VRZHU bullets of pure love

Richard Burton reads Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill

Dylan Thomas was a legendary reader of poetry, his own and others.  I may have this wrong, but I believe he subsisted on honoraria from giving university readings.

Could anyone be a better reader of Dylan's poetry than Dylan?

As it turns out, the answer is yes.  Here's an audio/video of Richard Burton reading Fern Hill.  Many thanks to The New Combat and this post by Bill Ney for getting me to think about the brilliant Mr. Burton.

From the sublime to the two of Vrzhu's favorite people.

Kristen Wiig reads from the oeuvre of Suzanne Somers.

NEWS ON THE MARCH!!!

NEWS

For those of you who live in the immediate area of Washington, D.C. (motto: Visit Washington! It’s a *Capitol* offense!), Kay Ryan will be kicking off her second term as Poet Laureate with a reading at the Library of Congress on October 21, 2009.

I encourage you to attend this reading if you have a chance, whether you are a writer or not, and, if you are a writer, whether you find Ryan’s poems congenial or not.

As it happens, the online journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, has just put up an issue on the U. S. Poets Laureate, aka The Consultant in Poetry aka Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, that last being the current official title, courtesy of, no doubt, The Department of Redundancy Department.

The issue is guest-edited by Vrzhu Press’ own unindicted co-conspirator, Dan Vera. Nice Work, Dan. And a tip o' th' hat to editor-in-chief Kim Roberts, a noted Vrzhu Press author.

MORE NEWS

Upcoming (imminent!) Vrzhu author Carol Guess, who we are just crazy about, is a featured writer over at the Genpop Books, where you can read four of her wonderful prose poems, a form of which she is a master.

Also don’t forget Carol’s book, Timberbox Lawn, is available from Rose Metal Press, one of the hottest new presses around (along with, e.g., Big Game Books, and No Tell Books).

TRANSLATION

Here, from that aforementioned issue of BPQ, is nice tidbit on translation from Grace Cavalieri and Joseph Brodsky:

Cavalieri: How much are we missing? We see and hear English translations of your poems and some are called brilliant in any language.

Brodsky: You can’t say you are missing much. You can’t say you are missing the prosody of another language. You can’t miss the acoustics of another language. The original is rooted in the euphony of the Russian language. That of course you can’t have and you’re not missing it. You can’t miss something that you don’t know.

Cavalieri: We can get a good lyrical poem anyway that is matchless.

Brodsky: That’s what it is if it works in English. You have to be a judge of solely how it is in English.

Cavalieri: We shouldn’t feel we’re getting only ninety percent of something which is absolute.

Brodsky: You get a poem in English, good or bad. You can’t fantasize about what it’d be like in the original.

That seems like one of the more reasonable remarks about the fraught issue of translating poetry.

Also I suggest giving serious consideration to Brodsky's advice to write your Nobel Prize acceptance speech NOW, "just in case."

Flarf on the Radio - Radio 360

Flarf profiled here on Studio 360.

O, flarf, flarfers!
O, flarf out, flarfers!
You who flarf with flarfs, you who flarf it up flarfishly
O, flarf out flarferingly
O, beflarfable flarfterhood - the flarfter of flarfering flarfers!
O, unflarf it outflarfingly, beflarfering flarfists!
Flarfily, flarfily,
Upflarf, enflarf, flarflings, flarflings
Flarflets, flarflets.
O, flarf, flarfers!
O, flarf out, flarfers!

Live poetry is a kind of singing

The need to regain our voices.

“Live poetry is a kind of singing. It differs from prose, as song does, in its complexity of stress and intonation. Poetry demands a human voice to sing it and demands an audience to hear it. Without these it is naked, pure and incomplete—a bore.

“If plays were only printed and never acted, who would read them? If songs were only printed on song sheets, who would read them? It would like playing a football game on paper. Do you wonder where the audience is?

“It affects the nature of the poetry too. There was a time in the middle ages when music was mainly written and not sung. It was a time when crab canons were composed, complicated puzzles made of notes that no ear would think of hearing. Poetry, when it is removed from a living audience, loses its living form, becomes puzzling. It becomes blind like the salamanders that live in dark caves. It atrophies.

“Orpheus was singer. The proudest boast made about Orpheus was not that his poems were beautiful in and of themselves. There were no New Critics then. The proudest boast was that he, the singer of the songs, moved impossible audiences—trees, wild animals, the king of hell himself.

“Today we are not singers. We would rather publish poetry in a little magazine that read it in a large hall. If we do read in a hall, we do not take the most elementary steps to make our poetry vivid and entertaining. We are not singers. We do not use our bodies. We recite from a printed page.”

Jack Spicer, in the House That Jack Built – the collected lectures of jack spicer.

The materiality of language is the material of poetry.

“I suppose that more than most I’m very attached to the old old roots of poetry as a body art, as a bodily art, that I’m very given to the old old traditions of the sounds of poetry. And that I think of it as the most bodily of all the arts. Even more bodily than dance, because in dance the medium is the body of an expert, of an artist, but in poetry the medium is the body of the audience, the medium is the column of air shaped into meaning-sounds in the mouth of anybody at all. And that’s probably kind of archaic and ancient an idea of poetry. There are people who are interested in other things, but for me the core of it is that air inside a body. I’m very interested in memorization which is the process of incorporating a poem, so, I would say the kind of poetry I write is the kind that emphasizes the physical qualities of the words.”

Robert Pinsky, from an interview on Grace Cavalieri’s the Poet and the Poem program

DC Poets Totally Coup D'Etat the Interweb & How You Can Run My Life

The online journal LocusPoint features Washington DC poets and resources with an intro by

• Sandra Beasley

and poems by

• Derrick Weston Brown
• Michael Gushue
• Natalie E. Illum
• E. Ethelbert Miller
• Rod Smith
• Maureen Thorson
• Rosemary Winslow

The Online Journal Beltway Poetry Quarterly (this is kind of a repeat) has an all audio issue

with DC poets

• Fred Joiner
• Thomas Sayers Ellis
• Kenneth Carroll
• Joel Dias-Porter (DJ Renegade)
• Gaton Neal
• Rod Jellema
• Greg McBrideMay MillerMiles David Moore
• Karren L. AlenierHolly Bass
• RIchard Peabody
• Hillary Tham
• Reb Livingston
• Regie Cabico
• Brian Gilmore
• Michael Gushue
• Mark Tarallo
• Yvette Neisser Moreno
• Bernie Jankowski

I'm Your Puppet

Frank Bidart and Rae Armantrout will be appearing and reading their poetry at the Folger Shakespeare Library on November. I can't decide whether I should go or not.

And, in larger context, I pretty much cannot decide. Period.

I am Undecided. I am *The* Undecided.

So, starting here, I am outsourcing my decision making. Now I could hire one of the many companies worldwide that specialize in out sourcing services. But I also believe in the wisdom of crowds. So I am turning to you, innumerable readers and afficionados of this blog to decide for me. We'll use the upcoming Bidart/Armantrout reading as a prototype.  So let's start the voting with a two-tier process.

First, should I go to the Bidart/Armantrout reading on November 10?

Mark your ballots below:

___Yes, you will go to the Frank Bidart & Rae Armantrout reading

___No, you will not attend the Frank Bidart & Rae Armantrout reading

Now for the second tier.

If you voted Yes, vote on the following propositions:

__You are really looking forward to hearing Frank Bidart

__You are really looking forward to hearing Rae Armantrout

If you voted No, mark one of the following:

__You are just too busy right now

__You can't afford to fork out the bucks for this

__You are not interested in hearing Frank Bidart

__You are not interested in hearing Rae Armantrout

Please submit your final ballots by November 9th. And remember: My life is in your hands.

Riverby Reading

So last night Michael Gushue and I had the pleasure of reading together at Riverby Books on Capitol Hill.  It was such a wonderful evening with a great crowd in a pleasing space.  I understand it may have been the largest crowd for that reading series (click on the photo at left to see the whole crowd).

  I want to thank everyone who came out in support of Michael and I and those who bought our books, Michael's chapbook Gathering Down Women and my new book from Beothuk Books, The Space Between Our Danger and Delight.  It was a pretty stunning turnout and I was moved to see so many friendly faces in the crowd.

Michael read first and I read second.  We both began our times by reading a poem by another author.  After a lot of thought it seemed appropriate to begin a reading for my new book by reading a few short poems from the very first book of poetry that impacted me.  Pablo Neruda's Libro de Preguntas/Book of Questions (the Copper Canyon editions with William O'Daly's marvelous translations) And then I had what I can only describe as sublime and mindbending..  the opportunity to read from my own book of poems.  It was great to read a few old poems and a number of newer poems from the book, especially those dealing with Texas and family.  Seemed fitting as I spied in the back of the crowded room my oldest friend on the planet, Rob Crangle.  We were in college together and have had the good fortune to stay in touch all these years.  He was around when I first started writing poetry during another Middle East war while we were in college.   Fitting to have him there.  Other highlights for me were a dear older friend who is the beloved matriarch of an extended group of friends Pete and I hold dear.  She came all the way from Alexandria and I was moved to be able to sign one of my books for her.  So many friends were there it was just very moving and humbling.  Pete even got me these lovely red roses for the evening!  How perfect is that?!?

Throughout our readings people kept walking in to find a seat, and when all the chairs were taken folks went for spots on the floor.  At one point my housemate Jason walked in with my friends Baba and Jomo and they carried with them pans of blondies and other treats and it became a surreal, almost Dr. Seussian scene.  It was all too lovely for words.   I'm still feeling over the moon about the book and the gracious response and all the lovely people at the reading tonight.  It's all cream.  All cream.

I know I left feeling incredibly thankful for the community of poets and friends that make an evening like this possible.  I want to particularly thank everyone who put the word out about the evening including Sandra Beasley who posted a nice note on her blog and Philip Clark over at The New Gay who posted a great announcement for the evening.  Monica Jacobe was such a great host and runs one of the nicest series in town.  Hope we get more evenings like tonight.

Vrzhu Tuesday for This Day of September, the 22nd, in the Year of Jack Lord 2008

Now, where was I….ah, yes…

Hullo. I’m shamelessly taking advantage of your time here to promote a reading I’ll be doing this Wednesday (that’s September 24, 2008) at Riverby Books on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Here’s the vital stats:

Wednesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm

"A Space Inside" Reading Series

Michael Gushue & Dan Vera Reading Poetry

BOOK RELEASE FOR
The Space Between Our Danger And Delight

Riverby Books on Capitol Hill
417 East Capitol Street
Washington, DC
202-543-4342
www.riverbybooks.com

For those of you wondering if my own modest attempts at versification are half as good as my posts on this blog, the answer is: Oh, yes. Yes indeed.

Now a few words about Dan Vera, The Space Between Our
Danger And Delight, and Beothuk Books.

Dan Vera is managing editor of White Crane, cofounder of VRZHU Poetry Press, and founder of the Brookland Area Writers and Artists. He curates two reading series in Washington DC, and leads walking tours on some of the literary history of the DC area. The Space Between Our Danger And Delight is his first full length collection.

Here’s what’s being said about The Space Between Our Danger And Delight:

The poetry of Dan Vera is clear, strong, honest and funny. He’s the sharp-eyed observer in the corner who doesn’t say much, but makes every word count. He handles the political and the personal with equal grace, even as the lines blur. Whether he’s ruminating on the perils of bilingualism, giving voice to the bewilderment of his Cuban immigrant family, cursing the censors who tried to repress gay writers over the years, waiting for the late great poet Sterling Brown to turn the next corner in Washington, D.C., or taking delight in all things delightful, Dan Vera is damn good company. You’ll see. -Martín Espada

To read Dan Vera is to believe the world is actually a good place after all – a place where the reputation of poetry is redeemed with humor and kindness. I read this book first to know it; then read it closer again for all the reasons poetry brings us closer. This is what we first understood poetry to be, miraculous and humble. In the deepest part of the heart where we truly reside, there is always a wish that poetry rinse off artifice. This is it. When reading Dan Vera, we are married to the 3 hearts of poetry: intelligence, style, and honor. This is the most satisfying book of poems we can read if we want to witness language with a real poet as its servant. -Grace Cavalieri

Here’s a little something about Beothuk Books:

Beothuk Books takes its name from the aboriginal people of Newfoundland, the Beothuk.

 

During European colonization, the Beothuk refused to ally themselves with the French, the English or any of the Native American tribes and remained isolated. They refused to learn pidgin English.

 

As a result, they were subsequently devastated by the effects of that colonization: other tribes routinely raided their villages, settlers forced them into Newfoundland’s inhospitable interior, and European diseases were rampant and deadly. By the mid-1800’s, the Beothuk were extinct. 

 

The Beothuk language, itself unrelated to other Native American language groups, survives as a few hundred vocabulary words.

If language is the habitat of a people’s culture, then poetry is both a preserver of that habitat and a guide through it. Poetry points out and embodies language’s fragilities and strengths, its nuances, and it’s vibrant ecosystem.  Poetry reifies the language of the tribe.  In choosing the name of a gone language, Beothuk Books hopes to remind us of and honor that connection.

***

I was fortunate enough to get to see this production of Romeo and Juliet by the Washington’s Shakespeare Theater Company. I was doubly fortunate to be able to attend with three Shakespeare enthusiasts, two of whom thought it was the best Juliet they had seen to date. The irony of the best Juliet being male was not lost on them.

R&J is no doubt one of the first, if not the first, Shakespeare we are exposed to here in the US.  It’s mainstay of freshman high school English. There have been a bunch of movie versions and adaptations, some closer to the original than others:

A heartbroken Romeo walks past the mourning Capulets and tries to kiss Juliet, only to have some of the potion slip into his own mouth, putting him in a death-like state as well. Both groups begin to weep for their loss, and Lawrence, who has just arrived, takes the moment to teach them a lesson about where hatred leads them. Suddenly, Romeo and Juliet awaken, and all is well. Mercutio is revealed to be alive, Prince finds a new mate and the movie ends with the two families at peace, and Romeo and Juliet remaining together.

Juliet, Voice Over

for Sir Kenneth

No, sweetheart, it was not the lark, it’s still too dark
For larks. So turn over, let me feel those bones
There in their casings, good, strong bones
All. But do they all love me ? This fibula
For instance? You see: I know a word of Latin –
And you thought me dumb. Didn’t you? Or ditzy.
Au contraire, mon cher, au contraire. I know you
As though I were a hole in your head, as though…
Oh, I don’t know, it all gets too much like
A grammar lesson. Nurse? Nurse, let’s play chess.
No? Yes, but history is next, and history
Is worse. History’s a curse! Romeo,
Romeo, t’amo, but I do keep wondering
If you’re not somehow a metaphor
Or metronome or metatarsal or…But now you think
I’m being silly and you and your dead friend
Were both so serious, I know. What I mean is this
(Give me a kiss): I love you, but I am
Will-nilly a Capulet. My whims
Cost money. We can’t skip off to Mantua
As though we were tinkers — now can we?
We owe the very beauty we were so skilled
To perceive in each other the decorum
Of trying to make Daddy see. Don’t you agree?
My grammar’s falling to pieces, but I love you
And I think you love me. So why don’t we do
Whatever the sensible friar tell us to?

            -Tom Disch

A Note to Romeo

Through all the rehearsal we dreamed
Of packed houses and raptured marquees
Gross with the winking letters of our
Lovely names. We imagined our wardrobes
Transmogrified by stardom, our smiles sincere,
Our whims notoriously gratified. We were wrong,
Of course, but through no fault of our own:
That play was a bomb. I’m glad to be back here
In the provinces, doing Juliet again.
You can’t beat the eternal verities,
And for this hamburger, darling — Je l’aime!

            -Tom Disch

O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon-spokes made of long spiders' legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's watery beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film,

Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O'er ladies ' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail

Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,

Making them women of good carriage:

This is she—
            Romeo and Juliet, Act I, scene iv

Atlanta Queer Literary Festival

Some wonderful news coming out of Atlanta.  The Atlanta Queer Literary Festival (AQLF for short) is building up to being a great event this year.

I spoke with great Atlanta poet and organizer Collin Kelley, who's on the planning committee for the festival, and they've really gone all out to expand their second annual literary festival.  He spoke of the desire to have another venue for Queer writers.   

The festival will feature Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning authors, poets, playwrights and more. There will be readings, poetry slams, workshops, signings, theatre events and much more.  They've asked me to come read and I'm deeply honored to be a part of this auspicious undertaking. 

There are a number of poets I've heard from who are planning on attending and reading.

The planning group will be announcing the list of invited readers next week.  Should be an interesting list.

The dates for the fest are Oct. 15 -19 at various locations to be announced around the city.

Sounds like a festival to add to your Fall calendar!

More info at www.queerlitfest.com

Atlanta Queer Literary Festival

Some wonderful news coming out of Atlanta.  The Atlanta Queer Literary Festival (AQLF for short) is building up to being a great event this year.

I spoke with great Atlanta poet and organizer Collin Kelley, who's on the planning committee for the festival, and they've really gone all out to expand their second annual literary festival.  He spoke of the desire to have another venue for Queer writers.   

The festival will feature Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning authors, poets, playwrights and more. There will be readings, poetry slams, workshops, signings, theatre events and much more.  They've asked me to come read and I'm deeply honored to be a part of this auspicious undertaking. 

There are a number of poets I've heard from who are planning on attending and reading.

The planning group will be announcing the list of invited readers next week.  Should be an interesting list.

The dates for the fest are Oct. 15 -19 at various locations to be announced around the city.

Sounds like a festival to add to your Fall calendar!

More info at www.queerlitfest.com