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05-21-2018, 03:55 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 2,253
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anna M Evans
I don't feel particularly welcome here because of everything that went down at West Chester in 2014 and since, and I get that, although it makes me sad.
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I'm confused about what reason anyone would have for resenting your advocacy regarding West Chester. Maybe it's because I didn't pay enough attention, but I don't remember anyone saying that Kim Bridgford's firing was a good thing; many simply weren't willing to go as far as you advocated in support of her. They wanted to continue to support a conference they'd gotten a lot out of, and felt confident in the interim leadership of a Spherian they respected. Now that West Chester has treated that Spherian somewhat similarly to the way it treated Ms. Bridgford, there's even less reason for anyone to feel you did wrong.
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05-21-2018, 05:03 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Middle England
Posts: 6,950
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Hey, folks, please let's not turn this thread into another long, drawn-out discussion about Anna's involvement in the WC business concerning Kim. We've been there, done that.
You're very welcome here, Anna, as far as I and many others are concerned. I now declare the above matter closed!
Jayne
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05-21-2018, 05:18 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Middle England
Posts: 6,950
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I noticed that three people were online here just now, who all joined Eratosphere between one and two years ago, but have yet to make a post.
These are the kind of members I was a bit curious about when I started this thread. I hope they (or "you") read this and decide to take the plunge. They/you won't regret it!
Jayne
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05-23-2018, 02:23 AM
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Member
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Beaumont, TX
Posts: 4,749
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I am not very regular on Met these days, but when I post a new poem I do try to say something about the poems that are currently under discussion. These are the dues we should pay to Eratosphere.
Last edited by R. S. Gwynn; 05-23-2018 at 11:29 AM.
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05-23-2018, 09:08 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Posts: 8,307
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I feel like a hypocrite for saying this during a week in which I haven't commented much on others' poems...but having to articulate what I think works (or doesn't) in others' poems has done more to improve my craft than receiving others' comments on my own work.
Really.
[Hastily edited to say: Not to knock the comments that I receive on my own posted poems, which are indeed valuable to me. But after I've spent time thinking about why others' poems connect, or fail to connect, with me, I am more conscious of those strengths and weaknesses when I'm writing my own stuff.]
Last edited by Julie Steiner; 05-23-2018 at 09:13 AM.
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05-23-2018, 09:27 AM
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Member
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Join Date: May 2016
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 2,044
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Julie Steiner
I feel like a hypocrite for saying this during a week in which I haven't commented much on others' poems...but having to articulate what I think works (or doesn't) in others' poems has done more to improve my craft than receiving others' comments on my own work.
Really.
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This is well put.
Because your work isn't on the operating table and instead you're the doctor, slowly and fitfully learning how avoid transposing the arteries, perforating a bowel, or a leaving an instrument inside the body next time.
It's so much easier to see someone else's heart than your own.
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05-23-2018, 10:32 AM
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Member
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: TX
Posts: 6,630
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I concur that Julie makes a good point. Let me just add that I spent decades talking about poems in literature classes before talking about them on the Sphere, and this is a quite different experience regarding what matters and what does not. It's rewarding to see poetry as process rather than product, both with my own work and that of others.
Cheers,
John
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05-23-2018, 12:47 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 4,198
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John I: "It's rewarding to see poetry as process rather than product"
Happily, we measure both here.
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05-23-2018, 02:08 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: TX
Posts: 6,630
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Jim, that reminds me of the old saying, "Here we have both kinds of music: country AND western."
I'm talking about what I learned though, in the first person, so yes, for my growth a focus on process has been key. As you suggest, product matters too and the Sphere certainly celebrates publications. That however is not news to me as process is. I spent some years editing texts; not a high-profile enterprise in most literature departments, but one in which process emerges, kind of like a poker game. Literature departments tend to discuss product.
Cheers,
John
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06-01-2018, 11:55 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 3,140
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When I first came here, I was knocked over by it. To this day, I remain grateful for the community, encouragement, and critique I found here, despite the various dramatic events that occurred from time to time. Even those I remember now with certain sense of endearment.
When I was last regularly active here, my poetry life was on an upward swing -- I had a reading series going, my little book came out, a was giving little workshops and stuff -- but that all kind of stopped suddenly. I don't really know why, and it didn't happen in a way that felt dramatic or anything. Anyway, whether because of that, or as an effect of the same causes, I stopped hanging out here as well.
A couple of times over the last few years I've had a few days of activity here, but I mostly I just I pop by to see what's up now and then, very infrequently. I suppose things could change back again just as abruptly at any time. Who knows. But in any case, the Sphere will always be deep in my heart, as corny as that sounds.
David R.
Last edited by David Rosenthal; 06-08-2018 at 07:50 PM.
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