Home, Finally

So, I'm going to be headed home for Thanksgiving break. The first time since I left for the school year. I'm pretty excited, mostly because I might be able to crash some of the community's artsyfartsy happenings around town and maybe even blog about them...get kind of an island perspective on what I've been writing about all semester. Who knows what the high school and the theater community are up to at the moment. It will be fun to drop in on my old haunting grounds and look at it with a completely different eye.

Back here on campus, English Society is going as well as can be expected. It's fun to go to those meetings, because everyone wants to go to the readings that happen afterwards every Thursday. But it's also frustrating, because there are so many submissions to go through and we never have enough time. I realize Jabberwocky is an annual publication so we do have the rest of the year, but it worries me that the selection process is taking so long. Ah well...

The Visiting Writers Series is really fascinating this year. I think it's because I'm looking at it as a collective whole now instead of just a few random events that happen on this vast campus. The English Department is really on top of things. I think they could do a better job publicizing these events, because I kind of have to hunt for the dates and times and often miss some readings all together, but the calendar line-up is so full it almost doesn't matter. Almost.

Charles Simic

I really loved this reading, and I loved writing about it too. Charles Simic was just so personable! He answered questions at the end, he commented on each poem and made the audience laugh inbetween each reading...I was surprised that something like this could be made so intimate...between the author and the audience. Like Simic said, poetry is something done privately. It isn't everyday that you get to interact with the poet who is reciting what he's written, taken deep down from his very bones. I don't know if I would ever have the guts to do that, or the generosity really.

I took pictures for this reading as well, which will be posted to Masslive as per Scott's request. They aren't very high quality because the lighting was so bad, and because I have a dinky little point and shoot camera, but they'll do. Hope you enjoy it!

Does a Top Three Work?

I've decided to post a top three list to Masslive on my three favorite reading venues in Amherst. I thought it'd be a fun idea, and relatively hassle-free seeing as I'm just talking about my own opinions. I've chosen Amherst Books, Amherst Cinema and Memorial Hall, which is on the UMass campus. It's definitely way more informal than my other Masslive articles, but since we've been discussing it so much in class I figured I'd just go for it and try the first-person, slightly less formal (in my mind) type of post. I don't know if top three is the best number for a list, since it's such a popular one, but beggers can't be choosers.

Happy Tuesday!

Spooky

So it's Halloween time, yet again, and the UMass literary scene knows how to put on a show.

2009 marks the 200th birthday of the one and only Edgar Allan Poe, and to commemorate his work and his influence on creative writing and the visual arts in New England, UMass is holding a Halloween weekend event in his honor. Aside from Thursday nights open conference featuring readings by Martin Espada, a UMass English professor, as well as John Crowley and Elizabeth Hand, two published poets, there will be weekend long campus-wide events.

I'll definitely be attending Thursday night's conference, which should be a lot of fun. Maybe I'll learn something new about the historical brooding poet. In any case, it should be a fun post to write up for MassLive...maybe top four spookiest poems by Poe?

Happy Halloween everyone!

A Case of the Mondays

As Scott pointed out to me via e-mail a few days ago, my latest post on the MassLive blog comes up third or fourth on Google if you're searching for the poet James Haug. That's pretty neat, I think.

I'm really disappointed in myself because....I FORGOT to go to Northampton Saturday night for the poetry slam show. I was honestly really looking forward to it but Friday night wiped me out and I ended up falling asleep at like 8:30. Definitely not how I wanted to spend the rest of the weekend. Sorry to those looking forward to a review on that. However, there's still a lot to look forward to concerning the literary scene here in Amherst.

Wednesday night there will be a poetry reading held for undergrads in the Student Union Art Gallery at 7:00 PM. Anyone is welcome to read their work. If I get the courage, I might even step up to the podium (but don't count on it). I hope to see some of my fellow English majors up there! A review on MassLive to follow.

Happy Monday!

Best Damn Poetry Show in Western Mass

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Scott took the time to send me an e-mail about this slam poetry show, and I'm really glad he did because it sounds amazing. Maybe I can even get some ES people to tag along, because really, who doesn't love a trip to Northampton on a Saturday night?

Check out the info here, and in the meantime I'll have some cool stuff posted about Emily Dickinson...the historic poet who lived right here in Amherst.

Write on, my friends, write on.

Poetry Festival in your Backyard

I'm super happy I've gotten so involved with Jabberwocky and English Society this semester, because it gives me a group of people to attend all of these amazing readings happening around the Pioneer Valley with who love literature as much as I do. Tomorrow night, instead of the usual meeting in the Bartlett Cube, we're all going to the Poetry Festival at Amherst Cinema.

James Tate will be reading, and is an Amherst local favorite, UM Amherst MFA chair, and a nationally recognized poet with awards ranging from the Pulitzer Prize to the William Carlos
Williams Award. It really amazes me that I have the opportunity to hear him read his work in person. Ellen Dore Watson and James Haug will also be reading. All three are the kick-off to what I'm sure is going to be an amazing week here in Amherst, saturated in words.

Tickets are $5 if you're interested in coming. I'll be interviewing people in the audience on their reactions and their history with the poets, and I can't wait to write the full review for the masslive blog.

Cheers!

Off and Away

So, last Thursday I went to the first meeting for the English Association, which is basically in charge of the official UMass undergraduate literary journal "Jabberwocky." Looks like I'm on the staff now! It was a really great meeting, and everyone who was there was just as passionate about poetry and fiction as I am. I'm really looking forward to getting started on the magazine and keeping everyone updated through the blog.

After the meeting, we went to a poetry reading by Dara Wier. Aside from being an incredibly accomplished and acclaimed poet, she is also the director of the MFA program for Poets and Writers here at UMass Amherst.

The reading was overwhelmingly beautiful, and I found myself purchasing her newest book "Selected Poems" from the table in the back afterwards.

Her words were so personal, and so real, it was as if she were reading to every individual in the audience. Take a look at these three poems, and if you find yourself in a bookstore, pick up her latest book of poetry and find the poem "Longing." The solidity and sway of her imagery captures the imagination in a way that is so tangible, and so utterly lovely even when it is harsh, that the words stay with you long after you've finished reading them.