Every semester UTC has the Meacham Writers Workshop, three days of readings and workshops and individual conferences with visiting writers for students. We've had Ashbery, Milosz (during his reading, the university's marching band began, well, marching by outside -- he couldn't decide whether to be amused or just plain confused, it seemed), Levine, Tate, Jarman, D. Weir, and tons of other great poets. Always a good lineup. I've read a zillion times myself, it seems. Well, it's coming around again. There's a part of me that'd be content to just sit this one out, absence making the heart grow fonder, or at least less indifferent, after all. But, then, there's another part of me, the one that isn't weary or feeling like a kicked puppy, that is all about getting up in front of James Tate and Gerald Stern, two of the poets coming, and kicking out the jams.
Such as they are.
So should I read? What would you do? Advise, please.
About Me
- Paul
- Paul Guest is the author of four volumes of poetry and a memoir. His debut, The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World, was awarded the 2002 New Issues Poetry Prize. His second collection, Notes for My Body Double, was awarded the 2006 Prairie Schooner Book Prize. His third collection, My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge, was published by Ecco Press/HarperCollins in 2008. His fourth collection, Because Everything Is Terrible, was published by Diode Editions. His poems have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Poetry, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His memoir, One More Theory About Happiness, was published by Ecco in May 2010 and selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. The recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2007 Whiting Writers' Award, Guest lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
8 comments:
Ha, yes, you would say that!
;)
Paul -- sorry I updated the page now. I had forgotten to add your name on the page but did mention your name on the podcast. Just call me dopey instead of didi.
http://miporadio.libsyn.com/
Oh, read. Tate'll love your work.
Read, read, read.
Have you heard Stern read?
It's quite an experience.
As a Meacham-vet of many years myself, I'd say there are many factors... Go with your gut, and do whatever will make the conference most FUN for you... FUN. ;)
Definitely read. Good audience with real attention, fun event -- don't take it for granted. Eventually you go through a spell where such things are hard to come by. And certainly you should read in front of Tate & Stern. I mean, duh.
Please let us know what you decide. I'm trying to decide whether I can afford the trip.
I'm with bp who said, "duh." :)
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