Books, Book Chapters, ISBNs...

Tons of publishing news! I've been a complete slacker about submitting to journals lately, but I do have some larger chapter and booklength publications that are ready to go, ISBN-ed and all.

I have a chapter in Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators, edited by Robert Lackie and Vibiana Bowman-Cvetkovic. In fact, mine is Chapter 1: "The Haves and Have-Nots: Class, Race, Gender, Access to Computers and Academic Success." Wooo! This chapter feeds into a lot of the work I did as a reference and instruction librarian.

I also have two chapters published in Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook, edited by Carol Smallwood and up on ALA's catalog (available this fall). My chapters are titled “MLS, MFA: The Librarian Pursuing Creative Writing” and “The Poet-Librarian: Writing and Submitting Work.” This was a really lovely opportunity to mesh my love for librarianship with my passion for creative writing, and hearty thanks to carol for letting me be a part of it.

Most exciting, the latest news from Robert Ward at Bellowing Ark Press. The latest issue of Bellowing Ark went out with the flyer advertising God in my Throat. If that wasn't thrilling enough, a local bookstore, Quail Ridge Books, has invited me to do a reading on Sunday, September 20th at 3:00 pm with a few other local writers. Even better, they inquired about ordering copies! My publisher's reply was, "As with all small presses, publication dates tend to be "flexible;" however we can assure you that Ms Harris' book "God in My Throat" (ISBN 978-0-944920-68-8) will be available for purchase no later than 15 July 2009."

That's right, people. July 15th is the go-date. I am SO EXCITED. This also means that if you work at a bookstore, at a library, in an English department, at a uni or in a city I can get to easily, I may beg you to put me in touch with someone who can help me set up a reading. Totally cashing in on my pals - I know, tacky, but if you love me you'll brush it off. *grin* As soon as it's up on the publisher's site, I'll post the link here, and I just purchased http://godinmythroat.com/ - but it's an ugly starter page, and I need to find hosting. Working on it.

More to the point, let's talk about the fact that I have my own ISBN. This thrills me both as a writer and as a librarian. I'm immortal, now. IMMORTAL. And, of course, I'll need that number tattooed somewhere. Going to have to find a good piece of real estate to put that! Woo!

Bibliography to Date

New job has me hopping, but the good news is that my extended critical essay (sort of a minor thesis) is complete and accepted. now all that's left is creative writing and putting together my creative thesis, which I'm hoping will turn into book 2. I've got good starts on two manuscripts right now, and I'm excited about both of them. More on that soon as I work on them. For now, I'd like to share my cumulative bibliography to date - it's not complete, since this semester isn't complete yet and I've one more full semester to go.

If you're interested and have the time, take a peek, let me know if I've skipped any of your favorite poets. I know there are gaps here, and I have plans to look at poets like Jane Kenyon, Maxine Kumin and Li-Young Le, among others, next semester. So, give it a run through - who would you add?

Boland, Eavan. Outside History: Selected Poems, 1980-1990. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1991.

Connor, Rachel Ann. H.D. and the Image. New York: Palgrave, 2004.

Dean, Debra Kang. Precipitates. Rochester: BOA Editions, 2003.

Doolittle, Hilda. Helen in Egypt. New York: New Directions, 1974.

Dove, Rita. Selected Poems. New York: Vintage-Random House, 1993.

Cisneros, Sandra. My Wicked Wicked Ways. New York: Turtle Bay Books, 1992.

Clifton, Lucille. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000.

Eliot, T.S. Four Quartets. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1943.

--. The Waste Land and Other Poems. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1934.

Emerson, Claudia. Late Wife: Poems. Louisiana State University Press, 2005.

Friedman, Susan Stanford and Rachel Blau DuPlessis. Signets: Reading H. D. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990.

Fritz, Angela DiPace. Thought and Vision: A Critical Reading of H. D.’s Poetry. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1988.

Gallagher, Tess. Instructions to the Double. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1994.

Gentry, Jane. Portrait of the Artist as a White Pig: Poems. Louisiana State University Press, 2006.

Giovanni, Nikki. The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1996.

Glück, Louise. The First Four Books of Poems. Hopewell: The Ecco Press, 1995.

Guest, Barbara. Herself Defined: The Poet H. D. and Her World. Garden City: Doubleday, 1984.

Hayden, Robert. Collected Poems: Robert Hayden. Ed. Frederick Glaysher. New York: Liveright Publishing, 1996.

Haggis, Paul, and Bobby Moresco. Crash. Draft with Final Revisions, 18 March 2004. Bob Yari Productions, California.

Harjo, Joy. The Woman Who Fell From The Sky: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994.

Hugo, Richard, The Lady in Kicking Horse Reservoir. New York: W.W. Norton, 1973.

Hugo, Richard. The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing. New
York: W.W. Norton, 1982.

Iyer, Pico. Sun After Dark: Flights into the Foreign. New York: Alfred K. Knopf, 2004.

King, Michael, ed. H. D.: Woman and Poet. Orono: National Poetry Foundation, 1986.

Kinnell, Galway. Imperfect Thirst. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Kloepfer, Deborah Kelly. The Unspeakable Mother: Forbidden Discourse in Jean Rhys and H.D. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989.

Komunyakaa, Yusef. Dien Cai Dau. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1988.

Lauter, Estella. Women as Mythmakers: Poetry and Visual Art by Twentieth Century Women. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1984.

McPherson, Sandra. The Spaces Between Birds: Mother/Daughter Poems 1967-1995. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1996.

Manning, Maurice. Bucolics. Orlando: Harcourt, 2007.

Meek, Sandra, ed. Deep Travel: Contemporary American Poets Abroad. Roma, GA: Ninebark Press, 2007.

Merwin, W.S. The Vixen: Poems. New York: Knopf, 1996.

Milosz, Czeslaw, ed. A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry. Harvest Books, 1998.

Morehead, Maureen. A Sense of Time Left. Monterey: Larkspur Press, 2003.

Morris, Adalaide Kirby. How to Live/ What to Do: H.D.’s Cultural Poetics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003.

Ondaatje, Michael. The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Patchett, Ann. Bel Canto. Fourth Estate, 2002.

Paz, Octavio. The Other Voice: Essays on Modern Poetry. Harvest Books, 1992.

Peacock, Molly. Second Blush. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.

Quinn, Vincent Gerard. Hilda Doolittle (H. D.). New York: Twayne Publishers, 1968.

Raffo, Heather. 9 Parts of Desire. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2006.

Rich, Adrienne. Poems: Selected and New, 1950-1974. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1974.

Robinson, Janice S. H. D.: The Life and Work of an American Poet. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982.

Sexton, Anne. All My Pretty Ones. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961.

Smock, Frederick. Poetry & Compassion: Essays on Art & Craft. Nicholasville, KY: Wind Publications, 2006.

Stafford, William. The Darkness Around Us is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford. Ed. Robert Bly. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993.

Strand, Mark. Selected Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.

Sword, Helen. Engendering Inspiration: Visionary Strategies in Rilke, Lawrence, and H. D. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1985.

Williams, William Carlos. Selected Poems. Ed. Charles Tomlinson. New York: New Directions, 1985.

Dear 2008

Dear 2008:

It's been real. I've learned a ton, I've gotten much done, and am leaving you wiser, better prepared for life, and healthier than I've been in a long time. While much of that might be attributed to the gym habit, I truly believe that a lot of it has to do with the writing I've gotten done and the writing that's sitting just over the horizon waiting for me. My main motivator used to be my friends, who I love and admire, but the power of that motivation fades when I live so far away from most of them and see them so seldom. I replaced them with work, and while I love what I do for a living, it's not enough to keep me going through both daylight and nighttime hours. Even writing isn't my main motivation, though it's a lovely engine and I feel like I'm doing something right.

I want to be happy. This is my new motivation. And this year I've found that what makes me happy is balance. A balance between work and play, between thought-work and physical work, between hermiting and socialization, between splurging and being frugal enough that I can address my debt, between obsession and affection. Writing happens to help me achieve this balance, and I am excited to have found a home in my pen.

So, 2008, I have a lot to thank you for. A job I've loved, and the the gumption to take the new job I'll start in 2009. A bevy of new friends on both the writerly front and the librarian front. The upcoming book and other pubs. A reminder that I do indeed have good friends who will both save my bacon and take me to task when necessary. The seeds of ideas for books I'll write next year. The chance to travel and meet some of my invisible internet pals. The eventual (and hard-earned) good health of my wunderhund Otto. My mother's recovery. My health and increasing fitness. My growing ease with the person I've become over the years. Listing all of this seems very petty, but I glow with each one. Thank you so very much, and goodbye.

Mellifluous Tones (or not): WUTC Interview

Well, Mike Miller had me in this past Monday to interview for WUTC's Around and About feature on the local Chattanooga radio. I missed the airing of it because I was working the reference desk, but am happy that Mike came over to give me the file. We talked about poetry, the writing process, the revising process, various bits and pieces. We talked for quite awhile (Mike is also a writer, though I think he usually works with fiction), but he edited my ramblings admirably (though he couldn't do much about altering my voice to make me sound less like a lumberjack with a sinus infection).

Because I don't actually have hosting anywhere (LibrarianFAIL - I'm working on it, once I get moved), my favorite systems dude, InfoSciPhi has set me up so I can share the audio file with the masses.
You can listen to the interview here - if you click the link, it'll open in your media player or in a browser tab and play, but you can also right click and download the file. It's about six minutes long, and I do hope you enjoy it!

Small Triumphs

Why yes, I did just finish writing my extended critical essay - the Spalding MFA version of a master's thesis (though a short one, since the main focus is in the 4th semester on our creative thesis). It has irked the everloving *crap* out of me that all of these folks pursuing a graduate degree were whining and bitching about a 20 to 30 page scholarly-type paper. C'mon,folks. Say it with me: graduate degree. I suppose I'm enough of an academic snob to feel like you shouldn't get one of those for just the creative writing part, especially since a lot of MFA programs can't very well fail you if your stuff is swill, so long as you jump through all of the hoops. A creative writing degree - an academic degree, now - should also imply that you've got training in critical thinking.

Sigh. Anyway, very happy that mine is done, since technically the final draft isn't due til packet 3. (And packet 1? Oh, due December 11. That's right. Nearly 2 weeks from now.) I'm hoping Phil Deaver (mentor for this semester, and all-around lovely poet and fiction writer) will okay this one right off, it's a very polished first draft. So, I may ask to see if I can send packet 1 early and get "The Female Epic Hero: Reclamation of Helen of Troy in H. D.’s Helen in Egypt" out of my hands. Yee haw and full steam ahead.

Oh, and I also completed a full second collection - Arguments Against Sleep is done and sent off to the Cider Press Review for its first crack (and yes, I know all about the shenanegans that went on with last year's competition). A Convocation of Goddesses is rolling, but slowly at this point. But hey, Arguments was written in a grand furnace of two weeks. My muse is a sadistic and demanding bitch. I love her.

Listen for me on WUTC!

A pal of mine from workshop a couple of semesters ago, Mike Miller, has invited me onto our university's radio station for an interview and to read some of my work. I'm excited! I'll be meeting him in the studio on Monday at noon. Here's to hoping I don't completely bomb on-air! (It's about time my low voice was good for something, but I'm afraid I'll end up sounding like a man with a cold. harrumph.)

Post MFA Residency Report

I spent 11/13 through 11/23 at the MFA residency for Spalding University in Louisville. It's been a stressful time with work piling up at the library and the impending move and due dates for graduate classes, but I had a wonderful, wonderful time. As much as I love being a librarian, it was a lovely chance to get into an artist headspace and pretend I was a real, live poet for an extended period. (Not that I'm not a poet, but for a living, eating and breathing the work and the lectures and the teaching.)

Residency was interesting and productive for me, though I question some of the choices that were made this round. Spalding had Patricia Gaines in with her assemblage "Strange Beauty - Blind Genius." (The pdf of the news release is available here.) She was patently unprepared for her presentation, which was disappointing. The graduating student lectures and readings were wonderful, the faculty were warm and helpful, and workshop was excellent this go-round. I got (and, I hope, gave) a lot of great input and suggestions for some pieces I had stalled out on and wanted to salvage, and it was simply a good group with good chemistry and tact, but a willingness to take up the difficult areas of work.

I did a great deal of writing this residency, which I usually don't have time to do. In fact, I've started two new collections, and have each of them about half done. This is great, given that I have to have a whole new book by October 2009, since I won't be able to use God in my Throat for my creative thesis since (hopefully) it will be published by then. And so, in addition to the in-progress collection Gone Things, I'm now also working on Arguments Against Sleep and A Convocation of Goddesses. Convocation was an idea I had quite some time ago but never really made a start with, and Arguments cropped up as an idea after a workshop session. Each of those three titles currently has about 20-25 poems in it, which is not terribly shabby. I prefer to have multiple projects going at once, so if I'm not in the mood to write in one vein, I can move to another. Here's to hoping they turn into something people want.

Finally, a note on the extended critical essay, which comes due for me on 12/11. It's our MFA program's concession to scholarly critical work, but shorter than a regular MA thesis, as it's only to be about 30 pages. The happy news: mine is about half-done, and I know quite a few folks who haven't started theirs. The not-so-happy news is, well, having to finish it. I really should have written it in its entirety earlier, but things have snowballed lately. All in good time, I have until the 11th.

Anyway, it's good to be back on track with writing, and good to be back in Chattanooga. I love the Brown Hotel and my MFA peeps, but I'm a hermit at heart, and I missed being able to crawl away for some solitude.