Eileen R. Tabios is a poet working in multiple genres and in-between. She also loves books by writing, reading, publishing, critiquing, romancing and advocating for them. This blog will feature her bibliophilic activities with posts on current book engagements and links to her books and projects related to books.

Monday, June 28, 2021

BURT KIMMELMAN REVIEW OF THE IN(TER)VENTION...

Marsh Hawk Press recently concluded a virtual book launch reading series featuring current Marsh Hawk titles by Jon Curley, Thomas Fink and Maya Mason, Edward Foster, Basil King, Daniel Morris, Gail Newman, Geoffrey O’Brien, Eileen R. Tabios, and Tony Trigilio. Before each reading, Burt Kimmelman presented a much-applauded, insightful introduction to the poets' works. These critical intros are now collected in a summer edition of the Marsh Hawk Review available HERE.

I am blessed by what Burt had to say about The In(ter)vention of the Hay(na)ku, including the following:

Too many readers overlook a poem’s form, ironically. Tabios does not. Yet she’s always bending it. Tom Fink points out, in his introduction to The Intervention of the Hay(na)ku, that this book “involves theorizing about poetry [from] within the poems.” 

 

James Joyce found poetry too confining. Tabios must always transcend her own formalisms—their own magnitude and brilliance. What one writer lives in or with, so the other.

 

Tabios is intrinsically drawn to form for reasons to do with how aesthetics and thought touch. Robert Creeley wrote what I see as a hallmark of post-War American experimental poetry. Titled “A Piece,” the poem has five words—two each in the first two lines, one in the last. Its unobvious symmetry is evident in its reading:

 

One and 

one, two, 

three.

 

When once asked about this poem, Creeley said: “I knew that for me it was central to all possibilities of statement.”

Tabios may not know Creeley’s poems well. Nevertheless, she possesses the instinct in that non-poem. I’m awed by her intellect that’s always understated.


*****

What's interesting about this edition of MH Review is that presenting the same critic allows the reader to contextualize each take on a different poet from the same mind--you can consider Burt's opinion on Poet A based, too, on how he approached Poet B or Poet C, etc. There's a certain integrity there that's rarely accessed.


Of course: THANK YOU, Burt Kimmelman!

Summer of Emergence Reading Series: New and Recent Marsh Hawk Press Books

Contents

Introduction 

Basil King, Disparate Beasts Part 2 

Geoffrey O’Brien, Where Did Poetry Come From; Daniel Morris, Blue Poles .

Thomas Fink and Maya Mason, A Pageant for Every Addiction 

Jon Curley, Remnant Halo: A Map n’ Dice Chronicle 

Eileen Tabios, The Intervention of the Hay(na)ku: Selected Tercets 

Gail Newman, Blood Memory 

Tony Trigilio, Proof Something Happened 

Edward Foster, A Looking-Glass for Traytors 

ABOUT BURT KIMMELMAN



Monday, June 7, 2021

A DOVELION EXPERIMENT!

It's been two months and 7 days since my novel DOVELION was released and I am grateful for its reception so far. There were supply imbalances as we didn't expect the initial high demand, which is lovely since it's a great problem to have. Fortunately, DOVELION is now restocked, but I'd like to present an opportunity get a FREE COPY:

The novel comes with a "Notes" section that's so extensive that poet-artist-publisher Holly Crawford observed it's its own novel. So if anyone would like to engage just the 4,500-word "Notes" section, I'd be happy to send over a review copy. ("Engage" here means a reaction that can be informal and written in any style, from epistolary to a straight review.) Your response can be as long as you wish but should be at least 4 paragraphs as I'd be interested in featuring it in next Halo-Halo Review. This Notes section incorporates not just sources to various items in the novel but links that you may or may not wish to follow up on, as well as a few poems. This obviously is an experiment so I'm open to however people end up engaging this Notes section. Email me if this opportunity would be of interest. This offer is available to more than one person, depending on interest.


Info on DOVELION is HERE; hopefully the info will interest you in reading it anyway. I'll also post a photo from a random page of "Notes" section, to give an idea of what the Notes look like. Ultmately, have fun with this experiment, too!


(Small print: book can be sent only to U.S. addresses.)

THANKS in advance for your time and interest!


Tuesday, June 1, 2021

DOVELION REVIEWED BY NORTH OF OXFORD

(click on images to enlarge)

Deep gratitude to reviewer Ray Gleenblatt and North of Oxford for reviewing DOVELION. The reviewer focuses on the book's diction and his focus is why I don't mind talking a lot about the novel's plot ... because nothing said can replace reading the book. One doesn't get this novel by reading about it but only actually reading it, unmediated. You can see entire review HERE, but here are some excerpts:

Tabios has the skill to bring objects to life, whether miniscule or cosmic. Let us first look at the building in which Elena and Ernst meet. “A building that looked like a grey egg. I cracked it open.” (19) This simile suggests the birth of something significant. “The building’s multiple reflections encouraged the thought of parallel universes.” (33) Inside this structure all types of freedom of expression waited for her. Through direct address she challenges her fears: “I am not small and anonymous like you, Basement!’” (31)


[...] Not much has been said about the author’s moments of comedy. 

     “Capturing light through algebra.” (284) 

      “Anthologies of glass.” (285) 

I am not quite sure what the above mean, but I find them delightfully whimsical. "





VIDEO RECORDING AVAILABLE FOR MARSH HAWK READING

You are invited to see the recording of the second session of Marsh Hawk Press' Summer Reading Series. This event features readings by Thomas Fink & Maya Mason, Jon Curley, and Eileen R. Tabios with Introductions by Burt Kimmelman. The website features link and password at this link.

(My part of the event starts at 00:35.30 as I'm the last reader.)

I recommend the presentations by the other readers. I also thank Burt Kimmelman for his generous Introduction to me and the book I was launching--the 2021 paperback edition of The In(ter)vention of the Hay(na)ku: Selected Tercets 1995-2019; here's an excerpt: 

"Too many readers overlook a poem’s form ironically. Tabios does not. Yet she’s always bending it. ….Joyce found poetry too confining. Tabios must always transcend her own formalisms.… . Tabios is intrinsically drawn to form for reasons to do with how aesthetics and thought touch."

I'm also grateful to those who attended the reading, including these: