Bringing it all back home

January 26, 2011January 26, 2011Leave a comment

Over the last few months, I’ve done a lot of readings for my poetry chapbook Front Man. The mini reading tour started up in the Boston area with a reading at Borders that featured other poets from the Big Table Publishing community. I’ve also read all over Pennsylvania and parts of NY. This Friday, I’m doing a reading in my hometown of Scranton, PA at Anthology New and Used Books. Out of all the readings I’ve done, I’m most excited about this one. Since it opened a few years ago, this bookstore has been a real bright spot for the local art community. The venue has housed poetry readings, writing workshops, and book clubs. It’s been a place for local activist and philosophical clubs to meet on a weekly basis.

I’m also happy to come back home and do this reading because a lot of the poems in Front Man were first read at Anthology, at the poetry open mic nights the fourth Friday of every month. These readings gave me the chance to test some of the poems in public and learn what lines worked and didn’t work. Anthology played a crucial role in putting the book together. Furthermore, most of the poetry collections I read while writing the book I ordered through Anthology. Because of the store, I was able to obtain a lot of collections by new voices in contemporary poetry. You don’t find many of these collections at the local Borders or Barnes & Noble stores.

So, if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, come out to the reading on Friday. It begins at 7 p.m. I’ll sign some books and read some poems. A limited open mic will follow. Anthology is located at 515 Center Street, above Outrageous Jewelry.

Reasons Why Book Marketing Campaigns Fail

January 24, 2011Leave a comment

The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog ran a wonderful article over the weekend talking about book marketing and why some campaigns to get new readers fail. The first issue the article raised is social media. Certainly social media has changed the landscape in regards to marketing. If used well, social media makes it far easier for writers to market their book or manuscript in progress. But the article makes some valid points in regards to social media. First, it mentions that some writers simply don’t use this tool. I’m always surprised by this. Nowadays, especially in the world of poetry, presses and publishers simply don’t have the funds to launch advertising campaigns for writers. So why not make use of the free services blogs, Facebook, and Twitter offer in regards to promoting a new chapbook or full-length collection? Social media provides the opportunity to gain new readers and have open discussions with other writers.

However, the article also points out that a writer needs to be careful how he or she uses social media services. Don’t just use the tools to push your work or sell your book. As the article points out, the goal of social media should be to provide potential readers with a level of engagement. Convince them you are interesting. Pique their interest, and that should help get your work read by others. But remember no one wants to get bombarded with messages regarding where to buy your book or where to read your work.

The article also mentions that it’s crucial to invest time in one’s self. I think I underestimated this point prior to the release of my chapbook, Front Man. I didn’t realize how much time I would spend marketing the book, setting up readings, sending the book out to reviewers. As I had mentioned earlier, presses and publishers simply don’t have the funds to launch marketing campaigns for most writers anymore. So, it’s mostly up to the writer to do the hard work. The book won’t sell if no readings are booked. It’s as simple as that. Make time for these marketing strategies. It’s also a great way to build further connections.

Hardheaded Weather

January 20, 2011January 24, 2011Leave a comment

I finally picked up a copy of Cornelius Eady’s Hardheaded Weather: New and Selected Poems. Thanks to Anthology New and Used Books for ordering a copy for me!

Eady has been a staple of the contemporary American poetry scene for the last few decades, landing poems in The New Yorker and Best American Poetry. He also earned a National Book Award nomination in 2001 for his collection Brutal Imagination. I have some of Eady’s full-length collections sitting on my bookshelf, but it’s nice to now own selected poems from every book, including the unpublished manuscript, The Modern World.

If you’re a fan of Eady’s work and hesitant to buy this latest collection because you own his previous full-length volumes, I still recomend purchasing this book. Besides the unpublished manuscript, this volume holds some other unseen work, including the collections Hardheaded Weather and The Way a Long Dress Turns a Corner.

In my opinion, the newer poems from Hardheaded Weather are alone worth the cost of the volume. In the opening pages, Eady presents narrative poems about a newlywed couple moving into a new house. But even early on in this collection, as the couple celebrates a new, blissful marraige, there are signs of troubled times to come, and troubled times the country itself will go through, including the war in Iraq. In the poem “Honeymoon,” the husband mentions the radical right wing group The John Birch Society has “adopted our section of the highway.” That same persona confesses a few pages later that he still doesn’t know “what to do/with the hammer/In my hands/it feels like/my tongue/looking for/the right way to say please/or don’t shoot.”

The political undertones grow stronger, especially throughout the poem “Pre-War,” where “An American flag, left behind by previous owners/stutters on the pole.” There’s constantly something threatening the couple throughout the poems, including house repairs, frost, storms, and even cancer. But the couple somehow manages to pull through, much like the country did after various wars and other foreign policy and domestic blunders.

What’s the literacy health of your city?

January 17, 2011January 24, 2011Leave a comment

The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog recently posted the results of a study done by Central Connecticut State University analyzing the “literacy health” of major American cities. It’s a cool study, so I thought I would post some of the results here. The study focuses on several key indicators of literacy, including number of bookstores, library resources, educational attainment, and newspaper circulation.

Here are the top five cities for literacy health:

1	Washington, DC
2	Seattle, WA
3	Minneapolis, MN
4	Atlanta, GA
5	Pittsburgh, PA

What surprised me most is that NYC is number 26 on the list! Philadelphia is 31, Chicago 28, and Boston 12. Some other categories exist, and those results can be read here.

Listen to This

January 11, 2011January 11, 2011Leave a comment

My friend and fellow Wilkes University alum, Dawn Leas, author of the poetry chapbook I Know When to Keep Quiet, was recently interviewed on the local WVIA radio station for a program called “The Art Scene.” The interviewer, Erika Funke, did a great job with the questions and covered everything from Dawn’s writing process to creating a narrative arc for her book.

There’s a lot about the interview I liked, including the portion where she talked about revision/the writing process. She mentioned that while attending the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program, she had trouble parting with some lines in her poems based on feedback given by her mentors and peers. Anyone who writes knows how hard it is to sometimes axe lines or even whole pages, but ultimately, we come to trust the advice of our fellow writers and our work ends up stronger.

Dawn also read a few poems during the interview and discussed some of the poets she studied that influenced the central theme of family/place that fill the poems.

To listen to the full interview, click here.

Also, I will be reading with Dawn on Friday, Jan. 21 at the Barnes & Noble in downtown Wilkes-Barre (7 S. Main Street) at 7 p.m. Her chapbook and my chapbook, Front Man, will be available for sale there.

Missing You, Metropolis

January 7, 2011January 24, 2011Leave a comment

A few posts ago, I mentioned the latest Poets Roundup in the new issue of Poets & Writers. One poet mentioned in the section that caught my attention is Gary Jackson, author of Missing You, Metropolis. The blurb mentioned that throughout his debut collection, Jackson blends autobiographical elements of his life growing up Kansas with references to comic books. I wanted to see how well Jackson pulled off the pop culture references in his poetry, so I ordered a copy of his collection from my favorite used bookstore, Anthology New and Used Books.

Besides the nice write-up in Poets & Writers, Jackson also received accolades from Yusef Komunyakaa, who selected the book as the winner of the latest Cave Canem Poetry Prize. In his introduction to the book, Komunyakaa says, “This persona has been forged in the cauldron of popular iconography, especially in the culture of the comic book. Anything is possible in such created time and space; immediate tension exists in a climate where otherworldly figures are defined by earthly matters and concerns.”

What impresses me most about this collection is the range of voices Jackson showcases in his debut. The personas in the book include superheros such as Ironman, as well as friends, family, bystanders, and comic book readers. Jackson also proves he has an appreciation for both tradition and pop culture, as shown by the book’s opening poem “The Art of Reading the Comic Book,” dedicated to W.H. Auden.

While not all of the poems work and some may not push a working metaphor quite far enough, the poems soar when they do more than namedrop various issues of Spiderman. At their best, Jackson’s poems blend pop culture and comic book references with observations and commentary on complex issues such as race, evolving friendships, family, and ambition.

In the poem “Stuart,” Jackson presents the commentary and pop culture references well, painting a picture of two childhood friends who bonded over comic books, or maybe more than that. “Comics bonded us/Or perhaps it goes further back?/Blacks were still rare/on our street, while whites/filled the neighborhood like dead/leaves in water.’

After winning the Cave Canem prize and gaining so much attention already, it’s likely Jackson will have a long career in poetry. Check out his debut collection, Missing You, Metropolis, out now from Graywolf Press.

Poet Carolyn Forché coming to Scranton

January 5, 2011January 5, 20112 Comments

I just received word yesterday that poet/writer/human rights activist Carolyn Forché is coming to the University of Scranton in February. Here is the press release that was shared with me. This event is going to be free and well-worth checking out, considering Forché is one of the biggest names in the contemporary American poetry scene.

As part of its 2010 – 2011 Education for Justice theme of peace and reconciliation, The University of Scranton will welcome Carolyn Forché — an award-winning poet, essayist and human rights activist — for a lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 16. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall.

No stranger to the University, Forché received an honorary degree following her inspiring speech at Scranton’s 2010 undergraduate commencement. She told graduates that they “have the potential to be noble of spirit” and that they may “become the most important generation that has ever lived.” At the ceremony, Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., president of The University of Scranton, said, “The witness of her words and example resonates with the University’s commitment to promote justice in the Jesuit tradition.”

Titled “The Voice of Witness,” the lecture will focus on ways in which warfare, imprisonment and other forms of suffering are given voice by writers around the world.

Forché has commented on some of the most devastating social events of the 20th century. Her first book of poetry, “Gathering the Tribes,” won the 1975 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Forché traveled as part of Amnesty International to El Salvador, where she witnessed a civil war — an experience that inspired her to write “The Country Between Us,” a book of poems that was named the 1981 Lamont Poetry Selection and became a rare poetry bestseller.

A noted translator and a teacher of poetry and literature for 35 years, she holds and directs the Lannan Chair of Poetry and Poetics at Georgetown University. Forché has received three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lannan Foundation Fellowship and other literary and teaching awards — including the Robert Creeley Award in 2005 and The Golden Rose from the New England Poetry Club in 2008. In 1998, she was presented the Edita and Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation Award for Peace and Culture in Stockholm, Sweden, for her work on behalf of human rights and the preservation of memory and culture.

The Education for Justice Office promotes justice throughout The University of Scranton community through various programs, lectures and activities. The office wishes to educate students on the importance of justice, so they may act

new year, new journals, new blogs

January 2, 2011Leave a comment

Happy New Year everyone!

In the spirit of the new year and new possibilities, I want to share an interesting blog/journal I discovered recently that may appeal to some of the fellow writers who read my blog. The journal I’m talking about is titled Young American Poets. Check it out here. I’m especially impressed with this site because the editors publish a poem every few days, except when they shut down for a few weeks during the holidays. The site is also unique because the editors only publish poets born on or before July 20, 1971 from all 50 states.

So, if you’re looking to get your work out there, you may want to check their submission guidelines, since they’ll be open for submissions again soon. I just sent them work a few weeks ago.

Good luck, and happy new year!

Some reasons to pick up latest Poets and Writers

December 28, 2010December 28, 2010Leave a comment

The latest issue of Poets & Writers is now in bookstores. For anyone interested in strengthening their writing and learning more about the poetry business, this magazine should be a standard. But I think the current issue is a little more special than others. It features the 6th Annual Debut Poets Roundup, meaning it contains blurbs on several poets who released debut poetry collections recently. Each featured poet also provides advice on writing/publishing.

Unforutnately, Poets & Writers’ content is only available in print, so I can’t post a link to the section, but I will share some helpful advice .

J. Michael Martinez, author of Heredities, published by Lousiana State Unviversity Press, says, “I’d recomend poets focus on the actual act of writing. It is easy to get preoccupied with the fetishizing of publication and lose sight of why we do what we do.”

Here’s some good advice on publishing from Keetje Kuipers, author of Beautiful in the Mouth, published by BOA Editions.

“Good poems are good poems, and they’ll find a home somewhere. But when you’re sending your manuscript out to contests and publishers, you know that your work is going up against a whole lot of good poems. That’s why structure and order and cohesion of a collection are all so important.”

Finally, I’ll end with some advice by John Murillo, author of Up Jump the Boogie, one of my favorite collections of the last year.

“Take as long as you need to write the best book you can, work hard until you are generally satisfied. Then send it out and hope for the best. Second, know that what’s meant for you will find you; what isn’t, won’t. It’s a waste of both time and energy worrying about where this person publishes or what this person wins… Don’t hate, hustle.”

Brian Fanelli

Poet. Educator. Horror Blogger.