Poets on Stamps

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The United States Postal Service has decided to create stamps in honor of some of some of the most influential 20th Century American poets. The list includes Sylvia Plath, William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, E.E. Cummings, Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Hayden, Theodore Roethke, Denise Levertov, and Joseph Brodsky (who was actually born in Russia, but moved to the U.S. in the 1970s, after he was exiled by the Soviet government). If you like poetry and haven’t heard of most of these names, pick up a contemporary American poetry anthology or their collections. A lot of them shaped and influenced the genre not only through their poems, but also through their essays on craft.

 

As is, this list stands as a pretty good representation of some of the most influential poets of the last century. I did wonder why some names were left off, though. It’s funny to see William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens pictured on stamps, but not T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, the other two godfathers of Modernism. Sure Pound and Eliot spent part or even most of their careers oversees, but they were born in America. I also wonder why Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Lowell (Sylvia Plath’s early mentor), don’t get a stamp. And what about Whitman and Dickinson?  I’m hoping there will be another set of stamps to feature some more poets. But it’s cool the USPS is even releasing this set, which I’ll buy and save once it’s released.

General Updates

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Here’s a quick update of some fall events/readings I’m participating in.

This Friday, Sept. 23, I’ll be reading at the Vintage Theater with Amye Archer. Doors open at 6 p.m. There will also be art and music featured. Tickets are $10, and all money benefits the venue, which is located at 119 Penn Ave. in Scranton.

On Friday,  Oct. 14 at the Century Club in Scranton, I’m reading with other writers from the Mulberry Poets and Writers Association. The event starts at 6 pm.

On Saturday, Oct. 22 at Sellers Books in Jim Thorpe, I’m the featured reader for the evening. I’ll also share the stage with poet Dawn Leas.  The event starts at 7 pm. The bookstore is located at 101 Broadwy.

And on Saturday, Nov. 12, I’m reading and hosting an event for local writers at New Visions Art Gallery, located at 201 Vine Street in Scranton. I’m in the process now of finalizing the list of readers.

Finally, I also have a poem, “How She Hides Her Age,” in the new fall issue of  San Pedro River Review.  If interested, you can order a copy here.

So far, it’s shaping up to be a busy fall, and I like that!

Preview of 2012?

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I’m taking a break from blogging about poetry  to write about politics. Last night, a  special election was held in New York State’s 9th District to replace disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner, who had to resign over a sex scandal. Months ago, Dems thought for sure they’d keep the seat. After all, Dems have kept that seat for nearly a century, and it’s in a deep blue district, mostly in Queens and the Bronx. But last night, Republican Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin. As soon as victory was declared, Turner said that this message will resound all year and into the presidential election in 2012.

Most mainstream papers/websites are saying that this GOP upset is  referendum against Obama. A lot of Obama supporters still think he’s going to win, especially since the GOP has moved so far to the right. However, it’s clear Obama is not going to win as easily as he did in 2008, due to the economy. Even officials in his administration don’t believe the economy will improve much between now and next November. Right now, unemployment is at about 9 percent, and in August, there was not a net gain of jobs. It seems the economy has stalled. The last president to win re-election with unemployment this high was FDR, and frankly, FDR was a lot more popular than Obama is. FDR had a larger vision for economic recovery through the New Deal programs, and he had more fire in the belly, a willingness to take on the GOP and big business. So far, Obama hasn’t really demonstrated that, thus alienating much of his core base.

This election should also worry Democrats because it served as a first test of one of the party’s key election strategies for 2012. Back in the spring, the GOP voted in the House and Senate for Republican Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget, which would basically end Medicare and Social Security as we know it– programs most Americans really like. Though the plan didn’t pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, every Republican is still on record as voting for the plan, and the Dems hoped to use that as a major issue in 2012. Weprin did use that as an issue over and over again in the special election, but he still lost. So what will Dems run on in 2012 if that strategy doesn’t work?

It’s also a folly to think that if the GOP nominates someone pretty conservatve like Rick Perry that they will automatically lose the presidential election. The Democrats thought they would easily defeat Reagan because he was considered too consevative, but Reagan won twice, easily.

A lot can still happen between now and the next election cycle. Right now, the county is in an anti-incumbant mood, and Congress’ approval numbers are even lower than the president’s. A path to re-election for Obama can be to run against the Republican-controlled Congress, like Harry Truman did, when he refered to them as the “do nothing Congress.”  If Congress refuses to pass even parts of the president’s new job bill, he can state over and over again during the election cycle that he tried to get the economy moving, but the GOP obstructed and blocked the bill.

Whatever happens in 2012, it’s likely this country is going to keep having change elections. Democrats made major gains in 2006 and 2008, and the GOP made major gains in 2010 and seems poised to make more in 2012. The pendulum keeps swinging back and forth, due to the poor economy and uncertain future of this country.

Writing Process/Writing Habits

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Last week, I attended a free poetry workshop at the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre led by friend and fellow writer Rachael Goetzke. This workshop focused on writing habits/the writing process. I enjoyed the workshop for several reasons, including the fact that it was a workshop I could just sit back and enjoy and not teach.  What I took from it is that I am indeed a creature of habit and do have a strict writing process. For me, writing in the early morning works best, before I leave for work. Later in the day, my mind is simply too clogged to write. I also have a specific place I like to write– at the kitchen table, with notebook if I’m drafting, or my laptop if I’m revising.

After I was uprooted this weekend, due to the evacuation in Kingston from the flood of 2011, I struggled to write. But now we’re safe and not flooded, thank God!  I’m back to my normal writing routine.

The other poetry workshops, including the one I’m teaching, will take place throughout the fall months. All are free, so why not attend? I know I posted this before, but here’s the list again:

September 20–Dawn Leas “Channeling Memories.”

October 4–Amye Archer “Language Poems”

October 18–”Performance Poetry”  Not sure who’s teaching this section.

November 1–Alexis Czencz Belluzi Not sure what her focus will be.

November 15–Jenny Hill “Heavy Metaphor.”
We’ll explore the use of metaphor in prose and poetry and use the library resources to write our own extended metaphors.

November 29–Brian Fanelli will focus on writing about home/place in poetry. We will look at how certain poets depict home/place in their work, and do some writing prompts that tie into home/place.

All sessions held in the Gates Lab.

Final workshop/oration/open mic December 13 (Reading Room)

 

Update

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This is probably the longest I’ve gone without updating my blog. I try to update it every few days, and it’s been about a week or so. Due to major flooding in parts of northeastern, Pennsylvania, I’ve been stranded at my brother’s house in Exeter Borough since Thursday.

I’m in the process of moving in with my girlfriend in Kingston, a town that had to evacuate, due to the uncanny rainfall that caused the Susquehanna River to swell and exceed the level it reached during Hurricane Agnes in 1972- a natural disaster that wiped out several houses and businesses in this area. However, since then, there’s been a levee system built in this area, and it’s held.

We’re hoping to get back into our apartment later today or tomorrow at the latest.  We look forward to getting our home back in order and unpacking all of the boxes we took when we had to evacuate. But we’re just thankful we didn’t get flooded.

Unfortunately, several other towns around here did have major flooding, as shown on local and national news. I hope they have a quick recovery. We’ll probably buy some cleaning supplies and donate them at a center later today to help out the flood victims.

If you’re interested in helping our victims, you can find info by clicking here, WNEP’s website.

New Review

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Another review I did for PANK was published online yesterday. This one is on David Wojahn’s new collection of poems, World Tree. You can read the review here. Wojahn remains one of my favorite contemporary America poets. I’m always impressed by his wide range of forms that includes everything from lyric poems to long poetic sequences. He’s also brilliant at injecting rock ‘n roll history, pop culture, and politics into his work. For more on his new book, check out the review.

MFA/PhD Debate

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My friend and fellow writer Rachel Strayer recently posted an interesting blog entry regarding getting an M.F.A. in creative writing as opposed to a PhD, especially if you want to teach in academia full-time. I recommend reading her post, which she wrote in a response to a blog post by Michael Nye, an editor of the Missouri Review. Check out his post, too.

Nye makes a great point that there are A LOT of M.F.A. graduates seeking full-time teaching work, and maybe a PhD makes a candidate more attractive to a school looking to hire.  There are also so many growing M.F.A. programs out there, but limited teaching  jobs. Rachel points out some of the positives of an M.F.A. It’s a terminal degree, and it puts writers in touch with a larger writing community.

  I enjoyed both posts. Personally, I’m glad  I got an M.F.A. Since graduating with one, I’ve published in journals, released  a chapbook, read all over the tri-state area, and taught poetry/creative writing classes. The M.F.A made this possible because the program expanded my knowledge of poetic movements and gave me time to hone my skills. I’m a far better reader/writer now than before I finished the program.

An M.F.A. could lead to full-time employment in academia, but other factors also  lead to that, including a school’s budget and faculty retirements, as well as writer’s publishing credits.  Furthermore, having an M.F.A. doesn’t mean one needs to be a tenure-track professor. There are also jobs in journalism, publishing, tech writing, etc.  And sometimes, the class load and committee work of full-time professors leaves less time to write.

If the circumstances are right, an M.F.A. can lead to teaching, but other factors must be considered, and other job opportunities exist, too.

Poetry News

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Just wanted to mention that The Portland Review published two of my poems online this week, and they will appear in print later this year. The first, “The Summer of Our Fall,” can be read here. It’s a poem left over from the Front Man manuscript, but it was taken out during the final edits. The second poem, “Missed Cues,” which is part of my new manuscript, can be read here.  I also have three poems forthcoming in Yes, Poetry. They will appear online in October. I also have a poem forthcoming in the fall issue of Evening Street Review.

I also want to announce that the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre is hosting free poetry workshops throughout the fall months. I’m hosting one in November, and several of my friends are also involved. The workshops start next week and run from 6:30-8. The dates and some blurbs are listed below.

September 6–“Writing Tools and Habits.”
Rachael Goetzke, teen poetry coordinator, will host a session on environment, writing tools, and making poetry a part of your daily life.

September 20–Dawn Leas “Channeling Memories.”

October 4–Amye Archer “Language Poems”

October 18–“Performance Poetry”  Not sure who’s teaching this section.

November 1–Alexis Czencz Belluzi Not sure what her focus will be.

November 15–Jenny Hill “Heavy Metaphor.”
We’ll explore the use of metaphor in prose and poetry and use the library resources to write our own extended metaphors.

November 29–Brian Fanelli will focus on writing about home/place in poetry. We will look at how certain poets depict home/place in their work, and do some writing prompts that tie into home/place.

All sessions held in the Gates Lab.

Final workshop/oration/open mic December 13 (Reading Room)

New Work and Beyond

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About a year ago, Big Table Publishing accepted my manuscript of poems that became a chapbook- Front Man. Since then, I’ve done a slew of readings around the tri-state area, making new friends and meeting fellow poets along the way. With the readings winding down once the fall is over, I’m going to have time to work more on a second manuscript of poems.  I worked on it heavily this summer, and I’m always surprised where the writing process can take you, once it takes over. I thought this second book would be another chapbook of 25-30 poems, much like my first manuscript. I thought it would be centered on relationship-based poems and the way men and women communicate with each other. There are certainly a lot of poems that deal with that, but after spending the last few months working heavily on this project, this project has spread out more than I envisioned. I started writing about my hometown more, the people that inhabit it, its working-class history, the working-class struggles of the here and now in this political climate.

I think there’s a thread to all of these poems, in the sense that a lot of them deal with relationships, not only with the opposite gender, but also with home, family, and friends.

These poems also differ in the sense that they stray from the punk rock language and imagery that anchored Front Man.  There are a few poems that re-use some of those characters, but only to depict them as older, to push their narratives forward, and to speak to some of the other poems in the new manuscript.

I’m also thinking this project could grow larger than a chapbook, especially since I already have about 35 pages or so, and another 15 would make it a full-length manuscript. I didn’t plan that either, but I’m just writing and writing.

I assume other writers encounter similar cases where they plan something so specific, but once they dig in and follow the writing process, the project changes somewhat. This can be a a wonderful thing because being so anchored and hooked to a particular subject matter, form, or thread throughout a manuscript can sometimes leave little room for other poems and other voices. Write and see where it goes!

Upcoming Events/Readings

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There’s some upcoming events I wanted to mention briefly on my blog. First, I’m going to be a poet-in-residence tomorrow at a fundraiser/benefit called Tree of Life, which aims to preserve farm land and animals in Wayne County, PA.  This event will be held at 33 Osborne Road in South Sterling, PA. I will be hosting a reading at 6 pm., and the other featured readers include  fiction writer Bridget McIntyre and poets Dale Wilsey Jr, Victoria Garafola, and Steve Keating. There are a slew of other events throughout the day,including an art program led by my girlfriend, Jenna Casaldi. That takes place at 3 pm. For more info and a full schedule of events, click here.

On Saturday, August 27, I’m reading at Cherry Alley Cafe in Lewisburg, PA with fellow poet Alexis Czencz Belluzi. The reading starts at 7 pm, and the cafe is located at 21 N. 3rd Street.

If you can, try to come out to one of the events!