Spring Sunday

Today feels like the first good Sunday of spring, not because we haven't had nice Sundays before but because this feels like the one that is the one that marks the good Sundays to come. Which is a nice feeling.

In the past days, so much has been there to think and wonder about and blogging has been down because the thinking and the wondering has been up. Have been working hard on revising poems, on working on new poems. Have finished, I think the final translations for the Hinojosa selected and now really all that is left is to write the intro, to do some research for notes, etc. Fortunately the college has given me the funds to hire an assistant who has already started and is doing some terrific work. My sense is the whole thing will be done by the end of May at the latest. An amazing thing given how long it's been. But then it occurs to me that in the two years since Poet in New York was published, I've also published a new book of poems, Tourist at a Miracle , and the selected Hinojosa will be ready. That seems like an enormous amount of work, especially since I also feel like I'm a good third of the way towards another book of poems. Of course, I have a tendency to be optimistic about these kinds of things, but when it's a beautiful day and you've spent it walking in the park and sitting on the stoop, spent it thinking and reading and writing, well, optimism will prevail.

I think where I've slowed down a bit has been in my reading. Have been looking at work for school, of course, but the spare time reading not what I'd like. Some more time lately with Joseph Stroud, who continues to make me happy to read, with Delmore Schwartz, who never fails to surprise me, and going back through early Lorca because I realize I want to. It all makes me long for the summer reading when more and more will be possible.

And with Tourist a lot is going on as well. Small Press Distributors named it as a recommended book in March, Rigoberto Gonzalez in the blog for the National Book Critic Circle named it as one of the small press books of note. A mediocre review (this shall go nameless because the reviewer made too many mistakes when she talked about the book, suggesting she hadn't really read it so it kind of negated the whole review even when she said some very nice things).

Will be doing the Moe Greene Discussion Show with Pablo on April 30.

The Hanging Loose Party is May 7.

Will be reading at Watching Booksellers (NJ) May 28, Perch has been changed to June 22, Watchung (again) for a panel on translation July 30. In the Bay area end of September. Miami Book Fair in November. More to come.

Leaving for AWP in Denver this Thursday and reading the day before (Wednesday) with Jan Clausen at Lang at 4. Very much looking forward to that.

All good things.

Saludos.

Some Time and No Time

The days here pass and I get caught up in writing and reading (new poems, translations, books ranging from Cabrera Infante to Chandler and Hammett), in what's going on with the Tour de France (will Lance really try and pull this off, or will be become a super domestique to Contador? With Lance 19 seconds ahead of Alberto, it's his right to see himself as team leader, something I'll bet with which Contador isn't quite happy).

Went over yesterday for lunch to Bonnie Marranca's beautiful house in Catskill, about 45 minutes away. Pasta with broccoli and sausage, two different bean salads, a nice red wine. Then the usual unfortunate shopping which meant by the time we got home there was no real time to do much more than read a little before listening to the Mets and making dinner. The surprise that the Mets won after so many days was nice after all these losses in a row (and scoring runs!).

Today was more of what I really wanted--a morning of writing, an afternoon of transcribing Hinojosa (both translations and originals). The good thing I'm discovering about typing the original poems myself is that they help me with revisions of the translations, giving me a chance to go back and look at what I've done even more carefully. We didn't do this with Poet in New York. Didn't feel the need to but that's because (I think) there were two of us working on it. Although I do consult Pablo from time to time and some of the stranger constructions (a surrealist is always hard to translate, sometimes the subject is just lost in the poem and finding it is like solving some puzzle).

After all this, Jesse and I went into Kingston to the photo place that is able to put his photos on CD. Very expensive, compared with NYC. Probably because they are the only game in town. Film costs twice as much, as does the making of the CDs. It seems like the best thing to do is not have the film developed here but wait until we get back at the end of July. Hard for anyone to have to wait that long but better than spending money that we don't really have.

At any rate, it hasn't rained yet today (though the skies seem to be darkening). I've been doing a lot of grilling, may tonight or may have do the indoor thing.

An Hinojosa poem:

Reversion

Swallows’ wings
grow from the chestnuts
and their flight is fixed
in the arbitrary game
of light and the laughter
of our guests.

Even though I maintain the shadow
set between my lips
it gave me a taste of once-flowing blood
from the sides
of ten generations
dead at Calvary.

In constant equilibrium
bodies surrounded
wove provincial dances
without an hour of rest,
holding their breath
so to not mist the fields.

The new hearts
in armor rise
and that necklace of dances
remained broken from the moment
in which I set my fingers
in the branches of the tree.

(from Orillas de la Luz)

Straaaaange.


abrazos,

Mark

long time passing

Okay, so it's been a long time since I've blogged but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening. In fact, the opposite of course. So much. Teaching: I really love the three classes I'm teaching this semester: Intermediate Poetry (new for me, and the students have done some wonderful writing, we've read Whitman, Pound, had student reports on Dickinson, Crane, Amy Lowell, tomorrow one on Eliot), Arts of Sport (again, a new one, which has allowed us to read some really good writing, Hunter Thompson, David Halberstam, Williams, Berrigan, Koch, Clampitt, Dean Young, William Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves, as well as watch the movie Glory Road; right now we're about to move from issues of race in sport to gender, which will culminate in seeing A League of Their Own, then on to case studies of various sports in the U.S.) and Spanish Surrealism (which it seems like I taught last semester but the number of students has gone from 27 to 38 and this changes how I have to think about it--tomorrow we look at the last of Poet in New York and then move on to Alberti's Sobre los Angeles).

And writing. Trying to get in four or five hours a week of poetry. Of translating. It's hard but worth the effort. The Hinojosa translations are out there (some). Go to tinhouse.com and the lost and found page and you'll see a little piece I did (which also appears in the magazine) but also has three translations. Waiting to hear back from a press on a proposal for the whole book. Cross your fingers.

Busy October:

Reading October 10 w/Pablo from Poet in New York at Teachers & Writers. Go to twc.org for more info.

Panel: October 16, ALTA convention (Minneapolis) on Poet in New York (chaired by Doug Unger)
Reading: October 17, ALTA Convention (Minneapolis) from Poet in New York 3-4.

Panel: October 29, UNLV on Poet in New York, 7:30 (check UNLV University Forum Series)
Reading: October 30, Las Vegas, from Poet in New York (will update).

November: Miami International Book Fair. Details forthcoming.

Okay, so that's the quick return to blog land. Jesse is cool, Katherine the greatest and Cannonball a woof.

Saludos y abrazos y l'shana tova.

Mark

Final Words from Maine

Tonight was the lobster/steak dinner and show at the Maine Media Workshop and it did not disappoint. We saw work from a number of the artists, from the older (mid-career folks) and their documentary and multi-media work, to the younger artists, black and white photographers, screen writers, etc. The food was good fun (how can you ignore a freshly steamed Maine lobster? Fresh corn? Baked potatoes? A good white wine?). The media work we saw was, for the most part, very impressive. It was clear that these folks had worked hard over the last two weeks and I felt kind of privileged to see so much good work (okay, there was some stuff that wasn't much, but not from the youth program folks, who were quite talented). Jesse had five prints in the slide show from his group (I recognized three, thought maybe a fourth) and look forward to seeing his portfolio tomorrow. We learned tonight that his teacher, a very good photographer, Isabel Foley, lives only about ten blocks from us in Brooklyn, and I hope that means that he'll be able to get some good feedback from time to time on what he is doing.

On the whole, I think a really successful trip. Jesse did some great work, met some good people, and I think learned a lot. One of the things that Katherine and I both noticed from the dinner time and the presentation of work was that it reminded us of places like the VCCA and Byrdcliffe; in other words, it was a real artist colony even as it had this strong teaching element to it. But there was kind of mutual respect in conversation about work (even between the older artists and the younger) that impressed me. If Jesse decides he wants to return next year, I say yes! Compared to SOCAPA, well, there is no comparison so I won't bother.

For the cottage couple, I finished a new poetry manuscript Invisible Man (at least a good draft that is now an intense working period away from being done), got some good work done on Hinojosa, and also thought a lot about my teaching for the fall. Katherine did some beautiful work in water color and oil pastel and pencil, and gave her a sense of some good new ways of working. So art prospered at the sea side cottage, as did the Cannonball, who got to roam the grounds, go to the beach, play endless games of stick.

We leave tomorrow for a meandering trip down to Framingham, MA where we stay for the night before getting back to Brooklyn. Then we have some days for Katherine to be in the studio, for me to do some revision on Celia Cruz (more later), and work with Jesse on footage for his documentary of the Poet in New York tour. A lot to do and a lot more to come. But two weeks that were really quite special. And have us all moving forward.

Saludos,

Mark

Reporting from Maine (4) note the Advanced Learning Lab/NYU Child Study Center revision (since I obviously like revision myself)

Another one of those days: lots of revision of poems, reading, good cooking. Why isn't this the whole life?

Looked at Jesse's dvd draft of Poet in New York,some terrific footage that needs some stock and b shots and also some reduction (I think there's too much of me in it).

Some work on Hinojosa (mainly review and unhappiness with what I've done). Katherine did some nice painting (she demurs).

All set to go for a good bike ride and for the first time since we got here, the rain arrived and is supposed to continue for the next week. Meaning what? More reading, writing, more trips to beauty.

An update on the ALL/NYU Child Study Center: always interesting the way the world moves. Yesterday I noted that Dana Levy was still listed as the clinical director of ALL. Not anymore. I guess someone there is reading my blog. At least post! You are welcome to do so. But what about Barry Ehrlich? He's still listed as educational director. Webmaster alert! I like Barry a lot, he's a talented and smart educator, though ALL might not have been the place for him. I feel bad that he has been placed in the position he is now in, similar to Lynda? Harold and Glenn, any word here? I mean, you guys are in charge? When will there be a public explanation (considering the fanfare and publicity last year and the promises that were made, the money that you took)? Or do you guys just need a mulligan?

Colette wrote to say that Cannonball should guest blog. Here is his contribution:

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Saludos.

Mark

Reporting from Maine (3--all the good things plus an NYU Child Study Center and Advanced Learning Lab note)

Another just right day. Slept late, then worked on Hinojosa for a good two and a half hours. I think I solved some problems by using a strategy that Pablo and I employed with Poet in New York which was to make the language as tight as possible--this seems logical for Hinojosa anyway because his syntax/language mirrors that. There's little excess, which I think is one of his strengths as a poet.

Played some with Cannonball in the yard (the famous game of stick). Katherine found Cannonball in Jesse's bed this morning, curled up the way he usually is when he sleeps with Jesse (except no Jesse, who we suppose is having a fine time at the media workshop because we haven't heard a word from him!). I think Cannonball misses Jesse some (as do we, even as we do other things).

Drove into Rockland for lunch at the Rockland Cafe which has wonderful fish cakes. Walked around and at the Farnsworth Museum, which is having a Will Barnet show, we saw in the window an Alex Katz print of Rudy Burckhardt. In the gift shop (it was too late to go to the museum) were some Fairfield Porter postcards/cards and one by Yvonne Jacquette. It was strange to see these--another part of one's life coming to the surface.

Back at the cottage, I revised a bunch of poems for Invisible, eliminated a few, and have a sense of how it can come together as a collection even as the revisions go forward. I don't want to rush things but I think it may be ready sooner than I expected. These days of just writing and reading, walking, eating, so wonderful.

Katherine drew while I revised--one of the drawings is of me on the chaise lounge on the deck working. A cover perhaps?

For dinner, grilled a steak, had potatoes and the left over Frankie corn salad. We watched the movie Vantage Point which was fun though I thought it a little too busy (maybe too many vantage points--and why does Sigourney Weaver completely disappear after the first half hour?).

NYU/ALL update: if you google "about our kids" or the nyu child study center (which will show you "about our kids") you'll get a response but if you try and get to the page, there is none! But go to the faculty and look up anyone who was part of it, say, Dana Levy, who was the clinical director who replaced Lynda Geller (no explanation ever provided for why someone with an extensive background in working with kids with Asperger's was replaced by someone whose background didn't include Asperger or Autism but did fibromyalgia, at least according to her bio on their site--an interesting decision by Harold and Glenn) and it shows that they are still part of ALL. But, surprise, click on Advanced Learning Lab on that page and you'll find, you guessed it, that there is no page for ALL. I guess someone forgot to tell the webmaster about these little things.

Saludos!

Mark

Reporting from Maine

Saturday we made the 400 mile drive up to Glen Cove, ME, a little hamlet between Rockport and Rockland and just south of Camden arriving at Anne's Seaside Cottage which looks out (some tree blockage) on Clam Cove that leads out to Penobscot Bay (memories of many years spent on Great Spruce Head Island). The cottage is just right, two bedrooms, a large living room with an open kitchen and a big deck. The yard is huge, full of gardens and flowers and Cannonball runs and runs. It's a short walk to the beach, all very pretty. I think I may have also found two ponds nearby where the fishing will be good. Just haven't had the interest (yet).

After a good lunch in Camden at Cappy's (named for Cappy Quinn, of the Quinn family that has run the mail boat to GSHI for years), we dropped Jesse off on Sunday at the Maine Media Workshop (in Rockport) where he is studying black and white photography as well as how to use a darkroom. He seems to be doing well, though we haven't seen any of the work. He's living at a motel converted into a dorm, four to a room. Room-mates seem like good people.

Meanwhile, Katherine and I have been doing a little of this, little of that. Lunch in Camden yesterday where we set on a deck and looked out at the harbor.Katherine has been drawing and painting, working both indoors and on the deck. I've been writing some, a new poem, work on my arts of sport course for the fall, work on Jose Maria Hinojosa. I've printed Jesse's screenplay Cleaver and the Eye which I expect to do some work on in the next couple of days. I also want to start screening the rough draft of his Poet in New York dvd which I can do in short bunches but want to have some things to say about it before I see him (hopefully this weekend, though he may decide to stay at the dorm over the weekend--last night when we talked he said it was a possibility).

We were finally able to figure out a way for me to get the Hinojosa books from Spain: wire transfer. The whole thing was a little nutty because the books are 17 euros a piece and the postage is 21. Add the wire transfer cost and the postage and it's 39 euros and the books are only 34.

Meanwhile the Hinojosa poems do make me a little nuts. There are all these wonderful lines and images and then he adds one which in Spanish makes perfect sense but in English just becomes strange and even bad (a wonderful poem about the amazon and the andes ends with the question why he wears no loincloth!). It's a challenge, too, because there are times he seems to be fooling around with syntax that looks simple but is really complicated and all meaning gets messed up. Since he is caught up in the surreal the question of meaning is blurred anyway, but still...

Mid-afternoon. Clearly time for lunch. More later.

Saludos!

Mark

In the country and happy

July 4th weekend in Bridgehampton. Have done a ton of work--on my own poems (only three poems left in the old moleskin!), on Hinojosa (nine first draft translations), and wrote about 1500 words of a review of a Garcia Lorca book I'm doing for Performing Arts Journal. I think I need to cut it a little and the deadline is soon but I like how the piece looks. It's a very good book by Maria M. Delgado. One of the strengths, I think, is her discussion of Garcia Lorca's impossible theater. Although she doesn't make this argument, I do think it helps to refute critics who see the surreal nature of Poet in New York as an aberration. These plays, written during and after the period of Poet in New York are very much in the spirit of the surreal that informs that book. She also does a very good job, in general, of describing the plays, the various productions both during his lifetime and after his murder. It's a book I recommend and I'll post when the issue of PAJ appears.

Also, a nice long talk with Pablo today about the problems we encountered in translation (the question had somehow come up) and we came up with three. One is the question of meaning: when Garcia Lorca is at his most surreal the critical question of what does the poet mean by this is practically unanswerable. The second is the issue of biography. The poet of Poet in NY is not Garcia Lorca but a construct who looks like Garcia Lorca and experiences New York much in the same way Garcia Lorca does and is changed by it much the way Garcia Lorca was. But it is not autobiographical (for example, Garcia Lorca goes to Vermont and upstate NY before he begins his studies at Columbia; he visits Coney Island in December but describes the place as though mid-summer). The third is the Whitman poem, which shows how nuanced and eccentric Garcia Lorca was about his own homosexuality and what I think is a desire to claim Whitman not as a homosexual poet but as an American poet (in the same way that Garcia Lorca, finally beginning to come to terms with his own sexuality, wanted to be claimed as a Spanish poet).


So being in the country is more than just writing. There are flowers everywhere. It's swimming (fun with Jesse yesterday playing some kind of water football),playing catch with Jesse (who nearly took my head off with a 65 mile an hour fastball the other day) and watching Wimbledon (bravo Williams sisters), the Mets, eating good food, having good conversation with Katherine, Jesse and Karen. Katherine was working on a pretty little water color of the yard. Jesse has been working a lot on his screenplays. Karen plays piano and since our room where I work is above the piano room it's really nice when she practices. Of course, Cannonball loves it here, being able to run around the yard, chasing frisbees and sticks. Somewhere there were 4th of July fireworks but we didn't see them (nor, I admit, was I wearing my American flag pin). The weather could be nicer. Sag Harbor (where we went for lunch today) could be less crowded but on the whole, all satisfying. Mahi mahi on the grill tonight for dinner, corn, potatoes, maybe some pre-dinner mojitos (the mint is overflowing).


Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. We return Monday to Brooklyn where I hope to be as productive. We leave the following Saturday for Maine for a few weeks where I hope to take all these drafts I've been working on and make something happen.

Saludos!

Mark

An interesting week (maybe)

My week has been spent trying to get hold of the work of Jose Maria Hinojosa, the wonderful surrealist poet of the Generation of 27 who has somehow been erased because his politics fell on the wrong side (he was against the Republic, for the fascists, or at least the monarchists, and he was killed three days after Lorca--no one suggests a direct connection but the coincidence is an interesting one), He is, however, an amazing poet, publishing his last book in 1931 (he is killed in 36) and was close to Bunuel, Lorca, Dali, etc and his books are exceptionally difficult to find (out of print in Spain, never translated in the US). Fortunately Yale has a copy of his Poesias Completas which I have borrowedon an inter-library loan and have begun translating. They are quite good (his poems, we'll have to see about my translations, some of his language is killer).

Part of the project, of course, has entailed getting the permission of the family to allow me to publish the Spanish versions (my plan is a bilingual edition). After several phone calls to Spain (at three and four o'clock in the morning, talk about messing up one's sleep cycles) I tracked down a fellow who thought he could help me. He gave me his e-mail address and I spent two days trying to e-mail him, to no avail. All e-mails sent from my earthlink and newschool accounts came back saying the message was undeliverable. Then Jesse had the idea that the problem was the server (brilliant Jesse) so yesterday I sent the e-mail from my gmail account (statmanm@gmail.com). No error message so I assume it worked though I've yet to get a response. Since I sent this in the early afternoon on Friday, I'm assuming it was the end of the work week. Which means if I hear it won't be until Monday. Will keep all informed.

And yes, I do seem to maintain 3 e-mail accounts: statmanm@earthlink.net, statmanm@newschoool.edu, and statmanm@gmail.com. Write to any and I get them since all are forwarded every which way.

On an interesting a note, someone attempted to impersonate me, calling the Community Bookstore in Park Slope, claiming it was me and that I was in Pennsylvania and needed money wired immediately because my car had been impounded and I couldn't even get to my wallet and would the bookstore (where I recently read and like to buy books) please wire the money to an address in California. Right. Of course, everyone caught on to the scam (especially considering I was in my study in Brooklyn working on some new poems and I could see my car out the window). Just one more thing, though, to fill up the time. I think the real tip-off came when the person claiming to be me reminded the folks at the store that I'd recently read there with Paul Medina (a mistake made by Time Out New York in one of their web listings). Since Pablo hadn't even made the reading, well...

Meanwhile Jesse has made a very good initial trailer for the Poet in NY documentary and it should be on his website soon. Perhaps he can inform us of when it will be available?

Entonces, saludos y abrazos a todos--tomorrow some poems for the page.

back in the saddle

Okay, I know it's been a long time since I blogged but things have been pretty crazy and good and I'll have a lot to write in the next couple of days and weeks and I'm looking forward to summer as a time to put some poems and ideas out into the world. It's late at night right now so I'm going to just start by saying thank you to all the wonderful friends and family who sent me postcards for my 50th birthday. There were so many of them and so many moving notes that I can't imagine having the time to respond to all of them but thank you thank you thank you.

In the days ahead I'm going to be writing about the past few months (some mighty exciting things, wonderful readings and events), about the current months (mainly summer fun and then the fall when Poet in New York goes on the road again, NYC, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, to name a few), about some new projects fueled by some wonderful time in March at VCCA over spring break--which include two new poetry manuscripts, a non-fiction study of the poets of the Generation of 27 and a new translation project that I'm sworn to secrecy on I'll have to kill myself. There will be a constant and big boo section for all things having to do with ALL and the NYU Child Study Center (spread the word--these guys are phony and are ripping off innocent families and kids and I mean this--they use tax dollars to do some pretty awful things to some very good people and while there are good people involved there, they are not the decision makers and if you hear the names Harold Koplewicz or Glenn Hirsch, flee as fast as you can and make sure your wallet is still in your pocket as you do--they've done a great job of ripping folks off to the tune of 30,000 per family and pretending to be a school which the state doesn't even recognize).

A date to circle on the calendar is that Pablo and I will appear on the Leonard Lopate Show on June 23 at 1PM--don't miss it--should be great fun.

So I re-enter the blog world, surprised at how much I've missed it.

Looking forward to hearing from all.

Mark

on the road again

Okay--it's been a while since I've blogged--AWP took a lot out of me as has the new semester, two fun courses but both new and they're keeping me on my toes--the New School event was wonderful; you can see photos from it at flickr., AWP was a chance to see lots of old friends. This past Tuesday night WNET 13 (go to thirteen.org to see it on their site if you missed it then or on the Saturday am reprise) featured myself and Pablo talking about Poet in New York, and we're getting ready to do the little west coast tour that has us at City Lights in SF on Thursday, 2/21 at 7 PM, at New Cadences (Santa Cruz)Friday 2/22 at 7PM and we're also taping the Poetry Show which will broadcast on the west coast on Sunday 2/24.

I'm looking forward to it all. Katherine and Jesse are arranging all the touring stuff, which allows me to be a tourist and think about reading and talking about Lorca. I've also started to make notes on the new book I want to write on Spanish surrealism, which will not be academic but more a book about discovery, which excites me because I want to write about how exciting it is to have been discovering all these artists who created this moment in Spanish history and then, because of the rise of fascism meant the end of the flowering of Spanish culture. Yes, a lot of them continued to work, but in exile, no longer a generation.

Wonderful review today on the El Paso Times by Rigoberto Gonzalez http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_8284350.

Check it out.

Other notes:
March readings:
March 4 at Perch (5th Avenue in Brooklyn between 5th and 6th Streets)--nice comfortable space, series, this will be poems from Celia Cruz and some Lorca
March 12 at Cornelia Street Cafe with Lynn Chandhok and Kim Lyons, Bill Zavatsky as host, oh yeah, and again Celia Cruz and Lorca
March 26 at the St Marks Poetry Project, a celebration of Poet in New York with tons of readers, great music (two of the greatest flamenco musicians alive) and food--be there for the fun (and to hear Ron Padgett read Lorca's Ode to Whitman--that alone is worth the price of admission).

April readings:

April 4 at Community Books (7th Ave in Brooklyn)--Pablo will be there and it will be a Lorca fest
April 26 at the Brooklyn Public Library in the new auditorium--this should be fun

More later.

The Public Life (4)

Okay, I'm not feeling very public right now, have some kind of bug, but I thought I'd take a minute to note that the interview Bob Edwards did with me and Pablo about Poet in New York is available from audiophile (I was able to buy it and an interview Edwards did with David Lynch, this for Jesse who is a major Lynch fan, for a total of less than five dollars).

Publishers Weekly mentioned the interview today (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6525215.html?nid=2286&rid=&). As Pablo noted to me in an e-mail, every little bit helps.

The Public Life (3)

The Bob Edwards Show, in which he interviews me and Pablo about Poet in New York, airs tomorrow on XM. After that you can go to his website and it will be avaialble as a podcast.

The Public Life (2)

Tuesday was a strange and wonderful day. Two poems from Poet in New York were featured on Poetry Daily, Rigoberto Gonzalez wrote the most wonderful review on the Poetry Foundation's blog, and Elissa Schappell gave us these words in the new Vanity Fair (February) Hot Type column:"Poets Pablo Medina and Mark Statman re=translate Federico Garcia Lorca's Surrealist masterwork Poet in New York (Grove). Post 9/11 Lorca's lamentations on racism, violence and loneliness ring truer than ever."

I worked on four new poems and the semester started. How good can life be?

The Public Life

Okay: an admission, I'm not a daily blogger. I don't seem to put photos on my blog. But I make no claims to be a daily blogger, a photo poster. So what do I claim? That when the urge comes to blog, I will blog. And here I am, after a slightly lazy early part of the day, reading the paper, thinking about the football Giants chances tomorrow, I got serious and worked on some new poems for most of the afternoon. Six to be exact. They all need a lot of work and I'm not sure how good they are. Three of them are for my anti-memoir, the other three are for, well, they are just there, to go into the file of poems 2007- which eventually will become something.

Most of my time this past week has been spent finalizing my two new courses for the spring. Spanish surrealism feels like it's in very good shape--I like the readings a lot and have begun to think seriously about what paintings from Miro, Dali, Picasso and Varo to focus on. I wasn't able to put these on the course syllabus but I will be able to give them to the students at some point early in the semester. I put the reader together (it only lacks Lorca's play El Publico/The Public which Lorca started while he was in New York and finished when he returned to Spain. It's his most surreal play and it's also one where he acknowledges his homosexuality (something he publicly begins to do in his writing in Poet in New York). As for my advanced poetry class, since the focus is on the long poem, we'll read three "short" long poems to start the semester, Eliot's The Waste Land, Ginsberg's Howl, and Notley's September's Book. The second half of the semester we'll read Eliot's Four Quartets, this the idea of the "long" long poem. Of course, the students will be writing their own long poems along the way.

Thursday and Friday were Poet in New York publicity days. Thursday Pablo and I did an hour long interview with Bob Edwards for The Bob Edwards Show which is on XM satellite radio. I'm not sure of the air date, but once it airs, if you don't have satellite radio you can hear it on the website or as a podcast. Pablo and I thought this went well--Edwards asked good questions, had a nice easy manner--felt quite relaxed as soon as we started and I'd been feeling very nervous before.

Friday we taped for the WNET (Channel 13 in New York) show New York Voices which will air February 12 (this is a date change from February 5 which is the day of the big primaries and so they wisely moved it). Once this airs, it goes into their archives so you can go to their website and see it. The shoot, I have to admit, was exhausting. It went on for three hours. Rafael Pi Roman, the interviewer (like Bob Edwards), really knew his stuff and he asked some very good, thought provoking questions. It's interesting how being interviewed is not like teaching (where one does most of the questioning). You don't know what's coming, have to think fast. Pablo and I walked out exhausted but feeling pretty good. The interview as another form of our collaboration.

Today Pablo left for Las Vegas, won't return to NY until AWP 30 January. Our book party is on the 31st. So far we've been getting some nice responses to the book (the Daily News did a small piece on the book for their Latino section --it mainly focuses on Pablo, which makes sense, given the section's audience). You can see this on-line at the Daily News website.

So that's a little bit of the life lately.

Go Giants!

Holding Poet in New York in my hands

Just came from Grove where they gave me copies of the book which, yes, is really now out. Review copies started going out today, as did copies to the stores but many won't get it to their shelves until after Christmas. Some of the smaller independent stores may. Anyone on my review list, look for a copy. If you are not on my review list and can actually write a review, let me know as soon as possible.

The book really looks good. I'm one of those who usually hates how his work looks--maybe this feels different, maybe since it's Lorca (through Medina and Statman) that I can feel this way. Still, the old fear that having done something won't change the world. And yet, to feel a small part of literary history--for the moment, I'll take it.

As for events, I'll try and do some updates but the old list still holds (starting with the New School party 1/31, the first Thursday of AWP--I'll be doing a big e-mailing of the e-card in early January). We're taping a 10 minute segment for City Voices for PBS on January 18 (an all day affair) but I don't know when it will air. Info to follow. Also, let your West Coast friends know about the February appearances in SF and Santa Cruz. And St Marks here in New York on 3/26!

The semester is over. Which means a little rest and a chance to post more in the days ahead and in the next semester when my teaching load is considerably lighter (fewer students). It also means that my website should be up in the next three or four weeks (Jesse's help is critical here).

Have been writing a lot lately and may post some of the new poems for comments, though I think I'm interested still in hearing responses to the Celia Cruz poems.

A note from Lynn Chandhok, who gave a wonderful reading last week in Brooklyn:


• The poem "Muharrum at 203 Jor Bagh" will be the featured poem this Monday, December 24 on Poetry Daily (www.poems.com).
• I was named a runner up for the 2007 Paumanok Poetry Prize, and as part of the prize, will read at Farmingdale State University next spring.
• Seven of the poems from The View from Zero Bridge have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes.

You can go to her website by clicking the link to the right.

More soon.

Abrazos a todo!

So it was that kind of week

Really it was. A lot of work (teaching) and a lot of work all weekend (student work) and so now I'm finally getting to the blog and I'm almost too tired to type (and it's only 7:30 on a Sunday night). But a few things:

--went to Cue yesterday for the Ashbery/Padgett book signing. John translated Reverdy's Haunted House and Ron Reverdy's Prose Poems, which was the poet's first book. Both look very good, nice work by Brooklyn Rail Black Square Editions. Had a chance to chat for a while with Anne Waldman, Trevor Winkfield, and Eugene Ritchie (who I hadn't seen in a very long time) for a little while.

--Publishers Weekly review of Poet in New York is out and okay. They called it "a worthy new version of a 20th-century classic." What's too bad is that the review has some major errors in it (a misreading of the Ode to Whitman for example that kind of undermines the reviewer and thus the review). Sigh.

--The New Yorker got it right when it mentioned Ron's new book of poems. The gods are sometimes on our side.

--There are some beautiful photos on BOTL Triangle and Sunny Side Up (see links) that are worth a good long look.

--The February book trip seems to be finalized. February 21 at City Lights in SF, February 22 at New Cadences in Santa Cruz. We'll also be taping for the Poetry Show on the 22nd for a broadcast on the 24th.

Closing with a poem from Celia Cruz

naming

night extends itself
dark and blue
the piss smell of boxwood in the air
I held your hand
as tightly as I could
not out of fear or love
though both were there
but the comfort
that I could
you would let me
and not say
enough
and walk away
I remember how much
I couldn’t say
I’m sorry
I couldn’t say
goodbye
I remember how
under bridges
there are boats
that move jewel-like
over water
for a minute I wanted you
as completely and as fully
as wanting can be
not flood or storm but web
for a minute
I was afraid
this wouldn’t happen again
maybe I didn’t mean it
or maybe because it was real
or maybe
after a minute
you weren’t there

Fall turns into winter, another poem

A nice couple of days--a good mountain bike ride with Jesse (go to bandoftheland.com to see some of his photos, Katherine and I had dinner with Pablo Beth, Aristides and Maria at Pablo's and Beth's with much toasting of Poet in New York. Review copies should go out next week, as will copies to stores. So go in to your local bookstore and start asking (support the local stores)! Or just order on Amazon and get a discount (support your pocket book).

I'm looking forward to the semester winding down. I love my classes, the students, but it's been a long one and I'm looking forward to the break when my focus will be on preparing for two new courses in the spring, Advanced Poetry and Spanish Surrealism.

Another poem from Celia Cruz

from the dead

an inconclusive silence
the tyranny of uncertainty
we live with the knowledge
of our knowledgelessness
and so we place flowers and keepsakes and stones
on graves, at candles, at trees
thin clichés take over thought:
the horseless rider
the sword and outworn sheath
belief and hope
that on the wind will come these voices
which call us to light, a beckoning
the termination of suffering into void
thin
the pause in cycles
the dead waiting in Homeric clusters
for their chance
to drink from Lethe
into forgetfulness
and toward their chosen new life
I wish them not to be reborn
I wish for better than that
some final party
at the end of grief
Hey, says a soul you know
have a drink.
Someone else tells a joke
an old one you’ve always known
and it’s funnier than ever
laughter fills us
an old joke and laughing for eternity
sometimes life was like this
but enough?
over here
another old friend
shows photos
remember this?
you do
an album full
of everything you ever did
that made you happy

The Weeks Ahead

So walking into too many different stores and they're all playing Christmas songs (can I get "Christmas in Killarney" out of my head?). I know some places were playing them before but now they seem everywhere and so the whole Christmas season starts which I suppose I don't mind. I like some of the bustle of it, the barber shop on 7th Avenue that has the running train and the skaters in a wintry setting, Union Square converted into a great outdoor bazaar. Of course Chanukah comes first, so there'll be lights and trees and it will all seem, well, like holidays. It will bring back memories and for another year, even though Jesse may feel he's too old (but Katherine and I are not) we'll read Night Tree by Eve Bunting and Ted Rand which I think is one of the best Christmas books ever (I remember once many years ago that Kenneth read it to Jesse before Jesse went to sleep and he came downstairs and talked about how wonderful and surprising it was as a book. Of course, it isn't Somebody Spilled the Sky by Ruth Krauss, but that's just on another level.

It all means that the semester is also rushing to a close and I'm worried if we'll get to everything I'd hoped. Not with my writing fellows students, who seem on track, nor my Poet in New York students who seem the same, but my Intro to Poetry students. I think I always feel this way, though, and then it gets done. My mind is already drifting to next semester and teaching Spanish Surrealism and Advanced Poetry, both for the first time. It will be an interesting spring, after all, with new classes and a new book (and hopes that Celia Cruz will find a publisher.

What to do for Christmas break? Travel? Stay home and ready for the spring? "Oh must we dream our dreams and have them too?" (Elizabeth Bishop).

Abrazos

Oh Thanksgiving

Long time between posts with so much going on. Karen has been sick (in the hospital) and while I've made a few visits, Katherine has been the person to really help out. Karen is home now, somewhat better but not very happy. The recovery is always slow but a ton of people have been going to visit her (including Katherine) so hopefully that helps. I would be, but I've been fighting some sort of bug that seems to have been going around Lang and the last thing I want to do is give her anything that would hurt her recovery.

Thanksgiving dinner was sweet and low-key. The Wednesday before I marinated the turkey Cuban style in lime, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, sliding it all in under the skin (between flesh and skin). Not easy, so you don't tear it. Pablo tells me this is how his mother made it, except she used to stuff the bird with rice and beans--I just put in more of the marinade. Katherine made a cranberry and orange sauce and a pumpkin pie and all in all it was a nice meal. Since then it's been turkey sandwiches and today I made a stock and used some of it for a turkey/leek/potato soup. rica!

This has been a real Lorca week for me, looking at lots of student critical writing on Poet in New York, on their poetic responses to Poet in New York. Some of the work has been quite good, interesting responses to In the Farmer's Cabin and Introduction to Death. These are important points in the book and many of the students seemed to really see the changes in the character of the poet as he readies himself to return to New York. This coming week we'll look at the two Odes, for me the dramatic high point of the book (the text we'll read with it is "Howl."

So, some writing, some reading (went a little bit into Luis de Gongora, who I've only looked at a little and should know better but he's always been just a little outside my period range, but so contemporary in many ways). There are some new links on this blog that I like a lot so I hope folks will check them out too.

Abrazos!