Radius

Route 66 Poetry Reading

2012-02-16T05:15:00.000-08:00

WHAT: “Route 66” AWP Off-site Reading
WHEN: Friday, March 2, 4:00-6:00pm
WHERE: TBD

I'll be reading with Joe Harrington, Hadara Bar-Nadav, et others.

Back in business

2012-02-09T12:21:00.001-08:00

I found the way back by going forward.

My conspiracy theory

2012-02-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Either the sort function on CJ online is goofy, or there is something preventing me from going past June 2009--through the rest of 2009. Instead, it leaps back to 2010.

Topeka Zoo

2012-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

As I work through the newspaper headlines, it's as if a rollercoaster of perception--from positive to negative. There are articles that highlight the good things around Father's Day and Halloween, then a cut to animal deaths. Summer is quiet. Winter gets noisy.

2012 AWP offsite readings

2012-02-03T12:07:00.001-08:00

http://awpwriter.org/conference/2012offsite.php

This does it! I think I won't have any problems with figuring out "something to do." I'll have to rest hard at night, ready for each next day.

AWP fever

2012-02-03T11:57:00.001-08:00

I'm counting down the next four weeks. I just want to thank Joe Harrington for including me in on the Route 66 Reading in the works for an offsite AWP reading. I'll also be posting other offsite things here, too.

Circle Parking at MCI (Kansas City)

2012-02-03T11:56:00.001-08:00

$13 dollars a day. Don't tell anyone, but it is cheaper to park here than Downtown Topeka! :)

http://www.flykci.com/Parking/ParkingMap/Index.htm#circle

AWP Fence Reading

2012-02-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday March 3rd, 6-8 pm
FENCE BOOKS AWP BLAST-ON: FB authors Paul Legault, Joyelle McSweeney, Ariana Reines, and Laura Wetherington read from their brand new and recent collections. Across the street from the conference hotel at Buddy Guy's Legends.

My best creative writing

2012-02-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

comes out of carrying on me and reading books that I really love at the time, that I'm excited about, that does something different than anything I have read before.

The Believer and Omission

2012-01-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

The Believer has an amazing article about the use of omission with texts. When I realized I have several of the mentioned books, I wondered if I am an omissionist.

http://www.believermag.com/issues/201201/?read=article_vanasco

Conceptual World-Famous Topeka Zoo

2012-01-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

With the use of newspaper articles, the source on how Topeka learns about the trouble the zoo is in, I'm seeking that collage of information over time. Article titles lack sentimentality, in so much as they are Dickinsonian in their economy of words. Even the language isn't what a typical lyrical poem would be, which can carry its own kind of sentiment. So as far as a conceptional poem, the titles blur into an understanding of how suddenly and often an animal, if not two or more, dies at the Topeka Zoo.

Poetry of Witness

2012-01-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

I don't like the cliche catch-phrase either, but I'd like to share what Joseph Harrington posted on facebook today:

". . . the poetic word is the one that is always situated in the position of a remnant and that can, therefore, bear witness. Poets - witnesses - found language as what remains, as what actually survives the possibility, or impossibility of speaking."

Giorgio Agamben - Remnants of Auschwitz ‎. . . riffing on Holderlin's remark "Was bleibt, stiften die Dicther" - "What remains is what the poets found"

I generally dislike the term "poetry of witness," because in practice it provides a warrant for some rather cheesy, self-righteous posturing. But the way that he uses it here makes sense - witnessing not as authority but as a kind of abjection.

Links to MSWo1984...

2012-01-06T22:42:00.001-08:00

can be found to the right of this blog. Thank you!

More My Secret Wars of 1984

2011-12-31T19:16:00.001-08:00

DIAGRAM has taken two of the poems. Also, here is BlazeVOX:
http://www.blazevox.org/BX%20Covers/BXFall11/Dennis%20Etzel%20Winter%2011.pdf

Happy New Year!

AWP plans

2011-12-31T19:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve!

When thinking about the coming year, I'm getting truly excited about AWP. This will be my second one--so I'm going back a little more educated, more seasoned.

Here is my schedule. What I'd like to do is read yours--and let's compare! You can plan it on the site:
http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012sched.php

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Fly in to Chicago

Take the El to Hilton Chicago

R100. Conference Registration
Hilton Chicago
Attendees who have registered in advance may pick up their registration materials throughout the day at AWP’s Pre-Registered Check-In desk, sponsored by Northwestern University and located in the Northeast Exhibit Hall on the lower level of the Hilton Chicago. Unpaid Registrant Check-In badges are available for purchase on the 8th Street registration area on the lobby level of the Hilton Chicago.

9:00-10:15a

R114. A Reading from City of the Big Shoulders: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry
(Ryan Van Cleave, Campbell McGrath, Don Share, Robyn Schiff, Beth Ann Fennelly)
Waldorf, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
City of the Big Shoulders: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry is a poetic conversation about Chicago (and of Chicago) that includes contemporary work from some of America’s brightest poetic lights. Four award-winning contributors from this new anthology will gather to read from their anthologized work and talk about the challenges and possibilities that place-based urban poetry creates. The event will be moderated by anthology editor, Ryan G. Van Cleave.

10:30-11:45a

R129. Troubling the Label: When Does a Text Become Feminist?
(Arielle Greenberg, Cate Marvin, Amal Amireh, Eloise Healy, Ru Freeman)
Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
From conception to critique, what is the significance of when the label is applied? Does it matter who applies it? How do we interpret works of literature through a contemporary feminist context? So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Art brings together writers, publishers, and academics to discuss the stage at which a work is labeled feminist and the issues implicated with labeling, writing, and publishing socially conscious work.

Noon-3:00p

Bookfair and naptime

3:00-4:15p

R204. Political Poetry: America and Abroad
(Jeff Shotts, Nick Flynn, Matthea Harvey, Tom Sleigh, Jeffrey Yang)
International Ballroom South, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor
In a year of national election and in another year of war and human rights violations, we turn to poetry for... what, exactly? Four poets offer their own responses to the role of the poet in confronting national and international political situations—from the so-called war on terror to government-sanctioned uses of torture, from resistance movements to the political imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo.

4:30-5:45p

R228. A Reading and Conversation with Alice Notley. Sponsored by Wesleyan University Press
(Stephanie Elliott, Alice Notley, Steven Evans)
International Ballroom South, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor
A reading by Alice Notley, followed by a Q&A guided by poet/scholar Steven Evans. Notley has two new books: The Songs and Stories of the Ghouls, a work of poetry that gives voice to victims of genocide—both ancient and contemporary; and a poetical fantasy, Culture of One. Evans, who has interviewed Notley in the past, has a keen understanding of her work. The discussion will allow the audience to gain a deeper understanding of her complex poetry and writing process.

R232. Writers and the Moving Image: Off the Page
(Annie Guthrie, Sawako Nakayasu, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Dan Waber)
Lake Michigan, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor
The University of Arizona Poetry Center presents panelists who will discuss the text/image relationship, inter-genre writing, filmic vocabulary, new directions in Vispo, and the digital lyric essay. Panelists will show clips from writers working in film/video/digital arts, including Claudia Rankine, Kate Greenstreet, John Gallaher, Forrest Gander, Eula Biss, John Bresland, Brandon Downing, and others

6:00-7:00 p

Dinner

7:00-8:15p

A Reception Hosted by the University of Illinois Creative Writing Program & Ninth Letter
Wiliford B, Hilton Chicago Hotel 3rd Floor
Join faculty and students from the University of Illinois’s Creative Writing Program & Ninth Letter for a soiree.

A Reception Hosted by Red Hen Press
Private Dining Room 2, Hilton Chicago Hotel 3rd Floor
Join the editors and staff of Red Hen Press for a reception.

8:30-10:00p

R249. AWP 2012 Keynote Address by Margaret Atwood. Sponsored by Roosevelt University MFA in Creative Writing
(Margaret Atwood)
Auditorium Theatre, Roosevelt University, 50 East Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL 60605
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and nonfiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Her most recent works include Oryx and Crake, The Tent, Moral Disorder, and The Door. Her nonfiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, was part of the Massey Lecture series, and her most recent novel is The Year of the Flood. Her work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic, and Estonian.

Gene Siskel Film Center (yep, I love film, too)

10:00-midnight

R250. AWP Public Reception and Dance Party. Sponsored by the University of Tampa Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing
Continental A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
A dance party with music by DJ Neza. Free beer and wine from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Shuttle Service from the Hilton Chicago & Palmer House Hilton: Courtesy shuttles will run throughout the day from Thursday through Saturday to facilitate conference events taking place at both the Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton. Shuttles will run every 10 to 15 minutes between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. Shuttles will arrive and depart from the 8th Street entrance of the Hilton Chicago, and the Wabash Street Entrance of the Palmer House Hilton.

Travel to Palmer House Hilton

9:00-10:15a

F122. Material Issues: Finding Compelling Subjects for Poetry and Prose
(Jenn Gibbs, Kimiko Hahn, Harold Schechter, Cole Swensen, Sarah Micklem)
State Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor
While some believe that finding subjects that excite readers as well as writers is a matter of luck, instinct, or talent, this panel approaches the selection of subject matter as an element of craft and explores ways to develop (and teach others to develop) a literary nose for news, whether working in verse or prose, fiction or nonfiction. Successful writers and teachers serve as experienced guides, sharing their secrets for resolving material issues.

10:15-noon

lunch

Noon-1:15p

F167. The Vital Writing of Loss: Personal, Societal, Ecological
(Rusty Morrison, Gillian Conoley, Melissa Kwasny, Elizabeth Robinson, Brian Teare)
Empire Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, Lobby Level
Our minds can imagine infinity—symbolic constructs are endless—yet our bodies and our planet are fragile, finite. Perhaps the root of all anxiety is the intolerability of living with the potential annihilation of what we know and love. This panel will discuss the value and challenge of writing the enormity of loss, whether from death, cultural alienation, and/or ecological devastation. Beyond recording suffering, how can poems lead us into the deep channels where our humanity can be found?

1:30-2:45p

F195. God at Every Gate: Dialogues with Silence
(Katherine Towler, Gregory Orr, Kazim Ali, Jericho Brown, Alicia Ostriker)
State Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor
Faith is not a word often heard in conversations about literature. It seems to have become a word American authors try to avoid, one claimed by the political right wing. The five acclaimed poets on this panel come from different faiths and backgrounds, but they all share a willingness to reclaim the word faith and to discuss its relationship to literature.

2:45-4:30p

Travel back to Hilton for bookfair

4:30-5:45p

F237. In Celebration of Eleanor Ross Taylor
(Catherine Barnett, Jean Valentine, David Wojahn, Kevin Prufer, Ed Skoog)
Wiliford A, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
More than fifty years ago, Randall Jarrell introduced Eleanor Ross Taylor’s first book of poems; in 2010, the Poetry Foundation awarded her the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement. Yet Taylor, who turns ninety-two this year, remains very much a poet’s poet who deserves a larger audience. Panelists talk about her lasting influence and her ability to express what Jean Valentine has called “the wild deep intense emotions” in poems Jarrell praised for their “personal force, personal truth.”

5:45-7:00p

Dinner

7:00-10:00p

Hit the hotel bar

10:00-midnight

F249. AWP Public Reception & Dance Party. Sponsored by the University of Tampa Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing
Continental A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
A Dance Party with music by DJ Neza. Free beer and wine from 10:00-11:00 p.m. Cash bar from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Breakfast, Lunch, & Coffee Concessions: Breakfast, lunch, and coffee concessions will be available throughout the day from Thursday through Saturday in the Mobley Room on the Lower Level of the Hilton Chicago. Concessions will open at 8:30 a.m.

Shuttle Service from the Hilton Chicago & Palmer House Hilton: Courtesy shuttles will run throughout the day from Thursday through Saturday to facilitate conference events taking place at both the Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton. Shuttles will run every 10 to 15 minutes between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. Shuttles will arrive and depart from the 8th Street entrance of the Hilton Chicago, and the Wabash Street Entrance of the Palmer House Hilton.

9:00-10:15a

S106. Desperate and Deliberate: Thoreau and the Nature Writer
(Tom Montgomery Fate, Elizabeth Dodd, David Gessner, Robert Root, Mary Swander)
Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
Henry Thoreau, the hermit philosopher from Concord, opined that while others lived “a life of quiet desperation,” in town, he would construct a more deliberate life in the woods. Since the publication of Walden in 1854, hundreds of nature writers in vastly different contexts have drawn on his themes and style. This panel will consider the enduring relevance and influence of Thoreau on nature writing, and on their own work.

10:30-11:45a

S134. The Unfolding Legacy of Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop
(Elizabeth Robinson, Cole Swensen, Sasha Steensen, Forrest Gander, James Belflower)
Marquette, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
This panel will celebrate the many ways that Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop have enriched contemporary writing and art in the United States and abroad through their own poetry, fiction, memoir, criticism, and translation. In addition, the panel will consider and commend their multi-decade work as the publishers of Burning Deck Press. Through papers, reminiscences, and film, this panel will discuss the major influence these two authors have had on contemporary literature.

Noon-1:15p

S153. The Need to Speak: Writing the Political Poem
(Joe Wilkins, Matthew Zapruder, Robert Wrigley, Rachel Zucker, C.K. Williams)
International Ballroom South, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor
The politics of our age are rabid, dazzling, blinkered, ridiculous—yet they matter, deeply, in all our daily lives. We click the television over to the latest protests in Wisconsin, we open a newspaper and try to make sense of this latest war, and we feel called to speak. How do we do so honestly and with conviction, nuance, complexity? Five poets take on these questions and more as they read from and discuss their own work and that of other poets who’ve successfully written political poems.

1:30p-2:45p

S180. Writing Visually: Using Comics in the Writing Classroom
(Anne Panning, Matt Madden, Hillary Chute, Jarod Roselló, Jessica Abel)
Lake Michigan, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor
Many incorporate reading comics in their classes these days. But how can you use comics to teach writing? On this panel, two teaching cartoonists and three literature and writing professors will discuss ways to introduce the practice of comics into the creative writing classroom and how that can benefit students’ writing—of prose as well as of comics. Approaches include the Bechdel method of writing comics without drawing and using panels to visually activate prose (or poetic) writing.

3:00-4:15p

S197. Teaching Social Action Writing and Service Learning
(Diana Garcia, Debra Busman, Annie Finch, Emmy Pérez, Aimee Suzara)
Continental B, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
How do you develop, implement, and teach a creative writing and service learning class? How do collaborations between community partners and university creative writing students empower both groups? Panelists describe how this reciprocal process challenges instructors and creative writing students to provide service and create works that live in the community beyond the classroom setting.

S199. A Reading and Conversation with Eileen Myles & Monica Youn, Sponsored by VIDA: Women in Literary Arts
(Cate Marvin, Erin Belieu, Eileen Myles, Monica Youn)
International Ballroom South, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor
Prominent poet and literary activist Eileen Myles and recent National Book Award finalist Monica Youn will present readings from their respective work to be followed by a conversation on feminist poetics with VIDA co-founders and poets Erin Belieu and Cate Marvin. AWP participants are encouraged to join a brief Q&A period to be held afterwards.

4:30-5:45p

S217. Hybrid Bodies: Poets Negotiating the Fractal Geographies of Trauma and Identity
(Addie Tsai, Kelly Moore, Ronaldo Wilson)
Astoria, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
This panel explores the confluence and difficulties regarding hybrid bodies (disability, trauma, sexuality, gender, race) and the complexities of using the hybrid body as a metaphor in contemporary poetry. How do we approach poetry as a way of exploring the sense of the body’s betrayal, working in a public whose lack of awareness presents real dangers? In poetry, how can we inhabit hybridity without objectifying it? What impulse leads people to write about abnormal body experiences not their own?

5:45-7:00p

Dinner

7:00-8:15p

Poets Honor W.S. Merwin's Recent Work with Essay Collection--Launch Party with Mark Irwin, Matthew Zapruder, and Others. A Reception Hosted by WordFarm
Private Dining Room 3, Hilton Chicago Hotel 3rd Floor
Join WordFarm and friends in a reception celebrating the work of W.S. Merwin.

8:30-10:00p

S241. Academy of American Poets Presents Nikky Finney and Lyn Hejinian
(Tree Swenson, Lyn Hejinian, Nikky Finney)
Grand Ballroom, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor
The Academy of American Poets presents an event featuring two prestigious poets, Nikky Finney and Lyn Hejinian, who will be reading their own work.

10:00-midnight

S243. AWP Public Reception & Dance Party. Sponsored by the University of Tampa Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing
Continental A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level
A Dance Party with music by DJ Neza. Free beer and wine from 10:00-11:00 p.m. Cash bar from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Raid bookfair for free books

Plan final Chicago things

Go home

3am Magazine

2011-11-28T09:43:00.001-08:00

3am has accepted five of the poems from My Secret Wars of 1984. yea!

A good day

2011-11-21T10:26:00.001-08:00

As I was preparing to teach Freshman Comp, a student came in saying he only had one copy of his essay for Peer Group Review. I had enough time to make extra copies for students.

When I went into the English Dept, there was a large gathering of collegues there. I said, "Hey, is there a meeting I don't know about?" They laughed about it. So when I was heading to my class, there was a large group of people at the end of the hallway. I said to my students, "I don't know what's going on. There are a lot of people out there and in the English Dept."

Just then, Denise came in, asking if some people could observe what was going on. "I have Peer Group Review today," I said. Then lots of people began coming in. Then the English Dept people lined up outside and came in on the other side of the classroom.

Someone had balloons. I forgot someone's name. There was also an award to hand me.

I turned red, as Denise declared I earned the Student Life Achieving Excellence Award!

She talked about the award, but I started to tear up. I have no idea what she said.

Lots of congratulations. Pictures with the Student Life people, English Dept, and my students.

Thank you, Student Life!

Conceptual Gage Park

2011-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm working on my polygenre poetry-memoir collection--just starting the research. It's amazing how Gage Park has been the center-revealer of cultural hatreds.

Maps and such

2011-11-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~23517~820099:Map-of-the-City-of-Topeka--1887--L-?sort=Pub_Date%2CPub_List_No_InitialSort&qvq=q:%2BList_No%3D'2818.187'%22%2B;sort:Pub_Date%2CPub_List_No_InitialSort;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=1

http://encore.topekalibraries.info/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1466551__Sgage+park__P0%2C3__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=pearl

Tributes and Tribulations

2011-11-09T09:33:00.001-08:00

Grading my students' responses to Sherman Alexie, I am amazed at how personal, how powerful the writing is. Maybe a response to a story allows us to enter the space of describing the people we each "grew up with?" How we didn't see who they were until we are older and realize there is alcoholism? Strength where we thought weakness was? The flip of perception.

New project

2011-11-07T09:08:00.001-08:00

Stars

Many years of mythology and astronomy
Sans astrology
Although the lion haunts me

Maps
Drawings
First constellators
First astronomers

Going stargazing for research

In a field

Begin Again: 150 Kansas Poems (or "Where are my copies?")

2011-11-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

First, I want to thank everyone involved with this HUGE project! Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg's project as Kansas Poet Laureate wasn't an easy one, and I'm glad she selected Woodley to offer this manuscript too. The web presence is awesome, but also, as a reader, there is nothing like a book in hand for the visceral experience of poetry.

Also, Kevin Rabas, for leading the book on to publication. Thanks, friend!

Leah Sewell and Matthew Porubsky volunteered their mad skills for designwork. You should hire them to design your book!

Mike Graves for proofreading with Kevin.

Stephen Locke for the amazing artwork on the cover.

Finally, to the contributors! Thanks!

Check out the readings coming up! http://150kansaspoems.wordpress.com/readings/

Here are answers to your questions:

Q: Where are my books?
A: They are on the way.

Q: When did you mail the books?
A: When we received them last Friday, I mailed them on that day, Halloween, and November 2. I have to use the Washburn Woodley account for mailing through Washburn's mail room, who applies the postage and places the packages in "going out" pile.
Q: Why hasn't my check been cashed?
A: After I receive the checks, I send them to our Treasurer in Kansas City. I waited to send them, making sure I had copies in hand or on order. They should be presented soon.

Q: Why did A get their copies first?
A: For larger orders, I ordered them to be sent directly from the printers to the purchasers. For smaller orders, we are sending them Media Mail. It takes longer, but is logistically the cheapest, most effective way we can operate.

Q: Will there be books sold at the readings?
A: I'm not sure about the other readings, but I will personally sell them at the Manhattan and Topeka readings, including the discount to contributors.

Q: Have you received my order yet?
A: I'm guessing I have, as all of the people who have emailed me are getting their copies soon. As you can guess, I've had almost fifty orders. I'm sure I will sell more at the readings.

Thank you for your patience and order!

This is one of the many stacks of shipments that have left the office.

You might know

2011-10-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

We've experienced a loss. We were expecting Willow to be born in December, but we found out last week that we lost her. I just want to thank all of the people and support we have received! Each condolence does matter!

With that said, I'm here to post this wonderful advice [link] by Jeffrey Levine:
http://jeffreyelevine.com/2011/10/12/on-making-the-poetry-manuscript/

Keep on truckin' and writin'!
Dennis

Let me just say this

2011-09-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

I'm pumped up for the class that comes in a year from now. Really excited, as I go through books and get inspiration from colleagues.

Yep--colleagues. MW:

Middle French collegue, from Latin collega, from com- + legare to depute — more at legate

First Known Use: circa 1533

Origin of COLLEGE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin collegium society, from collega colleague — more at colleague

First Known Use: 14th century

I work at a college with colleagues.

my own hybrid writing

2011-09-14T09:47:00.001-07:00

If I were thinking of a project with this form, I'd combine:

My mothers
Phelps
and some kind of myth

any suggestions? or research ideas? historical references in Topeka?

Hybrid Forms Writing

2011-09-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Great news! I've been given the okay to teach a Hybrid Forms Writing class. Call it hybrid, Docu-Poetry, whatever--it blends and blurs the lines. Thanks to Susan M. Schultz and Joe Harrington for suggestions, as they are teaching such classes this semester or next. Mine will be next fall.

Here are books I'm contemplating (with suggestion sources in parentheses):

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine

Things Come On by Joseph Harrington

Povel by Geraldine Kim

Human Resources by Rachel Zolf

Anything published by Essay Press or DIAGRAM

1913: a journal of forms lit mag

Home / Birth : a poemic by Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker

An Apparent Event: A Second Story Books Anthology by Ed. Mary Burger (Joe Harrington suggested)

The Next American Essay by Ed. John D'Agata (Joe Harrington suggested)

The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley

From Unincorporated Territory [Saina] by Craig Santos Perez (Susan M. Schultz suggested)

Shut Up Shut Down by Mark Nowak (Susan M. Schultz suggested)

Zong! by Marlene Nourbese Philip

Green-Wood (Heretical Texts) by Allison Cobb (Susan M. Schultz suggested)

A Handmade Museum by Brenda Coultas

If you have other suggestions, please email me at dennis [dot] etzel [at] washburn [dot] edu

Thanks!

Almost all are sent

2011-08-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

I've almost sent all the poems to My Secret Wars of 1984. Flint Hills Review is the first to respond, publishing two of them. Thank you, Kevin Rabas!

Link to FHR.

Something to Marvel

2011-08-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I heard from Marvel Comics and have permission to use quotes for my MSS. It's a relief. If I don't hear back from the last two individuals, it's Plan B--omission within sentences.

I've learned that sending physical letters can pay off as much as email. I just want to thank Marvel and Wizards of the Coast for their generosity, as they could have simply said "no."

Lead is soft and toxic.

2011-08-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

We must work as alchemists.

Description

2011-08-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

Secret Wars of 1984 is a 366-sentence poetry-memoir collage, using texts from the year 1984, as well as sentences of my own. So far, I have permissions from three of the six--waiting to hear back from the other three.

Intentions

2011-08-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday today!

Okay, so I've thought about my intentions with this Secret Wars poem, of the idea of collage and building my own sentences. I guess that is what the process has been--one of building, of recreating what 1984 "is." I use the texts I grew up with, the one's that helped me survive, of comic books and D&D manuals. I also use the texts of my now, published in 1984. Lyn Hejinian, bell hooks, etc. The texts that inform my poetry and feminism. Finally, the political texts are important. It was a time of recession, when Dems and the GOP were fighting it out to the elections. Sound familiar? 1984 = now.

Of course, my own sentences, my play with words and with metaphor, come through, too. Then to alphabetize it, because every sentence is important if each one represents a part of 1984. 366 sentences, one for each day of the leap year.

The results? I like how sentences out of context from their original sources create new contexts, especially when next to my memoir-sentences.

I am in the process of making poem-stanzas. It's difficult to find the feel for when one sentence should start or finish a section. Which should continue? It's a matter of the poetic aesthetic.

I've enjoyed putting this all together, so that counts for a quality that others might like--the "fun" of these lines. Maybe poetry is both serious and fun at the same time? Or can be?

Permissions

2011-08-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lyn Hejinian and Peter O'Leary (for Ronald Johnson) have given me permission to use their works. Now I've sent letters to the people I haven't heard from via e-mail: Marvel, James C. Shooter, Wizards of the Coast, and bell hooks. Please let me have permission to use these texts.

I'm finished with the overall work, and found breaking up the sentences into prose-poem stanzas works the best.

I'll be sending these off in September. Let's keep fingers crossed!

With Love,
Dennis

btw, on the last revision

2011-07-25T16:13:00.001-07:00

I'm on the last revision, I hope.

Secret Wars poem

2011-07-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

I've finished a 366-sentence poem/memoir that collages texts with my own sentences and I'm pretty pleased with it. The idea is: these texts struggle with my own texts of struggle, all in the year 1984. That was the condition, that the text was published in 1984. Lyn Hejinian has given her permission for her essay, "The Rejection of Closure." Thank you, Lyn! Via the power of internet, it's easy to search and find these authors.

Ronald Johnson, The Shrubberies, and Topeka, Kansas

2011-06-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ward-Meade Park, the place where Ronald Johnson worked as a gardener before he passed away, can hardly be called a park as much as a garden. There is a memorial in his name there, thanks to Robert Webb's--Topeka's Ronald Johnson scholar--push to place a plaque where Johnson worked and baked cookies in the afternoon. This is also the place where he wrote The Shrubberies.

I sometimes wonder if he flipped off the Phelps clan on his way to work, leaving his father's house on Gage Blvd. to pass by one of the spots Fred et al like to line up by. As a gay poet, he could do his work in San Fran in a time where, back in Kansas, it felt like all of Topeka was populated by Fred Phelps types. It was during the Eighties when my mother came out, met Sondra, and my life with two mothers began. Things changed around here in the Nineties, as much as around the country I guess, but I still feel the oppression--I still feel like we are on the margins.

In Eric Keenaghan's "World-Building and Gay Identity" found in the book Ronald Johnson: Life and Works, Keenaghan states:

According to Gilles Deleuze, literature's ability to produce a social "health" or a pragmatist social change "consists in inventing a people who are missing" (4). This desirable end is produced by writing out of, and then beyond, available material and liguistic resources. For Deleuze, a minority literature cannot invent a missing people, but a minor one does just that. The former merely articulates and gives a representive voice to an already established communicty or identity group. The latter, however, self-consciously uses style to deterritorialize language by pushing it to its limits, rather than reproducing codes.

As Keenaghan is placing this into the context of ARK, this can also be said of The Shrubberies. For years, I could not find the language to describe who Sondra was to me. Even "other mother" seems like I am denoting the Other, when, in fact, our relationship is far from the construction made on the Other.

Tonight the Ronald Johnson Reading Group formed by Joe Harrington is coming to a close, and we are discussing The Shrubberies in Topeka. What better town to do this in! Thanks to Bob Webb, we have a meeting place. I'm hoping that this completion will kick off another journey through my own work, as I try to piece this all together as it seems it fits in my mind.

RADI US

2011-06-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm in the midst of RADI OS, and I'm amazed at the ingenuity and placement the words are in--keeping the original Paradise Lost placement intact. I've also ordered THE MS OF MY KIN--a take off of The Poems of Emily Dickinson. It makes me wonder, what book would I choose to "black out?"

The RJ group is wonderful, pushing me to read his work.

Also, just great people involved.

Ronald Johnson Reading Group

2011-06-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Joe Harrington, we organized last Friday night at Genovese in Downtown Lawrence. I met with great people, refreshing to be with poets and poetry enthusiasts. We are starting with Green Man, going to To Do As Adam Did, then with RADI OS, and ending with The Shrubberies in Topeka!

On another note: When I envisioned the "superhero" for my poetry manuscript, I didn't know he existed. Meet Radius!

My 1984 collage

2011-05-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've started work on my 1984 poem. It was truly a dark transitional time with aspects of light that pierced through. The thing about Comics and Fantasies was its location from my middle school. It was just a few blocks away, enough for me to run away from the bullies and fights after school. A sanctuary. Larry was just a protector! I wish I knew how to get a hold of him, as I don't even know his last name. He was the first man I knew who was "out" in a time of a lot of LGBT-phobia. He was also a kind of father figure. (This isn't the Larry of the "Craig and Larry.")

One more summer thing

2011-04-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

I want to work on a project involving Sucker Punch--a film so many people hated. An intersection with Proppian fairy tale functions, women's issues, narrative as construction (via Bakhtin). Zack Snyder did something amazing. Yahoo! Movies Critic Reviews are here, showing how film critics expect a movie to be one thing, while it does something original.

Things to work on this summer

2011-04-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

It seems like winter is the most productive time for me (see the following Q&A with Kevin Rabas and his research project). However, I hope to do the following this summer. (Note: This seems like the best place to leave a note for myself--one I can't lose.)

Work on Radius to continue to send out to book contests
1976: Collage poem around my family at the time
1984: Collage poem around oppression--personal and public

So here is the e-mail interview:

What tactics that you use seem to get the *best results* when doing creative or research work over the break? (For instance, do you block out chunks of time, go to the library, and use that time ONLY for research/creativity? Do you meet a friend to do work at a coffee shop? Do you go on a research/writing trip, say to NYC? Do you unplug from the internet on TR of Fall Break, Etc.)
Because of my wife and two sons, I first wake up early to get reading and writing done. (I like to write with a stack of books for inspiration.) Also, Carrie and I agree on a block of time when I can head out alone to a coffeehouse to get writing done. I am more of a morning writer, so that works best for me. I carry around index cards for jolts of inspiration, too. We often go to the library in the afternoons during breaks, so I do any research there--switching off with Carrie while watching the kids.

Which is your *most productive break period* (summer break, spring break, fall break)? Speculate on how and why?

Winter break is the best time. I write better--maybe because of the isolation and disconnect because of the cold? I also love wintertime, cold and snow both. I don't like summer. Luckily, Carrie doesn't take the heat well, so it's a good time to stay inside, read, watch movies, etc.

Name and detail and summarize one of your *success stories* when using a break (or part of a break) for research and creativity.

This is linked to my next answer. My MFA thesis took off during the winter break, following a disaster of an attempt of the previous summer.

Name and detail and summarize one of your *failed efforts* (or partially failed efforts) when attempting to use a break (or part of a break) for research and creativity.

I wanted to work on my MFA thesis during the summer. Again, not being a summer person, it went kerplop. A lot of "stuff"--sh**. It was me trying to write. I did a better job when school was in during the fall. Plus, the writing during winter break truly shaped what my thesis would be.

Any other comments or advice? Just try to write for at least a symbolic amount of time every day, break or no break. Train your brain. [and "writing" can be revising, promoting, sending stuff out, etc.]

Find out what season or time of year you feel the most "alive" in. If I'm right, this will fuel your creativity. Write in the early morning or late at night. Write when you can. Carry index cards. Read when you need inspiration. Revise when you can't write. Send things out in bursts.

Missing You, Metropolis Gary Jackson update

2011-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

If I ever have a book published, Gary Jackson will be the first to sign it!

Books you should buy

2011-04-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

After reading with Poetry + Funk (Kevin Rabas & Tim Volpert), I thought of the time I spent editing Kevin's book Lisa's Flying Electric Piano

We sat on the apartment (the apartment Carrie and I had at Whispering Pines) floor, spreading his MSS out on the carpet. Good times.

Also, you should get Joe Harrington's book: Things Come On: An Amneoir (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

Prairie

2011-04-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

I can't take you out to the prairie as much as I could take you to summer, the sun high over Topeka. "It's hot," you say, constructing, and I know the Tallgrass could be described the same way: tall, grassy, mixes of auburn and gold. I can't take you there, even if there, because "prairie" is past construction. "Am I feeling these feelings, or is this an imagined feeling?" someone asked Margy on my first visit. "This is real," she confirmed, the word that is challenged through my academic life, colliding with life.

How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One by Stanley Fish

2011-04-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

There is a school of Fish (sorry about the pun), and people who don't like him. I guess being a critic leaves you on the other side of such matters. However, I'm enjoying his latest book How to Write a Sentence (and How to Read One) with hopes that I can use it for my Comp courses. I like this idea, to start simple, thinking of a sentence as a unit of measure and movement. There was something similar in They Say, I Say, describing a sentence as "holding hands" with the previous and next sentences. Maybe this is too heady, too English, but what is my role of challenging how Freshman see writing? Maybe this kind of book doesn't help with "essay writing," but maybe with memoir or descriptive writing it can. I'll have to keep reading.

Lottery winners

2011-04-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Were you, or anyone you know, born on September 14th?

An elegy

2011-04-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

The elegy of a comic book store is a reflection of the loss felt, something connected to childhood and the need to move on. We're all adults here. Why does my mind continue to move inside there? It was a safety. When the safety is removed, the gun could fire.

Comics & Fantasies Topeka, KS

2011-04-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

This store opened in the early 80's just as Dungeons & Dragons emerged. Larry was the owner, who later sold it to brothers Chris and Sam. Comic books: back issues and current issues--I bought all of my comics there because they were in mint and they had the "direct sales" logo instead of the UPC bar code. Okay--both groups of owners were cool! I've written a story that takes place there, and a poem is beginning to emerge.

Joseph Harrington Things Come On

2011-04-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

Joe's use of what Lyn Hejinian calls "the political truth of grief" is incredible. It took me two tries until I could read the section "Eyes Only," which blends in the Nixon tapes with a taping of Joe's mother's struggle with cancer. I liked the beginning clue: "April 18: Saw Dr. Nickson." Assembling photos as both visual and text. "'Kids will know...even if they don't know all the details, they know something's wrong.'" This book is the real deal.

Joe Harrington will be reading Friday night as part of the Top City Poetry Reading Series.

Here is my interview with him in seveneightfive: scrapbooks without scraps.

Washburn University EN399 Experimental Poetry

2011-04-05T07:40:00.001-07:00

This summer: EN399 Experimental Poetry. A lit and creative writing hybrid online. No previous experience needed. We will cover people from The Modernists, Beats, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E, and contemporary hybrids and flarfs.

Think of the Topeka poets

2011-04-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Poets from Topeka make it big out in the poetry world: Kevin Young, Ben Lerner, Ed Skoog, Amy Fleury, Eric McHenry, Gary Jackson, Tom Averill, Cyrus Console, et al. Who is going to make a Top City Anthology--a Topeka Poetry Anthology to get some light on this town?

Gary Jackson returns to Smallville

2011-04-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

Mising You, Metropolis = superhero + elegy + ideologicial examination. Gary gave his reading at Washburn yesterday, and it was a treat to have him in Top City again. Lisa was here, too, so the old Washburn gang of 04 was assembled like the Avengers, having a great time. He visited my Freshman + Advanced Comp class in the morning. Reading @ 4. Dinner at Tuptim Thai. His stories about his reading tour were fun--his AWP experience. At the bar with Kevin Young and Ed Skoog--yes, another Topeka poet!

Topekan Ethos by Ben Lerner

2011-04-03T11:33:00.001-07:00

Topekan Ethos

How do I get a copy of this?

Thank you, Denver Quarterly!

2011-04-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Denver Quarterly, Spring 2011

Maximus

2011-04-02T11:36:00.002-07:00

There is a gym called Maximus in town. He he.

Charles Olson and The Maximus Poems

2011-04-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a treat to really dig in to this! I have Polis is This, the DVD documentary, as well as A guide to... by George F. Butterick and CO's Maximus by Don Byrd. I love these books from Mabee Library--how the library still has resources. I'm setting out into Topeka with this kind of approach, peeling layer after layer. Still looking for a theory about looking. I think about my film theory books--maybe something in there. Topeka as a strip of film layed out. The railroad cuts the beginning scene.

Upcoming readings

2011-03-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

If you don't know, Joseph Harrington, aka Joe, will be reading at Blue Planet Cafe on April 8, 2011 @ 7pm. Also, my friends Kevin Rabas and Tim Volpert will be playing Poetry+Funk on April 15, 2011--same location and time. Top City Poetry Reading Series

But I didn't realize Hadara Bar-Nadav will be @ The Raven Bookstore Thursday, May 19, 2011, at 7pm. Summer break starts early! Big Tent Reading Series

I was honored to have Joe and Hadara as part of my MFA thesis committee--Joe as my mentor. I also remember reading part of it at the Big Tent series (good times). Here was my bio from the page (made from a flarf collage):

Dennis Etzel Jr. is a recording artist with 30 years of music behind him. Dennis is a guitarist. Dennis is the top finisher for the Buckeyes in 10th place. Dennis is also very involved in planting trees and sustainable forestry. Dennis is a male first name derived from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius meaning “servant of Dionysus”. Dennis is now among the rest of these freedom hating liberal kooks. Dennis is the only one talking about shutting down the nuclear war machine. In 2006, Dennis was being pursued by the Attorney General in Washington. Dennis is a jungle menace. We need drastic solutions, like the ones Dennis is pushing. Dennis is leading positively by example, e.g. his vegan lifestyle. Dennis has engaged in interfaith dialogue with Catholics at the Vatican. Dennis has also written and produced three best-selling comedy videos on values. Dennis has played guitar on over 100 soul music gold albums. Dennis has experience handling cases from all parts of Alaska. Dennis has worked with the vanguard of New York’s dance studios. Dennis has the courage to say what many are wondering. Dennis will be in Sierra Madre, CA, Sunday the 21st, 9am. Dennis will be appearing on Comedy Central’s ‘The Colbert Report’ this Tuesday. How do I know Dennis will be able to photograph my child? By taking the time to get to know you and your taste, Dennis will be able to. Dennis will be leading out the Halloween fun ride tonight at Willowdale. Dennis will be adding a second class at Yoga Within on Tuesday evenings. Dennis will be given a sedative to relax.

Ronald Johnson's birthday

2011-03-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ronald Johnson was born on November 25, 1935. However, to have a tribute for his birthday would mean having it the day after Thanksgiving this year. He passed away March 4, 1998. It is too late for that date, too. So, any suggestions?

Ronald Johnson pt 2

2011-03-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

I finished an interesting lunchtime discussion with colleagues who knew Johnson--Tom Averill and Eric McHenry. Tom talked about touring the house he lived in while in Topeka--Drury Lane and Gage Blvd. Eric interviewed Johnson. I'm hoping to get these two involved with the Top City event.

Also, Chicago Review did a feature on Johnson in 2005. Add that to the list.

I am assembling these parts, maybe in the way Johnson did.

Ronald Johnson

2011-03-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure in meeting Susan M. Schultz, as she was the Top City Poetry reader last night. I used her Dementia Blog for my MFA thesis on Joe Harrington's recommendation. Let me say, last night goes into my memory folder labeled "wonderful times." She is a generous person!

I mentioned that Bob Webb loved Ronald Johnson's poems. They had spent some time talking after the reading, and now I wished I could have chimed in on that fact--as Susan wrote an essay on Johnson, even contacting his sister for certain copyrights.

I thought I would open up this blog around Ronald Johnson, born in Kansas, passed away in Kansas--in Topeka. He worked in Ward-Meade Park, finishing his garden poems as he tended to the garden.

Here is a page dedicated to the memorial. I am hoping to host a Ronald Johnson night in the fall--so check out the Top City Poetry Reading Series website for more info. And look for his work published by Flood Editions.