I am beginning to come up for air after the whirlwind trip to New York and subsequent tsunami of catch-up in both work (all three jobs) and life, though one would never know it from the levels of dust which apparently stalked and overcame my furniture in my absence.
New York was, of course, amazing. Being part of one of Toadlily’s Quartet Series books has been a blessing beyond words: how incredible to find yourself in the midst of this community, part and parcel of four poets who’ve spoken volumes to each other with and in their work. It was wonderful to meet these poets in person, to finally hear aloud the work I’ve read and loved so many times, and to hear the stunning new pieces they’re working on. Though Gladys Justin Carr couldn’t make it this time, I’m looking forward to meeting her in November. And reading at the Cornelia Street Cafe was such a wonderful experience (not to mention the ricotta gnochi and Zinfindel afterwards!). I was able to spend a bit of the day before the reading in the city. I hadn’t realized how deeply and dearly I’ve missed New York — both the city’s bustling, bristling festival of life and the sweet, tree-drenched, stone-overpassed-studded landscape of the suburbs. There really are few places like it.
I’ve spent much of my time since my return elbow-deep in a drastic and dramatic nip/tuck operation on my manuscript. I think I’ve finally gained enough distance to be able to really break it apart and put it back together. I moved quite a few poems from Manuscript 2 to Manuscript 1, and was finally able to excise the poems I didn’t feel totally comfortable with in Manuscript 1. I also finally revised some of the poems I wrote during the hectic rush of madness that was my NaPoWriMo project with my most wondrous NaPoWriMo partner, Ross. Now it’s time to see whether or not I can gather up the guts to send it out again.
No matter how much I try to avoid it, I still find myself dejected by The Slips.
We’re nearing the end of the Iliad in my World Literature classes, which always makes me sad, but will probably do wonders for my stomach, as it means less reading about eyeballs popping out of heads.
An important note: I missed the MTV VMAs, and have not been capable of watching the entirety of Britney Spears’ performance, as it seems far too terrifying and sad. Bahktin might have had a good deal to say about it, though.
Emma Bolden is the author of How To Recognize A Lady, a chapbook of poems published as part of Edge by Edge, the third in Toadlily Press' Quartet Series, and The Mariner's Wife, a chapbook published by Finishing Line Press. Her third chapbook, The Sad Epistles, is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. She was the recipient of a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers' Conference and was named a Finalist for a Ruth Lilly Fellowship by the Poetry Foundation/Poetry magazine. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in such journals as Prairie Schooner, the Indiana Review, Feminist Studies, The Journal, Redivider, The Greensboro Review, and Verse. Her manuscript was a semi-finalist for the Perugia Press Prize. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Georgetown College, where she also serves as the poetry editor of the Georgetown Review.
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