The Massachusetts Poetry Festival will be held in May in Salem, MA. Information is on Doug Holder’s Website here: http://tinyurl.com/28dxovd
December 12, 2010
Interesting Interview with Lan Samantha Chang on Bookworm
Of course, good writing can’t really be taught, although parts of it can be learned. But if one wanted to learn to be a good writer, it wouldn’t hurt to listen to someone like Chang.
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw101118lan_samantha_chang_a/embed-audio
December 7, 2010
For December (Sonnet 12)
XII
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o’er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
—Will Shakespeare
November 14, 2010
Haibun and Novels
My fiction combines autobiography, short parables for children, history, travel writing, and poetry. It is related in this way to the Haibun form of 17th Century Japan. The Japanese poet, Bashō, known mainly for his haiku, was a writer of haibun. Haibuns may use a scene in a descriptive and objective manner or they may occupy a dream-like space. Realistic scenes may be faded into parabolic ones such as this which follows a paragraph of standard prose:
I am your mother. I give you life, I hold your life up, I give you life on your own. The last gift is the hardest to give. I caress your title page as it leaves my hand. I can’t imagine not giving you a little sister. It’s the third gift.
October 15, 2010
Rest in peace, poet Jack Powers
Rest in peace, poet Jack Powers, founder of the Stone Soup Poets. He was the Lou Gehrig of poetry readings—giving a stage for voices of thousands of poets.
My first reading was at his Stone Soup reading in the shadow of the old Charles St. jail. Better to shout out poetry, than to shout down a policeman and end up in the jail. Thanks, Jack.
September 21, 2010
Tardy Son Synopsis (Novel #4)
Tardy Son synopsis: (Manuscript now complete . . . Yay!)
When a 12-year-old California boy’s attempt to run away from his abusive home is thwarted, he defies the police, and wages war against his father. His first attempt to escape by jumping onto a freight train bound for San Francisco becomes an odyssey. He wants to start an imaginary baseball team, go to an imaginary school, and become a real writer. But when cornered by the police and angered by the lies his father tells the newspapers, he uses his wit and humor to fight back and publishes his own side of the runaway story which becomes infamous throughout California. “Two crazy people are better than one,” he says. He writes his day-to-day story for his teammates, his girlfriend, and his father to read. When he finally faces his father again, his anger draws blood, yet it also reveals a deeper story. He’s a polio survivor and a Mexican adopted by a white family in the 1950s, so his fight for his truth becomes more than a struggle to survive life on the street—it becomes a struggle to find his own identity.
July 5, 2010
Two of my poems are somewhere with Waldo
Two of my poems are published somewhere near the Interwebs in paper or electrons.
Dangerous Pid
Two-Wheel Poem
February 25, 2010
Mendocino Coast Writers Conference
The Mendocino Coast Writers Conference is held on the scenic northern California coast. I know, I learned to write and swim there (Fort Bragg, CA). Its faculty has included: Barbara Kingsolver, John Lescroart, Ronnie Gilbert, and Gary Snyder. It offers scholarships and contests and nature hikes. I wish I could be there to see Glass Beach, Noyo Harbor, and Pudding Creek. It’s held this year in late July. Check it out at http://mcwc.org.
February 25, 2010
So good to have company
Thanks to all the visitors today. I’m thinking you didn’t come yesterday because you didn’t know about the site yet. They don’t call me Sherlock Holmes. Thanks also to Charlotte for her comments. This is inspiring; I’ll have to add some new material now you’ve brought it to life for me.
February 21, 2010
Humor in Angst
My style of humor is comparable with Nick Hornby of High Fidelity, said agent Carolyn Jenks.
Here’s a Nick Hornby interview in the Guardian (UK):
davidkrancher.com 