Amanda Auchter

Writing Halloween

2009-11-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

No one tells you that the year-year and a half following grad school is full of searching and tumult. At least that's been my experience. I sent out to dozens of book prizes and had many near-misses, swallowed myself in teaching composition and creative writing, and wrote a handful of good poems. It was not a prolific time and I often wondered if the fires that were so present and so bright during my time at Houston and Bennington were waning. However, a new schedule and yes, accolades, have helped generate new vigor, new hope, new poems, and for the first time since June 2008 I can see in the distance, beyond the own lonely shadow of my piles of papers to grade, the clickety-clack of the keyboard, the grief of my recently departed cat, Casey, and the cups and cups of dark, dark tea.

In the past week, I've received the following poetry-related news: my manuscript, Glossolalia, has been picked up for publication by Red Hen Press. My poem, "Tether," was chosen as runner-up for the RHINO Poetry Magazine's Founders' Prize and will appear in their next issue. Finally, my poem "The Thundering, my "Liam" poem was chosen as the winner of Bellevue Literary Review's 2010 Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry judged by Tony Hoagland and my poem "The Bottom Drawer" was given an honorable mention for the same prize. Both poems will appear in their next issue as well.

I'm not tooting my own horn, but I am very grateful. I'm grateful for people loving and reading poetry, for people reading my poetry, for poetry itself. I'm grateful for my friends and family who want to call back when they're not at work so they can squeal their support with me. I'm grateful for my hands, my keyboard, my tea, my husband, for each set of eyes that help me along. I'm grateful to be out of the post-MFA program funk.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year Jeff & I went to Eric & Sam's Halloween party dressed out in fratitude:

Fall

2009-09-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

I know it's early, but the wind is skittering the leaves outside and the first (slightly, this is Texas after all) cool wind is in the air and already I'm looking forward to the approaching fall, most importantly the joy of the Nutcracker Market after Thanksgiving, and the Houston Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker.

I've gone a little overboard on sweaters, like this one, this one, this one, and yes, this one, as well as I look forward to turning leaves and pumpkins and pies and nutmeg and pretty bows and curling up with books and tea.

I love this season -- the start of school and the "bouquets of sharpened pencils." I'm now in my 5th semester of teaching and so far, so good (even though a few students have not, unfortuantely, caught on to the idea that you have to actually turn in assignments in order to pass a college course). I'm teaching 3 classes: composition I, composition II, and a creative writing workshop. I'm not all too thrilled about the new books we're using, but hey, I'm going with it. I've also joined the faculty Library Committe and have my first meeting next Friday afternoon, which I'm looking forward to.

I've also been writing more than ever (have slowed down a bit in the past two weeks because of the beginning of the semester, but hope to get back on track next week). I've also started submitting again (individual poems & the manuscript), so we'll see.

Dolce Vita

2009-08-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

It was great catching up w/ my old high school girlfriends Jennifer, Danielle & Chrissy last night over a (4 hour!) dinner @ Dolce Vita. The restaurant has great ambiance even better gourmet pizzas—try the prosciutto & arugula pizzas. Delicious. It was funny/scary: at one point we were talking about how next year it will have been 15 years since we graduated high school! Even though I'm only 32, when I think of how I've been out of high school almost 15 years, I feel like I should somehow be older than that. I had a great time, great food, and that's all that mattered, though!

SATX

2009-07-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun on my trip to NOLA (think Cafe du Monde & yummy beignets, Jackson Square, a night-time carriage ride through the Quarter, shopping on Royal St., & amazing cajun food) & now it's time to head the short 3-hour jaunt over to San Antonio to celebrate Jeff & my 7th wedding anniversary this weekend! We will be staying at the lovely Riverwalk Vista Inn:On Friday night, we are going to have a bite @ Mi Tierra. On Saturday we are going to visit the Alamo, have drinks (free wine after 5pm!) @ the hotel, our celebratory dinner at Boudro's on the Riverwalk followed by an evening carriage ride. On Sunday, we will take in the Riverwalk shops & sights with a river cruise and then head over to El Mercado (the Mexican Market) for some shopping, followed by dinner @ Casa Rio on the Riverwalk. On our way out of town on Monday, we will stop over to visit the San Jose Mission. Must now go finish packing!

NOLA

2009-06-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I'm very much looking forward to my upcoming trip to New Orleans! I haven't been since Oct. 2001 when Jeff & I took a plantation home tour & visited the Quarter. I need a mini-vacation & having a girl's weekend w/ H. sounds absolutely perfect at the moment. Streetcars. The French Market. Beignets & cafe au lait @ Cafe du Monde. Live music & giant drinks. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

New Issue

2009-06-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Pebble Lake Review's Health & Illness issue is now online featuring work from Kelli Russell Agodon, Michelle Bitting, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Michael Homolka, Irene Keliher, Rich Levy, Laura McCullough, Jessica Piazza, D.A. Powell, Nicole Steinberg, Laura Madeline Wiseman, Franz Wright, Sarah Manguso, and others. Check it out!

Meet Casey!

2009-05-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Casey is a two-year old sweet cat that we've adopted from Cats for Life rescue group here in Houston. She's coming home with us today!

Long Time Gone

2009-05-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

As you've probably heard, PLR is no longer in print. However, we will contine to run online issues, beginning with the Health & Illness issue that is slated to go live on June 1. This issues features work from Jeannine Hall Gailey, Rich Levy, Laura McCullough, Jessica Piazza, D.A. Powell, Nicole Steinberg, Franz Wright, Sarah Manguso, and others. Here's the fabulous new cover, courtesy of Rebecca Wadlinger:

Please note that going forward, PLR will accept poetry, book reviews, and interviews Sept.1-Feb.1. Material submitted outside the reading period will not be read or returned. Fiction/Nonfiction submissions will only be accepted via emailed query/solicitation. Submission guidelines will be available with the online publication of the new issue, June 1. Join PLR on Facebook for further updates.

In other news, teaching is really not conducive to writing, which is very frustrating. However, I do like it, but am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with trying to balance writing and teaching (and editing). C'est la vie, I suppose.

Having a "phone workshop" with one of my poet-friends is greatly helping, though, and I am thankful for that. I feel that I'm coming out of the post-MFA fog and it's wonderful. I have big plans, but need to find the time. I am teaching 2 Comp II classes this summer (8AM-12PM, M-TH) and then have a luxurious 8 weeks off until fall! Write, write, write!

I must brag for a moment on the fact that I just purchased the out-of-print, VERY rare (as in usually $350+ rare) To The Place of the Trumpets the first book by Brigit Pegeen Kelly circa 1988 for $25 in near-perfect condition. Exciting!

Short List

2008-12-18T21:50:00.000-08:00

I received an email today informing me that my manuscript, Glossolalia, has been short-listed for a (to be named at a later date) book prize! As with each of the previous three finalist notices, I can't help but thinking: is this the one?

The semester is over, thank God. Next semester, I will be teaching two comp II classes and one creative writing class (yes!). I have about three weeks off and I've been spending it reading (Please by Jericho Brown and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi), visiting with family and catching up with old friends, shopping for/wrapping gifts, and drinking plenty of holiday spice tea.

Have a great holiday season, everyone!

Back in the (poetry) saddle

2008-11-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

After a few months of being away from Poetryland (writing, PLR, etc.), I'm back! I'm reading Michael Burkard's Unsleeping , Jericho Brown's Please, and Katie Ford's Colosseum. Please and Colosseum are for possible review and both are stunning. I'm feeling the rush of poem-writing and looking forward to a month off from teaching comp to actually write!

Check out the new issues of The American Poetry Journal (I wrote a review of Brenda Shaughnessy's newest, Human Dark with Sugar).

Guest Blogger

2008-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

While in the midst of grading, lesson plans, loving the cooler Houston weather, a fall-only coffee addiction, culling through submissions, and (tomorrow) attending my birth-grandfather's memorial service, I am blogging this week at Linebreak. I also recently got word that a poem of mine will soon appear later this fall in Hayden's Ferry Review!

Enjoy this wonderful season of pumpkins, tumbling leaves, long walks, and debate-watching.

Ike

2008-09-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've received so many emails and messages from people concerning our experience during hurricane Ike. We are fine. We had a tree fall on our roof and as a result, some minor roof damage and we lost a 8-10 ft. chunk of our fence. We were lucky. We live in NW Houston, 78 miles from Galveston. Even though we are in one of the lesser hit areas, every yard has at least one tree uprooted, roof damage, windows blown out, water damage, etc. Photos from our yard:

My parents had a huge oak tree fall through the roof & attic near the side of their house, lost numerous trees, and windows blown out. They are near Burnett Bay (near Galveston Bay). They will most likely not have power for weeks. In Baytown, where they live, there are complete areas of devastation: flooding, collapsed roofs, trees through houses, no water, no power, etc. They stood in line for several hours yesterday to receive FEMA MREs, water, and ice. They did prepare with water & non-perishables, but that only lasts a short while. The destruction and damage is widespread. It's unbelievable. Entire coastal sections are so wiped out, they look like farmland.

A Too-Soon Loss

2008-09-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Many of you are aware that this summer has been a complete roller-coaster of emotion and activity for me. Within the past 90 days, I found out my birthfather died in a tragic accident shortly after my 2nd birthday, met my paternal birth-grandparents (and an uncle and a few aunts), and now, just a few short days ago, my birth-grandfather died of complications due to pneumonia.

It's both tragic and surreal. I feel like I'm walking in some sort of hazy dream or twilight zone. I am fortunate to have met him only 6 weeks prior to his death and that I did get to see him in the ICU before he died. I will attend the funeral. I don't know how to begin processing this loss--it's ridiculously complicated. I'm biological, but a relative stranger. I care for this family that I know very little about. I'm up and down. There is no guidebook for this, no precedent I can follow, and am forced to play everything by ear. I've sent a peace lily to my birth-grandmother, but as I was commenting to a friend, how strange is it that I am sending the plant, the condolence? In a normal family, when a close family member dies, you are the one who typically receives the cards/flowers. I didn't even know how to address the card, so I stuck with the safe "Porter Family" route. I'm at a loss and can't help feeling a little broken. I feel so fortunate to have had this experience, yet so turned upside down because of it.

At any rate, here is a photo of the only time my birth-grandfather, Raymond Porter Sr. and I were able to meet:

Final

2008-07-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

I can now announce that my manuscript, Glossolalia, was named as a finalist for the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. This now sets the book prize finalist tally at 3: Beatrice Hawley/Alice James Books, Walt Whitman, and Prairie Schooner. It didn't win, but it's great to have been a finalist. I sound like an Academy Award Reject.

The ms is still out at 5 different places, so we'll see. [Fingers crossed].

Busy Busy

2008-07-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Why I (+PLR) have been slow to respond to emails, submissions, and/or phone messages and why you can expect more of this slowness:

Me with my (paternal) birth-grandmother:

My birthparents, K. & Ray @ Sr. Prom, 1976:

My birth-father, Ray, in the Coast Guard in Antarctica. This is one of the last photos of him before his death on Feb. 8, 1979 (two days after my 2nd birthday):

Those of you who have read my poems know that several of the poems from the manuscript are about my birthparents, adoption, and/or parent-child relationships. Many of you also know that I've been working on a memoir about adoption (the watered down abridged version). Recently, while doing research, I found out that my birthfather, Ray, was killed at age 22 while in the Coast Guard in Antarctica. He was helping a Navy ship unload and was using a forklift that he was not certified to operate. The conditions were terrible: 100+ mph winds & -42. The forklift overturned on him. However, the injuries were not enough to kill him. Due to the fact that he was not supervised, he went into shock and froze to death.

The upside of this horrible story is that I recently found his parents, my birth-grandparents, and met them last week. It was wonderful, odd, and surreal all the time same time. I will write more on this later when I have processed it all.

That being said, please understand that if you don't get an answer to a submission right away, an order fulfilled, or a return email, I'm busy with all of this (not to mention working on the memoir, teaching a college course for the 1st time ever, and trying to keep my life organized).

Enjoy the photos (some of you have asked for them) and I appreciate your support.

Linebreaking (Again) & News

2008-05-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

More news from the manuscript front: my manuscript was named as a semi-finalist for the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. This makes the second time (ahem, third, but that's going to be kept under wraps until July) the ms has been a finalist since I sent it out in November, the first being a finalist for the Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Just kidding -- I'm really excited.

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You can catch me this week reading Alison Stine's poem "Bug" on Linebreak. Check it out.

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I've completed my creative thesis and the text of my lecture for my upcoming graduation from Bennington in June. Here's the lecture blurb for the schedule itinerary:

“Contemporary Ekphrasis: The Image of Text.” How are poets moving ekphrastic writing out of the museum and into the contemporary world of technology, comic books, cartoons, graffiti, music, and film? In this lecture, I will discuss how ekphrastic poetry (poetry written from art) began, its purpose, and how ekphrastic poetry has changed to reflect a new generation of poets and readers. Poets mentioned are John Ashbery, Joseph Campana, Sharon Dolin, Natasha Trethewey, Monica Youn, and Kevin Young.

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I just received Mary Ruefle's first essay collection, The Most of It, and am looking forward to reading it. She read from it at her reading here in Houston last month and the essays are wild, lyrical, beautiful, and a bit crazy, just like her.

If you don't know who Katie Ford is, you must pre-order her newest collection, Colosseum. Her first collection, Deposition, is seriously one of the best books of poems I've ever read, hands down. It, along with Lucie Brock Broido's Trouble in Mind, Nick Flynn's Some Ether, The Descent by Sophie Cabot Black, Broken Helix by Dina Ben-Lev a MUST read!), and all things Louise Gluck, Sharon Olds, and Carolyn Forche, is what inspired me the most during the three year course of writing the manuscript. Buy them all!

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Tonight: cooking Lemon-Garlic Chicken Pasta with asparagus with the hubby and reading Brenda Shaughnessy's wonderful new collection, Human Dark with Sugar.

Linebreaking

2008-04-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

You can read my poem, "Poem for the Adoptive Mother" this week on Linebreak, as read by Chloë Honum. Linebreak is a great new online poetry journal and has recently featured work by Bob Hicok, Dorianne Laux, Daniel Nester, D.A. Powell, Richard Siken, C. Dale Young, and others. Check it out!

News! News!

2008-04-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in forever -- I've been so incredibly busy with finishing my lecture and creative thesis for Bennington (I'm graduating in June!). I also got hired to teach comp classes at Lone Star College and am looking to teach in a certain low-residency MFA program, hopefully in early 2009. The biggest news, however, is that my manuscript, Glossolalia, was just named as a finalist for the Alice James Books 2008 Beatrice Hawley Book Award!

I'm going next Saturday to Austin to see my friend and PLR contributing editor Rebecca Wadlinger's stunning full-length play "No One Else in the Woods Tonight," which will be performed at the Off Center in conjunction with the Humdrum Collective. If you're in/near Austin, come see it!

Last night was the Gulf Coast/Mary Ruefle reading at the Houston Museum of Printing History. MR read a mix of nonfiction and poems and put on a great performance. New issues of GC, free beverages, and broadsides all around. Have you checked out MR's newest collection, Indeed I Was Pleased With the World?

LineBreak

2008-03-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

You can find my recording of Daniel Nester's poem "Stardust Memories" at Linebreak, the new online literary journal created and run by Ash Bowen. Be sure to view the archives for poems by Bob Hicok, D.A. Powell, Dorianne Laux, and others. Check back with Linebreak for updates, where in upcoming weeks a new Richard Siken poem will be up and in April, my work will be featured. Linebreak is a great concept journal, so check it out and submit.

Vote APR Sung Coin

2008-03-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't sent out poems in quite a while, but did get a letter today from Elizabeth Scanlon @ the American Poetry Review accepting one of my poems from my manuscript. This is the first time I've ever submitted to APR and I love the magazine, so I'm pretty excited!

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I'm finally back on track and writing poems again, albeit only a handful here and there. I have ideas for several different projects, most of which I will start after I graduate this June from Bennington. Until then, I'm focusing the majority of my concentration on packet work, reading, and revising my graduate lecture on the contemporary ekphrastic. I love working with Ed Ochester. He sent me a coin in my last packet from the Chinese Sung Dynasty dating back to around 960 AD and looks something like this. I think I'm going to put it on a necklace.

This is what my Thursday night looked like

2008-02-29T01:33:00.000-08:00

After dinner @ Chuy's with the hubby & then meeting friends for drinks @ Poison Girl, we left the bar (with the intent on giving said friends Elvis masks I scored @ Chuy's), I found that my car had been TOWED from the lot next door. 1:45 AM on a Thursday, all businesses closed & still I'm towed. After Eddie G. took us through "the ward" to the impound lot, $190 later, I had my car. What made it all worthwhile? The above photo of Eddie G. in his Elvis mask. Quite a spectacular night indeed.

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I have recently acquired two addictions: fruit (more specifically, blueberries, blackberries & clementines) and jeans (more specifically, this pair and this pair). I can't stop eating the fruit, buying the jeans, though, I must add, I saved 80% on the former pair, which makes my bank account very happy.

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I think I'm going back for more on Saturday night -- I'm meeting up with my Bread Loaf roommate, Tess T., @ Poison Girl. This time, I'm parking around the corner on the street. Sigh. I need a cocktail.

Joy

2008-02-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

I am fall back in my chair stunned by two books right now: Mary Ruefle's Indeed I Was Pleased With the World and Ava by Carole Maso. My friend Eddie G. lent me Ava and I can't stop reading it -- it's such a strange book about the interior thoughts of a woman on her last day on earth. It's a novel, but almost a novel in verse -- each line is a separate thought, a memory, a snip of beauty or sorrow. My favorite line? "Strange the way joy keeps changing." I am a die-hard Ruefle fan, and her newest is possibly her best. Take this poem, "Kiss of the Sun":

If, as they say, poetry is a sign of something
among people, then let this be prearranged now,
between us, while we are still peoples: that
at the end of time, which is also the end of poetry
(and wheat and evile and insects and love),
when the entire human race gathers in the flesh,
reconstituted down to the infant's tiniest fold
and littlest nail, I will be standing at the edge
of that fathomless crown with an orange for you,
reconstituted down to its innermost seed protected
by white thread, in case you are thirsty, which
does not at this time seem like such a wild guess,
and thought there will be no poetry between us then,
at the end of time, the geese all gone with the seas,
I hope you will take it, and remember on earth
I did not know how to touch it it was all so raw,
as if by chance there is no edge to the crowd
or anything else so that I am of it,
I will take the orange and toss it as high as I can.

This poem devastates me in that way that Forche's poem "For the Stranger" makes me want to weep each time I read it. Seriously, go right now and buy these books.

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Have you submitted to PLR's theme issue on health and illness, yet?

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I haven't sent out poems in quite a while, except to one journal who kindly invited me to do so @ AWP. I did, however, receive two acceptances for 5 poems last week from LUMINA and Relief Journal.

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PLR will be in your mailbox ASAP. We apologize for the delay, but it's oh so worth the wait.

AWP Wrap-Up

2008-02-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

This was the busiest, craziest AWP I've attended to date and I (mostly) loved every minute of it! The PLR table was such a success: we sold most of the 200+ copies we brought. It was great to see our contributors and to put faces to the names we've published over the past 5 years. Hello and thanks to Steven Schroeder, Mary Biddinger, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Sandra Beasley, Suzanne Frischkorn, Christine Hamm, Simone Muench, Laura McCullough, the Switchback Books gals, and many, many others! Start the rumor now: there WILL be a PLR reading in Chicago.

I love AWP for the bookfair, the amazing readings (Sharon Olds & Yusef Komunyakaa! Carolyn Forche! The Alice James Books Crew -- Brian Turner! Christina Davis! Mary Szybist!), and reuniting with old friends (I'm thinking of the cold midnight (smoky) hang-out outside the Hilton w/ Eduardo Corral, Jericho Brown, and James Hall. I'm thinking of catching up with Nick Flynn @ the PLR table and hearing him talk about his newborn daughter, May and loving the delight about him. The Bread Loafers, The Bucknellians, The Benningtonites.) and meeting new ones. Though I spent all of AWP with a ridiculous post-flu cough and, as a result, porn star husky voice, I had a fun time and was so glad to see everyone again.

With what little time I had away from the table, I snagged:

a copy of Poetry International (swapped w/ Ilya Kaminsky for a PLR)
Pleiades (2 back issues)
Barn Owl Review (2 contributor copies)
Harpur Palate + HP pen
Art of the Gettysburg Review 2008 calendar
Gulf Coast
Forklift, Ohio
Rain Taxi
Potomac Review
Now You're the Enemy by James Hall
Astoria by Malena Morling
This Clumsy Living by Bob Hicok
Babel by Barbara Hamby
The Partial Autobiography of Jane Doe by Daniela Olszewska

Funny side story: as I was waiting for my flight @ La Guardia, I ran into Claudia Rankine at the Hudson News. I worked w/ Claudia in the Spring of 06 on my undergrad creative honors thesis. We caught up a bit before parting ways. What did I have on prominent display in my hands while talking to her, much to my dismay? US Weekly and Star, the junk food of 3+ hour flights.

When I got home, I found two contributor copies of The Best of The Bellevue Literary Review in my mailbox. I didn't know that I was selected for this anthology and was quite delighted to see the amazing roster from BLR, including Sharon Olds, James Tate, Michael Collier, Amy Hempel, Philip Levine, Alicia Ostriker, Rick Moody, Rachel Hadas, Rafael Campo, David Lehman, and others. It's a beautiful issue, and at under $12, you should pick one up.

PLR News:

PLR is taking submissions for its first-ever theme issue on illness and health. Please see the website for details and deadline. Submit!

PLR will be reviewing chapbooks in the Summer 2008 issue (late August). If you would like us to consider reviewing your chapbook or if you are interested in writing a chapbook review, please query/send review copy by April 15. Please visit the website for details.

PLR Fall/Winter 2007 Now Online!

2008-01-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

The Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Pebble Lake Review is now online!

In this issue: Poetry from Michelle Bitting Abrams, Hanna Andrews, Jean Gallagher, Alex Lemon, Laura McCullough, Simone Muench, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Lia Purpura, Tony Trigilio, David Ray Vance, and others. Fiction by Elisabeth Benjamin, Kim Chinquee, William Conescu, Glen Shaheen and Matt Siegel . Nonfiction from Blake Butler, James Hall, Jessica Handler, and Margaret MacInnis' interview with poet Lia Purpura.

Plus reviews of A Glass of Milk to Kiss Goodnight by Hadara Bar-nadav, Gold Star Road by Richard Hoffman, Lucky Wreck by Ada Limón, and Modern Life by Matthea Harvey.

We are currently reading for our Spring 2008 issue, which will be released in late April. We will start reading for our first-ever theme issue (Illness and Health) beginning Feb.1. See website for details.

The print version of PLR Fall/Winter 2007 will be shipped after AWP.

We would like to thank our contributors and subscribers for making this and every issue possible. We hope you enjoy Pebble Lake Review Vol. 5 No. 1 and welcome all comments.

Journals

2008-01-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Four poems of mine are up at MiPOesias.

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I'm trying to get in the mindset to write a new poem based on a discussion I had at residency w/ Michael Burkard. I haven't written in my journal in over a year because the last entry I wrote, what was happening at the time of the last entry, is something I'm having a hard time revisiting. I can't put physical words next to that last entry and I don't want to discard it [the journal] entirely. M. suggested that I try to revisit those events of the last entry in a poem of the same title, "The Last Entry." Even if I don't get a good poem out of it, he suggested, maybe it will have helped me get to a place where I can begin journaling again. Anyone else ever had problems with journal-keeping?