[Jennifer Reeser]

Well, the Russian/American "summit," (as Dana put it) went swimmingly, IMO, and Dmitri, Nikolai, Natalya, Vladimir, et al are going back to the mother country loaded down with our books, CD's, email addresses, and hopefully many warm memories. Len Krisak did a beautiful job as liaison (despite what I predict will be his protestations to the contrary). A privilege to serve as ambassador, and get to know Frank Reeve (a Superman's progenitor indeed!), Jim Kates of Zephyr Press, Professor Evgenia Cherkasova -- these folks were always professional, never, ever stuffy, and they made the sessions a joy, as well as an honor. Finally meeting Tim Murphy and Alan Sullivan, also, was a high point.

Greg, sorry those books are bare! I should have been part of the signing Saturday, but was otherwise occupied at the concert hall and alumni house. I would regret it, but I told a joke in Russian, and made their interpreter, Irina, laugh, so the evening wasn't a total wash...

Jennifer

[Tim Murphy]

Jennifer, you are so beautiful it's hard to take you seriously. I was met at the airport in Fargo last night by a mother of six, aged 79, who has the same problem.

My favorite encounter at WC XII: Bill Thompson, who po edits 'Bama's literary journal, solicited work. He'd seen that post on my recent submissions and despairingly asked if I had anything left. I had three, united in pentameter and theme, i.e., youth. Said, "This will be an aural submission. I shall recite, and you will decide," a condition to which he assented. I recited Father Jack, The Bowline and Bull Rider. He took them. Worth the trip just for that.

It was great to see so many Spherians and guest lariats I see so rarely, and to meet so many Spherians who were virtual acquaintances until last weekend.

[Kurt Love]

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you -- Nobody -- Too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary -- to be -- Somebody!
How public -- like a Frog --
To tell one's name -- the livelong June --
To an admiring Bog!


--Emily Dickinson

[R. S. Gwynn]

Just got back myself, after a long drive from NC. Great to see everyone, especially Melissa Balmain, J. D. Smith, Susan McLean, Bob Darling, and others in my class. The class was great fun, and the conferences (on light verse) were a delight since we could focus on technique almost exclusively. As usual, I missed most of the panels in toto or in part, though I enjoyed Marilyn's panel and bits and pieces of the others. Wish I'd heard Hollander and more of Menasche.

Marilyn, at least Tim didn't say that you and I look alike.

I thought the conference was one of the best, especially since the new dorms did a lot to improve morale! As I said several times, I enjoyed every minute of it. Every minute.

I vote for hamburgers and hot dogs at the next picnic, though.

I also talked with John Mella of Light Quarterly, and he's determined to keep the magazine going. I suggested that Catherine Tufariello and her husband Jeremy Telman could assist him with grant-writing and getting non-profit status, which would make him eligible for an NEA grant. I served on the NEA literary publishing panel last year, and I'm dead sure that LQ would be a strong candidate for a grant. Is there anyone else out there who could assist pro-bono? Marilyn, isn't your husband an attorney?

The funniest thing that happened was that Catherine Tufariello managed to make off with my West Chester bag (full of books and drafts of poems) when I dropped her at the airport. At the time she lifted my bag, she had her own on her shoulder. If Catherine's poems get better in the near future, you'll all know why!

[David Anthony]

The West Chester bag was a brilliant piece of marketing/PR, but anybody could see that people would be making off with other people's bags. I see this as a metaphor for poetry, and take my hat off to Michael Peich for his subtlety.

Sam, there was no end of gossip about you and Annie Finch. Care to comment?

Best regards,
David

[R. S. Gwynn]

Nope.

[Catherine Tufariello]

David, Sam probably assumed that attaching a metal tag to his bag with his name, address, and phone number would have prevented a fellow participant from walking off with it. In my defense, I'll plead not only the usual extreme West Chester sleep deprivation but (thoroughly justified) panic about missing my plane. Now I just wish I'd rifled through Sam's papers before mailing it back. And I've been wanting to publish more light verse, too...

This was West Chester #8 for me, and I think the best one yet. I enjoyed Mark Jarman's master class and found both his and fellow participants' comments on my drafts extremely helpful. It was an interesting experience for me because I'd never taken a traditional creative writing workshop before (i.e., where nearly all the time is devoted to discussion of student work). And it was a good opportunity to get to know some new people. Dana Gioia's one-day workshop on Writing for Song was also well worthwhile, and the two hours went by in a flash (though it was scheduled at the same time as the Paradelle panel and I regretted having to miss that, especially afterward). The art song concert, featuring the three visitors from Russia, was fantastic.

My only regret is that there were quite a few people, including some Spherians, I'd have liked to talk to but didn't cross paths with, or spoke to only briefly. Tim, I'd thought that you and Alan would be around for the picnic on Saturday but didn't see you there; I'm really sorry we only got to talk for a minute or two. Mike, it was a pleasure to meet you too. "I have one of your poems on my iPod" is an absolutely brilliant way to introduce yourself to a fellow poet. I congratulate you. Having finally gotten one, I may use it myself.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Actually, I have Catherine's iPod. It contains the following tracks:

Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
La Boheme (original soundtrack)
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
Madonna: Blond Ambition
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
Eric Idle: Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
Stanley Holloway: "Get Me to the Church on Time"
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"
Catherine Tufariello: "Useful Advice"

[Meredith Bergmann]

Re Preposterous Poetic Paradigms:
My Polish grandfather (who made it very clear that English was very difficult to learn, leading to all kinds of misunderstandings and American “Polish jokes”) would have roared with laughter at Sam’s Polish sonnet with a “rhyme scheme” of ABCDEFGHIJKLMN .
A joke is a terrible thing to waste.

[Meredith Bergmann]

And, more generally:
This was my second conference. I tried to go to everything and to learn something about (or from) everyone I met, and it just isn’t possible!

James Fenton was fascinating. I’ve long found his art criticism nourishing ( I come to poetry from sculpture, prose/criticism, and filmmaking) but didn’t read his poetry until very recently, and it didn’t really speak to me off the page, which left me completely unprepared for the magnificent experience of hearing him read. When he read his poetry he transformed his entire body and voice. The poems became deeply affecting and thrilling. This has given me a new set of tools for reading poetry to myself, in imagined voices, and to consider when I read to others.

Samuel Menashe is another fantastic reader/performer. Here the key seemed to be a unabashed appetite for and pleasure in pronouncing one’s own words.

I heard Josh Mehigan, George Green, Melissa Balmain, Mike Slipp and Kevin Durkin read, and was impressed and wanted to hear more from all of them. Melissa will be reading here in NYC this weekend– highly recommended.

Another highlight was Mike Peich’s Aralia Press demo. Even if you didn’t spend hours sorting type, soaking paper, cleaning plates and staunching cuts from burins and gouges as I did as a teenager, it’s wonderful to see the predigital technology for making books so lovingly kept alive. I bought the Aralia Press book of Annie Finch’s poems because it was so carefully made, and seemed to house her (completely new to me) beautiful and slightly creepy poems so well.