Rejection: a community experience

I still haven't found a publisher for my book, but I am sending it out again. The first year I concentrated on contests; now I am sending to presses. Well, one press so far, but I am very excited about it.

I recently traveled home, where I got to connect face to face with many of the people I treasure. Some of these were friends from grad school. Many of my Goddard friends are lucky enough to live in the same town. I used to be one of them. Seeing them and hearing about their check-ins made me realize how much I needed that - even if it has to be electronic for most of the year.

Now we have a weekly email check-in. Sometimes it means fessing up that I didn't do any writing or submitting - but even that feels good. Because I know the check-in is coming, I have accomplished more than I ever would have on my own. And who better to tell my disappointments than my writing friends?

Happy National Poetry Month!

And you know what that means...NaPoWriMo!  I haven't been writing for months.  Feeling stuck, to say the least.  I got up on April 1, saw a Facebook tag about NaPoWriMo and thought, well, I guess I'll start writing.  Apparently, it was that easy. 

NaPoWriMo stands for National Poetry Writing Month and it is modeled after NaNoWriMo.  In NaPoWriMo, the goal is to write every day in April (National Poetry Month), but not necessarily to produce something "complete" or "good" every day (at least, that's my goal).  I find that the writing I produce is often the start of something worth keeping and working on.

Some people use prompts, but they aren't required.  I find them helpful.  Two sites with prompts are http://www.napowrimo.net/ (site of the founder of NaPoWriMo) and http://chrisjarmick.wordpress.com/ (a writer and participant's site; Chris also keeps a detailed list on readings/performances in the Seattle area throughout the year). 

Many people share their writing on their websites.  A list of participant sites can be found on http://www.napowrimo.net/.  Sharing is also not required.  I choose to share on Facebook.  I find it inspirational to see my friends sharing.   It keeps me motivated and nurtures a sense of community. Also, sharing is humbling and helps me take myself less seriously.   I give myself an "out" if it's really awful, but if the writing is just mediocre or dull - I post!

See the world; read a book: Ellen Welcker's The Botanical Garden

Does your bank account tell you that travel is not an option right now?  Wondering what you'll read on your staycation?  Some satisfying armchair travel can be had in Ellen Welcker's The Botanical Garden.  Read my review of The Botanical Garden on The Nervous Breakdown: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/pkeefe/2011/12/a-new-way-of-seeing-a-review-of-the-botanical-garden-by-ellen-welker/

"In Ellen Welcker’s The Botanical Garden, a world of people, events, and creatures become seen—not seen the way we see Twitter updates, but the way we see a new land for the first time."

I've heard of hybrid cars, but hybrid literature?

I'm excited that my book was a finalist in this year's Emergency Press International Book Contest!  Read the announcement of the winner and finalists on their website: http://emergencypress.org/contest.html.

Emergency Press is a great destination for hybrid works. They published Aaron Dietz's Super, a book with powers. Take a look at a page of Super on Aaron's website and you'll see what I mean.

The Emergency Press website says they publish "explorative books of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and emergent forms that fall outside traditional categories."

If you write work that isn't easily categorized, check out Emergency Press's contest.  The deadline is in July 2012.

Poetry everywhere by everyone

That's what the C&P Coffee website says.  Also, "for the no-capital-p poet in each of us."

I would like to add, "what's up, West Coast?!"

Please join me for what may be my last reading in Seattle.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Featured readers:  Rayn Roberts and Priya Keefe, 7 - 8 pm

Open mic, ~ 8 - 9 pm

C&P Coffee

5612 California Avenue SW  (West Seattle)

Seattle, WA 98136

206.933.3125

 

Road Trip!

Bring your poems, flash fiction, guitar, piccolo trumpet, the jokes your 6-year-old sister loved

Open mic at Everett Poetry Night
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sign up at 7pm
Cafe Zippy
2811 Wetmore Ave
Everett, WA 98201

I am the featured reader

Our Kids, Our Selves

A 30 minute spoken word radio program.  Airs on KSER 90.7 - you can listen online at kser.org on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 6:30 PT or 9:30 ET.

PoetsWest #196
OUR KIDS, OUR SELVES
(29.03 minutes)

Another Son—Dick Gibbons
Setting Up House—Ann Spiers
To an Infant—Ann Spiers
Early Childhood Education—Nancy Dahlberg
Childhood—J. Glenn Evans
Just a Bunch—Len Tews
Glow in the Dark—Len Tews
Different Mind-sets—Richard Brugger
Victory Café—J. Glenn Evans
Angel’s Beach—Karen Havnaer
Further Adventures—Dennis Caswell
Masquerades—Ellaraine Lockie
First Car—Marj Hahne
Girls Like Jessica—Priya Keefe
Where Are You Child—Scott Galasso
Punk in Tee Shirt—John Burgess
Note for My Niece—Marj Hahne

Music
Ray Lynch Deep Breakfast Tk5
Jerin Falkner Almost Completely Happy Tk1