This past weekend, poet Darren Demaree invited me (and fabulous Paging Columbus co-curator Joy Sullivan) to be a part of his online video series called CookBook, in which he interviews a poet while they cook something (and eat it) in his kitchen. I love this concept--the series is officially for Sundress Publications, a wonderful, innovative, community-minded literary organization and publisher.
We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (they were KILLER...I have eaten many this week!), and talked about Paging Columbus, the literary community in Columbus (which is alive and well, friends), and our plans for future events.
Happy Friday! Here's a virtual invitation to Paging Columbus (the reading series that I run) with three videos of readers that I know you'll enjoy. Have a wonderful weekend!
One of the joys of running Paging Columbus is getting to edit and revisit videos from all the readers over the years. It's amazing to see all of the different styles, cadences, and voices.
Here are a few that I've watched again recently...hope you enjoy! (Click on each name to visit that poet's site.) Kate Greenstreet
To begin the night, I read "The Fire Cycle" by Zachary Schomburg. Warning: this poem is flammable. And inflammable. If you like Zachary Schomburg, check out his site and this book and this book.
Hope your weekend is incendiary (or flame-retardant, depending on the kind of week you had).
At last week's Paging Columbus (a local literary event series I run here in Ohio), I asked four poets to read their own work and poems they wish they had written. I couldn't help but share one, too...here's me reading Bob Hicok's "Bars Poetica."
It's refreshing to hear writers get passionate and swoony about other writers (it's important for us to promote other writers, too!), and I think it removes some pressure from a featured reader. When I read someone else's work, I feel far less self-conscious, especially initially--I can focus on bringing a poem I love to life, without getting hung up on the construction of the poem. This might not be true for everyone, but for many, I think.
I wrote a post for Voice Alpha last winter about poets performing other people's poems (Kristin LaTour also writes about it here). It helps to make poetry readings more appealing, I think--writers are sharing not only what they love, but another facet of who they are.
I think it would be great to host a reading by non-writers--people who love books, reading their favorite sections from them. Is this something you would attend? What poems do you love that you'd want to read for others?
(For more videos from Paging Columbus, visit my playlist here).
A couple of months ago, I hosted a blogging panel here in Columbus as part of Paging Columbus (a literary arts event series). I'm happy to share with you the second part of this panel.
In this video, we discuss community and connection, strategies for making blogging seem less overwhelming, and branding. What are your ideas in these areas? How has blogging helped you connect with others? How do you fit blogging into your busy life? How have you approached branding?
Here, I've included Part 1 of the panel--the panelists introduce themselves and their work, and talk a bit about how they make the time to blog. How about you? How do you create space in your life for blogging? Hope you enjoy it!
For Multimedia Friday (it's slowly becoming an international holiday, I tell you), I wanted to share some video from a recent poetry reading. One of my most enjoyable new projects is a monthly literary arts series called "Paging Columbus" that I'm hosting/curating here at the wonderful OSU Urban Arts Space.
For the first event, I read poems with three other OSU alumni poets (that I admire so much---Jason Gray, Jen Town, and Maggie Smith). The venue was perfect, and I loved talking with everyone who attended.
The sound on the video is fairly good (though with a noticeable echo). I did want to share it with you, though, since all of the poems I read were first shared on The Storialist. Watching it back, I sound most at ease in the last couple of poems; I didn't feel nervous, but it took me a bit to adjust to the acoustics, I think.
I hope to show video from the next Paging Columbus event, too--an arts and culture blogging panel (pardon me while I jump up and down with glee). The panelists are brilliant artists and bloggers from around Columbus (one is the artist Matt Kish--I actually wrote a poem, "Ships Set Out," on one of his pieces in December of 2009--such a cool thing to have him take part in this panel now!).
Hope you enjoy the video, and have a great weekend. What readings, events, or performances have you been attending or participating in? What projects are keeping you busy?
