The Muse

Check out the new issue of The Eleventh Muse:

Writers in this issue include (but are not limited to): Tony Trigilio, A.E. Stallings, Steve Mueske, Clay Matthews, Ash Bowen, Jeffery Bahr, Deborah Ager, M. Lee Alexander, and yours truly.

Thanks, Steve for putting together such an amazing issue!

Self Portrait As Face

Virtual

I have a real, live web site now. Check it.

This Just In

I got an acceptance letter from Pacific University (Marvin Bell) today. God.

Acceptance Candles

I've had acceptances in one form or another from New England College, Bennington, and Houston. Have not heard from Warren Wilson or Pacific U. I gave my verbal acceptance to Bennington today after LONG consideration. Here's why:

First off, Bennington is like a little New School. Many of the B. faculty members teach @ TNS (or Iowa), or have been TNS/Iowa educated. From what I hear, B. alumni also have taught @ TNS, Emerson, and the like. The writing is very progressive. It's a combination of lyric narrative/experimentation/post-modernist. Love. That. Donald Hall will be the writer-in-residence in June, along with Linda Gregg. David Lehman teaches there, as does Major Jackson, Ed Ochester, Timothy Liu, and other equally great poets. Also, I just found out that Reb Livingston of No Tell Motel is a Bennington alum, as well as Jamie Clarke, co-founder of Post Road.

It's strange: for the past 2 years all I've obsessed over was getting into Houston and have groomed myself for getting into great programs (especially that one). Now that I've been accepted, I have realized it just isn't the place for me for where I am at in my writing career/education.

Bennington is also great because of the location (and proximity of Boston and NY, in comparison to WW, which is down in NC), variety of faculty members/writing, and the fact that Bennington offers a well-rounded schooling in letters and the arts. They had Philip Seymour Hoffman (of Capote) there in the last June residency to talk about writing, theatre, and the arts. They also bring in musicians, artists, playwrights, etc. I'm already (albeit fairly) established in my writing career and do not need workshop discourse or validation, just the degree and the experience of the "something else."

Overall, the general aesthetic @ Bennington fits my needs/interests/talents. I feel (and hope!) that I have made the right decision.

*

Thanks to Steve Mueske and Three Candles for selecting my poems "Eden" and "Bluebeard's Last Bride" for publication (soon).

In, Again

I got a call today from Liam Rector: I'm in @ Bennington for the MFA program! So, that's New England College and Bennington. Still waiting on: Houston, Warren Wilson, and Pacific University.

Yippee, me.

Ending Soon

Just a little note: the pre-sale on my chapbook of poems, Light Under Skin, will be ending very soon, so if you haven't already, you can order a copy from Finishing Line Press.

My chapbook contains 28 poems and the cover was designed by Eddy Roberts. It sells for $12 and advance orders receive free shipping. The pre-sale determines the first print run of my chapbook, so your support and interest are sincerely appreciated! If you have any questions, feel free to email me or Finishing Line Press.

In

I'm in at New England College! I got the acceptance call from Chard deNiord this morning. NEC is a great low-residency program. The poetry faculty at NEC includes: Chard deNiord, Alicia Ostriker, Gerald Stern, Maxine Kumin, Jeff Friedman, Judith Hall, Joan Larkin, and others.

I haven't made any decisions yet, but NEC was one of my top picks, so I am very excited.

AWP: A Retrospective

I arrived in Austin with my friend Todd Dillard at 3:30 PM on Thursday. After checking into the hotel, we drove to the convention center, registered, and said hello to the first of the 2005 Bucknell June Seminar Poets, Sarah Shepherd and Becca Wadlinger:

Next stop, the Harpur Palate table, where we sampled my "edible" poem, "Dark Sky, White Sands New Mexico, 1956," from their current issue:

Later that night, we met up with Sarah Smith, another Bucknell 2005 poet. We dropped in at the UH/Gulf Coast/InPrint reception before heading over to EGO's bar for the Legitimate Dangers reading/party:

On Friday, I went to the "Art of the Anthology" panel discussion and was thrilled to meet Denise Duhamel and Arielle Greenberg (sadly, sans digicamera). I took this "stealth" shot of Matthea Harvey from the West Branch table, where I repeatedly dropped off swag with Becca or Sarah Shepherd to watch for me:

The Towel Bunny the staff @ the Fairfield Marriott left each day for Sarah Smith and me:

I visited the Bookfair quite often (couldn't resist all of those books and freebies!) and said thank yous to the editors of magazines who had published my poems this past year. At the Caketrain table, Donna and Joseph were kind enough to ask me to take part in the reading they were sponsoring on Friday night @ Cafe Mundi. I read "Nothing We Do is Discovery" from their current issue, as well as two poems from my manuscript in progress:

My friend Andrew Kozma also read at the Caketrain reading, including a poem that we published in Pebble Lake Review. He and Todd knocked back a few beers/Ace Pear Ciders (thought this photo deceptively shows him with a bottle of water):

After going out until the wee a.m. and drinking for two days, this old lady was ready for the low key. Sarah Smith and I dropped in on the Michener Center reception and then I ordered a pizza and a movie with Becca and Sarah Shepherd. Kristin Aardsma (another 2005 Bucknell Poet), her boyfriend Mark, and Sarah Smith hit 6th Street for one last big hurrah:

The Waiting Game

How to not freak out about grad (MFA) school rejection/acceptances? Talk about it obsessively to friends, read Anne Carson's Glass, Irony, and God, go to a poetry reading, drink a round of beer, go see Are You Talking to Me: New Video from Los Angeles, Volume 7 curated by Mark Allen at Brasil, and visit the Speakeasy. I've mainly applied to low-res schools and will hear from them in late March/early April (although Warren Wilson and Bennington have sent me nice letters/info/care packages). I'm waiting on Houston's response, which should come after AWP.

Many of my friends have already received responses from: Michener (University of Texas ) (yes), Amherst (one yes, one no), Minnesota (yes), Purdue (yes), Washington U. @ St. Louis (2 yes), Iowa (yes), and Michigan (no).

Speaking of AWP, I made up a little itinerary for myself (dorky, yes, but I am known for being a planner). You can find me at:

3.9.06/THURS:

4-5: Bookfair
7-8 PM: Gulf Coast/UH Reception @ Hilton Salon E
8-10 PM: FENCE/Sarabande books reading/party @ EGO’s bar, 510 South Congress Ave.

3.10.06/FRI:

9-10:15AM: American Poets in the 21st Century: The New Poetics. (Peter Gizzi, Traci Morris, Joshua Clover, Juliana Spahr, Karen Volkman, Susan Wheeler) @ Hilton Mtg. Room 400/02

12-1:15 PM: The Art of the Anthology. (Cate Marvin, Michael Dumanis, Arielle Greenberg, Denise Duhamel, Brett Fletcher Lauer, Kevin Prufer) @ Convention Ctr. Meeting Rm. 6AB

4:30-6:15 PM: The Poetry Foundation Presents: A Reading by Donald Hall & Jane Hirshfield @ Convention Ctr. Grand Ballroom

6-9 PM: Tupelo Press Reading/Party @ Maggie Mae’s, 323 E. 6th St.

7:30 PM: ACTION Books Party @ Austin Museum of Art, Congress between 8th and 9th

8:30-10 PM: The University of Houston Presents: A Reading by Tony Hoagland & Naomi Shihab Nye @ Convention Ctr. Grand Ballroom


3.11.06/SAT:

9-10:15AM: The Low Residency MFA @ Hilton Salon E

12-1:15 PM: Graywolf Press Reading @ Convention Ctr. Meeting Room 8ABC

3-4:15 PM: Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century: A Contributor’s Reading. (Nick Flynn, Matthea Harvey, Terrance Hayes, Sally Keith, Suji Kwock Kim) @ Convention Ctr. Bookfair Amphitheater

8:30-10PM: Academy of American Poets Reading. (Mark Jarman, Marilyn Nelson, B. H. Fairchild, Marie Howe, Alberto Rios) @ Austin Hilton Governor’s Ballroom

Yes, I know some of my chosen events overlap, but I want to keep some of my options open. I've also been invited to the Harpur Palate reading (TBD). Don't forget to stop by their table at the bookfair and pick up my edible poem.

If you are going to AWP, where will you be?

Technoexcitement

I bought my very first digital camera today:



I actually bought it to use @ AWP, among other things. I LOVE this digi-camera. It's so tiny you can fit it in your palm and it is amazingly easy to use.

To you MFA/PhD Poetry Applicants: has anyone gotten in? Rejected? Where?