busy (but poetry-filled) weekend

Went with Hoa and Adam to the Joanne Kyger celebration. Didn't see as many Mills students as I would have expected. But Small Press Traffic is kind of hard to get to without a car. I got to say hello to Joanne, which was good, and I ran into Meg and we chatted about her new project, which I have up on there. Also was introduced to a few people.

Then on Sunday, I took Hoa to a house party/reading in Alameda with a bunch of students at Mills. Much nicer than the students in her year, so we had a pretty good time.

the miracle of coincidence

I got an email from Kevin Killian today. Apparently he had seen my poem in Pom2, which played off a poem he wrote for Pom2 years and years ago. Very flattering.

Joanne Kyger Honored

Joanne Kyger reading & celebration
Friday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Small Press Traffic
1111 8th St., San Francisco

Every year the board of directors of Small Press Traffic Literary Arts Center votes a Lifetime Achievement Award to a living writer of distinction. Past honorees have included Barbara Guest, Jackson Mac Low, and Carl Rakosi. The latest recipient of SPT’s Lifetime Achievement Award is Joanne Kyger.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Dodie Bellamy thinks I was cutting in line

I went to the Bay Poetics release party last night at 21 Grand. Stephanie Young was the busy hostess, trying to get a photo of every contributor holding up the book. I worked the contributor copy table, handing out 2 books and crossing names off the list.

There were a few awkward moments: the middle-aged woman who just looked at me like I ought to know who she was. When I asked for her name, she said, "Leslie Scalapino." (I have several of her books, have seen her in videos, and was in the audience for a panel she was on 3 months ago. Yeah, I ought to have known who she was.)

During intermission, I tried to go to the bathroom (a door with a handwritten 'toilet' on it in a side hallway). There were a lot of people in the hall, talking in groups, and I went up to Mara, who was near the door, and asked, "Is there someone in the bathroom?" Nearby, Dodie Bellamy huffs, "We're all in line here." Oops. I went to the back of what suddenly looked a lot more line-like, and waited for a rather long while. No wonder Bellamy was worried about line jumping.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you

I am probably the worst saleswoman, ever. I was disorganized, unprepared, and unprofessional. And yet, I still managed to get copies of 580 Split accepted at the local bookstore. I credit William Vollmann.

Today, I wandered into Walden Pond (on Grand Avenue in Oakland), walked up to the counter, and announced I had a local literary journal that I was trying to place on shelves. The manager was called over, and I tried to extol the virtues of the magazine (interview with William Vollmann, work by Daniel Alarcón, etc). He seemed interested, and agreed to take all three copies. Then he asked how to contact me if they sold out and they wanted more.

Now, maybe it never occurred to me that such a situation would happen. Or maybe I just figured the managing editor would worry about such details as following up. So I pull out a piece of notebook paper and write down my name, phone number, and the magazine's website. The manager asked if I had an invoice, and I said, "uh, no, I'm sorry," so he wrote '3 copies' at the top of the handwritten note.

Then he asked if I was part of the magazine's dedicated salesforce. I said we couldn't afford such things, and that I was the poetry editor. Hopefully that let me off the hook for being such a flake.

flarf flarf flarf

I've spent the morning reading about flarf. I confess I'd never heard of flarf, or if I had, the name had not connected with anything. But I would also say that I had flarfed before I ever know what it was to flarf. Mostly unsuccessfully. Chance operation plus Google equals blechh. So maybe it is time to occupy a post-flarf space. Certainly the Telepoetry project has its flarfnesses.

Bay Poetics, other things

I'll be at the Release Party this Sunday at 21 Grand for Bay Poetics, the new book edited by Stephanie Young that everybody (well, Ron Silliman) is busy blogging about. I'll be working a table handing out contributor copies, and scoring one for myself in payment. Since I won't actually read it until next week, I'll hold off on my thoughts about the Bay Area poetry scene until then.

so it's done

Graduation today. I'm relieved it's over. Too stressful. Too sunny. Not enough poets. I guess true anarchist artists don't play by the rules. Of course, graduation seems one of those events that is at least as much for the spectators as the participants (weddings and funerals also come to mind). Rites of passage and all that. And now I've passed through. Dinner tonight with friends will be a nice, low-stress way to end this day.

Valley/Ridge has found its new home

Finally put the latest version of Valley/Ridge online at its new home: www.valley-ridge.net. This is pretty much the version that made up my thesis.

there relaunches

The new and very improved there is up and going. The journal is now looking for innovative poetry with an emphasis on place. Check out the redesign.

another day in the studio

Another day with inkstained hands. My chapbook is going to be so beautiful. (I walk around the studio with pages in my hand saying that out loud. A lot. I think it's starting to annoy the other students.) Which makes me wonder, is beauty the point of art? Is there another point to art? (Politics, persuasion, whatever).

Last night I worked on the redesign/new launch of there. I'm a total amateur, but it will do for now. I've gotten some interest around it, so, that's a good thing. Maybe I can get this thing off the ground. Now I just need to get some content and do some marketing.

fit to be tied, and other news

Also, my letterpress chapbook, fit to be tied, will be finished any day now. It's a special limited edition of 50 copies and will be available for a yet-to-be-determined sum (we'll soon learn how the law of supply and demand affects pricing, and I don't just mean gas prices).

In other shameless self-promotion news, I also have broadsides available for purchase. Very lovely letterpress stuff.

End of Semester Blah Blah Reading

Mills is doing a special MFA Reading for all graduating MFAs: May 12, 5:30-9:30, Art Gallery, Mills College. I'll be reading around 8:15 or so.

Then commencement is the next morning and I'll be the graduate commencement speaker. Yes, I did finally get a speech together.