Thanks to Carole Craig, who passed me the torch on this interesting string of posts by writers who write blogs. I’ve been reading her blog and was inspired by her post. I also took a look at Darran Anderson’s post (an Irish writer) and Susan Lanigan’s post, all part of this intriguing meme–very different writers answering the same four questions from their unique perspective. This seems to have started in Ireland, and skipped across the pond. Here’s mine.
what am I working on?
Well, poetry as always, but it’s spring, so the garden is taking a lot of time now, especially the labyrinth which requires many hours to rein back to its original, walkable shape. I’ve been trying to reread the Russian philosopher Berdayev, who captivated me years ago–slow going, a little each day. While I never read cookbooks, I’ve been mesmerized by Judy Rogers’ techniques and recipes in the Zuni Cafe Cookbook–much more of a conversation than a straight cookbook–and have been making a bunch of them. I was devastated to learn that she died last December and I can’t simply cross the bridge and talk to her. It was like losing a new friend just as I got to know her.
I’ve been seriously considering revising and serializing a novel that’s been sitting in my drawer and posting a chapter each week in the prose section of this blog, but so far haven’t committed to that; it’s a BIG undertaking. Any support for that?
And finally, I’m preparing for a trip to St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida!) and hope to read from my book of translations, Poems from the Stray Dog Cafe: Akhmatova, Mandelstam and Gumilev, at the Stray Dog Cafe itself, whose picture graces the cover.
how does my work differ from others of its genre?
I think of my poetry as “radically accessible.” That is, straightforward, not hard to understand, and (hopefully) with profound impact. I also use a lot of humor, somewhat unusual in poetry. Continue reading “The Creative Process Blog Tour”