[Michael Juster]

The inaugural Frost Farm conference on meter and form finished yesterday and went extremely well. Bill Baer gave a spectacular opening talk on the history of New Formalism, Joshua Mehigan was superb as a keynoter, and longsuffering Kevin Durkin, who is the managing editor at Light, accepted his contest award and did a fine reading. It was nice to see Kevin, who cheerfully does a lot of the grunt work for all of us, get a bit of his due with an appreciative audience. Rhina Espaillat read from her translations of Frost into Spanish.

The Hyla Brook Poets, who run a workshop & reading series based at the Farm, have always been friendly with their southern friends, the Powow River poets, and the Powows supplied most of the faculty. In addition to Josh, Deborah Warren, Alfred Nicol and I taught three intensive workshops over a 36 hour period. I, for one, am still exhausted this morning--but happy.

The participants seemed to enjoy the long weekend and many of them were trying to sign up for next year as they were leaving. Bob Crawford, who ran the show with a skilled hand, has some plans to allow for a little expansion next year, but the footprint of the site will keep this event intimate.

The weather was great, so I ran my workshop near an apple tree that figures in Frost lore and the stump of a tree that appears in one of his early poems. I did my one-on-ones in the Frost kitchen from an old rocking chair next to his gorgeous old stove.

The local hotels/motels are a little bit of a hike, but after having been kept awake all night a week ago Friday by drunken revelry of middle-aged translators at the Breadloaf Translator's Conference, this crusty old New Englander prefers a little peace & privacy.

All in all, a superb weekend. Congratulations to Bob Crawford and his two top volunteers, Cathy McDonald & Kyle Potvin, who took the risk & pulled it off.

[Bill Carpenter]

Sounds like a great conference, thanks for reporting on it.

[Susan McLean]

Thanks for the report about the conference, Mike. I wish I could have attended that one, as well as the Poetry by the Sea Conference. I am curious about the Breadloaf Translators Conference. I have had the impression that Breadloaf is generally hostile to form, so I was assuming that their new conference on translation would also be hostile to it, and I also assumed that it might lean in the direction that I have seen at the University of Iowa, of preferring translations that depart widely from the originals to those that strive to be accurate. Are those assumptions wrong? Certainly, your account of loud revelry late into the night is not very enticing to me. But I would welcome more information about that conference from one who has been there.

Susan

[Michael Juster]

I did like my Breadloaf workshop leader (who surprised me by being sympathetic about formal considerations), but suffice it to say that we had almost no company on that topic and I found the conference as a whole to be disappointing even aside from that dimension.

[Susan McLean]

Thanks, Mike, for confirming what I feared and what made me less interested in attending that conference, despite my real interest in discussing translation and the techniques that work best in it.

Susan

[Eileen Cleary]

I was at the conference attending Josh's versification class. It was wonderful.

Friday night was magical, mainly because of the readings, surroundings and opening speeches. I spoke personally to Michael Juster's students. They unanimously agreed that he was one of the most generous, intelligent and well prepared teachers they've ever had. Next year, he might have a waiting list.

Meeting and spending the weekend with Claudia Gary was a real treat.

[Catherine Chandler]

Thanks so much for the report, Mike. I saw some wonderful photos on Facebook, too. I hope to attend next year, so I'll be looking forward to the dates and program.

[Max Goodman]

I'm either grossly misunderstanding or being very naive about conferences--or both. But I gotta ask.

Originally Posted by Michael Juster

my Breadloaf workshop leader ... surprised me by being sympathetic about formal considerations[,] but suffice it to say that we had almost no company on that topic

So the Frost Farm Conference on Writing in Meter and Form was attended and/or run largely by people who are unsympathetic to the use of form?

[Michael Juster]

I have had a couple of emails provoked by my murky prose, so let me clarify:

The inaugural Breadloaf Translators Conference was generally not formal-friendly (my workshop leader excluded) and was not otherwise satisfying. In addition, I believe I was the only one there translating pre-twentieth century poets and thus the outlier who did not have to deal with prickly creative types or their rights holders.

The Frost Farm conference on meter and form was a celebration of formal poetry, and it was exquisitely planned and executed.

Sorry if my response to Susan confused you!

[Rob Wright]

Thanks for the report, Mike. I had hoped to make it this year, but alas, I ended up in the hospital for what seemed like an age, and then the bills came. Wow! No conferences of any kind, at least for this year. But, I was at the Frost Farm to give the reading for my award last year and found it to be a great experience. I'm also sorry I missed Kevin's, and all the other readings, but, I'm looking forward to next year. And I don't doubt for a minute that you give a superb workshop, Mike (reading Eileen's post).