Amazonaholic: "Loose Sugar"

My most recent Amazon purchase, Loose Sugar by Brenda Hillman, was referred to me by Beckian Fritz Goldberg. Knowing I will be working with Brenda Hillman while going to Saint Mary's for my MFA, Beckian thought this would be a good way for me to get to know her, stating that Hillman wasn't afraid to experiment or go outside of "writing norms".

Loose Sugar, exactly as it sounds; fragments of things that create the overall whole of life, or in Hillman's case, the story of her life. Some fragments are loose and things fall apart; some are so tightly wound together, they mold the facets of happiness and love; other times, just simply letting go and leaving things in fragments makes it easier to forget things. These are fragments of memories, emotions, and expefrience.

Hillman's book is divided into five parts: space/time, time/alchemy, alchemy/problem, problem/time, and time/space. The first three parts are very cohesive with strong imagery and focus on surroundings, people, and their emotions or desires. As the book goes on, things literally become fragmented; let me rephrase that, Hillman begins writing completely in fragments. Some pages have anywhere from one fragment to an entire poem of fragments, and other pages have footnotes of fragments below each poem. There is obviously a method to this madness and I understand the overall picture to be what I stated in the previous paragraph, but I feel like I need to pick Hilman's brain for details on her partial narratives!

Loose Sugar has provided and interesting, unique, and entertaining read as Hillman is very experimental in form, narrative structure, and literary devices.

Here is a strong and detailed article about the book, provided by the Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/brenda-hillman

Write it!: MOLESKINE books -CJ

MOLESKINE books are the best for writers! They are light weight, thin, and durable with plenty of pages, and they come in all different colors, sizes, and paper styles. I recently bought a three-pack of regular sized notebooks at Barnes & Noble, reasonably priced at $18.95 and they have been great for writing poems, notes on my readings, and for expelling random thoughts.

Every writer should carry a MOLESKINE around with them everywhere they go! There are books, small enough to fit in your back pocket; medium sized ones for the purse; and the full size notebooks for school or a large volume of writing. Composition books are great and all, but they tend to wear and tare more easily than the MOLESKINE books. Composition books are also not as thin and they both hold the same amount of pages.

The variety of paper styles is a large aspect of the MOLESKINE books that make them appealing. They have books with graph paper, lined paper, blank pages; some fold over like a detective's notebook, some open like normal books; others have Velcro latching the book, or an elastic band. There are also day planners for the busy writer!

You can find MOLESKINE books at http://www.moleskineus.com/moleskine-books.html, amazon.com, or any local Barnes & Noble!

Journal Making Project

You will need:

1 MOLESKINE book (whatever size you want)

Enough leather (or whatever fabric you want to use for the cover) to cover the entire MOLESKINE

Hot glue OR needle and thread

Thin ribbon

Directions:

Take your MOLESKINE and cover the entire thing in the leather sheet or whatever fabric you chose. Use either a hot glue gun to glue the fabric to the cover of the book, or you can sew the fabric onto the cover. Cut off the extra fabric or fold it over and glue it onto the inside of the cover, as well. You can also glue paper with designs to the inside of the cover to cover your folds. Glue or sew the thin ribbon onto the inside of the MOLESKINE's spine to use as book marks. You can add any embellishments with glue or needle/thread; or any buckles, ribbons, or locks to keep the journal closed.

*Daily Juice*

"A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity."
-Robert Frost

Upcoming Readings at The UA Poetry Center

Our Summer Poetry Resident, Harmony Holiday, arrives this week to begin her three-week stay in the Poetry Center's guest cottage. She will read with local poet Matt Rotando on Monday, June 13th at 8 p.m.
Harmony Holiday spends most of her time in New York, by way of Berkeley, by way of L.A., by way of Iowa, by way of the Delta, by way of Jamestown, by way of the Middle Passage, by way of Sicily, by way of Ghana, by way of the planet Sirius, by glint of the gibbous moon, because of sunspots on the sun. Her first book Negro League Baseball, will be published by Fence this spring. Read an excerpt here.

Matt Rotando received an MFA in poetry from the City University of New York (Brooklyn College) and a Fulbright Foundation grant. Next fall he will complete his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Arizona. Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College, he is the author of a collection of poems entitled The Comeback’s Exoskeleton (UpSet Press, 2008). Read a poem by Matt here. Matt is teaching his popular class, Surrealist Writing on Mondays from June 13th to June 30th. Previous students have called this class "a bright shining light in an otherwise dim and boring week of diurnal life" and say that Matt "somehow makes wild creativity come easy." There are still a few spots available in this class. You'll find registration details here.

from the Poetry Center email blast

*Daily Juice*

 

"A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day."

-Emily Dickinson

**Events at San Diego Writers, Ink**

• An Evening with Tom Spanbauer

As one of our most popular instructors, Tom Spanbauer's Dangerous Writing class

filled up faster than we could say "Onomatopoeia!" No worries, you can still meet

Spanbauer and learn about Dangerous Writing with this intimate evening/mini-talk.

Mingle, listen, eat, enjoy.

Wednesday, May 11

7-9pm

$25 per person/Register

• Laurel Corona reads from Finding Emilie

Laurel will read from her third historical fiction novel: Finding Emilie. She's
also the author of The Four Seasons and Penelope's Daughter, as well as numerous
YA  and nonfiction books. Laurel is a Professor of Humanities at San Diego City
College and was the prose editor for SDWI's A Year In Ink, Vol. 4.
Friday, May 13
7-9pm

• BLAZING Laptops 2011Write-a-thon!

Have you signed up for Blazing Laptops yet? Don't delay, it's less than a month
away!
Sunday, June 5
9am - 6pm

San Diego Writers, Ink: www.sandiegowriters.org/

**Daily Juice**

 

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."

-Maya Angelou

**Daily Juice**

 

"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language."

-W.H. Auden

Poetry Summer Camp for Kids!

The Poetry Center is holding a 3 week long camp for 4th-12th graders this summer! Email guthrie@email.arizona.edu for more information!

*Daily Juice*

"Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar."
-Percy Blysshe Shelley

*Daily Juice*

"A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment.
Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable and should be secured, they seldom return."
- Francis Bacon

HBO and The Poetry Foundation present A Child's Garden of Poetry

Thursday, April 28, 6:30 PM
A Child's Garden of Poetry
HBO

The Poetry Foundation and HBO premiere A Child’s Garden of Poetry tomorrow at 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT. The program features whimsical animation, contributions from kids, and readings by notable performers—including celebrities Claire Danes, Carrie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ziggy Marley, Dave Matthews, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Jeffrey Wright, as well as archival recordings from renowned poets e.e. cummings, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Carl Sandburg. Children share selections from their favorite poets (from Shakespeare to Langston Hughes) as well as some of their own poetry—and speak about their personal appreciation for the art form, too.

Young Arts Festival at UA Poetry Center

from Poetry Center's mailing list

The Poetry Center will host the Young at Art Festival on April 30th. The community is invited to join in our day-long celebration of youth and the arts!

The Young at Art Festival will feature performances by youth in the Tucson community who participate in literary arts organizations throughout Tucson. These partners include Kore Press, Owl & Panther, Native Pride, TYPS, and many others. Join us for chalk artists, musicians, puppet shows, a variety of word inspired crafts and activities including bookmaking, a poetry slam, haiku improv, and food made by Blue Banjo Barbecue served all day long!

Here's a complete schedule of Young at Art Festival events:

Odeum Stage
10:00-11:00 Stories that Soar production of Poetry Center library patrons and Poetry Joeys participant poems and stories.
11:30-12:30 Puppets Among Us performs Irish Rover. In this olde world story, enjoy the shenanigans of leprechauns and mermaids. It’s a magical adventure of seafaring and song; with musical guest Haji Banjovi
1:00-2:00 Stories that Soar production of Poetry Center library patrons and Poetry Joeys participant’s poems and stories.
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Chalk artists render improvised sketches based on youth poems and stories. (Poems and stories will be selected randomly. Any K-12 youth can enter their poem or story for a chance to be drawn in chalk).
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tucson Youth Poetry Slam Championship featuring a performance by Roger Bonair-Agard, hosted by Maya Asher & Logan Phillips.
DJ Carl Hanni puts it all together. Surprise acrobat performances throughout.

Dorothy Rubel Room Stage
10:00 to 10:30 a.m. Kore Press Guerrilla Grrls read from recent work.
11:00 to 11:30 a.m. Tucson Indian Center’s Native Pride group reads from recent work. Their visual work will be on display in the Rubel Room throughout the day.
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. University of Arizona’s Stories on Stage presents Byrd Baylor’s Desert Voices with a book signing by Byrd Baylor after the performance!
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Book signing with Byrd Baylor.
2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Performances by the Hopi Foundation’s Owl and Panther Project.
2:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Performances by Word Journeys.
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mr. Tidy Paws and the Funtime Orange Band perform their own repertoire plus youth poems written collaboratively by Poetry Joeys participants and the Owl and Panther Project.

Children's Corner
10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Rain Makes Applesauce and Other Funny Poems
Did you know that “Salmon slide down a hippo’s hide, and rain makes apple sauce?” You didn’t? Well that’s what it says in Rain Makes Applesauce, the Caldecott Honor Book with words by Julian Scheer and pictures by Marvin Bileck. Come hear University of Arizona teaching artists read this playful and colorful book of poetry for children. We will also share humorous poems by Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin and Shel Silverstein. Anyone is welcome to attend, but this reading is geared particularly to children aged 4-6.
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Daniel Mendoza plays 2011 Corrido Contest winning work plus other well-loved corridos.
11:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Story time featuring Stories that Soar board books.
12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Daniel Mendoza plays 2011 Corrido Contest winning work plus other well-loved corridos.
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Story Time: Lewis Carroll and Edgar Allen Poe: “Jaberwocky” and “The Raven”
If you have heard the works of Lewis Carroll and Edgar Allen Poe once, then you probably have wanted to hear them again. Carroll’s “Jaberwocky” and Poe’s “The Raven” are arguably two of the best-known poems in the English language, and they are fun to hear out loud at any age. University of Arizona teaching artists will read these poems in the Children’s Corner, and you will be able to see and compare artistic interpretations of “Jaberwocky,” rendered by various artists. Anyone is welcome to attend but this reading is geared particularly to children aged 6-10.
1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Wendy Burk read's Byrd Baylor's "Hawk, I'm Your Brother" in Spanish.
2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Story time featuring Stories that Soar board books.
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dance Improv. Speak a line of your original poem or story and have it improvised instantly by modern dancers teetering above the library stacks. Bring a poem or find one on the shelf to read to these amazing dancers. Open to youth K-12.

Garden
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Storytelling with Jordan Hill
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Haiku Improv hosted by Sarah Kortemeier. Any middle school student (grades 5-8) may participate. Prizes awarded.  All participants improvise! You know the form! You can do it.
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Gabrielle Pietrangello of the Silver Thread Trio performs Poetry Joeys and

Imaginative Writing Residency poems and stories.
1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Silver Thread Trio will be roaming and singing in the garden and the library.
2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Tucson Indian Center’s ArtsReach program reading.
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Silver Thread Trio will be roaming and singing in the garden and the library.
Gwenyth Scally renders a portrait of poet H.D. throughout the day. In addition to being the author of many volumes of modernist poetry, H.D. is also the author of the children's book, The Hedgehog.
Library All Day Long: visual art and writing centered crafts

Poetry Origami
Origami is the ancient art of Japanese paper folding. Through imagination and skill, the origami artist can make birds or dogs or dancers or anything else appear out of nowhere. Perhaps poetry is also an art form that makes something appear out of nothing. Join teaching artists led by University of Arizona student Ash Friend as they teach you to use words and paper to bring the creatures in your imagination to life.

Spirals Of Creativity
From a string a curled strip of paper dangles in creative form. On this form are words that express the way you feel and the way you see. This is your creation. It glitters and glows. It gives life to your imagination. Come work with teaching artists led by University of Arizona student Amber Bailey as they help you turn your words and your thoughts into a Spiral Of Creativity.

World Of Words
Imagine that you could speak any language you wanted. Imagine that you could seek inspiration from poems written anywhere in the world. This fun activity station will let you pretend that you know what all words mean. Teaching artists led by University of Arizona student Jillian Andrews will help you create original poetry out of your imagined translation of writing from faraway places in the world.
Bind your own writing journal led by Drew Burk
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dance Improv. Speak a line of your original poem or story and have it improvised instantly by modern dancers teetering above the library stacks. Bring a poem or find one on the shelf to read to these amazing dancers. Open to youth K-12.

Audio/Visual Room
Film screenings of Byrd Baylor films: Hawk, I am your Brother, The Way to Start a Day, and The Other Way to Listen; animated poetry films; 2011 Poetry Out Loud semi-finals competition, and other cool under-viewed, awe-inspiring, poetically inclined stuff.

Other Must-Sees and Dos
Watch Chalk Art
Contribute to Tucson’s Longest Poem
Eat Blue Banjo BBQ: Mesquite-grilled Tri Tip Steak Sandwiches, North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Veggie Burgers, Hot Dog stand with lots of options, Fresh Made Lemonade, Cotton Candy.
Make tie dye t-shirt
Listen to DJ Carl Hanni

*Daily Juice*

"Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.  Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.  Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away."

-Carl Sandburg

*Daily Juice*

 

"A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness."
-Robert Frost

Amazon Wishlist: About To Be An "Amazonaholic"! -C.L.J.

There are so many new wonderful looking books that came/are coming out this spring! Dorianne Laux came out with her fifth collection The Book Of Men, which I have already added to my Amazon wishlist! "Laux writes gritty, tough, lyrical poems that depict the actual nature of life in the West today." —Philip Levine

New writer Stacy Gnall explores the dark and enchanted fables from childhood in her collection Heart First Into The Forest. This one looks very interesting and unique as she dives into the dark woods and emerges a heroine.

If neither of those tickle your fancy, here is a list of all of the new books this season from poets.org:
http://www.poets.org/npmbooks.php