Full article here, with lots of interesting quotes by other poets on the subject.  I think Rita Dove said it best: “So it’s an admirable task (that) no one would refuse if they were asked, but you would kind of go, ‘Oh, my God.”

Of course, now a lot of that day is reduced to scrawls in my notebook, and my faulty memory.  I will say this: all the poets had really great insights to share about writing.  It was a very worthwhile series of panels and I wouldn’t hesitate to attend again.  I am disappointed that I didn’t get the opportunity to speak with any of them — people were quite aggressive about talking to them at length during the social bits afterward, so unless you’re really pushy, it was hard to get a word in.  I definitely had things I would have liked to say to a couple of them in response to their statements during the panel, but alas.  I may just have to resort to writing a few “charming notes” as Carolyn See would call them.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working like a fiend, writing, submitting, not getting any responses from my dozens of submissions that are out in the world (what is that all about? ), and now doing reviews.  I’m nearly finished with the review of Sally Van Doren’s book Sex At Noon Taxes, which will be published around December 1 on the site Gently Read Literature.  I have also offered them a review of the Cody Walker book Shuffle and Breakdown, which was given to me by a friend, and which I absolutely adored.  It’s a knockout.

Coming soon: the rest of the Academy of American Poets forum weekend in New York.

A few observations:

• C.K. Williams wore a bright orange shirt with a red tie.  Very attention-getting!  He pulled it off, I must say.
• C.K. Williams also blew me away with the exquisitely executed musicality of his reading.  As my former mentor David Wagoner would say, “The ear was at work.”  Heh.
• Gary Snyder looked exactly like his photographs.  And was wearing brightly-colored stripey socks.  And an orange shirt.  Orange shirts must be all the rage among older gentlemen poets these days.
• Robert Pinsky gets an absolutely delighted look on his face when he likes what he’s hearing.
• Sharon Olds is the kindest, sweetest, and funniest woman ever.  I adore her.  Also, she read a poem called “Douchebag Ode” and brought the house down.

After the reading, I was able to speak with Sharon Olds for a moment and have her sign my book.  Despite my determination to be cool, I was a stammering dork.  Oh well.  She was very nice about me stumbling over my words as if I just learned to speak yesterday.  I also had a moment with Robert Pinsky (and was slightly less of an idiot), with whom I spoke to about Slate.  I love that he records each poet reading to post on the website with the poems.  He said he was happy to hear that because the poetry in Slate doesn’t get many hits and they keep threatening to cut it.  What a tragedy!  If you love poetry and want to see it out in the world where regular people can read it, I urge you to bookmark the Slate poetry page and click often.  At least once a week, will you?  Not only is the poetry there very often amazing, but it’s worth doing for the cause.

Pinsky also signed his book for me.  He used my favorite pen, which I received as a gift from my family when I graduated with my MFA.  I will never wash it again!  (Ha.)

I’d love everyone reading this to comment and let us all know they voted.

Information below (thanks, Moveon.org) if you need it:

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day! Remember to vote—not just for Barack Obama, but for Congressional, state, and local candidates as well.

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

Obama’s VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
League of Women Voters’ site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php
Obama’s voter hotline: 877-US4-OBAMA (877-874-6226)
What should I do before I go?

After you’ve entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.
Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.
Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/
What if something goes wrong?

Not on the voter list? Make sure you’re at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
If you’re voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Try to get video of the problem and submit it to VideoTheVote.org
Want to do more?

Text all of your friends: “Vote Obama today! Pass it on!”
Make calls from home for Obama.
Now everybody go vote!!!

Anyway, since my last post, I’ve been busy…you guessed it: writing, submitting, and reading.  Also, hosting out-of-town guests, which is always fun.  A couple of days ago I finally came up with an ending for a poem that was really giving me a hard time, so I was able to slip it into its assigned spot in my manuscript and get that baby mailed out to a contest I’ve been wanting to enter for a couple of years.  And postmarked it three weeks before the deadline — go me!

My manuscript has changed so much since its original version as my thesis.  Like many theses, I would guess, it was a big rush at the end and I had to shove in almost everything I had that was remotely suitable in order to graduate on time.  So, although it passed all the readers and I got my MFA, it wasn’t something I was particularly ready to send out.  I had a poet friend look at it and got some great feedback from her, most of which echoed what my gut had been telling me (those guts, they can be very perceptive you know), but I still wasn’t sure exactly how to make it sing.  I wrote a few new poems that I really liked, which enabled me to remove some of the weaker ones, which was a good start.  And then one morning while I was drying my hair, I realized there was one particular poem that absolutely HAD to be at the beginning.  Once I’d figured that out, the rest of it pretty much fell into place with the re-ordering.  And although it probably still isn’t perfect (is any manuscript perfect?) it’s something I’m proud of, and I think is worthy of submission.  And I believe it makes much more of an impact the way it stands now.  All of which just goes to show that a writer’s subconscious knows these things, and sometimes you just have to be quiet and listen for it.

In other news, the new Poet Lore is finally out and there I am on page 34.   All I can say is, WOW, what a thrill!  Granted, it’s my first really good print publication, and therefore extra exciting, but does it ever get old?  I’m thinking perhaps not.  Funny thing is, they published one of my least favorite poems.  What’s that all about?  I guess a writer is not always the best judge of her own work?  Or taste is subjective?  Something like that…ha.

Now that the summer is well and truly over, I am determined to make it to more readings, both in the city and here in New Jersey.  I’ve been wrapped up in other things, but it’s important to me to support my fellow poets, and I really enjoy hearing other people read and discovering new voices that I love.  I think I will need to set a goal to get it done, though.  Perhaps two per month?  It’s tough with three kids and a husband traveling every other week.  Woe is me.

It seems to me that a better place to out oneself as a literary citizen is on a site like Goodreads.  After all, Goodreads is presumably frequented by literary types who like to read, right?   Turns out Goodreads is a good site for literary networking.  Tonight I received a message via Goodreads from the editor of Gently Read Literature, a newish-but-impressive lit-blog.  He asked if I would consider submitting a review of a poetry collection I’d recently read and done a two-sentence review of on Goodreads.  I’m assuming that he asked not because the two sentences I’d spit out immediately upon finishing the book, but because he (here’s where you fellow starving writers should pay attention) CLICKED THROUGH TO THIS BLOG and beheld my brilliant…ummm…off-the-cuff blathering about…uuuhh…whatever.  And realized that an MFA makes me qualified to write a halfway coherent review.  Well, we’ll see if he posts it.  Because his site really does obviously publish a high standard of content and I think you should go over there right this minute and read some reviews and find a book that sounds like something you would really dig.  I mean, we all need to do our part to support the cause of poetry and literature, yes?  And there are so many amaaaazing poets out there who aren’t being read because the general public is seriously missing out.  Don’t be the General Public.

Also?  Check back there on December 1st.  If I live up to the promise of this blog and my [*insert snooty voice*] literary degree, there will be one kick-ass review of a certain newly-released collection that pretty much everyone in the world should read or else they’ll be MISSING OUT.  (Don’t miss out.)

Thanks, Daniel, for the shot.  And for calling me “aces.”

So imagine my dismay when I eagerly scanned the table of contents to find nary a sign of my name.  It’s only two pages of contents, but I must have read those two pages seventeen times looking for my name.  Surely I’m just overlooking it, I thought, scanning more and more slowly.  As if I wouldn’t spot my own name, right?  My poem wasn’t anywhere in the book.  My stomach sank.

I was going to send a polite inquiry to the editor.  I sat down to type it up when it occurred to me that I should get my acceptance letter and make sure I was addressing the correct editor.  I dug it out of the file.  And right there, in paragraph three, it says, “Publication will be in the ‘Awards 30′ issue of October 2008, or, depending on space and appropriateness of material, one of our two 2009 issues.”

Oh.

While I’m relieved that my poem likely wasn’t lost or overlooked, I am disappointed.  I’ve been on pins and needles for months waiting for this one to arrive.  Now it’s another 6 or 12 months before I’ll see it in print.  Ah well.  The poet’s life is not one of immediate gratification, as this experience has so frustratingly reminded me.  You can bet, though, that even without the inclusion of my poem (ha) this issue of Nimrod will be a good one, and I’m looking quite forward to reading it.

All of the readers were excellent, but the one who stood out the most was Laure-Anne Boesselaar.  She knocked my socks off with the single, long poem she read, the name of which escapes me, but it was a poem that wove together a train ride to New Jersey from NYC and the speaker’s early childhood in a convent school and how much she longed for her mother.  The poem spoke to me in so many ways.  I believe it’s from her most recent book A New Hunger, which you can bet I’ll be acquiring posthaste.  I have the feeling I’m going to be very touched and inspired by her work.

National Endowment For the Arts Funds Construction of $1.3 Billion Poem

My favorite bit:  “If the planners can secure an additional $6.2 million in funding, they may affix a long dash to the end of line three, though Gioia said that is a purely optimistic projection at this stage.”

Hee!