13 jul 2005

I'm a little burnt out with the journals. After a while, there is a certain sameness that seeps in: the white noise of the contemporary that makes it hard to hear yourself thinking above the din. I don't know how journal editors do it, reading lots of poetry like that. Maybe if you do enough of it, you can tune out the noise and hear what's really going on.

Rachel Loden's Richard Nixon Snow Globe has arrived. I wish I'd thought of that title! It's a excellent chapbook with a unified feel to it, and made me think that the chapbook is the form I'd really like to work in. That is, that's the ideal length for reading and writing poetry. Not the 60-80 page "full length" collection. So portable and elegant. It works for Jess Mynes and Rachel Loden (two very different poets needless to say), and I think it would work for me. I can see that there are poets who might feel constrained by this length, that they could not make the case for their poetry in only 25 pages. Maybe I'm just lazy because I have almost 30 pages in a new manuscript and want to bring it to a conclusion.

3 comentarios:

Gary L. McDowell dijo...

Jonathan -

I like this. I enjoy chapbooks as well. Especially Rachel Loden's work. She's great. I may have to get some more chapbooks to subsidize some of my summer reading. Good post.

Gary

P.S. I have a chapbook out with Pudding House Publications (www.puddinghouse.com) titled _The Blueprint_. I'd be honored if you checked it out sometime when you have a chance. I could even mail you a copy if you don't wanna purchase it with no previous knowledge of my work.

Jonathan dijo...

***

If you think I would like it, feel free to send me a "review copy." I never send the postman away when he comes with books (or chapbooks) of poetry.

Gary L. McDowell dijo...

Not completely sure you'd like it because I'm not sure exactly what you like, but if you wanna drop me your address (mcdowgl@bgnet.bgsu.edu) I'd be happy to send you a copy. Thanx.

G