"DEAR kari, DEAR MARTHE"

I'm ending National Poetry Month with one last engagement in Galatea Resurrects:

"Dear kari, Dear Marthe"

(MORE) PORTRAIT(S) OF AN ARTIST

I'm enthusiastically recommending PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST, Hugo Huerta Marin's interviews of Marina Abramović, Tania Bruguera, Tracey Emin, Shirin Neshat, ORLAN, Yoko Ono, and Kiki Smith. An immensely satisfying read. Interesting (to me) to see how all answered one of the questions, "Where do you go to be alone." Yoko Ono and Kiki Smith were the ones to answer (as I would have), "I am always alone."

GALATEA RESURRECTS IN APRIL!

I'm pleased to release the April edition of Galatea Resurrects. As ever, deep gratitude to our volunteer-reviewers. You can see the issue HERE, but I'll paste the Contents below for convenience:


APRIL
Objects from a Borrowed Confession by Julie Carr
Reviewed by Kylan Rice (4/23)

A DOG LOST IN THE BRICK CITY OF OUTLAWED TREES by Geoffrey Gatza
Engaged by Eileen Tabios (4/22)

"The Curse of Akkad"
Engaged by Aileen Cassinetto and C. Sophia Ibardaloza (4/21)

Olas Cursis by John M. Bennett
Engaged by Jim Leftwich (4/20)

women: poetry: migration [an anthology], Editor Jane Joritz-Nakagawa
Reviewed by Judy Roitman (4/19)

Masterplan by Eric Greinke and Alison Stone
Engaged by Eileen Tabios (4/18)

UNMARK by Montreux Rotholtz
Reviewed by Brian Burmeister (4/17)

Swedish Poetry Nowadays: An Anthology of 6 Poets in the 21st Century, Editor Kristian Carlsson
Reviewed by William Allegrezza (4/16)

Long Day, Counting Tomorrow by Jim Feast
Engaged by Steve Dalachinsky (4/15)

Compleat Catalogue of Comedic Novelties by Lev Rubinstein, Trans. by Philip Metres and Tatiana Tulchinsky; It's No Good: Poems / Essays / Actions by Kirill Medvedev, Trans. by Keith Gessen with Mark Krotov, Cory Merrill and Bela Shayevich; and I Live I See: Selected Poems by Vsevolod Nekrasov, Trans. by Ainsley Morse and Bela Shayevich
Engaged by Jim Leftwich (4/14)

THE CRITIC WRITES POEMS: Aloysiusi Polintan
(4/13)

The Spirit of the Staircase, poems by Tiana Nobile & paintings by Brigid Conroy
Engaged by Cristina Querrer (4/12)

Dark Pastures: Selected Songs and Poems by John Lunar Richey, WORKS by Danny Shot, and Hope Cries for Justice by Patricia Nicholson and William Parker
Reviewed by Steve Dalachinsky (4/11)

FEATURE: "Lesser Lights: More Adventures From A Hamptons Apprenticeship" 
By Sandy McIntosh (4/10)

Mirrors Mascaras by John M. Bennett
Engaged by Jim Leftwich (4/9)

Publications by Clark Coolidge, Jim Leftwich, John M. Bennet, Michel Roly, Leslie Scalapino, Keith Shein, Scott MacLeod, Lyn Hejinian, Brandon Brown, and Ron Silliman
Engaged by Scott MacLeod (4/8)

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE BUS! (exclamation point mine)

Aaarrrrggg. I literally just approved HAY(NA)KU 15 for sending out to the printer. A mere couple of hours later, I stumble across a poet new to me who'd written in hay(na)ku. Bad news: too late for anthology. Good news: it really must have spread if I don't know who's writing/written innit. But as you can tell by the title (it's a 2010 chap but such is my To-Read Pile), there's wit and brilliance in Gizelle Gajelonia. Her hay(na)ku is in THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE BUS from the quite smart Tinfish Press. Photo below is excerpt from her poem:

Really, Maraming Salamat to all of you poets who've welcomed the hay(na)ku form!

EDITING HUMANITY (THE ANTHOLOGY, NOT THE SPECIES)

Sleepless days ... because I'm editing HUMANITY.  Scheduled for a Summer 2018 release. From publisher Paloma Press:

HUMANITY, an anthology featuring practitioners/students in the fields of environmental science, public policy, decolonization and multicultural studies, poetry, anthropology, medicine, music, theology, and history on their observations and vision of the human condition.

More information HERE! But I'll post the photo of the contributors (except for another lovely who's missing):

HAY(NA)KU IN CEBU!

Cultural activist and writer Malou Alorro was gracious enough to send me photos of the hay(na)ku rearing up its perky face at Southwestern University. At the 1st Central Visayas Press Conference involving senior high school and college students and with the theme "Fighting Against False Media through Responsible and Fearless Journalism," the hay(na)ku was introduced when the local Women in the Literary Arts-Cebu discussed their journeys as writers! And the students were encouraged to do internet research to learn more about the poetry form, as well as to write their own!  I am looking forward to original hay(na)ku poems in Cebuano!  Meanwhile, here are pics:

Malou Alorro 

 From slide presentations.

Malou with Dess Balota, English and Literature Professor at St. Theresa's College

That hay(na)ku! Nako, it loves to travel!

LOVE IN A TIME OF BELLIGERENCE

Brew & Forge Book Fair is open! For $20 donations, you can get signed books direct from about 75 different authors in support of the BYP100! Such includes Moi who donated the aptly-titled LOVE IN A TIME OF BELLIGERENCE.  Click HERE to see all books and hopefully start shopping! I'd love to personalize my book and send it over to you, or as your gift to another poetry-reader!  

"ON THIS WORLD WHERE THE ANGLO-ZANZIBAR WAR ERUPTED"

So 2018 is my year of exploring the tanka form ... which includes my variations of the form. I'm grateful to North of Oxford for being the first to publish some of my "rattail" (or ducktail) tankas: verse followed by a single, usually-long line.  You can see 3 tankas from my series "On This World Where the Anglo-Zanzibar War Erupted" -- the 3 tankas are separated by asterisks (in case that's not clear from the format).

As regards the title, here's an explanatory excerpt from a poetics essay:

"the shortest war in recorded history was the “Anglo-Zanzibar War.” As a “final act” of that 45-minute war in 1896, Britain had demanded the Zanzibar government reimburse it for the shells it had fired.

Such arrogance, I thought, about Britain’s demand for payment. After all, Britain waged war because it didn’t approve of the man who seized power, Khalid bin Bargash, after the death of British ally Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini. So much for [others'] self-determination. In that arrogance—and ridiculousness—I found a new title for my tanka series... "

You can see more of my tanka variations (as well as my initial, more traditional tankas) in TANKA, Vol. I which was just released from Simulacrum Press.

NEW HAY(NA)KU SCULPTURE FOR RADICAL LOVE!

Delighted to share some coverage by The FilAm Magazine on the hay(na)ku's birthday. You can see it HERE (though the featured cover is not the final one).


As I'm in the middle of reviewing manuscript proofs for the upcoming and blockbuster HAY(NA)KU 15 Anthology (!), 'twas a pleasure to see this hay(na)ku sculpture by Melinda Luisa de Jesus. It's part of the just-opened exhibit, “Home: Making Space for Radical Love and Struggle,” April 9-20, 2018 at Oliver Art Center CCA, Oakland, CA:

(click on image to enlarge)

POEM FOR MARTHE REED

Marthe Reed with husband Michael Kalish, photo by Laura Mullen

Devastation is newly-defined by the passing of extraordinary human being Marthe Reed, ever a source of balm in the world and poetry world.  I am mostly stunned into speechlessness. But of course a poem erupted for--and with--her.  This is based on the topics we last discussed through Facebook Messenger:

You Brought Me to the Mangrove Forest

—with and for Marthe Reed

In the Sundarbans of South Bangladesh and India

the climate keeps worsening. We bemoan

across our paper-cluttered e-desks as you adopt

a collage technique from Mei-mei Berssenbrugge

“Is my Black Radish subscription up to date?”

You make notes on small pieces of paper—side-effects

of chapbook-making. You pause to hug an animal

before returning to the IPCC Synthesis Report

while discussing native plant species, literature and

ethics. Always ethics. “Should this be reviewed by

Galatea Resurrects?” Always literature. The Hungry Tide

by Amitav Ghosh, Travels In The Mugal Empire by François

Bernier, and Schizophrene by Bhanu Kapil. How to own

responsibility? How to inspire an inspired poem. A country

‘s name becomes synonym for deferred responsibility

Exhausted from gardening tiredness… but “Then I made

a strawberry birthday cake for a friend!”  Prepare by

laying out the words on the dining room table. “How many

participants in Anthropocene?” "Over a hundred." Arrange

conversation through a juxtaposition of texts. “Can I order

30 more copies of AMNESIA?” Do smoothen that grammar

New poetry anticipated from Jaimie, Anastacia and Jared

We’re marrying fragments to each other. Visiting Portland

for your daughter, you observe, “I am nearby.” I am nearby

I feel you in the mangrove forest, charming the Crocodilus

porosus, the Panthera tigris, the Varanus salvator, the Platinista

Gangetica and the Lepidochelys olivacea. Always, you are near

COVERING YOU WITH HAY(NA)KU 15!

Back in 2003 when we inaugurated the hay(na)ku, I didn't think about whether this invention (which was another experiment on my part) would last. Well, here's the 15th Year Anniversary Anthology cover designed by Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto and featuring the art of Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza. With 128 poets and translators, 13 countries and 8 languages. You all surprised me (and some of the core original practitioners). But thank you -- you're always invited to the hay(na)ku. And because you took my hand, I cover you.

HAY(NA)KU 15 will be released in Summer/Fall 2018 from Meritage Press and Paloma Press.

ABOUT COVER ARTIST: Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza is a multimedia artist who replicates and reinterprets everyday objects and materials to explore cultural perception. Mendoza immigrated to the U.S. at age 3 ½, where she has since lived, worked and studied in Los Angeles, California. Mendoza studied at Otis College of Art and Design, California State University, Los Angeles, and Claremont Graduate University. She is currently Associate Professor and Drawing Coordinator at Pasadena City College. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including Commonwealth & Council, Forum Gallery, Solway Jones, the Pacific Asia Museum, and Canada’s PlugIn Gallery. Mendoza is a recipient of an L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs COLA fellowship and the New York Art Matters fellowship. She has served as artist-in- residence at Yaddo artist residency, Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, and will soon visit Kyoto, Japan for a residency at Art Space YOSUGA.

__________________

This post replicates a post on Facebook, where I'd also commented: Thank you Vince Gotera; Janna Añonuevo Langholz (for your  Filipino American Artist Directory that introduced me to cover artist Maryrose); Abraham Ignacio (this wouldn't have happened without your support, and librarians are never "simple" :) ); Jean Vengua, Ivy Alvarez, Ernesto Priego, Mark Young and John Bloomberg-Rissman for coediting prior anthologies; Nick Carbó (for confounding Flips Listserve with Vince, where I'd introduced the form); Rebeka Lembo (for helping organize the Spanish section); Edwin Lozada (for PAWA's sponsorship with the 15th anniversary events at SFPL); and all the poets -- especially the innovative poetry communities.

     And of course and always Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinettofor bringing Paloma Press on board as co-publisher 😍

REPORTING LIVE ... ON POETRY I BUY!

I haven’t shared recently a list of books I bought by poets. I’m reminded of such because I just ordered a “proof” copy of Sheila E. Murphy’s REPORTING LIVE FROM YOU KNOW WHERE which won the Hay(na)ku Book Prize contest judged by Vince Gotera, Jean Vengua and Mark Young.  So here’s an update on moi Recently Bought Poetry List of books by poets or about poets/poetry.

REPORTING LIVE FROM YOU KNOW WHERE by Sheila Murphy

INDOLENT BOOKS’ Triolet Sponsor—POEMS IN THE AFTERMATH edited by Michael Broder; BELL LAP by Laura Winberry; and __ (publisher Michael Brody’s choice)

PILIPINX RADICAL IMAGINATION READER edited by Melissa-Ann Nievera-Lozano and Anthony Abulencia Santa Ana

ÉMIGRÉ by Geneva Chao

99: THE NEW MEANING by Walter Abish

WIRE SCULPTURES by Lawrence Upton

JOAN MURRAY: Drafts, Fragments, and Poems, The Complete Poetry edited by Farnoosh Fathi

THREE NOVELS by Elizabeth Robinson

HURRY HOME HONEY by Sawako Nakayasu

ARBOREAL by Barbara Tomash

FIRST AWAKENINGS: THE EARLY POEMS OF LAURA RIDING

CONTINUOUS FRIEZE BORDERING RED by Michelle Naka Pierce

COMING EVENTS (COLLECTED WRITINGS) by Susan Gevirtz

THE STRUGGLERS by Norman Fischer

THE COUNTESS FROM MINNEAPOLIS by Barbara Guest

BROKEN OFF BY THE MUSIC by John Yau

THE AGGRESSIVE WAYS OF THE CASUAL STRANGER by Rosmarie Waldrop

AUTOBIOGRAPHY / ANTI-AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Jennifer Bartlett

MODERN JAPANESE TANKA edited by Makoto Ueda

THE COORDINATES OF DOUBT by Daniel Y. Harris and Rupert M. Loydell

HOUSEWORK by Susan Birchenough

NINTH IOTA by Irene Koronas

TAKES, CUTS: A DAVID LYNCH RENGA by Colin Winborn & Rob Stanton

BECH: A BOOK, novel by John Updike

PORT LIGHT: A HAY(NA)KU COLLECTION by William Allegrezza

HIRAETH: TERCETS FROM THE LAST ARCHIPELAGO by Eileen R. Tabios

THE OPPOSITE OF CLAUSTROPHOBIA: Prime’s Anti-Autobiography by Eileen R. Tabios

SUN STIGMATA by Eileen R. Tabios

EVIDENCE OF FETUS DIVERSITY edited by Eileen R. Tabios

A CHILD’S ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY edited by Elizabeth Hauge Sword

TURNINGS: WRITING ON WOMEN’S TRANSFORMATIONS edited by Luisa Igloria

FUTURES TRADING: ANTHOLOGY FIVE edited by Caleb Puckett

FOR NATIONAL POETRY MONTH SPECULATIVENESS, THE "SCI(NA)KU" AND ROBOT TANKA!

I'm grateful to poetry editor Vince Gotera for highlighting the hay(na)ku and its derivation "sci(na)ku" in the current issue of Star*Line, the journal for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. You can see the relevant Editor's Intro HERE.

And if you check out the issue, you'll also see one of my new robot tankas :).  But as it's a print journal, I'll replicate it here:

From Antarctican Vibranium Tankas

He sports the bullet

Hole like a lover’s tattoo

“Mark me more!” he laughs

His steel body keeps moving

I aim anew with desire

Vibranium, btw, is a fictional metal from the Marvel universe. Antarctican vibranium, more commonly known as “anti-metal,” produces vibrations that break down the molecular bonds in any metal, essentially liquefying them.