AWP in NYC

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On Sunday, I returned from the AWP conference in New York City. It was an amazing experience all around, and I was able to hear readings by some of my favorite writers. This seems like a great excuse to post links to some of their work.

Billy Collins read on Saturday afternoon, and he was paired with Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes). The two men were good friends, and they were both wildly entertaining readers. I enjoyed everything they read, but the piece that sticks out in my mind is one of Billy Collins' poems, "The Lanyard." This has always been one of my favorites, but his delivery made it ten times better. The long pause before "and I gave her a lanyard" left me laughing so hard I cried.
Link: The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems (which includes "The Lanyard") by Billy Collins.

I was really, really looking forward to the reading by Joyce Carol Oates. Seriously. I sat outside the room for the entire previous session so that I could dash in and get a good seat for her reading. And it was worth it. I can't imagine anything more gracious than the way she began her speech: "It's a pleasure to be in the company of so many fellow writers."
Link: Joyce Carol Oates' new novel, The Gravedigger's Daughter.

Mark Strand. The woman I was sitting next to at the Mark Strand reading asked if I had ever heard him read before. When I said no, she said, "You're in for a treat." He was tall and elegant, and had a voice to match.
Link: The book that made me a fan of Mark Strand, Blizzard of One.

I hadn't seen Julianna Baggott in person in about nine years. She was as lovely and sweet as ever, and I really enjoyed catching up with her again. She participated in a couple of panels and signed copies of her newest book, Compulsions of Silkworms and Bees, on Friday afternoon at the bookfair. 

Link: Julianna Baggott's first collection of poetry, This Country of Mothers. 

Sharon Olds has a beautiful voice. I was one of the 100+ people sitting or standing at the back of the room during her reading, and I was too far away to see her clearly, but she had a microphone and she sounded terrific. 

Link: In addition to some more recent work, Sharon Olds read the poem that I always think of when I think of her, "I Go Back to May 1937." 

Amy Bloom is one of my all-time favorite writers (please see my previous blog entry for more about her and her new novel, Away). On Thursday morning, I attended a panel subtitled "Being Crazy Doesn't Make You Interesting" (an evocative title that was apparently her idea). This was a good panel in general, and I discovered that she's as interesting in person as she is on the page. 

Link: Amy Bloom's first published collection of short stories, Come to Me.

Amy Bloom's New Novel

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Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I read Amy Bloom's new novel, Away.

There are times when the reviews or blurbs for a novel can be more elegantly written than the text of the book itself. In this case, Away was described as a "beautiful, effulgent book" (Ron Carlson), "amazingly dense" (Kirkus Reviews), "raunchy, funny, and touching" (Caryl Phillips), "urgent, riveting, fabulously entertaining" (Emma Donoghue), and a "book full of tender wisdom, brawling insight, sharp-edged humor, and--if it's possible--a lovely, wayward precision" (Colum McCann). Christopher Tilghman said that "Amy Bloom's work has always revolved around what love and desire can make us do. In Away, she paints filial love on an immense geographic and historical canvas. The result, a story of loss and survival, is gripping."

I've been a fan of Amy Bloom's work since I read her first short story collection, Come to Me, and I'd been anxiously awaiting the release of Away. Even so, the blurbs were so effusive that I actually felt skeptical before I'd even turned to page 1.

Now, though, I think this is one of those rare instances where the praise seems, if anything, inadequate. The book isn't for everyone--it's rife with coarse language, very dark themes, etc.--but she handles the material deftly.

Anyway, I'm not even going to attempt to spin a poetic web of praise for the novel. Here's what I have to say: I read it feverishly within a span of 24 hours, and now it's several days later, and I'm still thinking about the book. That's about the highest praise I can give.

It may not mean as much out of context, but this quote--about a woman who is physically alive yet emotionally dead, and haunted by memories and thoughts of loved ones who are physically dead--was my favorite from the book:

"But here, in the basement of the Goldfadn [Theatre], among the dead, it doesn't seem to be a question. She can feel them underneath her, pushing at her, pressing at the backs of her knees, lifting her up and out of the grave. Yaakov, closest to the top, straightens her skirt and brushes a last crumbled leaf from her cheek, so she can join the living, not just to do what they do, which even the dead can manage, but to feel what they feel and keep on, which even the living find hard." (quoted from Away by Amy Bloom, page 82 in hardcover)

Two New(ish) Novels

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I've been reading novels again, an almost forgotten pleasure. Supposedly you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but two of my recent favorites were beautifully designed:

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This didn't even make a dent in the piles on my nightstand, of course, but I'll just have to keep on going. . . .

The Fall 2007 issue of the Apple Valley Review

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The Fall 2007 issue of the journal features fiction by Miriam Sagan, Barry Jay Kaplan, Fraser Sutherland, and Robert Miltner; essays, memoir, and creative nonfiction by Jo Barney, Chantel Acevedo, John Taylor, and Cathy Warner; an author interview with Sue William Silverman conducted by Angela M. Graziano; poetry by Kenneth Pobo, Rob Hardy, David Cazden, Kevin McLellan, Martha Christina, Bonnie Bolling, Bob Bradshaw, Francine M. Tolf, Rodger LeGrand, Maureen Tolman Flannery, Michael Trammell, Jennifer Armentrout, Richard Stolorow, Kendra Aber-Ferri, Deja Earley, Perry Higman, Christine Vovakes, Shoshauna Shy, Kyle Hemmings, Christopher Kelen, William Reichard, Kimberly L. Becker, Janice D. Soderling, Chris Anderson, Matthew Schoesler, Thomas D. Reynolds, Randall Horton, Daniel Sumrall, M.L. Liebler, C. Delia Scarpitti, Gloria J. Bennett, Karen Schubert, Katie Fesuk, and Tom Harmon; and artwork by Michael Abraham.

The Apple Valley Review is a semiannual online literary journal. The current issue, previous issues, subscription information, and complete submission guidelines are available at www.applevalleyreview.com.

Two Poems, Two Short Shorts, and an Essay

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"Sometimes I still dream about their pink bodies" by Kelli Russell Agodon (a poem from Poetry Southeast, Fall 2006)

"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden (a poem from Angle of Ascent: New and Collected Poems, copyright 1962, and reprinted for the Favorite Poem Project)

"Refreshing Like Diet Coke" by Jacinta Nandi (a short short story from Cautionary Tale, April 2007)

"One Day I Cried" by Oren Miller (a short essay from Word Riot, November 2005)

"Drowning" by Janet Thorning (a short short story from 971 MENU, May 2007)

Four Short Pieces by Kate Hall

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I just discovered a cache of writing by Kate Hall. The content tends to be a little heavy; the writing is excellent. My favorites so far:

"My Mother Sees Me," "A History of Addiction," and "The Lecture on Infinity" by Tryst Emerging Writer Kate Hall (three short pieces from Tryst, Issue 17, Spring 2007)

"Girl" by Kate Hall (a piece of flash fiction from 3:AM Magazine, April 10, 2007)

A Handful of Poems

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"Bringing My Son to the Police Station to Be Fingerprinted" by Shoshauna Shy (a poem from from Poetry Northwest, Volume 42, Number 1, Spring 2001, and reprinted at Poetry 180, Poetry Daily, etc.)

"Commuting in Summer" by Gary Patick (a poem from anderbo.com)

"My Mother's Body Knits Itself Into a Nest of Pain" by Barbara Crooker (a poem from Triplopia, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2007)

"The Night We Decide on Divorce" by Ona Gritz (a poem from Literary Mama, July 26, 2005)

"You Should Avoid Doctors" by Diane Lockward (a poem from Stone Table Review, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006)