank you, Kelli!

A GORGEOUS BOOK COVER!

...a spokeswoman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino, acknowledged Saturday that disaster aid "can never be fast enough" for the areas devastated by Haiyan. 

As the saying goes, Beauty costs.  Please enjoy an advance look at the book cover for VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA designed pro bono by Michelle Bautista, and utilizing the lovely image of the acrylic painting "Sun. Flower. Storm" by one of the book's contributors, G. Mae Aquino. It's a lovely image--but costed from the devastating Typhoon Haiyan.   You can click on images to enlarge them:

FRONT COVER:

BACK COVER:

The back cover features some “Advance Words” from poet-scholar-critic-editor Susan M. Schultz:

VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA: A Storm of Filipino Poets:  

This is a book about a destructive typhoon named Yolanda, or Haiyan, which caused massive damage to the Philippines in November, 2013. This is a sprawling book of poems about family, loss, art, economy, greed, love, grief, theft, militarism, colonialism, typhoon tourism, deforestation, stray dogs, survivors, rubble, donations, propaganda, looting, journalists, dead children, helicopters, rain, disembowelment, black bags, conquerors, catastrophe, “the republic of the drowned” (Luisa A. Igloria). This is a book in English, Filipino, Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon, Bisaya. This is a book by poets who teach, poets who study, a poet who drives a tricycle for a living, poets who work for NGOs, poets who are school children. This is a book by 133 Filipino poets who live in the Philippines, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, South Africa, elsewhere.  What is diaspora but the aftermath of storm? All profits from this book will be donated to relief organizations. “Aid is art,” writes Simeon Dumdum, Jr. Now art will aid survivors of the storm.                                                

—Susan M. Schultz, poet and editor of Tinfish

The book should be out in March but you may want to avail yourself of a SPECIAL PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER!  This is a fundraising project as well.  Months after Typhoon Haiyan, the affected residents still needs the world's help.  Maraming Salamat in advance for your consideration.

For more information: MeritagePress@aol.com

HMM: SHOULD I REVIEW ONLY WOMEN WRITERS?

Reading and reviewing only women writers – HERE is an interesting article about it from The Guardian.  Indeed, I was moved to consider reviewing only women writers for a while – say, for the next issue of Galatea Resurrects (GR).  I haven’t fully committed to the idea (even though I’ve chosen the first book to review and it’s by a woman), in part because as soon as I thought about the concept, several titles by male authors came to mind as books I’d have to defer for reviewing purposes.  But then, I also thought about how the fact that this list immediately popped up probably says something about how the problem is so ingrained (see Matthew Jakubowski’s comments on this issue in the article).  So, I’ll put the idea in the forefront as I continue reading through books for possible review and see if that’ll make a difference in my reviewing choices for at least the next issue of GR.

Meanwhile, here’s one of the titles by male authors that I have targeted reviewing: VARIATIONS ON PAINTING A ROOM: POEMS 2000-2010 by Alan Baker (Skysill Press, Nottingham, U.K., 2011). I haven’t done the review yet but I mention it because, as I’ve said before, the fact that I consider reviewing a particular book means I think it’s excellent.  So if others wish to review this book for GR, I have a review copy; just let me know at GalateaTen@aol.com

And, here’s 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.

PUBLICATIONS

READING THE DIFFICULTIES: DIALOGUES WITH CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN INNOVATIVE POETRY, poetics with poems edited by Thomas Fink and Judith Halden-Sullivan (I loved this – a LinkedIn Poetry Recommendation (LPR) #103 – because I always like poetry discourses that are both sophisticated and down-to-earth (well, as regards the latter, perhaps not totally but mostly… Contributors: Charles Bernstein, Carrie Conners, Thomas Fink, Kristen Gallagher, Judith Halden-Sullivan, Paolo Javier, Burt Kimmelman, Hank Lazer, Jessica Lewis Luck, Stephen Paul Miller, Sheila E. Murphy, Elizabeth Robinson, Christopher Schmidt, Eileen R. Tabios)

NEW AND LATER POEMS by Wilfredo Pascua Sanchez

*  THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR MOUTH, poems by Divya Victor

*  AMERISCOPIA, poems by Edwin Torres

*  RENDEZVOUS, poems by Todd Melicker

*  NO. WAIT. YEP. DEFINITELY STILL HATE MYSELF, poems by Rob Fitterman

*  SWALLOWER, poems by Lyric Hunter

*  AY, poems by Joan Houlihan

*  DEEP KISS, poems by Sherry Kearns

*  O’KEEFE: DAYS IN A LIFE, poems by C.S. Merrill

*  ALL NIGHTMARE, poetry introductions by Josef Kaplan (FABULOUS!  One of the more imaginative poetry projects I've seen recently released. Future LPR recommendation)

*  AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONCRETE POETRY Edited by Emmett Williams

*  BONE BOUQUET, Fall 2013, literary journal edited by Krystal Languell, Elizabeth Brasher, Allison Layfield, Trina Burke, Rachelle Cruz, and Amy MacLennan

MEMORY HOLES, memoir by Erin Virgil (wonderful. LPR #104)

BEYOND THE POSSIBLE: 50 YEARS OF CREATING RADICAL CHANGE AT A COMMUNITY CALLED GLIDE, memoir by Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani

FORTY CHANCES: FINDING HOPE IN A HUNGRY WORLD, study/autobiography by Howard G. Buffett with Howard W. Buffet and Foreword by Warren E. Buffett

HOMESTEADING: A MONTANA FAMILY ALBUM, memoir by Percy Wollaston

THE WORST HARD TIME: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL, history by Timothy Egan

COVERED WAGON WOMEN: DIARIES & LETTERS FROM THE WESTERN TRAILS, 1840-1849 Edited by Kenneth L. Holmes

COVERED WAGON WOMEN: DIARIES & LETTERS FROM THE WESTERN TRAILS, 1852 “THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL,” Edited by Kenneth L. Holmes

JUNKYARD PLANET: TRAVELS IN THE BILLION-DOLLAR TRASH TRADE, journalism by Adam Minter

SNOW ON THE TULIPS, novel by Liz Tolsma

WINES

2007 Arcturus cabernet

2009 Pelissero Piani Barbera D’Alba

2006 Blankiet Rive Droite NV

2004 Bruno Colin Puligny Montrachet La Truffiere

2003 Joh. Jos.  Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese **