Saturday, March 31, 2007
The
poetry publication database I've been toying with has changed URLs so it's now on my site. If you used the old database, please update your bookmarks. If you want to be involved, sign up as a user and let me know, and I'll upgrade your account so you can add and edit journals (there's not a whole lot of functionality for the user-level yet, though there are vague future plans to add it). It's important that you e-mail me, though, because if I don't know who you are, I'm not upgrading your privileges.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Contest Winner
Congratulations to Jeff Newberry for winning the suggest-a-poem-exercise contest a few posts down. The sort of exercise I like best: simply stated, potentially deep and complex, and just open-ended enough.
Jeff will receive
Best New Poets 2006 and
The Eleventh Muse 2006. I'll just mail them along with his contributor copy of the
Muse 2007.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Ta daaaa
The 2007 issue of
The Eleventh Muse contains an outstanding variety of 63 poems by 46 poets.
The complete list of writers appearing in this issue:Emily Wong, Sean Trotanta, Larissa Szporluk, Danielle Sellers, Margaret Ronda, Doug Ramspeck, Carsten Rene Nielsen, Jeff Newberry, Cindy May Murphy, John McKernan, Nathan McClain, Gary L. McDowell, John Mann, Sheryl Luna, Tim Lockridge, Timothy Liu, A. J. Patrick Liszkiewicz, Sarah Lindsay, Steve Langan, David Keplinger, Genevieve Kaplan, Charlotte Innes, Joseph Hunt, H. L. Hix, Alex Grant, Noah Eli Gordon, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Suzanne Frischkorn, Gina Franco, Jason Fraley, Kelly Madigan Erlandson, Ellen Kirvin Dudis, Diane Elayne Dees, Jehanne Dubrow, J. P. Dancing Bear, Tom Daley, Gary Joseph Cohen, Patrick Carrington, Joel Brouwer, Gaylord Brewer, Paul Benton, Sandra Beasley, Jeffrey Bean, Danielle Aquiline, Maureen Alsop, & Mary Alexandra Agner
The issue is available for $8. For ordering instructions, samples, and much more, visit
http://www.poetrywest.org/muse2007.htm(Copies will begin mailing over the next couple weeks for contributors and poetry contest participants. Please be patient.)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Harrumph / Best Laid Plans
So I found out yesterday that the University of Missouri, St. Louis rejected me from their MFA program. In many ways it would have been the ideal situation for me right now, since their evening-classes schedule would have allowed me to keep a day job that gives me a lot more income than I have the potential for anywhere else right now, I would have been living in a city where I have some existing social network (and where the poetry scene is bigger than Colorado Springs), and it still would have provided some of the community environment that a low-res program wouldn't.
I must admit to being somewhat surprised they rejected me--outside of my nine-year-old transcripts, I know I have a strong application package. I'm actually not that disappointed, though, because I think I would have benefitted them as much as they would have benefitted me, and if they're not of that opinion, fine. I'd still like to go back for the MFA, but I have the luxury of being in a position where it's entirely on my terms, and I don't have to be a supplicant. Feels pretty good.
So now I have a wide-open set of options in front of me starting in July, when my apartment lease expires. I'm definitely moving out of here, but other than that I haven't decided what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go. Any thoughts?
Better news tomorrow...
Monday, March 26, 2007
In convenient bullet-point format
- I'm going to leave the contest one post down open until Wednesday, so any of you early-week readers who are interested in entering can jump in.
- Funny thing from an annoying resume client the other day. The non-funny part is that she flipped out over the much-improved resume I wrote her and demanded a refund that she ended up getting. I have a blinding hatred for this sort of sociopathic behavior. Anyway, as part of her idiotic tantrum, she faxed us the resume I wrote and let us know she was "returning" it. Uhhh, okay, never mind that (A) she still had the paper she put through the fax machine, of course, and (B) I sent her the file as a Microsoft Word document. I truly hope she never uses the resume I wrote.
- Aaron's new-book reading in Denver was quite enjoyable. Small crowd, but that just made it more fun. I have this problem at gatherings, though--either I stay quiet and then I think people feel like I'm not having fun or I'm standoffish, neither of which is usually true (or the standoffish one is unintentional), or I talk and end up saying some innocuous little stupid thing that everyone else probably forgets within two minutes but that I agonize about for a week or more. Good times.
- I basically have a full schedule between now and April 12th, when I leave for St. Louis. I've been so busy that I didn't work on a new poem at all this past weekend, which actually feels kind of nice, though I can't keep that up for long.
- For what I'm pretty sure is the first time ever, I got all of my Final Four picks right in an NCAA Tournament Pool. Hurrah!
- Anyone can write poetry in the same way that anyone can perform heart surgery. Some will just make more of a bloody mess of it than others.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Contest
A while back I mentioned having a contest to give away my shrinkwrapped second copy of
Best New Poets 2006. Well, here it is!
The contest is simple: suggest a poem-writing exercise you think I (or anyone) should do. It can be as simple or as complex as you want--any kind of prompt, be it subject matter or form or words to use or words to omit or combinations of things. The only restriction is that it must be an exercise designed to actually result in a poem draft.
Post your suggestion in the comment field. Have fun with it. The contest will be open at least until Monday, and maybe longer depending on the interest. Up to three suggestions per contestant.
The winner will be the person whose exercise suggestion I decide to use (naturally). The winner receives
Best New Poets 2006 and
The Eleventh Muse 2006. I will post the draft result of the exercise on the blog.
Okay, let's hear those exercises!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The money's buried under a giant draft
Some of these things are based on my life. Some are stolen from my friends and family. And if you haven't heard/watched Patton Oswalt's comedy, you should.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Busy beaver bee
I have so much going on over the next few days. Need to give the ol' manuscript a good once-over to make sure it's as strong as I can make it right now, need to finish up a review of Susan Tichy's
Bone Pagoda (good book), really close to finishing a draft, Aaron's book release reading party in Denver on Saturday, Steve Mueske in Denver a week from Friday, Aaron and Steve in Colorado Springs April 1. Outside writing, we have tax time coming up, plus a trip to St. Louis in April, plus upcoming notification of the last outstanding MFA application, plus a trip to the optometrist Friday (good thing, too, because my everyday-wear glasses [the beater pair, if you will] actually broke today, so I have to wear my good frames all this week and be very careful with them, until I get a new pair in a couple weeks, and these become the everyday pair). Never had a set of frames actually break before, as in snap right in the middle of the frame. Had screws fall out and lenses fall out, but never this. I really rode that pair hard. Oh yeah, and (getting back to the busy theme) work is a bitch this week because my boss was on vacation last week and had limited e-mail access, so she made up for it by dumping a ton of stuff on us on Sunday and Monday.
Thought of the day: is there any currently-in-vogue poetry form that overwhelms its content more than the double abecedarian? The verbal gymnastics are often impressive, but the poems always always leave me empty. Did you know that double abecedarians were selected for the
Best American Poetry series in both 2006 and 2007?
Monday, March 19, 2007
New Tattoo
I don't think people realize how hard it is to take a picture of their own shoulder until they actually try.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
What happens when you pick against your alma mater in an NCAA pool
Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16. Yeehaw!
Questionable
I question the legitimacy of Verse Daily running
two poems by the same person,
from the same journal, in
a little over a week, especially given that both the person and the journal are consistent sponsors of Verse Daily. Understand that it pains me to say this because I like the poet and the journal (and they've both published poems of mine), but I'm also not holding them responsible for something here. Of course, Verse Daily has published both me and poems from my journal as well, but I'm afraid I don't approve of this particular decision. Just thought someone should know.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Dedication
Poetry Pal Aaron
has some work up, including a poem that's dedicated to me. I believe that's the first poem I've had dedicated to me, and it's fun. Thanks, Aaron!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
NCAA Tournament Pool repost
This is the last evening you can sign up for the poetry blog NCAA tournament pool and make your picks. Eleventh Muse 2006 to the winner! Sign up! Invite your friends! See two posts down for specifics!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
13 Print Journals with Excellent Websites
A print journal ought to have an attractive website that's easy to navigate and has plenty of samples of work (the samples are critical). Bonus points for things like updating the site frequently and quickly, offering online submissions, and Paypal ordering links. I'm also leaving out some big magazines with good websites, such as The Atlantic Monthly, because they're not primarily literary journals. As always, these are journals I like as well.
1. Ploughshares. Wins in basically all the areas I mentioned above: looks nice, lots of easy-to-find features, online submission system, and tons of work (almost all of it) from back issues. Plus it has a page with a random selection of work each day.
2. Beloit Poetry Journal. Good all around. The treasure is the complete index of authors from back issues, with most of the poems included. Great resource.
3. Pebble Lake Review. Proof that a much smaller journal than Ploughshares can have a really excellent website. One standout feature is the audio of poems, even if yours truly's unfortunate gravel voice is on there too.
4. Rattle. It's funny: Rattle could have been on a list of the worst print journal websites until their redesign last year, and now it's just top notch.
5. Redivider. Something's in the water up at Emerson, because they've got two journals on this list (it's also another that's redesigned in the last year to its great benefit). Clean design, nice news section, and plenty o' samples for this one.
6. Cimarron Review. If you want a good website without a lot of flash (upper case or lower case) and without spending a lot of money, think something like this. Touches all the bases except online purchasing/submissions.
7. Poetry. I know their ethos isn't the most popular, but the website itself has numerous worthwhile things, along with the Poetry Foundation sister site. It's not the easiest to navigate, however.
8. Burnside Review. Simple, clear, and elegant but still plenty to read. Easy to order, easy to send work.
9. Tin House. A little slow to load, but looks highly professional and has a wide array of features and sample work.
10. Caketrain. One area where little journals (lest you misunderstand, that's intended in fondness, not as a pejorative) can really get one back on the big journals is the website, as you can see on much of this list.
11. Passages North. Perhaps a little busy, but still lots of good information, poems, and a healthy sense of humor about itself.
12. Smartish Pace. Good site, especially the Poets Q&A feature, but loses some points for not enough samples and what seems like really slow updating--contests listed well after their deadlines, few new Q&A's, etc.
13. AGNI. I'm reeaaalllly not a fan of light-text-on-dark-background sites, but there's still lots of quality material, and I also want to encourage the print/online hybrid they've got going on.
Monday, March 12, 2007
NCAA Tournament Pool
Hey, if you don't have enough attention span for a full season of fantasy baseball, you can at least play in the NCAA Tournament Pool. I'll even give an
Eleventh Muse 2006 to the winner!
--
You have been invited to join
bagheadsds's Private Group in Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick'em. In order to join the group, follow the link above, or go to the
game front page and click on the "Join Group" button. When prompted, enter the following information:
Group ID#: 89889
Password: schroeder
We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process.
Tournament Pick'em Commissioner
http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Drafty Sunday
The only thing I have to say about all the poetry/poetry blog infighting and cliques and what-have-you is that anyone who thinks that's not how the whole world works boggles my mind. Too bad, of course, but there it is.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Picking up the bits
Sorry I went so long without posting. Work has been very hectic. Here are some tidbits to tide you over for a couple days. Draft on Sunday or Monday.
- I realized I have an extra copy of Best New Poets 2006 brand new in shrinkwrap, so I'm going to run a contest here on the blog to give it away. The only problem is I can't think of a contest. If anyone has any ideas, suggest them in comments. If I pick your idea, you get a copy of The Eleventh Muse 2006.
- Speaking of the Muse, 2007 should be printing starting next week.
- I think the only kind of workshop that works is one where people have extensive past experience with your work, have a good amount of lead time to read the poem that's being discussed, and talk about what it's doing and how it's doing it before they talk about "what works and doesn't work." In other words, 1 in 100,000.
- I think more and more my own poetry comes back to the following principles: it's written with an intense consciousness of how it would sound read aloud, it's written to compress the language and devices as much as possible, and it's written for the form and content to be organic, neither forcing the other. There are other principles as well, of course.
- Went to the Nuggets game with my dad and stepmom tonight. It was an enjoyable time, and I ate the world's best sundae at dinner beforehand, but the game itself was lousy.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Winter trip
I just found out that we managers at the resume company I work for are going to have a winter meeting in South Beach. Woohoo!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Fantasy baseball repost
Here's a repost of the call for fantasy baseball players. Please do feel free to join even if you're not an experienced player. Just liking baseball and being willing to follow the league through the season is enough. No money required.
--
In order to join the league, just go to
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1,
click the "Sign Up Now" or "Get Another Team" button and
follow the links to "Join a Custom League". When prompted,
enter the League ID# and password below.
League ID#: 48877
Password: schroeder
We will send you a confirmation with further details once
you have completed the registration process.
--Fantasy Baseball Commissioner
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1
Back in town
I've returned from the mountains. More post later.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Gone ice fishin'
I'm leaving with my brother and his girlfriend and her daughters for an extended family gathering up at our dad and stepmom's in the mountains. We're not actually ice fishing, it's just cold cold cold out. Back Sunday evening.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Draftlanta
Well, everyone's gone to AWP, but here's a draft in the meantime.
