Well, it’s the end of April. I can’t believe how fast this year is going by.
My monthly accomplishments in the writing world:
doesn’t seem like much, but I’m proud of it!
I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this or come across an example of this before!
Check out this story in New York Magazine about how authors are promoting their books through MySpace.
I especially like the idea of creating a multimedia reading with music overlays a la This American Life.
1. UNC Wilmington
2. UNC Greensboro
3. Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
4. Sarah Lawrence College (NYC)
5. Hunter College (NYC)
6. George Mason University (VA)
7. University of Virginia
8. John Hopkins University (Baltimore)
9. University of Washington (Seattle)
10. University of Montana
Highlights: A young Tom Waits with an acoustic guitar, an unassuming Michael Ondaantje (genious!), Helen Adam and her unbelievable memorization, Ed Saunders and his musical invention, Allen Ginsberg trying to be a rock star, John Cage, Robert Creeley, Jim Carroll…
I’m going to have to watch it again before I return it.
On this weekday, I find myself in the most pleasant of circumstances: writing at home, in daylight.
The power went out at work this morning when 50 mph winds knocked down trees and lines across the city. (Mayhem!) We waited around in the dark for about an hour before my boss and I went out to get Indian buffet, only to return with still no power in the building! So, I was sent home early because no more work could be done in the dark. The only bummer is that I have to go in an hour earlier tomorrow.
So, I’ve been at home since about 2:00. Obviously, the power is on here (although the microwave clock is off set,) and I’m almost done with the freelance writing that I didn’t touch all weekend. I’m tempted to call the office tomorrow and say I quit! because this feels so good. I would work from home every day if I could do it with financial security. But at the same time, an office job helps you get up in the morning. And it sure pays better than freelance work (or at least the current gigs I have). Maybe one day I’ll have enough connections and published works to make this the norm.
I’m almost done with this one.
You definitely can tell each poem in this anthology was hand-picked by Billy Collins, or so I like to think they were, and for the most part I like this selection. But after I read some of these poems, I think, hmm…I guess it was the best? and then I question my critical reading skills and I read it again and again and then imagine some top-notch editor at Poetry magazine or something turning red in the face in anger over this poem appearing in this anthology or some staunch professor reprimanding me for not seeing the value in it. Or I imagine the author as a young woman like myself or a old man who’s locked himself away in a cabin and his/her phone rings and on the other line there is “Hi, it’s Billy Collins and I’ve selected your poem to appear in Best American Poetry 2006” and he/she just flips out like it’s the lottery because they never thought this was the best poem but now it is. And then I figure it’s okay for these poems to be chosen for books like this. And, if anything, a lot of the poems in this collection make me feel better about using common language in my own work. Also, this book reiterates for me that starting out in small journals such as Iodine is important, not just for the regional factor, but because even Billy Collins reads Iodine – or at least he had to because one of the poems out of Iodine appeared in Best, and that is quite impressive.
Last month, Scott and I took a much-needed quick trip to Wilmington. It was very spur of the moment, but we had been talking about going for some time.
I have UNC Wilmington’s MFA program high on my list because of its good reputation and righteous in-state tuition costs (we’re talking CHEAP, folks). There’s a bunch of other stuff I like about it but I won’t go into it all here just yet.
Anyway, here’s why we went: My MFA selection process relies somewhat heavily on place. I need to go to school where I can function and fully enjoy the town or city I live in. This may not be true for everybody, but my happiness is very much related to my surroundings. I won’t move anywhere without visiting the place first. In fact, I decided to go to Queens for undergrad because out of the 9 other schools I applied to and visited, Queens was in the only city I could imagine enjoying for 4 years (but now that I’m coming up on 7, the charm is wearing off.)
I was glad to see an echo of my sentiments on this topic here.
So, I’m trying to visit as many potential schools that are within driving distance (and not all of them are) this year. Since Wilmington was one I know I’m applying to, and one of the closest schools that I’m considering, it was the easiest to cross off the list. Next will probably be a swoop through schools/cities in Virginia. And for those other places that require a longer road trip or a plane ride, I’ll wait to see if I’m accepted before I go visit them.
Our trip to Wilmington wasn’t centered around UNCW, although we did walk around on the campus. This was more about being cheesy tourists and actually making it a vacation (taking a ghost tour.) We also walked down streets to look at houses/apartments, checked out coffee shops — and other small things to create this mental picture of what it would be like to live “here.”
And the verdict was … Wilmington is somewhere I could see myself living. I never considered myself a gal for a beach-town, but this one had charm around every corner. I probably wouldn’t want to be stuck in the suburbs of Wilmington, though. It was too much white pavement for me. I was a sucker for all homes in the downtown area, with their old rickety porches, garden plots and trees with dabs of Spanish moss. The downtown area is probably high in rent for this aesthetic, though, so that could counteract a cheap tuition.
Wilmington could make me a beach person. I could see myself setting up shop on a Saturday with a book, some sand and an umbrella. It was too cold to take a dip when we were there, but you can see in this picture that we were all too happy to be windblown and sunburnt:
See that face?
It’s telling me that it’s National Poetry Month and I haven’t written a poem in it yet! :/
I have to say that one of the things I struggle with is productivity. I’ve done a good job in the past 6 months to a year setting aside one-to-two nights a week to focus on poetry. However, sometimes those nights get snagged for freelance writing or just general life crap. And even though poems are often small pieces of writing, they don’t often get finished in small time.
There’s a great article in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers, “The Writer’s Triangle: Balancing Writing With Life” by Caitlin O’Neil, about that very thing: finding the time to write, and writing when you have the time.
I once read something else, and it may have also come from P&W and was by Tom Kealey I think, that MFA programs don’t only teach people how to write better, but also teach people how to write – as in, how to do keep it up on your own. I find that a comforting thought, or at least one I’ll lean on while I’m also leaning on the other comfortable thought of maybe getting into an MFA program one day.
Which won’t happen unless I write more for my portfolio.
OK, you don’t have to kick me, I’m going…
