American Life in Poetry: Column 223
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
There's lots of literature about the loss of innocence, because we all share in that loss and literature is about what we share. Here's a poem by Alexandra Teague, a San Franciscan, in which a child's awakening to the alphabet coincides with another awakening: the unsettling knowledge that all of us don't see things in the same way.
Language Lessons
The carpet in the kindergarten room
was alphabet blocks; all of us fidgeting
on bright, primary letters. On the shelf
sat that week's inflatable sound. The "th"
was shaped like a tooth. We sang
about brushing up and down, practiced
exhaling while touching our tongues
to our teeth. Next week, a puffy U
like an upside-down umbrella; the rest
of the alphabet deflated. Some days,
we saw parents through the windows
to the hallway sky. "Look, a fat lady,"
a boy beside me giggled. Until then
I'd only known my mother as beautiful.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2008 by Alexandra Teague, whose first book, "Mortal Geography," winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Prize, is forthcoming in 2010 from Persea Books. Reprinted from "Third Coast," Fall 2008, by permission of Alexandra Teague and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
6.29.2009
What's New This Week
Music:
Wilco - Wilco [the album]
[Nonesuch]+ First new Wilco in far too long.
Richard Thompson - Walking on a Wire: Richard Thompson (1969-2009)
[Shout Factory]+ A beautiful four disc set with a 60 page booklet tracing Thompson's career through his early work with his wife into the last two decades of his solo career.
Bjork - Voltaic
+ A new 2 CD / 2 DVD set from Bjork in a big beautiful package.
Spoon - Got Nuffin
+ A new short EP from Spoon. A couple of months ago there were rumors that Daniels and co. were putting the finishing touches on a new album in Portland. This might be the first waft of that long overdue possibility.
Theaters:
Public Enemies (Michael Mann) [Universal]
+ New gangster film on the story of Dillinger with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. [trailer]
The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda) [Cinema Guild]
+ The incomparable Agnes Vardas releases a brand new film. Get excited. [trailer]
DVD:
Tokyo!
(dir. Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Joon-Ho Bong) [Comme des Cinémas]+ One film in three parts, from three separate directors. Carax and Gondry are well known experimentalists, and Joon-Ho is one of the most exciting new directors around (see The Host).
Do the Right Thing (20th Anniversary Edition)
(Spike Lee) [Universal]+ Few films deserve a big fancy box set more than this. Spike Lee's best film hands down.
Wholphin: Issue 8
+ Wholphin, the short film DVD magazine from McSweeneys, is issuing Issue 8. These are always really great, I recommend trying it.
6.25.2009
American Life in Poetry: Column #222
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Coleman Barks, who lives in Georgia, is not only the English language's foremost translator of the poems of the 13th century poet, Rumi, but he's also a loving grandfather, and for me that's even more important. His poems about his granddaughter, Briny, are brim full of joy. Here's one:
Glad
In the glory of the gloaming-green soccer
field her team, the Gladiators, is losing
ten to zip. She never loses interest in
the roughhouse one-on-one that comes
every half a minute. She sticks her leg
in danger and comes out the other side running.
Later a clump of opponents on the street is chant-
ing, WE WON, WE WON, WE . . . She stands up
on the convertible seat holding to the wind-
shield. WE LOST, WE LOST BIGTIME, TEN TO
NOTHING, WE LOST, WE LOST. Fist pumping
air. The other team quiet, abashed, chastened.
Good losers don't laugh last; they laugh
continuously, all the way home so glad.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2001 by Coleman Barks, from his most recent book of poems, "Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems, 1968-2008," University of Georgia Press, 2008, and reprinted by permission of Coleman Barks and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Coleman Barks, who lives in Georgia, is not only the English language's foremost translator of the poems of the 13th century poet, Rumi, but he's also a loving grandfather, and for me that's even more important. His poems about his granddaughter, Briny, are brim full of joy. Here's one:
Glad
In the glory of the gloaming-green soccer
field her team, the Gladiators, is losing
ten to zip. She never loses interest in
the roughhouse one-on-one that comes
every half a minute. She sticks her leg
in danger and comes out the other side running.
Later a clump of opponents on the street is chant-
ing, WE WON, WE WON, WE . . . She stands up
on the convertible seat holding to the wind-
shield. WE LOST, WE LOST BIGTIME, TEN TO
NOTHING, WE LOST, WE LOST. Fist pumping
air. The other team quiet, abashed, chastened.
Good losers don't laugh last; they laugh
continuously, all the way home so glad.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2001 by Coleman Barks, from his most recent book of poems, "Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems, 1968-2008," University of Georgia Press, 2008, and reprinted by permission of Coleman Barks and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
6.16.2009
American Life in Poetry #221
American Life in Poetry: Column 221
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Sometimes, it's merely the sound of a child's voice in a nearby room that makes a parent feel immensely lucky. To celebrate Father's Day, here's a joyful poem of fatherhood by Todd Boss, who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This Morning in a Morning Voice
to beat the froggiest
of morning voices,
my son gets out of bed
and takes a lumpish song
along--a little lyric
learned in kindergarten,
something about a
boat. He's found it in
the bog of his throat
before his feet have hit
the ground, follows
its wonky melody down
the hall and into the loo
as if it were the most
natural thing for a little
boy to do, and lets it
loose awhile in there
to a tinkling sound while
I lie still in bed, alive
like I've never been, in
love again with life,
afraid they'll find me
drowned here, drowned
in more than my fair
share of joy.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2008 by Todd Boss, whose most recent book of poems is "Yellowrocket," W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. Poem reprinted from "Poetry," December 2008, by permission of Todd Boss and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Sometimes, it's merely the sound of a child's voice in a nearby room that makes a parent feel immensely lucky. To celebrate Father's Day, here's a joyful poem of fatherhood by Todd Boss, who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This Morning in a Morning Voice
to beat the froggiest
of morning voices,
my son gets out of bed
and takes a lumpish song
along--a little lyric
learned in kindergarten,
something about a
boat. He's found it in
the bog of his throat
before his feet have hit
the ground, follows
its wonky melody down
the hall and into the loo
as if it were the most
natural thing for a little
boy to do, and lets it
loose awhile in there
to a tinkling sound while
I lie still in bed, alive
like I've never been, in
love again with life,
afraid they'll find me
drowned here, drowned
in more than my fair
share of joy.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2008 by Todd Boss, whose most recent book of poems is "Yellowrocket," W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. Poem reprinted from "Poetry," December 2008, by permission of Todd Boss and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
6.11.2009
American Life in Poetry #220
American Life in Poetry: Column 220
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
One of the privileges of being U.S. Poet Laureate was to choose two poets each year to receive a $10,000 fellowship, funded by the Witter Bynner Foundation. Joseph Stroud, who lives in California, was one of my choices. This poem is representative of his clear-eyed, imaginative poetry.
Night in Day
The night never wants to end, to give itself over
to light. So it traps itself in things: obsidian, crows.
Even on summer solstice, the day of light's great
triumph, where fields of sunflowers guzzle in the sun--
we break open the watermelon and spit out
black seeds, bits of night glistening on the grass.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2009 by Joseph Stroud, and reprinted from his recent book of poems, "Of This World: New and Selected Poems 1966-2006," Copper Canyon Press, 2009, by permission of the author and publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
One of the privileges of being U.S. Poet Laureate was to choose two poets each year to receive a $10,000 fellowship, funded by the Witter Bynner Foundation. Joseph Stroud, who lives in California, was one of my choices. This poem is representative of his clear-eyed, imaginative poetry.
Night in Day
The night never wants to end, to give itself over
to light. So it traps itself in things: obsidian, crows.
Even on summer solstice, the day of light's great
triumph, where fields of sunflowers guzzle in the sun--
we break open the watermelon and spit out
black seeds, bits of night glistening on the grass.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c)2009 by Joseph Stroud, and reprinted from his recent book of poems, "Of This World: New and Selected Poems 1966-2006," Copper Canyon Press, 2009, by permission of the author and publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
5.28.2009
Issue 11 Now Online
Issue 11 is now up, and our contributors in the Narratives section find, through their fiction, new and interesting ways to deal with relationships gone south, and our Poetics section contributor expresses his joy at your appearance in that crown! We also bring you the beautiful work of Sougwen Chung in our Gallery, and welcome back our series InDialogue, where writers and artists talk to each other about, well, anything they want to talk to each other about. Here, two long-time members of the InDigest family, Meakin Armstrong and Sam Osterhout, discuss, among other things, the fate of the funny man, growing old, and why Meakin’s characters don’t have enough sense to get themselves out of the damn basement.
And remember, if you're in New York stop by (le) Poisson Rouge the first Wednesday of every month for the InDigest 1207 reading series, where in June we will be welcoming Stephen Burt, Angela Ball, Rodrigo Toscano, and Giao Buu (and later this summer, John Wray, Marlon James, Ronaldo V. Wilson, and Geoff Herbach).
Narratives
Nicole Callihan's delightfully odd story about a man who sees his friends' relationship somewhat differently than they do.
"One Fish, Two Fish"
&
Peter Bognanni's wild ride into the mystical world of swords...and how they can spice up your love life.
"Historical Replicas Unlimited"
Poetics
Three poems by Michael Ogletree:
"Look at You in That Crown!"
"The Thread"
"Anything Goes, I Guess"
Gallery
Beautiful, swirling prints with muted colors and surprising depth by Sougwen Chung.
InDialogue
Past InDigest Narratives contributors Meakin Armstrong and Sam Osterhout InDialogue.
5.25.2009
Summer Literary Preview
STL Today has just posted an article previewing some of the most exciting literary release coming up this summer.
Some of the ones that have me excited out of the lot:
The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson
Inherent Vice
by Thomas Pynchon
My Father's Tears and Other Stories
by John Updike
Some of the major authors of the summer, I know, but how are you not excited about Updike's final collection or the prospects of Pynchon writing a noir novel? Awesome.
Some of the ones that have me excited out of the lot:
The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg LarssonInherent Vice
by Thomas PynchonMy Father's Tears and Other Stories
by John UpdikeSome of the major authors of the summer, I know, but how are you not excited about Updike's final collection or the prospects of Pynchon writing a noir novel? Awesome.
5.09.2009
Updated lineups for InDigest 1207
We've added some new readers to our lineups for the upcoming InDigest 1207 readings. I'm listing them below. Also, you should check out our new event pages at lepoissonrouge.com, they're pretty slick - photos, videos, and on and on.
June 1207:
Rodrigo Toscano
Angela Ball
Stephen Burt
Giao Buu
August 1207:
John Wray
Marlon James
Ronaldo V. Wilson
Hope you can come out and have some drinks with us, and enjoy some fantastic authors.
June 1207:
Rodrigo Toscano
Angela Ball
Stephen Burt
Giao Buu
August 1207:
John Wray
Marlon James
Ronaldo V. Wilson
Hope you can come out and have some drinks with us, and enjoy some fantastic authors.
4.27.2009
Call For Submissions from Magers & Quinn and mnartists.org
For all Minnesota InDigest folk: Magers & Quinn and mnartists.org continue their fantastic flash fiction contest miniStories (and I'm not just saying that because one of my stories was a finalist). If you're a MN resident, what are you waiting for? Details below.
miniStories FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
miniStories is a flash fiction competition series which spotlights original short-short stories by Minnesota writers. Twenty pieces will be selected for publication by a panel of noted authors, editors, and publishing industry veterans from across the country. We're pleased to announce that novelist Geoff Herbach is returning for a second year as lead juror in the miniStories competition. From the pool of 20 winning authors, 3 grand prize-winners will be selected to receive a paid commission for a second short story (which may or may not be flash fiction) to be published by mnartists.org. Grand prize-winners' commissioned pieces will go through a full editing process and will be illustrated for publication with specially chosen artwork from the vast database of mnartists.org artists.
THERE WILL ONLY BE ONE CALL FOR MINISTORIES SUBMISSIONS FOR 2009:
DEADLINE THURSDAY, APRIL 30
Eligibility and Submission guidelines:
Any Minnesota resident may submit up to three previously unpublished pieces of flash fiction, in any genre; each submission should be no longer than 500 words in length. Stories should be submitted as email attachments to stories@mnartists.org (preferably formatted as Word documents) or pasted into the body of an email. Please put "miniStories flash fiction submission" in the subject line of your email.
You must be a resident of Minnesota and become a member of mnartists.org to have work published in this contest. At the time entrants to miniStories submit their flash-fiction for consideration, they should also submit a low-res (72 dpi) photograph of themselves, a brief bio (no more than 150 words). With this biographical information, entrants should also include links to any relevant personal websites or blogs they would like mentioned should their story(ies) be selected.
Guernica Magazine Sponsors a PEN World Voices Event
To all InDigest readers in New York: As part of the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, Guernica Magazine (where I am the blog editor) is cosponsoring the following event this Saturday, May 2 from 1-2:30pm. Hope to see you there.
May 2, 2009 | Standing Before History: Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa
Introduction by Larry Siems, with Ken Wiwa, Richard North Patterson, with a reading by Steve Connell and Sekou; moderated by Okey Ndibe
On November 10, 1995, Nigeria’s military dictatorship hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of the country’s most acclaimed and popular writers and the leader of a grassroots environmental movement in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta. The region still seethes with unrest and many of the issues Saro-Wiwa gave his life to raise will be the subject of a lawsuit opening in New York this week against oil interests for complicity in his murder. Join Ken Wiwa Jr. and author Richard North Patterson for a discussion of Ken Saro-Wiwa's literary and political legacy, with readings from Saro-Wiwa’s work by Steve Connell and Sekou.
When: Saturday, May 2, 2009: 1–2:30 p.m.
Where: Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue [directions]
Free and open to the public
Cosponsored by Guernica magazine and the Martin E. Segal Theatre, The Graduate Center, CUNY
4.03.2009
Big Thanks to Deb Olin Unferth and Sam Osterhout
Thanks to Deb and Sam for making April's installment of InDigest 1207 an unforgettable night.
FYI: Sam read "Gold" from Donald Hall and an excerpt from the story "Gazebo" by Raymond Carver, while Deb read "Marriage and the Family" from Diane Williams' book Excitability.
Thanks to all who came out. If you couldn't make April, make sure to check out the schedule for the next few months. We have some great readers joining us, including Jennifer L. Knox, Dorothea Lasky, and Wayne Miller in May; Rodrigo Toscano’s Collapsible Poetics Theater, Angela Ball, and Giao V. Buu in June; and John Wray in August.
FYI: Sam read "Gold" from Donald Hall and an excerpt from the story "Gazebo" by Raymond Carver, while Deb read "Marriage and the Family" from Diane Williams' book Excitability.
Thanks to all who came out. If you couldn't make April, make sure to check out the schedule for the next few months. We have some great readers joining us, including Jennifer L. Knox, Dorothea Lasky, and Wayne Miller in May; Rodrigo Toscano’s Collapsible Poetics Theater, Angela Ball, and Giao V. Buu in June; and John Wray in August.
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