Uncategorized 11:41 am
Today I wish a Happy Birthday to my dear husband, without whom none of my poetry work would be possible. He has sent me to graduate school, conferences, and workshops. He has encouraged me to subscribe to poetry magazines and to buy books. He has given me the free time to write. And yes, he has even started writing his own poems, now accompanying me to open mics. Perhaps someday he will be the famous poet of the family!
In my life, there has been no greater poetry patron than my spouse.
Uncategorized 4:32 pm
I will resume blogging on Tuesday, September 2.
Uncategorized 7:45 pm
Today I mailed out a manuscript for a poetry chapbook contest, a manuscript which includes ten ekphrastic poems. I’ve been working on the manuscript for several months. Compiling a collection of poems requires a lot of work. And submitting to a contest requires even more work : formatting the manuscript as needed, proofreading meticulously, getting permission from members of my family, notifying the artists about whom I’ve written, cleaning the printer in order to produce a spotless copy, postmarking the packet by the deadline, etc.
I’ve learned from experience to proofread my projects not just once, but many times. Each day this week that I examined the manuscript, I noticed yet another mistake that had to be corrected. Even today, a few moments before putting the manuscript in the mail, I noticed that the heading “Table of Contents” had never been centered on the page. Back to the printer one last time.
So now all I have to do is wait for three months until the winner is announced.
If any of you are interested in submitting to poetry chapbook contests, a useful list of them can be found on The Poetry Resource Page.
Uncategorized 6:45 am
The October 2008 issue of Mississippireview.com will feature ekphrastic poems, stories, and essays. The deadline for submissions is September 15.
The magazine’s guideline for formatting online submissions is rather hard to find on the website because it appears as the last sentence under the “About” link. Here is the formatting guideline: ”Submissions should be sent as attachments in Microsoft Word or RTF format.”
What kinds of poetry does this highly-regarded online magazine publish? Here’s a sample poem from 2004: “How Splatter Paint Turned to Aubade” by Jason Silverstein.
Uncategorized 2:34 pm
I have composed my Ars Poetica. The statement is now posted on this blog, as the last entry under the category “Pages” which appears in the upper left sidebar.
Uncategorized 1:21 pm
I will be at a conference in Washington DC from June 5 through June 8. I won’t have too much time to spare, but I’ll try to visit at least one art museum, gallery, or sculpture site. And, of course, I’ll take along a poetry book to read in the airports and on the airplanes.
Uncategorized 4:08 pm
Today when I Googled the word “ekphrasis,” this blog title appeared on the very first page of results: as the ninth of ten listings on the first page; and as the ninth of a total of 107,000 listings.
Uncategorized 11:28 am
I tried to find a funny ekphrastic poem to post here for April Fool’s Day. I could not find a single one. It seems that ekphrastic poets are quite a humorless bunch of people, preferring to write ponderous poems about ponderous works of art. In order to lighten us up a bit, then, I propose today that we all write a limerick about the Mona Lisa. Have fun!
Uncategorized 12:54 pm
I am delighted to report that the fine journal Poet Lore has accepted one of my poems for publication.
