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Showing posts with label Askew poetry journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Askew poetry journal. Show all posts
Today's post is brought to you by Askew Poetry's YouTube channel. Check out the careful archive by Poet Laureate Phil Taggart. You'll be treated to poets who have read in Ventura County. In a previous post, I mentioned that I wrote a song for my poem How Fire Is a Story, Waiting, the title poem for the book by Tía Chucha Press. Margaret Garcia painted the cover portrait. When she included the portrait in her one woman retrospective at the Ventura County Museum, I knew I wanted to write a song for the work to be performed at the museum, alongside the vibrant paintings. Turning a poem into a song is trickier than it seems. What I had in mind was to write an original song on guitar, based on the poem. Poets sometimes add musical accompaniment to their poems, but this situation was different because the song is its own entity. Some of the themes and verses are taken from the poem, but the song follows rules that make it a song, just as the poem follows rules that make it a poem. Thanks to the video footage, you can hear and see the song on guitar and then the poem performed in front of some of Garcia's fire paintings. When I originally, approached Margaret for a cover image for my poetry book, I had some of her fire paintings in mind. However, she graciously insisted on painted an original portrait for my book because the poems were for my poetry and she felt a portrait of myself was appropriate; this is how I became a cover girl.
Bringing the Bird Forgiveness Tour to the E.P. Foster Library's Topping Room
When my editor, Andrea Watson, heard me read in Phoenix four years ago, she said she wanted to publish my next book. I was happy to begin work on a new poetry book. At first, I thought the book would a short chapbook, but she pushed me to produce a ful-length book. Now, I'm enjoying taking my new book, Bird Forgiveness, on the road. My latest stop was the E.P. Foster Library's Topping Room in Ventura, run by Ventura County Poet Laureate, Phil Taggart.
Phil runs a tight ship at the Topping Room. The group is a welcoming bunch who meet every Thursday at 7:30 pm for poetry. Each week features a poet, followed by an open mic. Phil sets up a microphone and video recording system, it's all very professional. He, along with Marsha de la O, also put out a poetry journal, Askew. In addition to being lovely people who serve their community, by teaching, hosting events, putting out a poetry journal and running two different ongoing series in Ventura and Oxnard, they are both excellent poets. Phil has the open mic readers trained to read one short poem.
Many open mics lack the discipline that Phil brings to the scene, and the bar is set pretty high at this venue. I was fortunate to be the featured reader to a audience who listened attentively, bought books, and gave generously during the passing of the hat for the featured poet. La Bloga friend, liz gonzález, will feature at the E.P. Foster's Topping Room next month on October 11. If you're anywhere near, don't miss the opportunity to hear liz and to meet a wonderful group of dedicated poets. The Amtrak stops in Ventura and it would make a great day trip from Union Station in Los Angeles for an adventurous person. As someone who has read both in their open mic and as a featured reader, I highly recommend getting to know this group if you are a serious poet and are on the lookout for places to read from your new book.
When Ana Castillo contacts you and asks if you have an unpublished piece for a journal she is guest editing, the answer is always yes. And the action is to get to writing that piece. I'm honored to be included in Fifth Wednesday Journal's special Fall Issue on Mexican immigration.
Last on my To Do list is a university press has asked to see the novel I've been working on for the past several years. The editor has given me a deadline later this month to turn in the manuscript. I've been frantically rewriting and revising. One of my revision techniques has been to read the manuscript aloud, starting from page one. Hearing the words makes such a big difference. How I wish I had done this sooner. For me, writing a novel is all about revision. Learning the story you want to tell is only the beginning.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Marsha de la O in Ventura a few weeks ago. After the scandal in the New York Times over a White poet using a Chinese name to get his work published, Marsha wanted to make sure La Bloga knew she was not Latina, but had kept her name from a previous marriage. I've admired Marsha's poetry for several years and I've always assumed she was Chicana like me. I assured her that La Bloga readers would be grateful to hear about an exceptional, award-winning poet who was once a bilingual teacher and a former member of CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education.
Marsha arrived at poetry through prose in the form of vignettes. However, when a stranger came up to her and said, 'You are the true poet,' she allowed herself to believe him and even earned an MFA in poetry from Vermont College. She is an intuitive poet. She shared her poeming process with La Bloga:
"I get a fringe of an idea, the brush of a feather, that has possibility. I write a lot of words or I go to a thesaurus. I close the computer so I don't see it. If I'm looking at it, I'm criticizing it."
When her new book, Antidote for Night was nominated for the 2015 Isabella Gardner Poetry Award by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Marsha was grateful for the acknowledgement, but didn't think she had a chance of winning. "I thought my work was behind the times, too narrative, and that I was too old," she said. "I owned the book of the previous winner and she looked so young. I didn't expect anything so good to happen to me."
It's surprising to hear how humble Marsha de la O is. Her first book, Black Hope (1997), won the New Issues Poetry Prize from the University of Western Michigan and a Small Press Editor's Choice Award. Last year, Mariano Zaro, interviewed Marsha for the Poetry L.A interview Series. There's no doubt her third book will be another success. In fact, BOA has the first option rights and Marsha says she is determined to turn in an even better manuscript, lucky for us poetry enthusiasts. Marsha promises to change things up for her next book.
"I want to deal with the part of poetry that is magic. How magic always operates from words and incantations. Story is what I do best, but I want to explore incantation. I'd like to be able to cast a spell."
I'm positive La Bloga readers will be enchanted by Marsha de la O's poetry. Some might be inspired to send a couple of poems to the Literary Journal she and her husband Phil Taggert produce, Askew. Next year marks the 10th anniversary of Askew. As an editor Marsha values the surprise effect of poetry. Send your best work to askewpoetry@aol.com or mail to Askew, P.O. Box 559, Ventura, CA 93002. Hint. Meet the publishers and editors of Askew at the weekly Ventura Poetry series, hosted by Phil Taggert at the EP Foster Library in the Topping Room, every Thursday at 7:30 pm 651 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA.
A sample of Marsha de la O's poetry and a video link to her reading and upcoming readings:
Poetry by the Sea takes place Nov. 8th at 3:00 at Malibu United Methodist Church located at 30128 Morning View Drive. It is a public event and admission is free.
The CSUN Reading will take place Nov. 10th at 7:30 in the Reading Room at CSUN. Primarily for students in the MFA program in poetry and will feature poets from the program who have recently published books, as well as me. The public is welcome and admission is free.
