Category: writing

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Boston Area Poetry Readings for March 2015

This year, February has been the cruelest month in Boston. No matter what March holds, I’m ready to come out of hibernation and seek out poetic community. Plenty of people have similar plans, as you can see from the listings below.

Two of my favorite poets, Wendy Drexler and Eric Hyett, will be reading at Newtonville Book this coming Monday March 2. Honor Moore will be at the Blacksmith House in Cambridge the same night. That following Friday March 6 is Write On the Dot, a reading series put on by UMass Boston MFA students and local Dorcester writers. And Monday, March 9, Daniel Bouchard will be reading at MIT. Daniel is the man responsible for compiling these listings and a fine poet in his own right. His latest book Art & Nature is available from the indy darling Ugly Duckling Presse. On Thursday March 19 I’m looking forward to strolling over to my own neighborhood reading series in Roslindale. Other listings range from Providence to Northampton, so no matter where you live in Massachusetts, there’s poetry close by.

Sunday, March 1, 12 pm
Mary Kane and Miriam O’Neal
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Monday, March 2, 7 pm
Wendy Drexler and Eric Hyett
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA

Monday, March 2, 8 pm
Honor Moore and Peg Boyers
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 pm
Jeffrey Levine and Sarah Strickney
The Crane Room
Tufts University
Medford, MA

Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 pm
Bettina Judd
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Tuesday, March 3, 8 pm
Eleanor Goodman
Boston University Black Box Poetry Series
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA

Tuesday, March 3
Astrid Drew and Craig Sonnenfeld
‘For the Love of Words’
Blackthorne Publick House
402 Turnpike St. (Rt.138)
S. Easton, MA

Tuesday March 3, 6 pm
Peg Boyers
Katzenberg Center, 3rd floor, CGS
Boston University
Boston, MA

Wednesday, March 4, 7 pm
Annie Pluto and Irene Koronas
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
Cervena Barva Press Studio/Basement B8
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA
$3

Thursday, March 5, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Sharon Bryan and Mary Baine Campbell
Pearlman Lounge
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

Thursday, March 5, 6 pm
Andrew Zawacki
“The Poetics of Graffiti”
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Friday, March 6, 6:30 pm
Danielle Legros Georges, Liam Day, Emily Jaeger, and open mic
Write on the Dot
The Banshee
934 Dorchester Ave
Dorchester, MA

Friday, March 6, 7 pm
Partridge Boswell, Alice B. Fogel, Peter Money, and Diana Whitney
Harbor Mountain Press Fundraising Reading for Grolier
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, March 6, 8 pm
Sara Lippmann, Jon Papernick, and Matthew Lippman
Dire Literary Series
Out of the Blue Art Gallery
541 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 – 5 pm
Danielle Legros Georges, John Holgerson and Sandra Storey
Calliope: Poetry Readings at West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
Donation: $5. Refreshments provided

Sunday, March 8, 1 pm
Visual Inverse 2015 [24 poets interpret 24 piece of art]
Bill Alberti, James Brosnan, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Louisa Clerici, Nancy Brady Cunningham, Harris Gardner, Regie O Gibson, Elizabeth Hanson, Diane Harrison, Lawrence Kessenich, Irene Koronas, Thomas Libby, Gloria Mindock. Nancy Morgan-Boucher, Tomas O’Leary, Miriam O’Neal, Rene Schwiesow, Lainie Senechal, Zvi Sesling, Dolores Stewart, Lisa Sullivan, Renee Summers, Susan Thanes and Sheila Mullen Twyman
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 pm
Peter Gizzi
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
With book signing reception
129 Main St.
Concord, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 pm
Samuel Amadon and Matthea Harvey
jubilat / Jones Reading Series
Goodwin Room
Jones Library
43 Amity Street
Amherst, MA

Monday, March 9, 7 pm
Daniel Bouchard and Jessica Bozek
Room 32-141
Stata Center (aka Frank Gehry building)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Monday, March 9, 8 pm
Sandra Lim and Chloe Honum
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 10, 2:30 pm
Don Mi Choi
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Tuesday, March 10, 7 pm
Jorie Graham
Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, March 12, 6 pm
“BE AGAIN”: Three films by Fanny Howe
Introduction by Keith Jones
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Thursday, March 12, 7 pm
Mark Schorr
recites Blake, Ginsberg, and his own poems
Grolier Poetry Bookshop
9 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, March 13, 7:30 pm
David Groff, Audrey Henderson, and Steven Riel
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
(across from the Monument)
Jamaica Plain, MA

Saturday, March 14, 7 pm
Sarah Manguso
Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 15, 2-4 pm
Marsha Pomerantz, Stephen Burt, and Jericho Brown
Brookline Public Library, Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA

Monday, March 16, 8 pm
Julia Lisella and Caki Wilkinson
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3 admission

Wednesday, March 18, 7 pm
Deborah Pfeiffer, Ruby Poltorak, Elizabeth Quinlan and Barbara Thomas
Hosted by Sam Cornish
New England Mobile Book Fair
82 Needham Street
Newton Highlands, MA

Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 pm
John J. Ronan, Rufus Collinson and Nancy Hewitt.
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Thursday, March 19, 2:30 pm
Julia Fiedorczuk
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Thursday, March 19, 7 – 9 pm
Ladette Randolph and Dorothy Derifield
Rozzie Reads
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA

Thursday, March 19, 7:30 pm
Ron Padgett
15th Annual Robert Creeley Award
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
36 Charter Road
Acton, MA

Friday, March 20, 7 pm
Peter Covino, Walt McGough
The Clearing (Natanya Silverman, with Megan Caniglia, Caroline Lyons, + Madelyn Robinson)
phantom phantom: an experimental performance series
The Green Room
62 Bow Street
Somerville, MA

Saturday, March 21, 10:30 am
Johnny Flaherty, Bruce Marcus and Ron Israel
Wake up and Smell the Poetry
HCAM Studios
77 Main Street
Hopkinton, MA

Saturday, March 21, 3 pm
Tim Steele and Meredith Bergmann
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street
Newburyport, MA

Sunday, March 22, 3 pm
Kids Open Mic
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Monday, March 23, 8 pm
Krysten Hill, Brionne Thompson and Jeffrey Perkins
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
Martha Collins and Jeffrey Harrison
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
David R. DiSarro, Richard Shideler, and Denise Warren
U35 Poetry Reading
Marliave
10 Bosworth Street
Boston, MA

Tuesday, March 24, 7:30 pm
Stephen Mitchell
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 pm
Afaa Weaver, Cynthia Cruz, and Jericho Brown
Cambridge Public Library
Lecture Hall
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 29, 7 pm
Book releases for Dara Cerv, Elaine Kahn, Kit Schlüter, Thera Webb
2×2 Reading Series
The Purple Palace
362 Broadway
Cambridge, MA

Monday, March 30, 8 pm
Tom Sleigh and Alice Fulton
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridg, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 31, 5 pm
Brenda Hillman
Morris Gray Reading
Harvard University
location to come

Tuesday, March 31, 7 pm
Veronica Golos
Grolier Poetry Bookshop
9 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

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For Beth with the Golden Hair Published in Oddball Magazine

Oddball Magazine just published my poem “For Beth with the Golden Hair.”

I am a weaker version of you
you are a stronger version of me
you said as you did not grind the gears
as you pushed it into fifth

Read the full poem here: http://oddballmagazine.com/2015/02/25/poem-by-frances-donovan/

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Boston Area Poetry Readings for February 2015

Massive snowstorms have been causing gridlock all around Boston for the past couple of weeks. Hardy souls can still brave the snow and find poetic respite, though. Many of these readings are close to public transit. My recommendations appear in bold.

Denizens of Jamaica Plain and environs, there’s a new bookstore, Papercuts on Green Street, less than a block off Centre Street next to the Blue Frog Bakery. Be sure to take a moment to browse the shelves of hand-picked books, which include a quite respectable poetry section.

 

Wednesday February 4, 7 pm
Gloria Mindock, Nicholas Bartoli and Jaime Bonney
Hastings Room
First Church Congregationalist
11 Garden Street
Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 5, 7 pm
Joan Houlihan and Martha Collins
Suffolk University Poetry Center
Mildred F. Sawyer Library
73 Tremont Street
Boston, MA

Friday, February 6, 7 pm
Ariana Reines and Andrea Werblin
Grolier Poetry Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 6, 7 pm
Brian Burt and Peter Ramos
Book Launch
Back Pages Books
289 Moody Street
Waltham, MA

Friday, February 6, 8 pm
Steven Brykman, Mignon Ariel King, Michael Steffen, Jilly Gagnon
Dire Literary Reading Series
Out of the Blue Art Gallery
541 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 8, 12 pm
Marguerite Bouvard and James Brosnan
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, February 8, 2 – 4 pm
Marsha Pomerantz and Bill Yarrow
Jewish Poetry Fest
Temple Sinaim Brookline
50 Sewall, Street
Brookline, MA
Open Mic, Refreshments

Sunday, February 8, 3 pm
Karina Borowicz
With book signing reception
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
129 Main Street
Concord, MA

Sunday, February 8, 12 pm
Marguerite Bouvard and James Bronsan
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, February 8, 3 – 5 pm
Mark Hart, Audrey Henderson, and Jennifer Tseng
Calliope: Poetry Readings at West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
$5

Monday, February 9, 11 am
Nancy Esposito
Books and Bites
Belmont Public Library
336 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA

Monday, February 9, 7 pm (postponed from Feb 2 on account of snow)
Shana Hill and Dianne Silvestri
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA

Tuesday, February 10, 7:30 pm
Fred Marchant
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Wednesday, February 11, 6 pm
Gerrit Lansing
with an oral history and interview
Woodberry Poetry Room
Lamont Library, Rm. 330
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Wednesday, February 11, 7 pm
Denise Bergman and Tino Villanueva
Porter Square Bookstore
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 12, 7 pm
Gary Whited and Audrey Henderson
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 13, 7:30 pm
Susan Nisenbaum Becker, Holly Guran, and George Kalogeris
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain, MA (just across from the Monument)
$5

Saturday, February 14, 3 pm
Douglas Rothschild and Jim Behrle
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 15, 2-4 pm
Stephen Burt, opening reader TBA
Brookline Public Library, Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA

Wednesday, February 18, 6 pm
Rachel Blau DuPlessis and Nathaniel Mackey
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 20, 8 pm
Daniel Bouchard, Laynie Browne, and Julie Carr
Small Animal Project
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA

Saturday, February 21, 7 pm
Matthew Rohrer
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 22, 1pm
Visual Inverse 2015 [24 poets interpret 24 piece of art]
Bill Alberti, James Brosnan, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Louisa Clerici, Nancy Brady Cunningham, Harris Gardner, Regie O Gibson, Elizabeth Hanson, Diane Harrison, Lawrence Kessenich, Irene Koronas, Thomas Libby, Gloria Mindock. Nancy Morgan-Boucher, Tomas O’Leary, Miriam O’Neal, Rene Schwiesow, Lainie Senechal, Zvi Sessling, Dolores Stewart, Lisa Sullivan, Renee Summers, Susan Thanes and Sheila Mullen Twyman
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Wednesday, February 25, 7 pm
Cammy Thomas
Porter Square Books
25 White St
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 26, 6 pm
Timothy Donnelly
The Bagley Wright Lecture
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 26, 6 pm
Eliza Griswold
Katzenberg Center, 3rd floor, CGS
871 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston University
Boston, MA

Saturday, February 28, 5 pm
Sara White
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

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Call for Stories from People Who Have Considered Bariatric Surgery

Photograph of surgeons around an operating table.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

I’m writing a piece about fat acceptance and bariatric surgery. So far, it’s mostly from my perspective, but my editor suggested that I do some research into what other people have to say about it. As you might imagine from my previous posts, I have an opinion on the matter. But a big part of the article is exploring the intersection between fat politics and personal healthcare decisions.

If you’d like to share your experience with me, you can submit a comment via this post. Please use your real name and provide contact information so a fact-checker can verify your identity — you can choose whether or not I use your name in the piece. The comment won’t appear until I approve it unless you’ve already commented on the site. If you prefer, you can use my contact form or email me at gardenofwordseditor at gmail.

Anything you share with me is welcome, but here are some questions that might help:

  • Have you considered weight loss surgery for yourself?
  • What made you decide to do it or not do it?
  • Did your doctor suggest it?
  • Was the suggestion unsolicited, or did you bring up the topic first?
  • What sort of research did you do before making your decision? Was there something you learned that influenced your choice?
  • Did you talk to other people who had the surgery? Did this influence your choice?
  • If you did get the surgery, what has your experience been with it?
  • If you had the surgery more than a few years ago, did you gain back the weight or some of the weight?
  • Did it cause or alleviate any other health problems?
  • Would you do it again?
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Making Love in Public: Part One of Poets & Writers ((LIVE)) San Francisco

Always good to hear about existential angst and fear of writing conferences from another poet.

Dinty W. Moore's avatarThe Brevity Blog

A guest blog post (and nifty sketches) from Rebecca Fish Ewan reviewing the recent Poets & Writers ((LIVE)) event in San Francisco:

Why go to a writer’s conference? Isn’t writing an occupation of isolation? Of loneliness? David Shields often quotes David Foster Wallace’s wisdom on loneliness. He did so in Melbourne in 2012 (see Is Writing Better Than Sex?) and again this past weekend in San Francisco at Poets & Writers ((LIVE)), while his friend Caleb Powell joined him on stage looking agitated (This is their collaborative art form … arguing in public).

Wallace had said: “We’re existentially alone on the planet. I can’t know what you’re thinking and feeling and you can’t know what I’m thinking and feeling. And the very best works construct a bridge across that abyss of human loneliness.”

Right. The work constructs a bridge, not the actual writer, so why fly from Phoenix to…

View original post 724 more words

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Boston Area Poetry Readings in December 2014

Submitted without comment. Please note: Most readings are free, so you can’t beat the price. Thanks as always to my top secret contact at MIT Press for compiling these listings.

Monday, December 1, 7 pm
Cleopatry Mathis and Frannie Lindsay
Harvard-Yenching Common Room 136
2 Divinity Ave
Cambridge, MA

Monday, December 1, 8 pm
A Tribute to Bill Knott
with David Rivard, Jonathan Aaron, Tom Lux, Gail Mazur, John Skoyles, Peter Shippy, and Andrea Cohen
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, December 2, 2:30 pm
Sandra Doller
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Wednesday, December 3, 6 pm
Dan Beachy-Quick, Fanny Howe, Peter O’Leary and Patrick Pritchett
Introduction by Professor Amy Hollywood
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Wednesday, December 3, 6:30 pm
Fred Marchant
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA

Monday, December 8, 7 pm
Jane Bachner, Sandy Weisman, and Emily Ferrara
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA

Monday, December 8, 8 pm
Carole Oles and Ani Gjika
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Thursday, December 11, 2:30 pm
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, MA

Saturday, December 13, 6 pm
Danielle Jones-Pruett, Bianca Stone, Ben Pease, Mckendy Fils-Amie, Chris Siteman, Heather Tresseler, Eric Eidswick, and more
Musical Guest: Rob Flax
Mr. Hip Presents: Reading Series
UFORGE Gallery
767 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, MA

Sunday, December 14, 12 pm
Vincent Dorio and Denise Rainey
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, December 14, 3 pm
Sandra Lim
With book signing reception
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
129 Main St
Concord, MA

Saturday, December 20, 10:30 am
Wake up and Smell the Poetry
Ted Reinstein, Dan Zampino and Lloyd Thayer
HCAM Studios, 77 Main Street
Hopkinton, MA

Sunday, December 21, 2- 4 pm
Sandra Lim and Jennifer Tseng
Brookline Public Library, Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA

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Vassar’s Creative Writing Program – Pros and Cons

Below is a comment I posted on the “Don’t Let Vassar Silence Writers” Facebook page in 2010, a group that was trying to prevent deep cuts to the Vassar Creative Writing program. I’ve also included (with permission) the comments of some of my fellow alums, all of whom were active with me in the student-run literary magazine Helicon. Students a year or two ahead of me founded the magazine. I served as Helicon’s Managing Editor during my senior year (1994-1995).

I had aspirations to become a published poet and “woman of letters” when I enrolled at Vassar. I was very confident — perhaps even arrogant — about my writing abilities. Vassar’s English department completely destroyed that confidence. This was in the early 90s, when the entire extent of the Creative Writing program consisted of Composition, Narrative Writing, Verse Writing, and Senior Composition. I took them all except for Senior Comp. That year, the only slot given to a poet went to a young man I’d never met.

The education I got at Vassar was very good, and the English literature program is rigorous and outstanding. On reflection, I’m not sure that I would change my decision to study at Vassar. But it definitely stifled my ability to write creatively. As a writer, I’m still recovering from that experience almost 15 years later.

Sarah Fnord Avery: My experience in the classroom at Vassar was overwhelmingly positive…until the Senior Creative Writing Seminar. The professor teaching it that semester was clueless about poetry, actively hostile toward genre fiction, and occasionally offensive to women in his choice of assigned model texts. All three of the poets in the seminar that year were consistently frustrated. I learned far more from my classmates than from the prof.

Strangely, the thing that happened at Vassar that came closest to silencing me as a writer was that my professors encouraged me to go to grad school. They thought they were helping me establish a writing life, but the academic job market and the process of preparing for it had changed so much between the 70s, when they got their degrees and positions, and the 90s, they had no idea what they were urging me into.Vassar I would definitely choose over again, but not grad school. Rutgers was a mitigated disaster, but a disaster nonetheless.
January 11, 2010 at 08:08pm

Sara Susanna Moore: I took only one writing course at Vassar, a required course for my degree– I think it was Composition. It was taught by Heinz Insu Fenkl, on whom I had a terrible crush. So of course I took his critiques of my work very personally and was terrified to talk to him. Plus, I was the only senior in a class of first-years, so we mostly sat in silence, as everyone was terrified to talk. It was possibly the worst class I had at Vassar, not entirely Prof. Fenkl’s fault, though it might have been his first teaching position. At the end of the semester, right before graduation, I screwed up my courage and went to his office hours, and put one question to him: “What kind of job would a PhD in English give me in the current job market?” He answered: “*Maybe* a position at a community college.” And then proceeded to layer on more things that were intended to discourage me from pursuing that degree, at all, ever.

So I never went down that road, though later I applied to Bennington’s “low impact residency” poetry MFA program (“rhyming by mail” as one friend put it) and didn’t get in. Another friend applied to the Bennington MFA in memoir, got in, and was disappointed. So, altogether I’m glad I pursued poetry on my own terms and instead went to grad school for something that looks like it will be pretty marketable. (Check back in with my later in the summer about that.)Back to Vassar: I took two classes in poetry, namely modern and romantic poets. I took them at the same time, the first semester of my senior year. I think we were doing Blake and Pound at the same time when the US invaded Haiti, using the 10th Mtn. Division (whose home is the army base near where I grew up) as the lead force. The combination of those poets and that event nearly gave me a nervous breakdown. I’m not kidding. But that’s not the fault of the professors.The Vassar English Department did me one solid on the poetry front: Eamon Grennan agreed to see me on a semi-regular basis and discuss my poetry with me. So I kind of had a non-credited tutoring arrangement with him, which I enjoyed. But I really got my poetry nurtured and improved by Helicon (tipping my hat to Sarah and Adriane). That was an amazing collective.
January 12, 2010 at 12:24am

Karen Schmeelk-Cone: As one of the scientist members of Helicon, it was great to be able to write and get encouragement since even getting into English classes was difficult. I wanted to take a creative writing course, but ended up in Expository Writing, I think in my Junior year. Interestingly taught by Dr. Joyce (I think) – he used a computer program which was somewhat like the web – you could link parts of your writing back to other parts or to things others had written. And the class used a program that seems a lot like FB – students commented back and forth during the class – so you could have 2-3 discussions at a time. And he was quite liberal with his version of expository writing. I remember coming up with a college catalog version of the requirements and courses in a fictional Homicide major. It was lots of fun to write.

But it really seemed like an impossible task to first get into English classes, then to achieve anything greater than a B if you weren’t an English major. Really one of my few frustrations at Vassar. But then, I was there for biopsychology and not writing.
January 12, 2010 at 10:18am

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Speaking Out About Sexism and Harassment is a Way for Feminist Writers to Find One Another

The Hairpin recently published a piece by Emma Healy about the subtle and not-so-subtle ways men ignore, negate, and harass women in the world of writing and publishing. Stories like the ones she and her colleagues recount make me feel so much less crazy as I contemplate returning to the world of writing and publishing, an industry I ran from years ago when New Media was the big idea. The Web seemed like an easier alternative to the hermetically sealed world of NYC publishing houses and academic presses. I started publishing my work on my own website in 1996 and haven’t looked back since. On a few occasions, it’s even resulted in literary journals soliciting my work — something unheard of in the more traditional literary world.

Like just about any industry on earth, web development (or web design, or web application development, or interactive design, or UI/UX design, or whatever the kids are calling it these days) is also a boys’ club. In the 1990s, I was a member of an organization called Webgrrls that brought women in the field together, but sometime around the turn of the century its founder Aliza Sherman sold it to a man (!) and it faded into obscurity. That heralded the end of the golden days of the web, a world that’s been co-opted by Silicon Valley startup capital and an increasingly crowded and complex Internet (or the Intarwebs, or the Tubes, or the blagosphere, or whatever the kids are calling it these days).  The gender discrimination I’ve faced has been subtle and difficult to name. On the whole, my experience has been less creeptastic dudebro trying to get in my pants and more male coworkers bonding over football and beer and then passing me over for promotions.

Continue reading “Speaking Out About Sexism and Harassment is a Way for Feminist Writers to Find One Another”

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An Early Back to School for Poets in Boston: Poetry World Cup in Cambridge, Other Readings in Massachusetts

This summer I took a break from some of the work of poetry (yes, anything can become work if you do it too much). My comrade-in-words Daniel Bouchard, who runs a mailing list of readings in the Boston area, also took some time off.

Here’s the clarion call of the end of summer, starting TOMORROW, August 8, with a rather breath-taking lineup of poets at the Boston Poetry World Cup in Cambridge. You can see Mr. Bouchard himself reading at 7:32 pm. If you miss him, try for Janaka Stucky at 8:06pm. Or on Saturday, catch long-time poet and workshop leader Tom Daley at 1:32pm.

I feel like a bad feminist, not being able to call out any of the many fine female poets on the line-up. Please remedy my ignorance in the comments.

I’ll be up at Singing Beach this Saturday with a bunch of witches, so I’ll miss out on all the literary fun. Sunday, I’ll be looking at real estate listings and weeping softly with my partner. All is not lost, though. Many other readings are scheduled for August, including Black Ocean Press‘s BASH series at Brookline Booksmith for next Friday, August 15. Other events range from Plymouth to Northampton. Scroll down or click this link to jump past the marathon lineup.

———————————————————–

Boston Poetry World Cup in Inman Square, Cambridge (Fri-Sun August 8-10)
Friday August 8th at the Lilly Pad, Cambridge Street in the heart of Inman Square, just down from 1369 Coffee House.
Saturday and Sunday August 9-10 Outpost 186 (former site of New Words Bookstore)
Free and Open to the Public (but we will pass the hat)
Millions of poets read for 8 minutes and then we go to penalty kicks

FRIDAY Lilly Pad

7:00 Jim Dunn
7:08 January O’Neil
7:16 Jonathan Papas
7:24 Stefania Heim
7:32 Daniel Bouchard
7:40 Jordan Davis
break
7:58 Andrew K. Peterson
8:06 Janaka Stucky
8:14 Prageeta Sharma
8:22 Christina Davis
8:30 Whit Griffin
8:38 Patrick Herron
break
9:02 Chloe Roberts
9:10 Martha McCullough
9:18 Michael Peters
9:26 J D Scrimgeour
9:34 Natalia Raha
9:42 Joshua Savory

SATURDAY Outpost 186

12:30 Jim Behrle
12:38 Kevin McClellan
12:46 Suzannah Gardner
12:54 Suzanne Mercury
break
1:00 Bridget Madden
1:08 Laryssa Wirstiuk
1:16 Chris Rziglaniski
1:24 Jessica Bozek
1:32 Tom Daley
1:40 Karen Locascio
break
1:56 Alyssa Mazzerella
2:06 Betsy Gomez
2:14 Kythe Heller
2:22 Ewa Chrusciel
2:30 Christine Hamm
2:38 Matt Wedlock
break
2:54 Thera Webb
3:02 Lewis Feuer
3:10 Steve Subrizi
3:18 Allen Bramhall
3:26 Amy Lawless
3:34 Molly McGuire
break
3:50 Hassan Sakar
3:58 Boyd Nielson
4:06 Krysten Hill
4:14 Mick Carr
4:22 Amelia Bentley
4:30 Chuck Stebleton
break
4:56 Mitch Manning
5:04 Dan Wuenshel
5:12 Elizabeth Tobin
5:20 Lloyd Schwartz
5:28 Martha Collins
5:36 Tanya Larkin

DINNER BREAK

7:00 Kimberly Lyons
7:08 Audrey Mardavich
7:16 Ben Mazer
7:24 Paige Taggert
7:32 Mairead Byrne
7:40 Mark Lamorueux
7:48 Lori Lubeski
break
8:06 Brendan Lorber
8:14 Maria Damon
8:22 Princess Chan
8:30 Cheryl Clark Vermuelen
8:38 Jess Mynes
8:46 G.L. Ford
8:54 Drew Boston
break
9:10 Mitch Highfill<
9:18 Jed Shahar
9:26 Ryan DiPetta
9:34 Michael Gottlieb
9:42 Guillermo Parra
9:50 Christina Strong
9:58 Douglas Piccinnini
break
10:14 Filip Marinovich
10:22 Douglas Rothschild

SUNDAY Outpost 186

1:00 Christopher Rizzo
1:08 Margo Lockwood
1:16 Chris Siteman
1:24 Don Wellman
1:32 Amish Trivedi
1:40 Kate Wisel
break
1:56 Gilmore Tamny
2:06 Patrick Doud
2:14 Joel Sloman
2:22 Nathaniel Hunt
2:30 Leopoldine Core
2:38 Fred Marchant
break
2:54 John Mulrooney
3:02 Joe Torra
3:10 Gerrit Lansing
3:18 Carol Weston
3:26 Michael Franco
3:34 Joel Sloman
break
3:50 Ryan Gallagher
3:58 Trace Peterson
4:06 Dan Pritchard
4:14 Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno
4:22 Ruth Lepson
4:30 Chris Schlegel

Non-marathon readings:

Sunday, August 10, 3 – 4:30 pm
Rhina P. Espaillat, Bill Plante, Alfred Nicol, Skye Wentworth, Edith Maxwell, Harris Gardner and Chris Bryant
read from the poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier
Victorian garden of the Whittier Home Museum
86 Friend Street
Amesbury MA

Sunday, August 10, 3 pm
Diana Der-Hovanessian, Fred Marchant, and Afaa Michael Weaver
New England Poetry Club
Longfellow National Historic Site
East Lawn, 105 Brattle St.
Cambridge MA

Friday, August 15, 7 pm
Donald Dunbar, Rachel Springer Dunbar, and Andrew Morgan
BASH Reading Series
Brookline Booksmith
Harvard and Beacon Streets
Coolidge Corner
Brookline MA

Saturday, August 16, 3:30 pm
Joyce Rain Anderson and Martin Willits, Jr.
The Brockton Poetry Series
Fuller Craft Museum
455 Oak Street
Brockton MA

Wednesday August 27, 7:30 pm
Joan Houlihan, Daniel Tobin, Doug Holder and Fred Marchant
Hastings Room Reading
One-Year Anniversary Seamus Heaney Memorial Reading
First Church Congregationalist
11 Garden Street
Harvard Square
Cambridge MA

Tuesday, September 9, 7 pm
Jessica Fjeld, Josh Cook, and Lauren McCormack
U35 Reading
The Marliave
10 Bosworth Street
Boston MA

Friday, September 12, 7 pm
Noah Eli Gordon, Sommer Browning, and Kendra DeColo
BASH Reading Series
Brookline Booksmith
Harvard and Beacon Streets
Coolidge Corner
Brookline MA

Friday, September 12, 7 pm
Marjorie Perloff, Adam Kirsch, and Philip Nikolayev
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge MA

Sunday, September 14, 1 pm
Barbara S. Carlson, Vincent Dorio, Chuck Harper, Susan Mahan, Tim Reed, and Elizabeth Quinlan
9th Annual Poetry Showcase
In Conjunction with the
Annual Plymouth Juried Art Show
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St. Downtown Plymouth off Rt 3A
Plymouth MA

Tuesday, September 16, 7:30 pm
Lucie Brock-Broido
Weinstein Auditorium,
Wright Hall
Smith College, Northampton MA

Wednesday, September 17, 7 pm
Matthea Harvey, Fanny Howe, and Katie Ford
Graywolf Poetry Night
Brookline Booksmith
Harvard and Beacon Streets
Coolidge Corner
Brookline MA

Sunday, September 21, 6 pm
Carol Dine
Brookline Booksmith
Harvard and Beacon Streets
Coolidge Corner
Brookline MA

Friday, September 26, 7 pm
Umit Singh Dhuga, Ben Mazer, and Todd Swift
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge MA

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Yin Work in the Summer

Farmers let fields lay fallow. Bears hibernate. Human beings sleep. And artists take a break from creating. I decided to take July and August off from workshops, from submissions, from all the “work” of writing — especially anything to do with shameless self-promotion. I call this doing the yin work.

It was good timing.

This July, I resumed a full-time work schedule. And even though a 40-hour work week can feel like a luxury in this day and age — especially when you work in the tech sector — it’s been a struggle for me to re-acclimate this time. It’s hard to say how much of the struggle has to do with my current state of health (overall, pretty good) and age (if I were a man, I’d be old enough to study the Kabbalah), or if it’s always been this difficult and I just didn’t realize it. I’ve been learning to be kinder to myself, to lower my expectations to be more in line with what most human beings might reasonably be able to accomplish.

Lowering one’s standards can be more difficult than you’d think

Lowering one’s standards can be more difficult than you’d think. All children grow up thinking that what happens in their families is just the way things are. Their parents teach them by example how to be in the world. I’ll be forever grateful to my mother for the courage it took her to leave an abusive marriage with two kids in tow, and then to raise them without a dime of child support. But it does mean that I grew up thinking that stretching myself to the very limits of my own abilities — and often beyond them — is just par for the course.

This expectation enabled me to survive a difficult childhood, excel in school, win a scholarship to a fancy liberal-arts college, and eventually stumble into a field lucrative enough for me to move to a home in the metro Boston area that has birds and trees outside. But — as my nurse boyfriend tells me on the regular — the maladaptive coping techniques that worked for me then don’t necessarily work for me today. Expecting myself to hold down a full-time job AND become a Successful Writer TM AND keep from ruining my health again might just possibly be unrealistic. Which makes me feel a little better that I haven’t been able to keep all three of those balls in the air for the past couple of decades.

The return to full-time work chafes especially hard because M and I are in the process of executing Project Okelle Career Change. This plan might sound familiar to anyone who lived through the irrational exuberance of the 1990s. If increasing shareholder value in Okelle, Inc. were my only motivation though, I’d stay in my cushy corporate office job until (hopefully) I retire or (more likely) they kick me out the door during the next big re-org. But while I enjoy living in a pleasant place, eating food other people cook for me, having health insurance, and keeping my creditors happy, money cannot be the only reason I work.

Parts of me are terrified at the idea of upsetting the status quo — and given the rollercoaster of last winter and the slow road to recovery that followed, I can understand their concern. Parts of me are less than thrilled about all the things that buying a home symbolize: loss of youth, loss of hip-ness, initiation into the Top Seekrit Club for Middle-Aged People Who Know about Stuff Like Fixed-Rate Mortgages. And hiding deep behind all of those tiny Okelles is the anguished artist who’s been wanting so badly to pursue her dreams, but is also terrified of achieving  them.

No matter how I succeed, it won’t be as good as my fantasies of success.

My inner artist is terrified of what might happen if I do, in fact, throw all caution and pragmatism to the wind, follow the bliss instead of the money, make sacrifices, go without, eat rice and beans, claw myself to the top of the caterpillar pile, and end up with an expensive piece of paper, another three decades of student loan payments, middling success as a professional writer (for a given definition of success), and an unfulfilling job that pays less than the one I had before. No matter what I do, I doubt I’m going to achieve the aura of fantasy-fulfillment that has been surrounding the idea of being a professional writer for me since age 10. Existential angst is a fact of existence. Nothing will change that, not even the Nobel Prize. Especially not the Nobel Prize, according to Doris Lessing.

Whenever the possibility of my fulfilling this dream occurs to me, I find myself tearing up. The energy behind those tears is deep and complex. I’m not sure I’ll ever unpack it. I’m also not sure that I need to before I start walking toward the thing I fear. Fear is an old companion, one who rises to swamp my boat when I run from it, and who bouys me when I steer into it. As a way of working with this particular snarl of fears, hope, grief, and resentment I’ve begun reading Pema Chödron’s book The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times. She talks a lot about being a warrior in this book, which is comforting since I’ve always wanted to be a warrior but never wanted to bother with military service or, you know, actual fighting. The warrior she describes, though, reminds me of the internal jihad Muslim teachers talk about: the warrior who is courageous enough to run toward the dangerous, frightening places within, and who chooses to allow pain and fear make her flexible rather than more rigid. This passage in particular spoke to me:

The irony is that what we most want to avoid in our lives is crucial to awakening bodhichitta. These juicy emotional spots are where a warrior gains wisdom and compassion. Of course, we’ll want to get out of those spots far more often than we’ll want to stay. That’s why self-compassion and courage are vital. Staying with pain without loving-kindness is just warfare.

“How to stay with your own pain in loving-kindness” was not on the core curriculum of the public schools when I was growing up, but then again neither was “how to start your own business,” or “how to pay off a massive amount of debt,” or “how to be a queer woman in a straight man’s world.” I’ve been able to bungle my way through the rest of those lessons. School was pretty easy by comparison, really. You memorize the Pythagorean theorem, regurgitate it for the test, and get on with your life. The constant practice of being a grown-up, however, can be much more difficult. As can reminding yourself that yin work is a necessity, not a luxury. Any artist will tell you so.