Below are the names of every poet who made an appearance or was mentioned in my dreams during 2011. Some of these poets I know well, others are acquaintances and some are complete strangers. If you find your name is on this list and you do not know me, it means that I know of you via your work or reputation and my psyche has attached some type of meaning or symbolism on you to represent something.
2011 Contributors:
Kim Addonizio, Rosa Alcalá, Kelli Russell Agodon, Sherman Alexie, Wendy Babiak, Julianna Baggott, Clay Banes, Jennifer Bartlett, Jan Beatty, Sandra Beasley, Tara Betts, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Matt Bell, Aaron Belz, April Bernard, Simeon Berry, Mary Biddinger, Sven Birketts, Elizabeth Bishop, Julie Bloemeke, Anne Boyer, Ana Bozicevic, Blake Butler, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Kelly Cockeram, Shanna Compton, Eduardo Corral, Bruce Covey, e.e. cummings, Brent Cunningham, Jordan Davis, Neil de la Flor, Michelle Detorie, Adam Deutsch, Joseph Donahue, Bob Dylan, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Cherryl Floyd-Miller, Daisy Fried, Gabriel Fried, Elisa Gabbert, Bernadette Geyer, Lea Graham, Arielle Greenberg, Tod Goldberg, Nada Gordon, Noah Gordon, Paul Guest, Shafer Hall, Josh Hanson, Ron Hogan, Joan Houlihan, Dave Housley, Honoree Jeffers, Henry Israeli, Charlie Jensen, Tayari Jones, Steven Karl, Mary Karr, Kirsten Kaschock, Erica Kaufman, Alan King, Amy King, Craig Kirchner, Rauan Klassnik, Ivy Kleinbart, Jennifer L. Knox, Jenn Koiter, David Lehman, Patricia Lockwood, J. Michael Martinez, Joe Massey, Steven Allen May, David McDonald, Erika Meitner, Didi Menendez, Gina Myers, E. Ethelbert Miller, Kasey Mohammad, Dan Nester, Maud Newton, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Hoa Nguyen, Mel Nichols, Alice Notley, Ed Ochester, January O'neil, Danielle Pafunda, Shin Yu Pai, G.M. Palmer, Karl Parker, Richard Peabody, Jessica Piazza, Scott Pierce, PF Potvin, Nate Pritts, Liam Rector, Barbara Jane Reyes, Anthony Robinson, Joseph Ross, Jeff Rudy, Carly Sachs, Metta Sama, Michael Schiavo, Steven Schoeder, Zachary Schomburg, Ravi Shankar, Laura Sheahen, Kim Gek Lin Short, Paul Siegell, Ron Silliman, Sandra Simonds, Nicole Steinberg, Gary Sullivan, Tree Swensen, Bronwen Tate, James Tate, Brent Terry, Maureen Thorson, Qiana Towns, Natasha Trethewey, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Laura Van Prooyen, Matt Walker, Allyssa Wolf, C. Dale Young, Kevin Young, Mike Young, Matthew Zapruder
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I'm a writer, but not a poet. Why am I included on a poet list?
A: Simmer down and accept the compliment.
Q: Does my appearing on this list mean that you are obsessed with or stalking me?
A: Possibly.
Q: Will you tell me the details of the dream I appeared in?
A: No, absolutely not. Assume the dream was totally demented and would disturb you a great deal.
Q: I'm a poet and I'm psychically awesome, why aren't I included in this anthology?
A: There are three possible reasons you are not included:
1. You didn't appear in my dreams in 2011. Resolve in 2012 to be more ambitious psychically.
2. You did appear in my dreams, but I don't remember. I forget many dreams. Your omission is a simple case of editorial oversight. You were screwed, unintentionally.
3. You did appear in my dreams, but I am loathe to publicly admit such a thing. This applies to a small percentage of poets appearing in my dreams. Your omission is a simple case of editorial bias. You were screwed, intentionally.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
my "sabbatical" (of sorts), or I'm such a chick
From now until at least the end of 2012 I'll be on a sabbatical (of sorts). This means I won't be reading or considering manuscripts, writing reviews or blurbs, participating in panels, attending conferences and bookfairs, organizing readings or literary events (other than the one reading at my home that I've already committed to doing) or other things of that nature that I have not already agreed to do. I have to draw this line for a while -- even though it means not being able to personally support other poets as much as I'd like and to the extent that they may deserve.
These past couple years I've had a challenging time focusing on my own work and meeting the commitments I already obligated myself to doing. I flaked out on too many things lately because I just couldn't manage to get it all done or keep it all straight. While I may not receive the number of requests a better known writer receives, I receive several a week on average. Some weeks, like this one, I receive more than one a day. Some requests are minor, some are not so minor. Sometimes the person asking believes it to be a much less consuming request than I perceive it to be.
For instance, people asking for a blurb or review with less than a month turnaround are sort of exasperating. This happens a lot so I put this out there as a public service announcement: You really should give 3 months (closer to 6 months, if you're asking a "big name"). It will not just take me a "couple hours" to do (I don't work that fast) and I (like most people) don't have gobs of spare hours in any week. Those kinds of rush requests are asking me to drop another commitment or sacrifice my own writing time. Even if I'm really excited about your upcoming book, you're making it difficult for me to help you out. In some cases, I have dropped something or given up my own writing time, but that's not going to be the case going forward.
This is not directed at any specific person. One of my reasons for posting this is so I can refer people to this "announcement" to show that I'm really not blowing them off. Or at least not them specifically. I'm blowing off the world and I'm a total chick worrying that people will be mad at me for saying no to them.
I am still supporting all the No Tell Books titles -- so if you need a review copy, need to be put in contact with one of the authors, etc., I'm here for that.
And of course I'm still here as a human being. I'm not retreating into a cave. I'll still be responding to emails. I'll still be blogging. I'll still be on FB and Goodreads. I still want to hear from friends and kind people who just want to say hello.
These past couple years I've had a challenging time focusing on my own work and meeting the commitments I already obligated myself to doing. I flaked out on too many things lately because I just couldn't manage to get it all done or keep it all straight. While I may not receive the number of requests a better known writer receives, I receive several a week on average. Some weeks, like this one, I receive more than one a day. Some requests are minor, some are not so minor. Sometimes the person asking believes it to be a much less consuming request than I perceive it to be.
For instance, people asking for a blurb or review with less than a month turnaround are sort of exasperating. This happens a lot so I put this out there as a public service announcement: You really should give 3 months (closer to 6 months, if you're asking a "big name"). It will not just take me a "couple hours" to do (I don't work that fast) and I (like most people) don't have gobs of spare hours in any week. Those kinds of rush requests are asking me to drop another commitment or sacrifice my own writing time. Even if I'm really excited about your upcoming book, you're making it difficult for me to help you out. In some cases, I have dropped something or given up my own writing time, but that's not going to be the case going forward.
This is not directed at any specific person. One of my reasons for posting this is so I can refer people to this "announcement" to show that I'm really not blowing them off. Or at least not them specifically. I'm blowing off the world and I'm a total chick worrying that people will be mad at me for saying no to them.
I am still supporting all the No Tell Books titles -- so if you need a review copy, need to be put in contact with one of the authors, etc., I'm here for that.
And of course I'm still here as a human being. I'm not retreating into a cave. I'll still be responding to emails. I'll still be blogging. I'll still be on FB and Goodreads. I still want to hear from friends and kind people who just want to say hello.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
calls and closings
We're closing on our townhouse next week and we can finally go back to being single home owners. I won't get into the details, but there were quite a few bumps. Any fantasy I ever had of owning a getaway home in the mountains has been dashed. I am a one-home woman.
I'm putting out the last call for poets (and any writer, really) to appear in the 2011 Reb Livingston Poet Dream Anthology. Last year I put out this call and several people inquired about sending poems. This isn't a poem anthology, it's a poet anthology. The way you get in is that you have to appear in one of my dreams *and* I have to remember the dream when I wake. If you're feeling dream shy, you can send a dream message or have one of your buddies appear and reference you in a dream. It all counts.
If you do make it into my dream anthology, accept the honor with grace and don't hassle me about your specific details. Every year I say this and every year people hassle me. The truth is, I have demented dreams and you really don't want to know. It's all fun and games until I divulge that when I found your rotting corpse my emotional response was relief and happiness. While I understand that your corpse stands for a shitty attitude I associate with you and also share myself, you're going to be creeped out and possibly paranoid about your impending doom. What if I really am 40% psychic like I claim? You don't want to find out.
In and around our new home we come across a lot animals and critters that we didn't in the old house. Hawks, owls, frogs (er, Chris keeps correcting me, it's TOADS) and last night, in our home, a salamander! As I told Chris, this is a clear sign that we need to evolve in our lives.
I'm putting out the last call for poets (and any writer, really) to appear in the 2011 Reb Livingston Poet Dream Anthology. Last year I put out this call and several people inquired about sending poems. This isn't a poem anthology, it's a poet anthology. The way you get in is that you have to appear in one of my dreams *and* I have to remember the dream when I wake. If you're feeling dream shy, you can send a dream message or have one of your buddies appear and reference you in a dream. It all counts.
If you do make it into my dream anthology, accept the honor with grace and don't hassle me about your specific details. Every year I say this and every year people hassle me. The truth is, I have demented dreams and you really don't want to know. It's all fun and games until I divulge that when I found your rotting corpse my emotional response was relief and happiness. While I understand that your corpse stands for a shitty attitude I associate with you and also share myself, you're going to be creeped out and possibly paranoid about your impending doom. What if I really am 40% psychic like I claim? You don't want to find out.
In and around our new home we come across a lot animals and critters that we didn't in the old house. Hawks, owls, frogs (er, Chris keeps correcting me, it's TOADS) and last night, in our home, a salamander! As I told Chris, this is a clear sign that we need to evolve in our lives.
Friday, October 21, 2011
onward and kabassi
In case you missed the online hoopla, today was No Tell Motel's last day of publication. We closed out our 7+ years with a week of Jill Alexander Essbaum. I greatly appreciate the lovely comments from folks about the magazine's run. It means a great deal for the work to be acknowledged. Last week J.P. Dancing Bear interviewed me on WKUP where I discuseed closing No Tell Motel as well as my own poems. You can listen to the podcast here.
I envisioned this being a relaxing and joyous time for myself, but I've hardly had much time to revel. I am completely consumed by non-poetry events (for one, we're in the middle of selling our townhouse which has not gone as smoothly as we hoped, as well as getting ourselves properly set up in our new home, and on and on). I'm grateful that I have one less time-consuming responsibility because otherwise I might crack. I dream a lot about our houses (both the new one and the one we're selling), playing strange versions of Monopoly -- like today I dreamed that I landed on the space that took me to the DSW (designer shoe warehouse) website but am too overwhelmed to make a purchase. And there are references to Medusa and basilisks. It's true, just glancing over (or pondering) some things makes me feel like I'm going to instantly drop dead. I can't tell if these dreams are about real estate or are metaphors for writing or lord knows what else. Some days pretty much anything makes me want to fall over and die.
Speaking of death, in a non-metaphorical way, we recently had to put our 17 year old cat, Darla, to sleep. It was sudden and sort of unexpected, even though, yeah, she was really old. I dream a lot of Darla and also the (dream) dog that I promised G we'll get when he's older and more responsible. In the dream the large dog jumps right through the driver's side window and onto my lap. I instantly like the dog and want to keep it, but I'm worried that I can't handle the responsibility right now. He's here, but I don't feel ready. I take him back to my house to think about it. The house is a mess, there's a party going on, other dogs are running around, there's a pile of kabassi in the sink and all I'm wearing in a swimsuit. I keep asking Chris if we should turn the dog over to the police or if we should keep it. He's noncommittal. It's up to me. Gaaahh!
As I access my (waking) situation, there's not much more I can cut-out/pare down. I spent the last year letting go of what I no longer needed or wanted. Maybe this is as calm as it gets. Maybe it's time I make room for that (dream) dog.
Sorry, G, the (waking) doggie still has to wait a couple years until you're old enough to shovel poop.
I envisioned this being a relaxing and joyous time for myself, but I've hardly had much time to revel. I am completely consumed by non-poetry events (for one, we're in the middle of selling our townhouse which has not gone as smoothly as we hoped, as well as getting ourselves properly set up in our new home, and on and on). I'm grateful that I have one less time-consuming responsibility because otherwise I might crack. I dream a lot about our houses (both the new one and the one we're selling), playing strange versions of Monopoly -- like today I dreamed that I landed on the space that took me to the DSW (designer shoe warehouse) website but am too overwhelmed to make a purchase. And there are references to Medusa and basilisks. It's true, just glancing over (or pondering) some things makes me feel like I'm going to instantly drop dead. I can't tell if these dreams are about real estate or are metaphors for writing or lord knows what else. Some days pretty much anything makes me want to fall over and die.
Speaking of death, in a non-metaphorical way, we recently had to put our 17 year old cat, Darla, to sleep. It was sudden and sort of unexpected, even though, yeah, she was really old. I dream a lot of Darla and also the (dream) dog that I promised G we'll get when he's older and more responsible. In the dream the large dog jumps right through the driver's side window and onto my lap. I instantly like the dog and want to keep it, but I'm worried that I can't handle the responsibility right now. He's here, but I don't feel ready. I take him back to my house to think about it. The house is a mess, there's a party going on, other dogs are running around, there's a pile of kabassi in the sink and all I'm wearing in a swimsuit. I keep asking Chris if we should turn the dog over to the police or if we should keep it. He's noncommittal. It's up to me. Gaaahh!
As I access my (waking) situation, there's not much more I can cut-out/pare down. I spent the last year letting go of what I no longer needed or wanted. Maybe this is as calm as it gets. Maybe it's time I make room for that (dream) dog.
Sorry, G, the (waking) doggie still has to wait a couple years until you're old enough to shovel poop.
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