Reading at VC Today

AP reads at Burning Man

I used to give readings, attend readings, and host readings much more in the days before I had a child, a house, and a blog to consume my time. I enjoy giving readings and so with pleasure I said yes to Kelly Peinado’s invitation to read some of my work and discuss poetry craft and process with her college “Intro to Poetry” class today.

Preparing for a reading is a big job. I have several hundred poems to consider, so making selections can be challenging. I decided to organize my reading around the idea of my four major writing projects which I am most interested in right now: Shishilop (my loop to the beach and the river in the present and going back in time), 3:15 Experiment Poems, 50 States, and the ArtLife Poems which include several “classics” from over the years.

I had 50 minutes to work with so the next question was which poems and how many? And which to read when? I read through a lot of my poems, aloud and in my head, and thought about what themes and ideas I wanted to link together, in order to organize them. I decided to open with a  Shishilop poem which gives thanks to Grandmother Spider for her help in weaving my stories together, then 50 States of California, followed by “Ashes” as a nod to the immediacy of the loal fires, then a few ArtLife poems, 3:15 poems, and closing with a Shishilop poem then a State of Optimism. I selected, prepared and practiced (by reading aloud over and again until smooth) 12 poems, plus two by Paul Squires (“If I was” and “Prayer: Soldier Knelt by a Rushing Stream”.

Hosts like to have a bio for introductions, so I sent the bio I had put together for Guerilla Reads which is full of links. I have been writing  so much on-line I forgot that those links don’t translate to much when read from the page! Instead of letting people click on a link if they want more information, I forgot it has to be all spelled out, and links aren’t always clear when they’re not highlighted.

This is the intro Kelly read (which can be found on the “about art predator” page:

From 1996-2004, Alley published three dozen poetry and art broadsides in ARTLIFE Limited Editions; several of these works are published also at http://www.art-life.com/.  Alley has participated in the 3:15 experiment since 2001, and in 2007, she facilitated the Experiment . Many of her 3:15 Experiment poems can be found at http://315experiment.com/.

In August 2008, Alley began creating videos which combine spoken word, sound, and image. Her video poem “Shishilop Project” was accepted by GuerrillaReads for its September issue. Alley’s primary blog is the Art Predator: https://artpredator.wordpress.com; she also participates in the collaborative experimental poetry site, The Orchid Room, and she has several other blogs as well on various topics in different states of development. Her youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/theartpredator.

The eclectic Art Predator site includes many of Alley’s ArtLife broadsides, 3:15 poems, an on-going collection of her own spoken word videos with music and images, as well as adventures in wine, travel, and song.

To warm up the group of about 20 students, to break the ice, and to buy me some time while I set up, I asked some questions about what poetry they liked, and who some of their favorite poets were. Since the format was in a classroom, it was very comfortable to interact and ask the students questions in the beginning as well as throughout the reading.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to read Paul’s poems, and I cut one of the poems I had prepared to read. I read these poems in this order:

1) Shishilop Project: Third Day of Kindergarten & Chumash Folkways

2) 50 States: 1 Kelp (post 5/19/08)

3) ARTLIFE: Ashes (post 10/13/08; pub ARTLIFE 10/99)

4) ARTLIFE: granite lover (post 3/24/08; pub ARTLIFE 10/96) (cut this one)

5) ARTLFE: I Want To Be That Man (post 6/8/08, pub ARTLIFE 9/97)

6) ARTLIFE: These Brothers They (post 5/26/08, pub ARTLIFE 7/99)

7) ARTLIFE: I was thinking about getting a dog (post 9/10/08, pub ARTLIFE 2003)

8) 3:15/AL: Transformation (post ; pub AL 2003)

9) 3:15/bs: redhead at my breast–3:15 Exp (post 5/12/08, pub between sleeps 2006)

10) 3:15/AL/bs: Taxes 3:15 Exp 2002 (post 4/14/08; ARTLIFE 4/03; between sleeps 2006)

11) Shishilop Project: Surfer’s Point 9/3/08 (post 9/8/08)

12) 50 States: The State of Optimism (post 9/1/08)

WordPress just added a cool new function: POLLDADDY! So I am experimenting with my first poll. Look for more poll dancing fun!

And if you’re thinking about getting a blog, WORDPRESS is the way to let your words fly!