Confession Tuesday

Has it been a week already? Time flies when you’re NaPoWriMo-ing. Are you confessing this week? Leave me or Carolee a note so we can be all in your business!


A tale of two poetry events. This past weekend I went to not one but two poetry shindigs. One was the Newburyport Literary Festival. And last night I was at Gulu-Gulu Café at an open mike. Let me start first in Newburyport.

The festival certainly had a few well-known poetry figures such as Dana Gioia, Rhina Espaillat, X.J. Kennedy, and Lewis Turco. And the town supports the weekend event. But the lineup of authors was not diverse—maybe that’s reflective of the town. It wasn’t just that it was not a diverse lineup as far as ethnicity and race, but it lacked diversity of age and poetry styles. Personally, I was disappointed in the poetry events, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. So while the festival is not for me, I do support community-based efforts even if they don’t appeal to me. These events keep poetry relevant. (Sorry, no pictures.)

As for the Gulu-Gulu event … well, that was whacked! The evening started out great—a well-managed poetry event with poets reading their work sand getting off stage quickly. But there was this nut job—who obviously was in with the person running the open mike. He monopolized the stage! At first, he was fun and his work was different. Sound poetry I’d call it. But as the night wore on, he got drunker and found his way back on stage at every opportunity. The event started at 5, and at 8:45 I was still waiting to read. We left because we had a sitter with the kids.

Now, Gulu-Gulu is a great little space for readings. I loved that Tim and I were able to hear featured poets J.D. Scrimgeour and Kevin Carey read their poems—excellent! And I sat at a table full of eclectic local poets. But really, it was a box-of-chocolates night. Or should I say carton of eggs. Did I mention that one of the readers spread a sheet of plastic on the floor and stepped on eggs in a pair of red pumps while reading her poem?

Top that, poets! (Sorry, no pictures. Wish I had a video camera.)

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Where is Verse Daily? If anyone has the dirt please let me know. I really liked the poetry they presented. [Update--Verse Daily is up and running again. Woo hoo!]

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What the f*ck is up with gas prices?

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NaPoWriMo is coming to a close. FYI, I’m posting a meme on May 1 as a way of capturing the high points of April’s poetry. Come back and check it out.

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Lastly, I had a dream about George Clooney. Why is this significant, you ask? This is Confession Tuesday, after all! Frankly, I cannot remember the last dream I had. Someone is always up at night in my house, so it’s hard to drop into a deep sleep. NaPoWriMo hasn’t helped.

While I don’t remember much, we were in Vegas, baby!—a la Ocean’s Eleven. A few coworkers showed up, surely a sign of stress. But a few friends popped in, too. Fortunately, George and I found some alone time. He looked great in a tux. And let me tell you—he thought I was the sexiest one in the room!

Comments

Deb said…
Wow. Your dream beat my dream this week. Wow.

I haven't had the gumption to go to poetry events. I can see why. But I am intrigued enough to go anyway, sometime. Eggs and red shoes? Too weird.

Weird link, me thinks. Try this:
http://www.versedaily.org/

PS - I opened a Facebook as soon as I read you in your AWP account...but haven't "done anything" with it, yet... and Tin House is still on the fence for me.
January said…
Yesterday Verse Daily's dot com and dot org links were not working, so I'm glad they fixed the problem.

You should go to a reading to see what other poets are talking about. You don't have to read, just go and soak it all in.
Anonymous said…
You ARE the sexiest one in the room, my dear.

I'll bring eggs, plastic, and beer to the next NEWS event.
Anonymous said…
hands off my clooney!
Writer Bug said…
LOL--your post made me smile, from the eggs to the Clooney dream. Sorry your poetry events weren't as good as they could've been!
Anonymous said…
Have you seen this site? People are confessing their sins online at http://iconfessmyself.blogspot.com
Jim K. said…
Check out Portsmouth if you can.
Might be able to do featured reader
at PPLP. Variety, warmth. One snag;
need to arrive early for a seat!
January said…
Jim, what's the full name of the Portsmouth festival so I can Google it?
January said…
Bug, the egg thing was a little weird--a work in process. But that's what makes open mikes so great. I love to see how people express themselves. I give the performer credit--it was unique.

Maybe I need some eggs for my poems.
January said…
Carolee, back off! This is the first dream I've had in a year.
GreenishLady said…
I think the comment I thought I'd left, thanking you for all your poems this month disappeared, into the ether. So thank you for all the poems, and for inspiring me to write one (One! - I know - SAD!!!). It's on my blog at the moment.

Thank you!
Jim K. said…
I was thinking of the
monthly readings at Portsmouth:

http://www.pplp.org/

typical schedule entry:
May 7, Portsmouth: Poets Martha Carlson-Bradley and Maura MacNeil will read from their work, followed by an open mike, at a Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program Hoot, 7 p.m. at Café Espresso (772-4345).

They have a pretty disciplined
open mike, usually after
two featured poets. Half
featured and half open. A lot of
good ones. Performance po,
prose po, life po, some slam style,
some known folk characters,
a lot of NH talent at the open.
Not much on post-avant or the
visceral, but I did some
Ashbery-style to laughs.

I get there ~6:30 for a seat,
a bite, and a cabernet.

The new Portsmouth laureate:
http://www.pplp.org/PL/PL.htm

Looks like they bok out a few
months though.

I can't find the jazz-style
event in Porstsmouth. I think
it may have gone by.
Ah: missed it. Remember the
name though:
"
April 24-27, Portsmouth: The Jazzmouth Fourth Annual Poetry and Jazz Festival will include a variety of events including poetry readings, workshops
"
Goodnight, Mom said…
OMG! I had a dream on Monday night about STING! First dream I've had in a LONG time. totally forgot to confess about it!!! I loves me some George so I hope I was the friend who showed up!

-K

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