Omnivorous Reader

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Caitlin

I have been accused of being an indiscriminate reader. While in graduate school, friends teased me about reading the Twilight books years earlier. I had read them because I wanted to see what my younger cousins were addicted to. I wanted to have a personal opinion about Twilight. They were quick reads. The same year I read Twilight I read War and Peace, Lolita, Generation X, Ulysses, and a hundred other books. This year, in all likely hood, I will have read 200 books.

I enjoy reading. I read while I walk. I read at the gym. I read at home. I read quickly. When I first met Jacob, he accused me of skipping pages, I read so fast. He would test me on the contents of each page, until he realized I was indeed reading that fast.

Reading to me is a necessity. The books I read vary on the situation. Sometimes I read a popular book out of curiosity and sometimes I finish a book I despise out of the hope that something in the last few pages will redeem it. Often at the library I will check out a book I know nothing about. Sometimes these books will be excellent, such as Surfacing by Margret Atwood or A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Some are flawed but entertaining, like Carry The One by Carol Anshaw. Some are so terrible, I hardly want to write there names here. But I will say that many of the terrible books got the best reviews from established critics. Some were even endorsed by authors I very much admire. The interesting thing about terrible books, is that sometimes they teach you an important lesson about what not to write about.

I like my reading to be varied, in part because you never know what will end up effecting you work. When I reluctantly read World War Z, I never expected it to change my poetry, but it did. Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin helped give me the energy and focus to continue writing at a critical moment. I had never even seen Steve Martin in a movie at that point. Because of my indiscriminate reading I have encountered many ideas I would never have had if left to my own devices. I feel like it also keeps my writing fresh. I don’t just read Auden, I read Susan Collins, David Grann, Raymond Chandler, and Greg Rucka.

Even though I am an indiscriminate reader, I am a critical one. When reading a book, even one that I am enjoying immensely, I always have an eye out for the weak chapters, the poorly constructed sentences, or the cliched scenes. The weak portions can teach you a great deal about writing. Also I will read books in there entirety that I do not enjoy, just so I will understand what went wrong. I enjoy doing this particularly when I have previously admired the author, also when I have the opportunity to vent the gory details of my frustration with. I think that the key to being an effective reading omnivore is to be a critical one.

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NaNoWriMo: The Foresters

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Caitlin

All through October I found myself thinking about NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is a yearly challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. I don’t know why they chose November, because in the States it is a particularly chaotic month. I had participated in one NaNoWriMo before, in 2008. I was living in Seattle and studying for the GRE. I wrote a novel about smuggling during a theoretical third world war. It was not very hard, but about half way through I decided I did not like the novel. I finished writing it out of sheer stubbornness. I never looked at it again.

This September I started really thinking about writing a novel called The Foresters. The novel is about a couple, preoccupied with finding out the truth about an accident at the Denver Art Museum that changed their lives. Every time I considered writing the novel I reminded myself how time consuming novel writing can be. How many details one has to sort out. How many edits one has to go through after the first draft. Still on the 31st of October I found myself signing up for NaNoWriMo, and on 1st of November I wrote over 3,000 words. I set the goal for myself early on, to hit the 50000 mark before I went to Bend, Oregon, where Jacob’s family lives, for Thanksgiving. Because we were leaving on the 19th of November that did not give me a lot of time. Still I focused on writing while applying for jobs, grants, and writing poems, and all the many things I manage to occupy my time with. I did indeed reach the 50,000 word point before leaving for Bend, but more importantly then that, I was fairly happy with the story that I had written. I was excited to keep writing, and at 50,000 words i definitely wasn’t done.

I actually finished my novel a half hour ago. It is 59,001 words long. I took almost a week off in Bend and still I managed to complete it. This time what I completed is not a file on my computer that I will never open again but it is the first draft of a novel that I am proud of. It is something I will edit and work on. I could not be more excited about this.

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The History of Obsession

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Caitlin

When I was eight years old, my parents went on vacation. I do not remember where they went, or how long they were gone, only that it was more then a weekend. My brother Max and I were left with a babysitter. I remember many babysitters from my youth. Angel, who made me obey every word my brother said, who told me time and time again, that women were less then men, until my parents found out. Roxanne, who took great care of us one weekend, only for me to fall ill and have to be hospitalized under unexplained circumstances. Monique, who I can’t talk about, but who I still miss. I do not remember the babysitter they left us with this particular time, only that she was not one of the above. For the sake of convenience I will call her Anna.

It was a Monday morning and still dark out when Anna woke us. My brother and I dressed for school quickly. Anna was sure we would be late. We raced quickly through the streets, running down one block and up another, until suddenly we were at the school. It seemed strange that we had seen so few people on the streets, but once we reached the school the absence of anyone else was overwhelming. There were no cars in the teachers parking lot. There were no children shuffling up the steps. We went to the front door, it was locked. There was no sign on it warning us of a national holiday or a strike. We still saw no one. Anna checked her watch again. It was the right time but no one was there.

We wandered around the playground for a while, before a man rushed through on his way to work. Anna stopped him and asked him what the time was. He told her it had just turned 6. It was two hours before school. It was the first weekday after daylight savings time took effect. My mother had changed the clocks before leaving without telling my father, then my father had changed the clocks without telling Anna. She ended up changing the clocks as well.

We were two hours early for school. That was all that happened, no asteroid had hit the earth, hundreds of people had not mysteriously vanished. We had just changed the clocks too many times. I don’t know what happened next. I assume we went home before school.

I forgot about this story for many years until recently I woke up with it in my mind, much like a dream. I knew then, even though it had been such a minor event, that it had changed me. It had made me aware at a very young age, of what the city was like with fewer people in it. What the world would be like if the rules changed, subtly, not through a huge reported disaster but through unexplained circumstances. This is what my poems have been about lately, not just the Apocalypse but the mysteries of daily life, some mundane, some clearly influenced by magic realism.

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The Lake Isle Of Innisfree

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Caitlin

The Lake Isle of Innisfree is the first poem I remember hearing as a child. There are a lot of poems out there that are sad, that are in mourning, this poem is not one of them. There is peace in this poem, longing is there too, but it is intertwined with the peace. This is the first poem I memorized as a child, that was not by Shel Silverstine. Even after all these years, this remains one of my favorite poems.

The Lake Isle Of Innisfree
W.B. Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

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Places to Write: Bellingham (WA)

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Caitlin

We moved from Brooklyn, NY, to Bellingham, WA, about six months ago. When we first arrived we worked and wrote largely from home, because our new apartment has an office, and is much nicer than the bug infested one bedroom we had in Brooklyn. However after a month we started venturing out to the local coffee shops and giving them a try. This is not a full account of all the coffee shops, just the ones we have been patronizing recently. A few notes on the coffee culture here. It is really hard to get a properly made cappuccino here but the drip coffee is generally excellent. The other thing is that I have overheard more religious conversations in coffee shops here, than I ever have in church.

The Black Drop Coffee House
300 West Champion Street

The Black Drop is one of the few work friendly independent coffee shops in Downtown Bellingham. I really enjoy supporting independent coffee shops. The drip coffee at the Black Drop is excellent. They use great beans and the coffee is never too bitter, instead it is nutty. You can pay a little bit more for endless refills which is a little dangerous. The specialty drinks I have tried are decent but not exceptional. I have never tried the food. A lot of people spend time working and studying here, others come here to talk, so there is usually a fair mix of quiet and conversation. There are plenty of plugs for those who are there with a laptop for the afternoon. They do not regularly play music. It has plenty of light near the front of the room as well as some outdoor seating. The wi-fi is reliable and fairly fast. My main complaint about the Black Drop is how dirty it is.  There is dust everywhere, and strange marks, and mysterious stains everywhere. Sometimes just being in there makes me feel dirty. You never want to look to closely at anything. I also think that most of the employees are not very friendly, which is not something that you necessarily expect at an independent coffee shop with plenty of regular patrons.

Woods (Flatiron)
10 Prospect Street

This is a great location of Woods, which is a local chain. The building’s interior has been refinished wonderfully. There is a tin ceiling, excellent light, and lots of charm. It is still part of a chain though, so it has the same chairs and tables that are at all Woods locations, although this one has a lot less fake rock work. Thankfully much of the seating is comfortable. As far as work spaces go, I find the space, the light, and the cleanliness all very conducive to being productive. My major complaint with this Woods location (and all Woods locations) is the lack of decent drip coffee. I have tried it many times and it is always awful. It is bitter, and tastes worse than instant (in my opinion). I now only order lattes or cappuccinos at Woods, neither is very good, but they are much better than the drip coffee. However the cold brew is surprisingly delicious. The pastries are fine, but unremarkable. The Wi-Fi requires a code but works well. The music is another thing that can sometimes convince us to stay away, until recently it was all outdated pop/Christian rock, but in the last month the music has noticeably improved and the selection now includes jazz and folk.

Woods (Boulevard Park)
470 Bay View Rd

This Woods location also serves the same terrible coffee, however that fact is easy to ignore because this is one of the best locations in town. During the summer, my husband and I go to Boulevard Park almost every day to read. The park itself is right on the water. It connects to downtown by a path and to Fairhaven by a boardwalk. The Woods is in the park, right near the water and it has a nice deck with an indoor outdoor fireplace that helps extend the season a bit. The inside is very comfortable, with a large main floor and a small loft above. There are a number of comfortable chairs. Unfortunately the view of the water is blocked for most of the indoor seats by various things, the  fireplace, the borders of windows, etc. However I love sitting by the fireplace for the heat and the stuffed chairs, or by the side door for the one clear view of the bay. The people who work here are pretty friendly, which is nice. The Wi-Fi requires a code, but it works well. However the location does not have its own washroom, instead it is right next to one of the park’s washrooms, which are truly terrible.

Lettered Streets
1001 Dupont St 

The Lettered Streets Coffeehouse is located in a nice neighborhood within walking distance of downtown Bellingham. It is an old building, it has plenty of light and charm. They often feature the work of local artists, which is always nice. They have a number of tables, and a fair amount of space.  The first room you enter has a few seats but it is mainly devoted to the counter, where you order your coffee. The coffee is delicious.  The drip is very flavorful and the espresso drinks are well made. The only disappointing drink I have ever had here was the chai, which tasted too ‘gritty’. I have never eaten anything here, which makes me unqualified to comment on the quality of their food. The restroom is kind of odd, and you have to exit the coffeehouse to get to it, but is always clean. The music here is consistently good, even if they do rely on Pandora. They have reliable Wi-Fi. I think it is my favorite place to write in town.

Book Fare Cafe
1210 11th St

Located in Fairhaven, on the top floor of Village Books, this cafe has a great view of the bay and wonderful light. It is a great location. The coffee itself is unremarkable. I do really like how you can get tea for two, and share a pot of it there, instead of having to get separate mugs and tea bags. I have never had the food although some of it looks very good and they have an extensive lunch menu. They often get a little crowded around lunchtime. Their seating is not the best, and the cafe itself leans more towards a restaurant, in terms of atmosphere, there is a napkin dispenser on every table.

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Detective Work & Bias

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Caitlin

When I am on the lookout for journals to submit to, I always take certain obvious factors into the equation: Their acceptance rate on Duotrope, The reputation of the magazine, if they are print or electronic. However sometimes the press is new, or I have never heard of it, or there is no listed acceptance rate. There are no obvious indicators for me to follow. In these situations, I start looking into the following factors. Some are legitimate indicators of quality while others can be easily dismissed as personal bias.

The Website:

If the journal has a wonderfully designed, clean, and simple to use website, I will most likely submit. If that website is formatted like a blog, I will not submit. I do not want my work to end up somewhere that looks no different than a personal blog. I have made an exception to this rule, only once, because I was so smitten with the theme of the journal. If that website is a mess, with graphics everywhere and too many things to press, I will not submit, unless it is a print journal. I am aesthetically sensitive person, I see no reason to pretend otherwise.

Author Bio:

I have encountered a surprising amount of journals that do not publish author’s bios. I am well aware of the fact that most author bios are generic, and mine is no different, but I find having one helpful, particularly online where it can link to my website. It is also important if the Journal ends up spelling my last name incorrectly, which has happened on a surprising number of occasions. Also if there are author bios already up on the site, you can see if the authors already published in the journal are established.

Print Journals:

I tend to avoid submitting to journals that do not send you a complimentary contributors copy. There are some exceptions to this rule but they are rare.

The Mission Statement:

A lot of journals have a mission statement, designed to inform the potential submitter about the tastes of the editor and the magazine. These mission statements are almost always useless. I  never read them thoroughly anymore, after spending almost two years reading nearly identical mission statements that are generic and give you no real indication of what the editors are looking for. However I always skim the mission statement in case they mention a love of magic realism, or a preoccupation with the apocalypse.

The Quality:

This is more subjective, and a little obvious, but you should at least like some of the writing that has already been posted on the site.

 

 

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On Garlic Farming and Other Hobbies

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Caitlin

I don’t usually talk about anything besides writing on this blog. This is not how I behave in real life, thankfully. Instead I spend my time discussing recipes, or my adorable nieces and awesome nephew, or hiking. . . I have an active varied life, that I am very grateful for. I feel like that life very much encourages and feeds my writing in different ways.

When I first started writing as a teenager I was only really interested in two things. The first was reading, the second writing.

When I went to college, I wanted to study creative writing. My father encouraged me to pursue something else. His often repeated advice was ‘If you only study writing, how are you going to write about anything besides writing?’. Instead I took history and Classical Civilizations. A few of my youthful poems are about Greek myths and Roman politicians. Nothing really stuck although it helped develop the researching techniques that I ended up using to write my chapbook.

At some point during college I started to do other things, I became a lot more social,  I started to travel, and went to the gym every day. I think out of all three things, the one that helped shape me as a writer the most was going to the gym. Not because I enjoy the gym, I don’t, but because it gives me an hour every day to do physical activity, while letting my mind drift. A lot of helpful thoughts are formed while working out. It is a safe environment to not pay attention in. If I did the same thing while walking or running in my neighborhood, I would have certainly been killed by a car by now.

I think physical activity that doesn’t use the mental part of my brain involved with writing and reading is very helpful. I also very much enjoy long hikes and backpacking, but generally talk more during these activities, which generally generates different types of ideas, often ones for becoming more focused.

My uncle and Aunt have a half acre of land in which they grow a great deal of garlic and some other things. When Jacob and I help out, I don’t come away from the farm with a lot of ideas, but I leave mentally refreshed.

I think it is important to have a full life outside of writing and working but also to be aware of how the different aspects of your life affect each other. When I was still living in Toronto, before Graduate school, I stopped writing for a year. There were a variety of reasons that happened. I was busy working towards a graduate degree in theology, I was very sick, and I had far too many friends. My social life was overwhelming and not very productive. People would phone me at 1 in the morning, and I would hang up the phone just to get another call at 2. It was a very strange time for me. Even when I had time to write, I found myself incapable of doing so.

In order to change things I moved to a different city, where I knew very few people, and started focusing on writing again. I started to work on balancing my life. I made sure that I was doing enough to fuel my creative sprite while still having time to put my new ideas down on paper and edit them. Over the years I have always worked on adjusting that balance and I will probably continue to tweak it as time goes on. But the most important thing for me is that I give my thoughts time to percolate, to grow, while I do other things.

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Acceptance Can Be Dissapointing

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Caitlin

When I first started submitting my work to journals, I already had a good idea of what to expect.  I had previously been the poetry co-editor of Lumina, a literary journal. I had already sent out almost a thousand rejections. Most of those were unpersonalized, generic. Rejections that went to individuals whose poems had almost been accepted were more personal. I described what I liked about the work, and what problems I had with it. My co-editor and I also wrote a number of acceptance letters. Those letter’s complimented the poems, praised them for their use of language and humor and for the most part, I hope, made it clear why we accepted the poems in the first place.

Before submitting I knew to expect many rejections and also that acceptance would eventually happen. I motivated myself to start submitting and to continue submitting because of those acceptances.

In the three years since I started submitting I received many personalized rejections. Editors have said that my work manages to be both intriguing and stunning, that one line was unforgettable, that I made the reader cry. In the end, all those editors refused to publish my work, for one reason or another. Usually they made that clear as well. For example the editor that called my work intriguing and stunning, informed me that the poems were too confusing for his taste. The feedback I receive from the personalized rejections is sometimes very helpful. That said, I do not mind generic rejections, they are a quick read.

The only thing about the submission process that surprised me, were the acceptances I received. I had previously assumed that acceptances would be short but complimentary. Instead the first acceptance letter that I every received was not even personalized. I had to read it twice to figure out that it was an acceptance letter. It used almost the exact same wording as the rejection letter, the only difference was the word acceptance.

Most acceptance letters are not that bad. Often editors mention that they loved the poem, or thought that it was interesting, but that is it. Nothing specific at all. My poems have been published in over thirty different publications and only three or four of them have ever given me personal feedback. This is just part of the reason I love Menacing Hedge so much, the editor, Kelly Boyker, really gives artistic feedback, and I have grown to understand and appreciate her taste as an editor. Another journal, The Conium Review, accepted my work, without explaining why. Instead they invited me to do a podcast. During the podcast the two editors explained in great deal why they chose my piece. It was so gratifying. I had always wondered why so many acceptances felt hollow, it was only then that I fully realized why.

I work hard on my poems. I spend a lot of time writing and even more time editing. I spend a fair amount of time each month submitting. I do not mind getting rejected, however when I do get accepted I want my poems to be appreciated, even if it is just in a small way. Sometimes that is the only payment I receive, particularly if it’s an online journal. With print journals at least, you often get a free copy, which is great. I have also gotten paid (last October I made 300$’s through selling poems, but that is a whole different story), but that is relatively rare occurrence.

I think that the lack of personalized acceptance is part of the problem one faces as a poet today. Most poets I know have similar stories. I understand that having a job as an editor can be overwhelming and arduous but I also know that through giving personalized feedback the poet might be encouraged to submit again. They might earmark favorite poems for a press that is doing a good job. By giving positive feedback to a writer you are choosing to build a relationship. A good acceptance letter can go a long way. I always appreciate the publication of one of my poems, but a little additional feedback is a wonderful thing.

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Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Caitlin

I recently read Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson. A memoir by an established British novelist. The book was compelling but the following passage particularly stood out. I feel like people, including poets often lose sight of this.

‘I read: This is one moment,/ But I know that another/ Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy.

I started to cry. (. . .)

I had no one to help me but T.S. Eliot helped me.

So when people say that poetry is a luxury or an option, or for the educated middle classes, or that it shouldn’t be read at school because it is irrelevant, or any of the strange and stupid things that are said about poetry and its place in our lives  I suspect that the people doing the saying have had things pretty easy. A tough life needs a tough language – and that is what poetry is. That is what literature offers – a language powerful enough to say how it is.

It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place.’

(Pg 39-40, Why be Happy When You Can Be Normal, Jeanette Winterson)

 

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Post Poetry Marathon

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Caitlin

On the 11th of August I woke up at 5:55 in the morning, rolled out of bed, and wrote a poem that was 22 lines long. My husband wrote a sonnet. After posting our poems on the poetry marathon website, we went back to bed.

Less then half an hour later we were up and writing again. Until August the 12th at 6 AM, we did very little beside write, sleep, and eat. I managed to do two small runs and that felt like an achievement. Several east coast poets behaved similarly, although one managed to attend a winefest and write one of the best dog poems I have read in years.  It was all part of the first year of the Poetry Marathon (24 poems in 24 hours). You can see all our writing here.

Writing 24 poems in one day is counter intuitive. Most people talk about writing a couple of poems a month, or working on one poem for a long period of time. Some writers talk about a muse or a mood being necessarily to write a poem. However forcing yourself to write can sometimes produce great things.  Part of why writing so many poems in one day works, is that you realize right away that perfection is not possible. That nothing will be well polished. Instead you end up writing unusual, surprising, and occasionally great poems.

One of my close friends, an exceptionally gifted poet, stopped writing halfway through the marathon. It was too much. A couple of  days later she told me that she wished she hadn’t stopped. That after reading all the poems that we wrote during the wee hours of the morning, she felt like she was reading break through poem after break through poem. It wasn’t that they were all amazing. But they were different, they were unlike anything that we had ever written before.  After reviewing our poems, I agree with her opinion, it appeared that the second half of the marathon generally contained stronger poems then the first, which is not what I expected.

As a writer, around hour 18, I felt like I was running out of oxygen. My brain stopped functioning. The next day I could probably have only told you what three of my poems where about, but I was also filled with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It was also such fun to read all of the great, compelling, and strange poems that other poets wrote.

Now that I am beginning the arduous process of editing my poems, I am really surprised by the ideas that some of them contain, by the language that I used. It seems that I have a much better sense of perspective in terms of these poems then I do for most of my poems. Writing 24 poems in 24 hours seems to have brought out different aspects of my writing.

We are still considering whether or not we should do this again next year, and would very much appreciate feedback in regards to that. Are you interested? What time of year would work best? We are considering a move to April, for poetry month. So please leave a comment, or email us at thepoetrymarathon@gmail.com.

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