"An Abecedarian"

Matt Reeck's review of Things Come On (an amneoir) is live at Jacket2. It's an innovative text in its own right (en forme du glossary) and opens up a whole new set of issues, ramifications, and rhizomes in regards to the book. Thanks Matt and J2!

We Don't Need no Stinking Genres . . .

. . . or do we? Can we avoid them? An interesting discussion of these issues is at "We Ain't Written No Poetry" a blog out of a (rhetoric?) class at Emerson College - where my book Things Come On is made an example of - with reference to the work of my colleague Amy Devitt.

one more from 2011

. . . I remembered one more - how could I forget? Historic Diary, by Tony Trigilio (BlazeVox). The story of Lee Harvey Oswald's life, leading up to the JFK assassination, told in (semi)formal verse, with a dash of conspiracy theory thrown in. Rachel Loden's "Nixon" books meet Edward Sanders' 1968. Not to be missed.

O what self-googling is this!

There's nothing like having a book out to get you to "Google yourself." A couple of interesting finds. First, Chris Schaeffer listed my book as his favorite of the year on his "top ten" list, at his blog, Ghost-Modernism. And Charlotte Pence mentioned it in her dissertation abstract (!). I'm so glad the book is being read and that people are finding value in it. Thank you!

(I still need to get a copy of A Masque of Poets, by Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien.)

10 Poetry Books of 2011

I'd say "top ten," except I'm not sure I like that phrase - I'm constitutionally averse to "tops," "bests," or even favorites (remember the scene in Annie Hall where Alvy is making fun of the Oscars? "Greatest Facsist Dictator - Adolph Hitler!").

But I did read some books of poetry in 2011, and, um, these ones were good. I can recommend them, anyhow. In no particular order. And I'm sure I'll remember others after I post this - at which point, it will be 2012, and so, against the rules.

- Rae Armantrout, Money Shot
- Evie Shockley, the new black
- Tim Bradford, Nomads with Samsonite
- Camille Dungy, Smith Blue
- Matthew Cooperman, Still: of the earth as the ark which does not move
- Kathleen Ossip, The Cold War
- Lea Graham, Hough & Helix (&c. &c.)
- Hejinian and Harryman, The Wide Road
- Cyrus Console, The Odicy
- TinFish Retro Chaps Series

And, perhaps more to the point - my backlog: books from 2011 I have yet to read but am looking forward to:

- Memory Cards, 2010-2011, Susan M. Schultz
- Schizophrene, Bhanu Kapil
- Birds of Tifft, Jonathan Skinner
- Culture of One, Alice Notley
- Man Years, Sandra Doller
- not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, Jenny Boully
- the volume of “collage” Drafts by Rachel Blau DuPlessis
- Pushing Water, by Charles Alexander

Happy New Year - Occupy 2012!

Do Tell . . .

Many thanks to Reb Livingston, Evie Shockley, and Tim Bradford for selecting my book Things Come On (an amneoir) as one of the best poetry books of 2011, over at No Tells. They picked a lot of great books for their lists.

Also - do check out Evie's the new black (Wesleyan 2011), Tim's Nomads with Samsonite (BlazeVox 2011), and Reb's God Damsel (No Tell Books 2010). You'll be glad you did!

Denise Low's top 12

Thanks to former KS poet laureate (and current AWP Prez) Denise Low for including my book Things Come On in her "top 12 poetry books of 2011"!

More Lawrence, Kansas Literary History

This from a NYT article re: Ira Silverberg, new NEA literary director:

Mr. Silverberg got his first glimpse of the publishing world while still in college—enrolled not in an English literature program but in a joint six-year B.A./J.D. program offered by City College and New York Law School, which trained lawyers to work in underserved communities. But Mr. Silverberg’s career as a lawyer was short lived. At 18, over a drink at a bar on Avenue A, he met and fell in love with James Grauerholz, William S. Burrough’s longtime “manager and amanuensis.” The romance led Mr. Silverberg to drop out of school, move to Kansas and immerse himself in a world of aging beat writers.

"William was my mother-in-law when I was quite young,” said Mr. Silverberg of Burroughs.

He enrolled at the University of Kansas, cooked dinner with Mr. Grauerholz for Burroughs every night and absorbed the wisdom of Alan Ginsberg and Norman Mailer when they passed through town. At a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road at Naropa University in Boulder, Col., Mr. Silverberg met Peter Mayer, the founder of Overlook Press. When Mr. Silverberg’s sojourn in Kansas ended in 1984 and he returned to New York, Mr. Mayer gave him a job as a file clerk, then promoted him to editorial assistant.

Review by Aaron Belz

Thanks to Aaron Belz for reviewing my book for Ron Slate's On the Seawall! (scroll way, way down the page)

Oklahoma!

I had a great time reading and visiting w/folks in Oklahoma last week. I read at Oklahoma City University on Wednesday eve. (Day of the Dead - a propos for Things Come On) and at Univ. of Tulsa on Thursday. Here is an account of the latter reading by my co-reader, Sheila Black, who read some pretty swell poems of her own - some inspired by things said by her son, who suffers from schizophrenia.

The students at Tulsa were great, too - understood Things Come On better than I do, as I've told several folks since. Great close readers. My host, Grant Jenkins, gave me a wonderful tour of Tulsa, including Ron Padgett's childhood home, the (former) Greenwood neighborhood (where an entire community was massacred), the art-deco disneyland of the Boston St. Methodist Church, and the kitch paradise of Oral Roberts.