Friday, May 7, 2010
Hooky, Hookie, Hookey
72º ~ clear skies for now with storms in the forecast ~ a cold front is coming through and sending the highs plummeting (love that juxtaposition) for the weekend
My man and I are playing hooky, hookie, hookey today (I found 3 spellings for it after realizing that I couldn't think of how to spell it...end of the year brain mush) and going to see the early matinee of Iron Man 2. I know, I know, today was my return to poetry full time, but my man and I have a problem with movies made from comics...we must see them. It's a calling. I'm not really skipping school since I turned in all my grades yesterday, but it still feels decadent to go to a movie at 11:00 a.m. on a Friday rather than working or writing.
I slept in this morning, meaning I got out of bed at 7:15 instead of 5:45. My summer routine usually runs around the 7 a.m. wake up time...no alarm clocks for 2 1/2 months! Woo hoo!
I spent an hour catching up on blog reading and I do have some poetry thoughts to leave with you, Dear Reader, before I head out to the magic of movies.
1. People keep blogging about how blogging is dead (killed by Facebook and Twitter). This seems a lot like the argument that poetry is dead, an argument almost always made by practicing poets.
I know I came very late to the blogging party, but I've found my groove and have no intention of leaving. I love you all, Dear Readers, but this is a selfish endeavor at heart. I write to find connection in the vast nooks and crannies of the poetry world where I feel comfortable. I'm so lucky to have met some great people through this avenue. I also write in this space to help myself articulate my own thoughts about poetry and the poetry world. So, thank you all for reading!
2. I came across two blogs about women poets that I know are a furthering of the conversation about women being overlooked in the publishing world. First, Jessica Smith at looktouchblog has been compiling a list of practicing women poets. You can find it here. Second, Elisa Gabbert at The French Exit, has a thought-provoking graphic of the idea of women poets. Click here. I'd read Jessica Smith's list first and then came across Elisa Gabbert's visual. So, the one had softened the ground for the other, so to speak. I was stunned by the visual. I do not believe I have ever thought of "women poets" as separate from "poets" (i.e. male poets). I do love what the graphic says about the perception of gender in poetry, but I have to confess, I don't really consider myself as that different or separate from male poets. Let me reiterate that I do believe there is a problem when any major prize list skews 98% toward male writers. What I'm talking about here is my own interior landscape as I go about my life as a poet. Perhaps I am naive, but I don't see being a woman poet as something that holds me back. Perhaps because I haven't risen to a level to be winning any prizes or making any shortlists? Lots to ponder here. As my profile says: I have lots of questions and few answers: but that's kind of how I like it.
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5 comments:
Hi Sandy, I made the graphic because I've heard a lot of women say that they don't want to be categorized as "women poets" or "women writers." To me, this is very strange, because I don't think it's a category you can really opt out of. It just means you're both a woman and a writer. But the category doesn't say anything else about you -- being a woman in no way implies that you're inferior to plain old writers. (Women writers are writers! It's a subset, not another set entirely! Men writers are a subset too!)
Thanks for the mention of my blog :)
The problem with FB and Twitter is that they limit the amount of characters you can write, so the status updates rarely have a ton of depth to them.
Or then you have some people who seem to think "sitting in traffic" or other inane posts are worthy of our attention.
And there has been substantial grumbling about how FB, for example, is sharing your info to people you may not want shared.
Sure, it's true that most blogs die out pretty quickly because some people can't hack the grind of writing something substantial every week, so some folks become professional FBers and Twitterites.
Hi, Elisa! ..."it's not a category you can really opt out of..." exactly, I agree. What I find more interesting about your graphic is how it made me realize the difference in the perceptions of "subset" versus "another set entirely" Thanks!
Hey, Q. Yeah, I'll never be a tweeter b/c I've never been good at brevity! :)
I don't see how being a woman poet, or a black poet in my case, holds me back--anymore. Although, I think there is a disparity between men and women in terms of winning major book awards as well as publishing in A-level publications.
(I saw Iron Man 2 and loved it. Not as good as the first but still fun.)
Thanks for stopping by, January. To paraphrase Popeye: we are what we are. I don't feel held back, either. Yay!
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