war on gravity

Where Are You?

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:45:00 +0000

What has happened to all of you? Has this fallen by the wayside when so much is happening in the world? Let's try to resurrect this!

Minnesota Book Awards: Reader's Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:07:00 +0000

Hello all:

Just wanted to point out the Minnesota Book Awards' Readers Choice voting is going on all through March. While I don't want to sway you, the reason why I know about this is because my friend Eireann Lorsung's music for landing planes by has been nominated. I encourage you to go and vote; I think a book of poetry, be it hers or someone else's, ought to win out this year!

All you have to do is click here and scroll down to vote!

Update on Book

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:19:00 +0000

T hought I would spread the news. I decided to self publish the autobiographical poems in a book called "CHASING MOONBEAMS " to be done by AuthorHouse. It will be 6x9 format and I am working with an artist now. I worked very hard at revising all the poems. I did three full edits, took me days and days -(actually a few weeks), and then I did another edit. Would you believe I found three mistakes? I'll have to correct them on the galleys. I am working on a book of "Jewish or "Spiritual" poems called " as of this moment, "Drowning in the Desert". It will probably change. I will submit it to Jewish Lights Publishing Company and maybe Behrman House and maybe my own school's publishing co. Hebrew Union College. I am off this weekend to the only writing conference for Jewish writers. The poet last year was Alan Shapiro. This year, I suggested Jason Sommer and he is coming. I love his work- the intensity, the religious imagery- and its sophistication. I spent 10 hectic days with 21 Rabbis in Central Europe- The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, but I haven't completely digested all the feelings yet for poems.
Happy writing to all. My poem called "I am Eve" is being published in a journal called DuPage Arts (from Benedictine University). Itis a midrash on the Eve story.

I am sure you all heard about the campus shootings in Illinois- that was on my campus- the town where my congregation is. Most of my congregants are professors- 90% of the congregation is employed by Northern Illinois University. It has been traumatic. I wrote a bad poem called Lonely Boy. Guell I am too close to put things in perspective. Hope everyone is well.
Mikki

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Loft Literary Center: Career Initiative Grants due March 5th.

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:26:00 +0000

SPRING 2008 WRITER-TO-WRITER APPLICATIONS STILL AVAILABLE!
EXTENDED Deadline to Apply: February 20, 2008

Calling all writers! Applications are now available for our spring
session of Writer-to-Writer, the artistic mentorship program designed
to give advanced writers the opportunity to reach their next level of
artistic development. Writer-to-Writer creates intimate relationships
between artists; mentors act as artistic catalysts and partners,
providing each mentee with artistic feedback and professional guidance.

WRITER-TO-WRITER: SPRING 2008 MENTORSHIPS:

Anya Achtenberg (fiction/memoir)
DISCOVERING THE UNLIVED LIFE:
WRITING INTO THE MYSTERY OF YOUR CHARACTERS
The work of character development is central to discovering the real
story, rather than imposing a story onto our characters. Full
development of character in story work is not separate from the real
work we do in the world, that of continually crossing borders—internal
as well as external—with openness and knowledge, compassion and
respect. For our characters to unfold their truths in their full
dignity or brokenness, their astonishing beauty or cruelty, we must
work to understand their deepest yearnings in a way that often goes
beyond their own ability to articulate them.

In this mentorship, each participant will agree to “live with” one or
two characters for the duration of the mentorship, although new
characters may emerge, and new dimensions open of other, perhaps less
central, characters. We will work to deepen our ability to bring the
power of authentic beings into our writing, and extend our range to
include characters we may dislike or fear, characters that puzzle or
fascinate us, as well as those with whom we identify. We will challenge
ourselves to go beyond our preconceived notions, our projections of our
own points of view, our societal and cultural biases, our fear and lack
of knowledge, into understanding the lives of others in our global
community, in our own neighborhood or family.

We will go beyond the back story, beyond what a character has lived up
to the moment that we meet them. An unlived life is hidden within the
life each character must live to get by. You will explore your
character’s internal terrain, a land of yearning bordered by
frustration, overwork, social pressures, forgetting, distractions, and
violences, large and small, yet charged by the deep human desire for
expression and connection, for fulfillment of the individual and social
self in creativity and community. We will look at these evocative and
emotional issues in our discussions and in the illuminating work of
diverse writers. We’ll work in far-reaching but focused writing
explorations to cross boundaries that not only free our writing, but
deepen our understanding of, and respect for, the worlds and characters
we write about.

Sherry Quan Lee (poetry)
Bookmaking: Writing to Save Your Life
What does the map of your life look like? Are there stop signs,
detours, back roads, freeways, and tunnels? Do you travel one
particular road over and over again? Are you writing that one story
over and over again? Does your collection of stories need closure? Is
closure possible?

Memoir can be the stories remembered and made sense of as you chart the
map of your life. Memoir can be the connection, the collection of
those stories. Memoir can be your stories written in poetic form.
Memoir can be poetry enhanced with pictures, and other visual
materials.

In this mentorship, we will explore the healing power of poetry as
memoir. Initially, we will examine the stories that navigate your life
in order to discover the theme of your memoir. Your theme will be your
writing prompt to gather more material. We will discuss poems belonging
in your book, but emphasis will be on overall theme, organization,
format, and production. This mentorship is for poets (who may
sometimes write prose) interested in completing a chapbook or
manuscript draft.
* * * * * * * * *

Read more about our Spring mentorships with Anya Achtenberg
(fiction/memoir) and Sherry Quan Lee (poetry) online here:
http://www.intermediaarts.org/pages/programs/literary/wtw.php.
Applications attached, and available online!

This program is supported by the Jerome Foundation in celebration of
the Jerome Hill Centennial and in recognition of the valuable cultural
contributions of artists to society.

Julie Bates, Literary Programs Manager
Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls MN 55408
Tel: 612.874.2815
Fax: 612.871.6927

Create. Engage. Inspire. Change.
www.intermediaarts.org

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:36:00 +0000

State to State: Minnesota and New York poetry contest

Palm Beach (where my palms stick to my laptop)

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:42:00 +0000

I wish there were images I could upload to my laptop for this, but I will say this: little lizards darting, palm trees, and sweat trickling down my temples. I will say this too: we know what it means, subzero, when we are from Minnesota. They do not know what this means in Florida, nor is my winter coat any use.

It's gorgeous here, though they keep us quite occupied at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival. Workshops in the morning, craft talks and conferences in the afternoons, and readings at night. Teresa knows this--she also knows what goes on after the readings. :) It's so easy when everyone stays in the same hotel, it's hot in your room...

Last night: a poetry reading from Kim Addonazio and Thomas Lux, something like a party, something that would appeal to every non-poet I would know. At one point, Kim came onstage and accompanied one of Tom's poems with the harmonica. And there were many words, including "pussy" and "bastards" that rang out in that theatre.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well in your poetry adventures. I think I mentioned a poem coming out in Dislocate this spring as well as MFA applications... I just finished, and I ended up with a whopping eighteen schools, nine of which are spread across the country, and the other nine are low-res programs (this, after several people, including the department head and the principal mentioned a position would be opening next year). We shall see where the future takes me!

Missing you all.

Greetings!

noreply@blogger.com (blussier) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Hello Poets!

I'm in Mexico for Carolyn's Under the Volcano workshop in Tepoztlan...we're having a wonderful time, but we miss you all! Our open air workshop site is surrounded by screaming roosters. If any of you ever get a chance to come down here for a workshop, with Carolyn or otherwise, you absolutely should. It's phenomenal and has a website that you can find by googling "under the volcano workshops."

Love,
B.

poetry reading

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:26:00 +0000

My first poetry reading is this Friday. Anyone who is nearby--I'd love for you to come. Information about the reading can be found here.

woo hoo!

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Hello all; I hope things have been well with you. I just thought I'd update you on some neat things going on in poetry in my world:

- My poetry postcard has officially been released into the world. It's prettier than I imagined, and you can buy your very own copy here.
- I applied and was accepted into the Intermedia Mentorship program called Writer-to-Writer. I'm working with Jude Nutter, who just won the Minnesota Book Award for poetry. Critiques have been phenomenally helpful, which is exactly what I need right now--learning how to develop that critical eye with my own work.
- I'm also working with Carolyn with Split Rock Arts online mentorship, and it's also going fabulously, but that is no surprise!
- And today, I just found out I was accepted to the Palm Beach Poetry Festival this winter (thanks, Teresa, for introducing it to me). I don't know if my principal will allow that much time off from school; we're waiting to hear back, but I'm still shocked and pleased I was accepted at all.

What about you? What's going on in your realm?

Hi all!

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:00:00 +0000

Two of my poems won in the Chicagoland Poets and Patrons Contest this year and I will be reading them at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago on Oct. 27. I won in the religion category for "To Abraham: To be Opened on my Deathbed" and in the experimental category,
"Going Along" One never knows. A poem that some people hate, wins a prize and one that I submitted that everyone loved, won nothing! Go figure. Poetry is the most subjective field. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

I may not be around for awhile as I will be going to Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Krakow with a group of Reform Rabbis. I hope this stimulates more poems.

Return from Europe

noreply@blogger.com (carolyn) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:05:00 +0000

Dear dear poets,
My trip to Macedonia and Slovenia was truly extraordinary, in the company of poets from all over the world (here pictured with Tsead Bruinja of the Netherlands and Stanley Onjeani Kenani of Malawi), my books published in Macedonian and Albanian, giving readings accompanied by fireworks and lighted torches, music and boats, from a bridge on the river, with thousands of people along the banks. All over Macedonia it was that way: readings in town squares attended by what seemed the whole town, with speakers such as one would see at a rock concert. And then Vilenica, where by coincidence I stayed at the very Lipicanci (Lippenzanner) horse farm where my grandfather worked as a young man, training horses. Ljubljana is a most beautiful city! And I had a wonderful time with Tomas Transtromer, his wife Monica, and a very good young Slovenian poet, Ales Streger. I have so much to tell you in the coming weeks about all of this. But during October I will be at Hedgebrook a writers' colony for women on Whidbey Island (near Seattle), hoping to finish my memoir, which is due by Christmas! So I may not be online during that time. I wanted to tell you also that there are three places left in my workshop in Mexico January 4th - 12th. If you are interesting in coming, I would love to have you there. go to www.underthevolcano.org
The workshop takes place in Tetoztlan, a beautiful town about an hour and a half from Mexico City.
With abundant affection to all of you,
Carolyn

yes and beloit

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:56:00 +0000

You can go here to purchase your very own copy.

Limited edition (100 copies); poem permanently linked here.

In addition: I received a lovely rejection from Beloit, who told me I had an almost-poem and explained why it didn't make it, which just blew me over. Handwritten, even.

Said poem, along with the others they didn't want, are going back into the mail on Monday. Not sure where just yet, but the boomerang is the way to go.

And one more thing: Am working on applications for graduate school. Making lists, checking them twice. Have a GRE scheduled for November 3rd, just before my birthday. Gulp. It's all happening so fast, but it's good. I feel good about it all.

Happy nearly-October. It is rainy here in Red Wing, but I love thunderstorms, especially when I can read in bed through them, occasionally spotting a flash out the window.

From Milwaukee

noreply@blogger.com (Sue Blaustein) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:18:00 +0000

It's good to hear everyone's news. I check the Poetry Daily website each day. On September 4th, there was a great poem by Thom Gunn called "A Sketch of the Great Dejection". Then, on September 5th, a great poem entitled "Sale" by Mary Kinzie. I'd never heard of her, and have purchased one of her books, which is sittng in the stack of books I plan to get to.

I'm finishing up a biography of Lyndon Johnson, which is fascinating. I'm very preoccupied, in my reading and plans for poems, with putting myself and my experience in historical context. Possibly that's a common phenomenon for a person into their fifties..... any observations on that from my fellow poets?

Other than that, my days are full of work, union related concerns, yoga, sinus trouble and a class called "Spanish For Restaurant Staff". It's just once a week but I'm trying to get in a little study with the CD's. Working Milwaukee's South Side, I get to practice everything I learn immediately, so it should stick! All my best... Sue

Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:33:00 +0000

What is everyone finding about Shakespeare lately?

I've only just gotten the sonnets book; I ordered it before the wedding, and this is how long it took to finally arrive on my doorstep. It's heavy and beautiful--exactly what any adoring reader would want, especially one who thinks explication is something fun to do on an autumn afternoon.

I am currently teaching literary theory to my British and Western Lit students, and it's going really well. We're using children's books to start; they seem to be more willing to do anything that involves colorful pictures. We may also do magazine ads, especially since the critical lenses seem to be needed most here.

And in my ALC (Alternative Learning Center--this is the opposite end of the spectrum from the Brit Lit kids, who are, in some ways, the smarter kids of the school--the ALC kids are the ones who need lots of extra help) classes, we are doing poetry. Francisco Aragon has a residency at the Anderson Center, and whenever a writer is there during the school year, they come to the high school to work with the kids. I'm looking forward to his being in my ALC classes; we're having tons of fun reading and writing poems and simply enjoying them.

Sometimes we explicate. And sometimes we read simply for the sheer joy of it. I'm trying not to stifle them with poetry--so many people cite their high school English teacher as the one who ruined poetry for them.

How is everyone doing? What's going on with you this fall? Any good books read? Good magazines to submit to? New poems being written? Poetry adventures on the horizon?

PS: Teresa, I've been reading your "back issues" of your blog, and I am absolutely in love with it.

What I share with my students on the 6th anniversary of 9/11

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:37:00 +0000

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

This one time upon the earth,

let's not speak any language,

let's stop for one second,

and not move our arms so much.

It would be a delicious moment,

without hurry, without locomotives,

all of us would be together

in a sudden uneasiness.

The fishermen in the cold sea

would do no harm to the whales

and the peasant gathering salt

would look at his torn hands.

Those who prepare green wars,

wars of gas, wars of fire,

victories without survivors,

would put on clean clothing

and would walk alongside their brothers

in the shade, without doing a thing.

What I want shouldn't be confused

with final inactivity:

life alone is what matters,

I want nothing to do with death.

If we weren't unanimous

about keeping our lives so much in motion,

if we could do nothing for once,

perhaps a great silence would

interrupt this sadness,

this never understanding ourselves

and threatening ourselves with death,

perhaps the earth is teaching us

when everything seems to be dead

and then everything is alive.

Now I will count to twelve

and you keep quiet and I'll go.

-from Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Left Boob

noreply@blogger.com (early hours of sky) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:00:00 +0000

I read this new poem by Sinan Antoon in World Literature Today and thought it was brilliant. Actually I said out loud in the bookstore—I’d give my left boob to have written this...

A Letter

Silently
I address them
The dead Iraqis
Where do we stand now?
Give or take a few hundred thousand?

….
Had you been birds,
Your disappearance might have caused some outrage
you could have flown en masse
over the metropolis,
clouded its skies for a few hours
in protest.
Meteorologists and bird-watchers
surely would have noticed
Had you been trees,
you would have made a beautiful forest
whose destruction would have been deemed a crime
against the planet.
Had you been words,
you would have formed a precious book
or manuscript whose loss
would be mourned across the world
But you are none of these
And you had to pass quietly and uneventfully
No one will campaign for you
No one cares to represent you
No absentee ballots have been issued or sent
You will have to wait decades
for a monument,
or a tiny museum.
If you are lucky
in provoking retroactive guilt
your names will be inscribed on a wall somewhere
But until then, you may welcome more to your midst
and form a vast silent chorus
of ghosts,
condemning the spectators and the actors
Exeunt Omens!

Nice Rejection

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:06:00 +0000

Just wanted you all to know, I got the nicest rejection from a publisher ever. I got an honorable mention for my chapbook called "Dwelling in the desert" and a particular notice for the poem 'Martyr" from the publisher- all handwritten. I thought it wqas nice he took the time to write about my poetry even though I did not win. I"ll keep on. I wrote a complete service for Selichot, which is a preparatory service before the High Holy Days. I wrote it in free verse. I lookeed at the services and thought I could say something more contemporary. We'll see how the congregation reacts. Now I am working on a poem on the effect of "Words" since so many of the sins we talk about on Yom Kippur are sins of the tongue. I have not given up. I think the name of my first book of poems on growing up, etc, will be called ' Masquerade" . Any Thoughts. The second one is still in development. And I have two more sermons to go....

Carolyn Forché @ Struga Poetry Evenings Macedonia 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:29:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (blussier) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:12:00 +0000

I'm sorry I haven't been posting...I've been enjoying my dog and the tail end of summer. Also reading quite a bit, particularly some of the things recommended to me during our wonderful workshop.

I love this bit from Montale's "Motteti":

La vita che sembrava
vasta è piú breve del tuo fazzuletto.
--
The life which seemed so vast
can be spread out on your handkerchief.

Molly -- the Yes Press postcards are *beautiful*! Congrats.

Theresa -- you can come over for a beer any evening! I have no life and never go out, so just let me know when you can escape from the fam for a spell.

the end of summer

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:39:00 +0000

Hello all:

I wanted to share the news that a poem of mine, "Harry Houdini" has been accepted by Yes Press. I am mentioning this, not just to say HUZZAH! but also to point out a really great new place to submit poems. My friend Eireann and two other people I have met and find fabulous, Zach and Brian, have begun a letterpress broadside venture where the poetry appears on post cards. You can find submission information here.

Also, I've mentioned before that I like taking pictures. I have a picture a day project, and my sister (who is studying photojournalism) and I have recently started a new push for a duet photo a day project.

I think this is one thing that has sprung from my interest in words and experience: being more observant.

Hope you are all well! Gros bisous.

Where have all the bloggers gone?

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:23:00 +0000

For days I have been checking, and nada- you've disappeared. So I started my own blog- this is all your fault. Now I have to learn how to add links, etc. But I feel the class blog has been abandoned. Where are you all? Missing you.

From Milwaukee

noreply@blogger.com (Sue Blaustein) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:47:00 +0000

Molly - amazing pictures! I was trying to decide if I should take time for a digital photogrraphy class through UW's Adult Ed this fall, and looking at your pictures tipped the balance in favor. Looks like it was an auspicious start to your marriage. I have laid aside my manuscript for the time being to try and re-enter the "generative" mode. In short, fishing for the next poem! At least the Local 1091 News is done. Best wishes to all.

Sue

The Rabbi's Plea

noreply@blogger.com (Mikki Mendelsohn) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:12:00 +0000

(This is a poem I would like to use during the High Holy Days Service if you think it worthy- please comment)

Tonight the mystics are about.
I feel their presence,
like ravens hovering around their prey,
black wings whoosh from limb to limb
looking for what God tells them to do, I suppose.
They have their voyage, as do we.

But we must be our own guide,
looking to the Machzor for direction
to a trip taking us into an interior
that no one else can know, except
for the Holy One, an obvioulsy busy
night for Him.

It's a bumpy ride into the interstices
of our lives, reaching back to discover
what has been hidden, actions and decisions
we'd rather forget, according to our American
values, which are now clashing with our Jewish ones,
sometimes ignored or conveniently "forgotten".

Think how much better we'll feel to offload these
distracting burdens, something only we can do.
It may be comforting to think of our dogs resting
comfortably, waiting for our return to wag their tails
in purity, living out their lives without such struggles,
or the gerbil, circling the world round and round
on his wheel, stopping to be fed and taken care of.
Or even animals in the wild, who must hunt to stay alive,
do not have to struggle with these internal issues,
yet it is we who live in abundance for the basics.

Yes, there is a mystery to life, especially at this season
when it is decided "who shall live and who shall die".
I pray for the whole congregation to wrestle with their
own demons as I wrestle with mine. Dealing with your
interior life matters, takes work, reflection, painful
absolution from people we know and love before
approaching the Holy One. That is the mysticism that
rides upon our backs.

The cold weight descends upon my body like an ice pack
covering my clothing, reaching my extremities. At first,
I feel nothing, until the cold seeps through my fingers and toes,
urging me on to action. And if I do nothing, I become numb,
not really alive anymore, insensitive to the needs of others,
reasons enough to continue to recite prayers, to try for redemption,
to pray for one more year. Amen.

Note. Machzor is the name of the book used on the High Holy Days only, which contains special
prayers-piyyutim from the 11th century often in acrostic forms.

honey love moon

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 07:20:00 +0000

I suppose it's only appropriate that I admit I have a regular blog. And while I love words, I also love my camera (not as much, of course!). So there you are. Feel free to visit my blog, tease me during those workshop posts, etc. :)

We had a wonderful honeymoon. The full post is here, with many, many more pictures.

And with Carolyn's advice, I kept many copious notes, during tours and other little whatnot bits of information, of which I may not have taken, save her urging. There are some snippets and a poem or two. Tomorrow I start my new school year, but I plan to put together a few poems shortly!

But for now, some images: