Looking for Me? I've Migrated.

Not seeing what you were looking for? ...my reading blog and more about me and my poetry are all over here: outsideofacat.wordpress.com Come one, come all!

Let me show you Hattiesburg, MS.

... I've been meaning to show off some of the pictures I've taken here in Mississippi, and today I made this little slide show of Hattiesburg:

Hope you enjoy!

Just a quick reminder that my reading / book blog has moved to outsideofacat.wordpress.com -- Drop by and have a look! The paint has dried, that smell of wallpaper paste has gone, and everything is shiny and new. You'll find lots of new posts about Elizabeth Bishop, Marianne Moore, Rainer Maria Rilke, and a bunch of other cool folks.

The Strangeness of Athens, GA

...this past weekend, E, L and myself made our way to Athens, GA for the "Strangeness in Context" conference. It was a fun trip, and I really enjoyed the presentations.

Athens is a lovely place, with fun affordable eating places (The Grit, for example) and great mint mocha (Jittery Joe's).

Yes, "America's Best Inn" turned out to be pretty much the opposite, and it was an 8 hour drive each way, and it did rain while we were there, but I still really enjoyed the trip and spending time around other strange / creative people like myself. :) I did miss one talk that I wanted to hear, about Virginia Woolf's Orlando, because it was at the same time as my own presentation, but what I did hear was interesting and thought-provoking.

As for other news, keep an eye out for poems of mine in the inaugural issues of Lumn and China Grove. I'll post links once the issues are live. The next issue of The Nassau Review will also include one of my poems.
USM's Center for Writers has generously given me the Ben Mounger Rawls award, and I am both very happy and honoured.
Oh, and I just proofread the poems for the upcoming issue of Memorious -- there will be some great stuff in this issue!

magnolias with their eyes wide open

take a look this new york times photo gallery / article about mississippi -

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/07/27/magazine/mississippi-health-care.html?ref=magazine#

this, too, is america. i wish more people were aware of the situation here - minds need to be blown. and changes need to be made.

if you want to know even more about what folks here are struggling with, try to get your hands on a documentary titled "lalee's kin" - about a school in mississippi.

new US poet laureate

natasha tretheway was just named as the new us poet laureate - congratulations! this is especially exciting seeing that she's from gulfport, mississippi, which is literally an hour from here. she's number 19 - and just so you can impress your friends with random trivia, here are the other 18, courtesy of wikipedia:

1986–1987: Robert Penn Warren 

1987–1988: Richard Wilbur 

1988–1990: Howard Nemerov 

1990–1991: Mark Strand 

1991–1992: Joseph Brodsky 

1992–1993: Mona Van Duyn 

1993–1995: Rita Dove 

1995–1997: Robert Hass 

1997–2000: Robert Pinsky 

2000–2001: Stanley Kunitz 

2001–2003: Billy Collins 

2003–2004: Louise Glück 

2004–2006: Ted Kooser 

2006–2007: Donald Hall 

2007–2008: Charles Simic 

2008–2010: Kay Ryan 

2010–2011: W.S. Merwin 

2011–2012: Philip Levine

new poems

so it looks like i survived the usual end-of-semester madness fairly well. :) all my grading is done, all assignments and papers are handed in, and summer is upon me.

there are two new poems of mine you can now read online:

(click to go to product homepage)

http://www.usm.edu/product/page29/page36/page36.html

product is a journal put out by the center for writers at usm, and while i was one of the poetry editors for this issue, let me assure you that all entries were democratically selected by independent readers. :D

working on product was fun, especially reading all the submissions from usm's students, graduate and undergrad. i hope you enjoy what we selected!

chapbook! yay!

friends and frenemies,

the time has come, my chapbook - the five parts of love: confabulating sappho - is now available from dancing girl press! so head right over to their site and take a look, and check out some of the other chaps they have in stock.

http://dulcetshop.ecrater.com/p/14676929/the-five-parts-of-love-confabulating#

here is one sample poem from the collection, just to whet your appetite. the words in italics are surviving fragments of sappho's poetry, namely fragment number 7, taken from the translation by anne carson (if not, winter).

i'm excited this has finally taken physical shape, and what better time for it than poetry month! i hope you'll enjoy my adventures with sappho, - please comment / let me know either way!

p.s. - in case you couldn't tell: http://youtu.be/zrCuZd9hed0  *wink

for more ekphrasis / all the pretty pictures

the bridesmaid, by millais

when i got an email at the end of march inviting me to join our center for writers' poetry marathon, i decided to give it a go. the idea was (is) to write one poem every day in april (poetry month) and share it with the rest of the marathon writers before midnight that day. miss a day and you're out. i didn't think i'd last long, but today is the 16th and i have not missed a day yet! which means, yes, i have 16 new poems and will have a couple more before the end of the month. granted, some of them are not very good, but practice makes perfect better. :)

a few weeks ago, my poetry professor mentioned there ought to be more ekphrastic poetry, and when i was stuck for a topic / trigger for a poem about a week ago, i remembered and went to googleartproject and took a good, long, close look at my favorite painting, millais' bridesmaid. and wrote a poem about it.

my poem for today is also ekphrastic, - i explored some of the many collections google art project contains and found another painting that tickled me. it's this:

the girl i left behind me, by eastman johnson

i didn't read up on the painting, the historical context or the artist, because as i was looking at this scene, i had an immediate response. click on the picture for a larger view.

in any case, the point of this post is that maybe there really SHOULD be more ekphrastic poetry, so why not give it a shot! any poem that describes or enters into a painting can be considered ekphrastic. if a picture captures you or draws you in, that's all you need. well, that and the willingness to sit down and write it out.

google art project is a nice starting point - you can browse through so many works of art, modern and ancient, things you know and things you didn't know existed, from museums all over the world. what i particularly like is that you can zoom in on the images. with some of the paintings that means you get as close a look as you would if you almost touched your nose to the canvas (which does not exactly elicit a lot of enthusiasm from the people who work at the museum, take my word for it.) so, my suggestion is, look and write.

sneak peek :)

here is a sneak peek at our cover design for "the five parts of love" - the chapbook will be available shortly from dancing girl press. watch this space. or their website. or your email inbox if you've given me your email address. :)

more soon!

librophile animation

i just really wanted to share this. it made my day.

the fantastic flying books of mr.morris lessmore.

i knew that i needed you (watching j.edgar)

for the first time in a while i watched a movie, at the movie theatre - i do enjoy this, but it tends to be so expensive (compared to reading books etc) that i hardly do it. also, there are rarely any "offerings" that seem worth the approximately 10 bucks or more a visit to the cinema usually costs.

t and i went to see "j. edgar" and i can only recommend it. not only was it worth the money, but leonardo di caprio has finally redeemed himself (imho) as an actor. where, in romeo and juliet, he was constantly either shirtless or wet (think wet-tshirt-contest for boys), he now keeps his clothes on and actually plays his character.

i remember reading that the real-life fbi were not too thrilled with clint eastwood's looking to get more information on hoover's sexual orientation and relationships, but the movie eastwood delivers here is tastefully done and, because it is a MOVIE, not a bio-pic or a documentary, i think it's fully acceptable in the ways it develops the characters.

finally, i have to admit that i was moved to tears - the asexual relationship between these two men is so delicately, respectfully and convincingly portrayed that i honestly don't care if it (or anything like it) ever really happened. this is good movie-making. go see it.

in my list it ranks high, right up there with "frost/nixon" and "good night and good luck" - and this is coming from someone who hated history in school. :)

if you still want to get your facts right... read about j. edgar hoover here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

analyse von m.d. zellmers "ebendar"

Ebendar

Blasphemie und peripher

schizophren und nekrophil

postneutral und Profanie

elegiös und etabliert

dergestalt und ebendar

Rizinus und Ratiopharm

Sakrileg und pedophil

homogen und Integral

Polynom und Division

Argument und Diskussion

erogen und trivial

paranorm und Diphterie

Ergonom und Anatom

indiskret und raffiniert

intravenös ☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹

☹☹☹☹☹☹☹ und ☹☹☹☹☹☹al

das ist mir doch

☹☹☹☹☹☹egal

max d. zellmer's "ebendar" (http://maxdzellmer.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/ebendar/ ) ist ein frühwerk, ohne jeden zweifel. zwar spricht die intertextualität diese lyrischen werkes für ein populärliterarisches bewusstsein, - der rhytmische sprechgesang der 1990er hat hier offensichtlich pate gestanden, - doch eine genauere betrachtung des textes verdeutlicht, daß dies das machwerk eines adoleszenten geistes ist.

zellmer nutzt hier eine einfache chiffrierung, bei der jede zeile für (x, y) steht, und die initiallettern der wortpaare jeweils den zahlenwert des jeweiligen buchstaben haben. so ergibt sich folgende grafische darstellung:

das gedicht, im reinen betrachtet, ist nichts weiter als ein primitiv gezeichneter lyrischer phallus. der subversive jungkünstler hat also hier das bewusstsein des lesers zur schultoilettenwand gemacht. wahrlich, ein erguss infantilen genies.

new poem in barely south review

just a quick note to let y'all know the september issue of barely south review just went live, and one of my poems is in it. you can read it here:

http://barelysouthreview.digitalodu.com/all-issues/september-2011/stillborn-1918-2/

i'd love to hear your thoughts / comments!

when you wish upon a book...

so i ordered this book for a class i am taking this semester. i used bookfinder.com to find the best rate and found a good copy at the tacoma book center, WA, via AbeBooks. for whatever reason i filled out the "special instructions to bookseller" box on the order form: 

you probably can't quite read this, but it says, "Please could you draw me a unicorn on the invoice?"

well the book arrived today. it was very neatly wrapped (better than any other bookseller i've bought from online so far!) and when i freed the book from its protective cellophane wrapper and looked at the invoice, this is what i found:

thank you, MS / mysterious unicorn artist, this made my day! 

we have touch down

store front, downtown hattiesburg

i made it to mississippi in one piece, safe and sound, with two pieces of luggage and a bottle of sun screen.  the heat is not as bad as people have been telling me, - though i'm not saying it's not hot or not too hot. then again, supposedly we're having a cool spell here right now. :)

the best part about the new place: built-in bookshelves. lots of room for books!!!

the sign in the photo above was delightfully puzzling to me. if you want to know (kill the mystery) click here, at your own risk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoSewejpKkk

composition and all that jazz

so i just got home from a little excursion into jazz-land, which on my map still has a bunch of "here there be dragons" warnings as well as lots of blank space.

apparently, every thursday from 9pm there is a free jazz concert in the "film bar" upstairs in essen's lovely "lichtburg" cinema, organized by a group called JOE - jazz offensive essen ("offensive" here being a noun, in german, and meaning offense, as in taking action). how did i even find out about this, since i don't read the newspaper, you ask? well... one of the musicians stopped me in the street a few days ago and invited me. :)

lichtburg, essen (image source)

tonight's performance was by the marc brenken / jean-yves braun quartet (their myspace page is here: http://www.myspace.com/brenkenbraun) albeit with a different bass player. it was good! :) here's an example:

A Great First Year With Agusia (this will take you to myspace, to that particular song)

there were a bunch of titles i really enjoyed but they are not online, or i'd share. there was a camera at the concert, so maybe it's just a matter of time. if they become available as videos, i'll update here. :)

now, this was instrumental music, and the "voices" of the two composers (brenken and braun) were quite different from each other, with braun's pieces more dreamy and melodic ("a great first year", see link above) and brenken's more percussion-driven, energetic and experimental (for example, parts of "the long-nosed magician"). this may or may not be a representative overview of their repertoire but i thought it was interesting.

music is something that has fascinated me for as long as i can think, and while i can "understand" how a painter or a sculptor or a writer may come up with new work, how people can imagine / create new music is beyond me. i have no musical imagination - i have never woken up with a new melody in my head, or a motif for a composition. i have, however, woken up with words and images. i wonder how much like or unlike writing the musical creation process is.

also, music is much more subject to time than any of the other arts (except performance / dance, of course, but that's connected). music is time / marks time / needs time. it is a process. one day, when i was studying at reading uni (in england), a friend came back from one of her typography lectures and was thrilled with the realization that time is to music as blank space is to print. i just had to think of that.

and, while i already knew i like piano music, and from the open mic nights at the windsor girls' house in salt lake knew that a bass could be very cool, sitting on the floor i got a good view of the drummer and his many tricks, and i do like percussion too! mind you, this guy knew what he was doing. :)

an evening well spent.

rosemarie johnen: offenes atelier / a painter's open house

"natürlicher einklang" (natural harmony)

hier einige impressionen von rosemarie johnens "offenem atelier" letzte woche. rosi ist malerin und experimentiert mit verschiedenen techniken und materialien. zur zeit interessiert sie sich für in holzplatten verborgene bilder und figuren, die sie mit farbe und stift herauslockt.

zum genaueren hinsehen einfach auf die bilder klicken für eine größere version.

some impressions from rosemarie johnen's open house last week. rosi paints and enjoys experimenting with different techniques and materials. at the moment, she is particularly interested in images that hide in the texture of pieces processed wood. these, she teases out of the material with the help of paint and pen.

want to take a closer look? click on the picture for a larger version.

"lebensraum" (habitat)

das schöne an solch einem offenen atelier ist, daß man - wenn man glück hat - einen weiteren überblick über die arbeit bekommt. rosi zeigte sowohl ältere als auch neue arbeiten, vom aquarell über acryl bis zur zeichnung. selbst unfertige arbeiten waren zu sehen. diese hier hat es mir besonders angetan:

the nice thing about an artist's open house is that, if you're lucky, you get a broader view of the artist's work. rosi shared older as well as new works, from watercolours (her first paintings) and acrylic paint to drawings. even unfinished projects were on display, in the workshop. this one is a particular favorite of mine:

noch in arbeit, ohne titel
(unfinished, untitled)

ein weiteres lieblingsbild muss dieses hier sein - "mohn-tage", ein großformatiges gemälde mit echten riesenmohnblättern (siehe zb rechte obere ecke):

another favorite has to be this one - poppy days - a large painting with real poppy petals (see top right corner for example):

"mohn-tage" (poppy days)

pablo picassos motto, nicht zu suchen sondern zu finden hat sich die malerin zu herzen genommen. alles in allem war ich von der bandbreite der verschiedenen techniken überrascht (im positiven sinne!)

in her work, rosi took pablo picasso's suggestion to find, not search, to heart. overall, i was surprised and impressed by the variety of styles in this exhibit. 

"Verbundenheit" (connectedness)

"grenz-nah 2" (near the borders/limits)

D.O.O.M and dragonslayers!

i'm doing something different today - meet some of my friends!

the mollies - a fun, talented bunch from salt lake - recently released their new album, dragonslayer. fourteen tracks of vocal harmony, cello, violin, and a plethora of other devices, combined with the lyrical whimsy of becky jean's songwriting - it's well worth checking out. it's a bit calmer than the first album, yours around the rosies, but lovely, - the dreamy "don't kiss me" and the clever "one to ten" and "fancies are fiends" - the mollies are as charming as ever. 

what i like about the mollies is that they have fun with their music. you can hear it, and, if you catch them live, you can see it too (re: video, i rest my case).

what i also really really like is their lyrics. some lines, some turns of phrase, and the stories the songs tell - i like music, but i don't like brainless music. well, now and then a bit of brainless music is nice, but i do like to listen to stuff that tickles my braincells. that creates interesting pictures in my head. that uses interesting words in interesting orders. the mollies songs do that. :)

here's an example from: i'm sorry but this is a love song (also on the new album)

Toasted muse, I’m happy without you.
He’s packing up all my crazy.
He licks a stamp, sticks it on my face;
and I’ve a glad taste in my mouth for days.

you can listen to more of their songs on their myspace page and, if you like what you hear, buy their music via cdbaby (cd or mp3) or iTunes (mp3). they also recorded a very fun music video for "float my boat" (from yours around the rosies):

now, if you're still not curious about them, then i can't help it. :)

my first contact with w. forsythe

image found here:
http://www.modephonie.de/?p=530

thanks to my dear friend h i had my first contact with w. forsythe's choreographic work this evening. now, i will be perfectly honest and say that ballet is not something i usually enjoy - classical ballet that is. but this... was different. 

a bunch of us went to the opernhaus dortmund to see a public rehearsal for “Körper.Tanzen.Formen” which - when it is performed "for real" as of march 26th - consists of three parts, one choreographed by g. balanchine, b. millepied, and w. forsythe, respectively, in that order. in the rehearsal - at least in the public part of it - the dancers performed sequences from the first and third parts.

the first was nice - i guess the fact that all dancers were in their own clothes, not in full costume, so all looked different and, well, fairly natural and normal, really helped me enjoy this part. there were also some moves that were so expressive they just made me chuckle. lots of exaggerated femininity and several instances of exaggerated masculinity in the moves. still, it was fairly close to what first comes to my mind when i hear the world "ballet" - a certain degree of artificiality, lots of tippy-toes, and this seemingly effortless lightness. 

the other part, forsythe's choreography that is, or at least the part of it we got to see, was utterly different. the title of the piece is "the second detail." the music was interesting and intense, the movements fluid yet exact, and the part i liked best was the female lead dancer in that sequence. powerful, yet undeniably womanly. her movements showed untamed energy, something organic, natural, something innately strong. she wasn't wearing tights so you could actually see those muscles in her legs working, a perfectly tuned machinery of sinews and fibers and bones. but none of this made her appear masculine.

i thoroughly enjoyed the lack of hyper-feminine gestures and positions in this part of the performance. woman's body does not have to be all fair and fluttery and melty and bendy in a male dancer's arms. she doesn't have to tip-toe and twirl like a pink lollipop in a tutu. 

anyway. i had a great time. and i made first contact with something new to me. how much better could you spend the day? 

btw i should have big news soon, as the responses to my ph.d. applications are coming in now. watch this space. :) if you like. feel free to watch other spaces if you prefer. i'm just saying. :D