How a writer should set up her/his desk

The Life of a Poem at Seattle Central Community College

I am teaching a poetry class at Seattle Central Community College Continuing Education, September 29 - November 17. The Life of a Poem.

The life of a poem begins with the freedom to write and journeys through revision and performance. A poet also breathes life into his or her work by reading a world of poetry and studying craft. In this class, students will develop their own poetic craft and work toward writing the best poems they can write. The class will study a diverse set of poems; analyze craft; perform writing exercises; critique work in a thoughtful and compassionate environment; revise; and learn performance techniques.
8 Tuesdays 9/29/2009 - 11/17/2009 6:30 - 8:30 PM Fee: $45 Call 206.587.5448 or go to http://www.learnatcentral.org/ to enroll.

What Should I Read Next?

I am just finishing my second semester in the low-residency Creative Writing MFA program at Goddard College. I picked this low-residency program because the focus was on creative writing, not on jumping through unrelated hoops. The program requirements include critical writing, reading 15 books a semester, doing a teaching practicum, and developing a creative manuscript. I liked that teaching was a required aspect, too. And best of all, I get to design my own curriculum that is meaningful to me, with the guidance of my advisor. Here is what I've read so far:

Carson, Anne. The Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse.
Clifton, Lucille. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems: 1988 - 2000.
Dobyns, Stephen. Best Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry.
Ginsberg, Alan. Howl.
Hillman, Brenda. Loose Sugar.
Komunyakaa, Yusef. Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems.
Weschler, Lawrence. Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Human, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology.
Moore, Lorrie. Birds of America: Stories.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.
Olds, Sharon. The Dead and the Living.
Pinsky, Robert. The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966 - 1996.
Rukeyser, Muriel. "The Book of the Dead".
Sexton, Anne. Transformations.
Turpin, Mark. Hammer: Poems.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass.

Berryman, John. 77 Dream Songs.
Carson, Anne. The Beauty of the Husband.
Carson, Anne. Glass, Irony, and God.
Davis, Lydia. Break It Down.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Hempel, Amy. The Collected Stories.
Hirshfield, Jane. Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry.
Lee, Li-Young. The City in Which I Live.
Lowell, Robert. Life Studies.
Nelson, Maggie. Jane: a Murder.
Notley, Alice. Mysteries of Small Houses.
Rilke, Ranier Maria. Letters to a Young Poet.
Shakespeare, William. Complete Sonnets.
Rankin, Claudia and Spahr, Juliana. American Women Poets in the 21st Century: Where Language Meets Lyric.
Szymborska, Wislawa. Collected Poems.

Famous... on YouTube

National Poetry Month 2009 - I read my poem "Immersion" in the Port Townsend Poetry Project.  Also check out my classmates' readings on YouTube - Phil, Ellen, and David.

Podium-free poetry

Friday, March 27, 2009. Untitled [intersection] at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

Curated by A. K. Mimi Allin, who says: "If the idea of a poetry reading makes you yawn, imagine this - four clusters of chairs, each around a poet in a different corner of the room. Instead of sitting in an audience block, listening to poet after poet, you attend mini-workshops and experience each. The poet is the teacher. The material is their poetry. Seattle poets JEFF ENCKE, PRIYA KEEFE, JACOB JANS and AMANDA LAUGHTLAND will present mini-classes in understanding their poetry. Between classes, you will have the opportunity to sit with performance artist DANAE' CLARK, who will be presenting "Traveling Heartbeats." Danae' will listen to the hearts of willing audience members while making small watercolor paintings. Interior/exterior. Audience/artist. Us/them. All hail podium-free poetry!!"