During much of this spring, I’ve been in a creative lull – not exactly writer’s block but a definite slowdown. I wrote a few poems, I kept up with my twice-a-month blog posts and the newsletter, I wrote daily entries in my journal, but the energy I normally bring to my creative writing felt muted. … Continue reading Field Notes
Flowers of Rhetoric: A List of Obscure Literary Terms
I found this list in a 2003 letter from my father. At the time, I was beginning my MFA degree in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. My father was worried that I would succumb to the "tricks of rhetoric, which are the opposite of poetry." In the same letter, he went on to … Continue reading Flowers of Rhetoric: A List of Obscure Literary Terms
The Exploratory Review
I’ve come to realize something about the reviewing process. Every book I review is unique, and therefore, dictates the type of review it receives. I call this style of reviewing The Exploratory Review, which combines elements of narrative, description, and exposition. In the exploratory review, the book leads the way instead of the reviewer. A … Continue reading The Exploratory Review
The Long Poem Project
Recently, I came across an article titled “An Anatomy of the Long Poem”. The author, Rachel Zucker, states “there are many short poems I admire and, of course, too many wonderful mid-length poems to name that I adore. But I have a special love for a good long poem.” This gave me pause. I admit … Continue reading The Long Poem Project
An Appreciation: Terrance Hayes’s “The Blue Terrance”
My first encounter with Terrance Hayes’s poem “The Blue Terrance” occurred in my car. It was the spring of 2009 and I’d been listening to a CD of an episode of “The Playlist,” the Poetry Foundation’s podcast, on my way from one teaching job to another. The drive from Saratoga to Cupertino took about ten … Continue reading An Appreciation: Terrance Hayes’s “The Blue Terrance”
What About X? Writing the Abecedarian
Definition: An abecedarian poem is one in which verses or words begin with the successive letters of the alphabet. I recently wrote my first abecedarian poem, and while I enjoyed the process, I nearly stalled out when I got to the letter X. Hardly any useful words begin with X. My crumbling, 1965 edition of … Continue reading What About X? Writing the Abecedarian
How I Review a Poetry Collection
In this post, I share my method for reviewing books of poetry. My reviews appear twice monthly in my newsletter, Sticks & Stones, which is free to subscribers. I read the whole book several times. First, I read it as if I were not planning to review it. I just enjoy the book. I read … Continue reading How I Review a Poetry Collection
Dance With Me, Part 2
Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit Last week I shared my first post about Twyla Tharp’s wonderful book, The Creative Habit. Here is Part 2. Part 2: Deprivation, picking fights, packages of time, anti-social = pro-creative In her chapter “Accidents Will Happen,” Tharp writes “For my first five years, I choreographed to silence. I had no … Continue reading Dance With Me, Part 2
Dance With Me, Part 1
Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit I’ve read a lot of creativity books, but none quite like The Creative Habit, Learn It and Use It For Life. The author, Twyla Tharp, is a daring and innovative choreographer. Her bio states that she “has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television … Continue reading Dance With Me, Part 1
Navigating Lit Mags: Why and Where to Publish – guest blog post by Bernard Grant
This is a very useful follow-up to my post of 1/24/18 on researching journals, submitting one’s work, rejection, and becoming a better writer.
Navigating the world of literary magazines was difficult for me in the beginning. I initially set out to publish anywhere, so desperate for publication, I actually Googled easiest literary magazines to the publish in, or something to that extent, and came across visual and literary artist’s Michael Alexander Chaney’s “Top Lit Mags that REALLY do Publish Emerging Authors.” Some of the magazines on his list include Baltimore Review, Bayou Magazine, New England Review, River Teeth. For each one, Chaney includes short anecdotes, quotations, and descriptions—proof essentially—that these top-tier lit mags have, indeed, published emerging writers, and have given some writers their first publications.
Despite, and maybe because of that article, I became more aware of the level of prestige each journal carried, and after a few rejections from them, I decided to aim low, believing I had no chance with those big journals and, even worse, that I…
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