Dear Poets,
Eons ago, I lived in Paris. I worked for an American publishing company, lived in a tiny chambre de bonne, and days after I arrived serendipitously landed in a workshop given by American poet C.K. Williams where I first seriously began writing poems. I could never bring myself to call him Charlie (as he asked) but thought C.K. led the ideal life — half the year teaching poetry graduate classes in the U.S. and half the year writing and living in Paris with his French wife. (As an aside, I enjoyed this essay about revisiting that kind of time and place.)
A work colleague explained the concept of la rentrée beyond its simple translation to ‘the start of the school year.’ It was more like a starting bell signifying the beginning of autumn, the return of city traffic, the sad fact there wouldn’t be more vacances for months (the French, as I learned, take vacation time very seriously). More people quit their jobs in September he insisted (after sitting on the beach contemplating their lives), there was a kind of gripping into routine that made everything tense as Paris bristled back from its summer season.
Whether or not you’re sending kids back to school (or returning yourself) my secret theory is that the end of the year now looms and since everyone responds to a deadline the overhang of this fact, (nevermind fall holiday crush lined up), simply has an effect.
I had hoped to offer fall classes once again. And (once again!) forces conspire against this. But I am always glad to work privately with clients — whether it’s one poem you’re struggling with or a longer manuscript consult. Watch this space for a possible ‘how to submit’ part deux later this fall.
Since I can’t offer a class, let me offer a prompt. ✍️ In a previous workshop series, we looked at elder ‘classic’ poets and their more contemporary successors. Theodore Roethke’s writing was deeply resonant for many. There is one line that has always stuck with me: “…worm, be with me. This is my hard time” from his poem “Lost Son.” Odd as this phrase is, it’s been a kind of comfort — to think of the snail, the bird, the worm, as creatures of accompaniment, of edging promise. Plaintive and pleading, the speaker turns to the natural world, as Roethke did all his life, to what is elemental, earth-driven, and, for him, a place of teeming regeneration. What line would you write in response to his? What line can you write in parallel? “____ ____ be with me in this ____ time.” Feel free to comment below or hit ‘reply’ and email it to me. I’d like to know. 🌱
Meanwhile, sharing with you:
Kudos to former student Sara Ellen Fowler who has just been awarded a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship!
I am very excited for Women Who Submit’s upcoming submit-a-thon on September 9th. Gather in L.A. to share camaraderie, encouragement, and the collective energy needed to thumb slam the ‘submit’ button. Register here. Donate here. Follow along on Instagram with live programming all day. A few years back, I was a guest during one of their interview hours.
After you have finished submitting work on September 9th, you can head over to Beyond Baroque in Venice to celebrate the reopening of their Poets’ Garden at 5:30.
If you’re looking for places to submit, L.A. online publisher Silverbirch Press is accepting poems on the theme “Spices & Seasonings” through September 30th. Here is L.A. poet Elya Braden’s entry “Sweeter Than Today.”
I also have my eye on Terrapin Book’s call for their “Braving the Body” anthology. They are accepting poems through the end of September. “Braving the Body invites poets to reflect on the experience of living in a body. …What stories of our bodies can we share which will offer healing and restoration, not just for ourselves but for the world?”
I am looking forward to this online event through The Notebooks Collective between poet Trish Bogle and artist Shu Tu as they discuss their collaboration “In a Garden of Small Dreams: Art + Poetry in Conversation.” “For this showcase, poet Tricia Bogle and artist Shu Tu expand the meaning of ekphrasis by showing art and poetry in dynamic conversation.”
This Unsung Masters Reading Series event is tomorrow and looks good. Kevin Prufer writes “Come hear poets you love read from the work of poets you probably don't know about. …you can email me at kdp8106@yahoo.com if you want the free e-chapbook of the poems, which we'll send out 30 seconds before the reading begins.” The Zoom ID link is in the top right corner — not clickable, unfortunately [826 4546 1383].
I didn’t know about this series “What Sparks Poetry” published by Poetry Daily, but I’m glad I do now. Dana Levin recently published this essay on Robert Hass’s haunting poem “A Story About the Body,” Gaston Bachelard (one of my favorites), and Martin Buber. Each essay also includes a prompt.
I enjoyed this essay “A Cure For Writer’s Block in Celan’s Letters” about the correspondence between Paul Celan and Nelly Sachs, published on Aviya Kushner’s Substack which focuses on “Jewish poetry and prose; why translation matters; and people who are worth a closer look.” Kushner writes: “These letters were how Celan and Sachs kept each other’s faith in poetry, and humanity, going. They have that mesmerizing effect on readers, too.”
What’s this — A Poetry Train? Under the banner of the LA Poetry Beach Festival, the train departs Boston (in homage to Sylvia Plath) on September 20th and crosses the country ending up in L.A. on September 23rd. Here is a schedule with downtown readings at Union Station, Skid Row History Museum and Archive, then Chevalier’s Books. The information seems a little hard to process, but might be fun.
I have heard of the Thomas Mann house before, (also known as Villa Aurora) but have never been there (in west L.A.). Would love to attend this cool-sounding event on September 7th. Free but you need to register in advance. “Tzveta Sofronieva in conversation with Gail Wronsky about the concept of literary multiligualism and otherverses in poetry.”
Did you know they also offer Artist-in-Residence Grants? And Fellowships?
Much intrigued by this LARB article “Scrolling Through Poetry: A Conversation with @poetryisnotaluxury” by L.A. poet Elizabeth Metzger. In the introduction Metzger writes: “I was thrilled to learn that the creator of the account is a living, breathing poet and poetry reader residing near me in Southern California. …Though they wish to remain anonymous, the curator of @poetryisnotaluxury has helped me and many other followers feel miraculously seen and understood through heartache, life transitions, isolation, and grief.” Hmmm… a SoCal poetry mystery in our midst. Now I’m curious. But I did sign up to follow on IG and am glad I did.
It’s been such a hard season, friends. This is astute and also made me laugh. “Women Who Write While Lying on their Stomachs” by OG humor writer Merrill Markoe.
As ever, I hope to hear from you! ✍️ Bonne rentrée.☀️
Thanks for another wonderful missive, Elline… thinking of you.🌾
“Breath, breath, be with me in this uncertain time.”
Thanks Elline. I love these newsletters!