Currently working on rousing the lesbian/bisexual masses of SF to create a monthly poetry slam. It's not fair; there are poetry slams in Oakland and in San Jose, but none here in what is supposed to be the gay capital of the world! I put out an ad on Craigslist and hopefully someone will want to work on this with me; I mean, WTF, if the LGBT center is willing to provide space for "The Queer Jitterbugs" dance class, they should definitely be able to provide us with space to have a monthly/weekly poetry slam for women. I'm not gonna let forwordgirls just be a memory!
I think i'm gonna go to Oakland to see Dessa Darling perform one last time before she runs off back to the midwest. I emailed her slam group and told them about the literary mag I have connections with so they can get published. They really should be.
God, i'm on fi-yah. I know I have moments like last night where I just want someone to cuddle with (yeah, I know, sounds silly) but lately I have really been excited about my art all over again, I want to keep trying to get better. Part of this requires a community where I can observe and learn from other poets, so we really need to organize something like this in SF!
It was great just to see ordinary girls share their uncensored, unordinary art at Forwordgirls. I grow weary of lit analysis classes where we keep picking out what the author is doing wrong, it makes me feel self conscious. For God's sake, today we were talking about mistakes SYLVIA PLATH made in her poetry! I'm sorry, but to me that's blasphemy. Plath is perfection on paper, she never made any mistakes, ever! And if Plath can't escape unscathed and undeconstructed, what hope have I?
I think i'm gonna go to Oakland to see Dessa Darling perform one last time before she runs off back to the midwest. I emailed her slam group and told them about the literary mag I have connections with so they can get published. They really should be.
God, i'm on fi-yah. I know I have moments like last night where I just want someone to cuddle with (yeah, I know, sounds silly) but lately I have really been excited about my art all over again, I want to keep trying to get better. Part of this requires a community where I can observe and learn from other poets, so we really need to organize something like this in SF!
It was great just to see ordinary girls share their uncensored, unordinary art at Forwordgirls. I grow weary of lit analysis classes where we keep picking out what the author is doing wrong, it makes me feel self conscious. For God's sake, today we were talking about mistakes SYLVIA PLATH made in her poetry! I'm sorry, but to me that's blasphemy. Plath is perfection on paper, she never made any mistakes, ever! And if Plath can't escape unscathed and undeconstructed, what hope have I?
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Ariel, I consider perfect, as long as you aren't counting structure. I don't count structure.
Her early work DID contain too much attention to craftsmanship (while she was at Smith), not enough quite to content sometimes. That's my own feeling, in reading her complete works. Ooooh, but that's being nitpicky, because yes, Plath is one of the closest things to perfection ever. But since poetry is essentially a free artform, perhaps the ONLY free artform, with less rules then painting, or storytelling, and certainly then composing music, I think that it's somewhat moot to try to condemn most poetry. It's pretty palpable when poetry is good.
And on that note, I'm inspired to lay on the couch when my pasta finishes cooking and start reading my new Federico Garcia Lorca book.
Early Plath, only complaint I have, is she had a LITTLE T.S. Eliot syndrome.
By the way, how do you feel about Roethke? Often considered a male confessionalist, although I'm still trying to sort that one out. I do like some of his writing.
Who else do you adore?
Do you like the South American and Mexican Surrealist poets, because next to the Confessionalists, those would comprise my favourites. Do you like Octavio Paz? Pablo Neruda (slightly cliche, I'm sorry)? Did you like any of the Beat poets? I love some, hate others.