Poet, Writer, Instructor
Reflections on the day-to-day experiences of a working writer.
Plenty, it seems. Ask any writer who’s been at the craft for awhile what inspires her and you might get this pithy answer: everything. Or nothing—“I don’t need inspiration,” says the truly advanced writer. “I can write a poem, or a story, or an essay, just by staring at the wall.” I tell my students a version… Continue reading What’s Wrong with Inspiration?
I recently received an exquisite little treasure: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Poets & Writers Spill Their Worst Reading Experiences, edited by Richard Peabody of Gargoyle Magazine and Paycock Press. This charming book of flops and failures gladdened my heart, from its laugh-out-loud moments—i.e., Dinty W. Moore’s very first reading in a bookstore filled with “gently used… Continue reading My Worst Poetry Reading
Al Young at the Petaluma Poetry Walk, September 2016. Photo by Erica Goss “For her graphic imagination and her instinct for matching feeling to image, I chose Erica Goss’s poems. It is far easier to describe in language the push-pull and shove of emotional attraction than it is to locate and pinpoint the meaning of… Continue reading A Tribute to Al Young
I was twenty-six years old when I first read Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez’s National Book Award-winning account of the five years he spent visiting the Arctic region. It was a difficult read for me. I tried to care about a land that seemed not only distant, but harsh and unlovable in the extreme. Why would anyone,… Continue reading Barry Lopez: An Appreciation
My life revolves around lists. As soon as I arrive at my desk in the morning, I check the list I made at the beginning of the week. If it’s Friday, I hope to see a bunch of completed tasks which I’ve been able to check off: “prep for tutoring,” “write review,” “what the heck’s… Continue reading The Power of the List
This morning I dumped the chopped-up core from my breakfast apple into a yellow plastic bowl, added some leftover rice I found lurking at the back of the fridge, and then poured the extra steamed milk from the cappuccinos my husband made over it. After I mixed it all together, I put on the puffy… Continue reading I’m a SAP: A Seasonally Affected Poet
I’m trying not to be too hard on myself—as I revisit my New Year’s Resolutions for 2020, I’m saddened by how few items on the list I completed. Of course, no one could have predicted the chaos and uproar the Coronavirus pandemic brought with it. With that in mind, I’m addressing each item on the… Continue reading Review of my 2020 New Year’s Resolutions
I’ve always had small gardens, determined by the size of my backyard and the amount of sunlight it received. Some years ago, I discovered Mel Bartholomew’s book Square Foot Gardening, which I’ve used ever since. In square foot gardening, you divide your garden space into 12-inch squares, and then cram as many vegetables as you possibly… Continue reading Square Foot Poetry
I’ve been struck by the terminology of the Covid-19 pandemic: Essential workers. Stay home stay safe. Shelter-in-place. Masks, ventilators, hand sanitizer. Tests, tracking, social distancing. Working from home. Zoom. Virtual graduations, weddings, birthday parties. Isolation. None of these words and phrases comes close to describing the state of panic and paralysis we find ourselves in.… Continue reading Plague Poetry
Yesterday, I decided to play The Bookstore Game at home. Due to Oregon’s coronavirus shelter-in-place order, I haven’t been to an actual bookstore or library since March 10, when Claire Graman and I gave our presentation for Women’s History Month at the Eugene Public Library. I realize that plenty of people, perhaps the majority, don’t… Continue reading You Are a Work of Art