tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324283202024-03-01T03:19:35.468-05:00WordPlayThe Blog for AshevilleFM's WordPlay,
a radio show devoted to poets and writers,
their craft and ideas.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-4813323553971387552014-07-05T02:43:00.002-04:002014-07-05T02:49:48.958-04:00Celebrating H.D. with Annette Debo<br />
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One of my favorite Wordplay shows this year featured the awesome Annette Debo, who teaches at Western Carolina University, discussing and sharing her work on the great modernist poet H.D. Her new edition of H.D.'s <i>Within the Walls</i> and <i>What Do I Love</i> will be out in September - not before, hopefully, we can do a follow-up show - and now she's been <a href="http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2014/04/wcus-annette-debo-named-among-unc-systems-top-professors/" target="_blank">named one of the best teachers</a> in the UNC system to boot. <br />
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You can find the original show from February 23 <a href="http://stream.ashevillefm.org/afm-word-play-02232014.mp3" target="_blank">right here</a>. And I enjoyed it so much I cued it up for a replay a couple of weeks ago; that lightly-edited version of the show is now <a href="http://stream.ashevillefm.org/afm-word-play-06222014.mp3" target="_blank">up at this link</a>. Enjoy!<br />
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<i>The photo catches Annette in back of the wintery Westville Pub, just before we went in for a celebratory pint</i>.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-7373384175037204812014-07-04T18:57:00.001-04:002014-07-04T18:57:20.873-04:00Testing, testing ... Tap, tap ... this thing on?<br />
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Just wanted to note that this old blog will be reviving shortly. It's a little dusty, and way out of date, but there's nothing so haywire that a little tweaking and some new content can't repair it.<br />
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So stay tuned. and catch Wordplay tomorrow at 5:00 on AshevilleFM.org. Our guest will be poet Katherine Soniat.<br />
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<br />Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-9182729191388021762008-05-26T20:19:00.003-04:002008-05-26T20:24:55.239-04:00Now on NatureS ...New posts about Wordplay now go up on the<a href="http://www.wpvm.org"> station blog</a> and at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com">NatureS</a>; I've become the only one writing them, for now, and just want to simplify my blog life.<br /><br />I've been exploring options for our permanent Archive, and will probably post a note here when it's up; it very much is in the works.<br /><br /><br />JeffJeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-79464443649944215462008-04-21T19:15:00.001-04:002008-04-21T19:17:09.645-04:00A Feast of Words<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbu6Birh_Q8J3bPdOckQHgVOcc2LpxDL2TVi5mvp-wyMcmcePy2xLmUn5W5OBKcMwFXGxGDug-16ktZClwJ2b6RtGNa_OXyc5-86Zpn2MAxWAUMwGcbwvksfySd2gs0n3fiVLo_w/s1600-h/word+fest+proof.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbu6Birh_Q8J3bPdOckQHgVOcc2LpxDL2TVi5mvp-wyMcmcePy2xLmUn5W5OBKcMwFXGxGDug-16ktZClwJ2b6RtGNa_OXyc5-86Zpn2MAxWAUMwGcbwvksfySd2gs0n3fiVLo_w/s320/word+fest+proof.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191121338630642674" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Hard to believe that we're now only a week away from <a href="http://www.ashevillewordfest.org/">Wordfest</a>, the new Asheville poetry festival. It hits the stage - or <span style="font-style: italic;">one</span> of its stages - this coming Thursday, April 24th, with a 7:00 performance by Patricia Smith and Rick Chess at UNCA's Humanities Lecture Hall. It should be an interesting event, given the distance between the writing & performance styles of the two featured poets; Patricia comes from the world of the slam, and Rick from the halls of the university.<br /><br />That difference, of course, is precisely the point, a signal of the range of poets and poetries the festival means to include.<br /><br />The whole thing grew out of a series of conversations over coffee at Malaprops, Asheville's great independent bookstore, following <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">Wordplay shows </a>early last year. Laura Hope-Gill, then a Wordplay host, and Jim Navé, of the Writing Salon, had fond memories of the first Asheville Poetry Festivals, held for a few years in the early 1990s - festivals that I had missed - had been, in fact, only vaguely aware of. Those festivals had grown out of the slam scene in Asheville, a scene in which I hadn't been involved, and had found, given the directions my own work was then taking, of little interest. Some poets of real energy and authentic voice, though, had emerged from that scene, including Laura herself, and her good friend (and also occasional Wordplay host) Glenis Redmond. The longer we talked, the more our conversation turned to creating a festival anew, one that would honor all the approaches to poetry we'd variously come to enjoy and understand, that had come to have place in our community. You won't find it anywhere in the festival materials now, but when we initially tried to define a statement of intent for the festival, the phase we came up with was "echo and reach"; we wanted to honor the history of the arts of language in these mountains, home through the centuries to Cherokee singers and to the poets of Black Mountain College, to ballad singers and to beats, slam masters and professors of writing. Over the months we talked with our friends and fellow poets, and gradually came up with a list of poets we believed covered, if not the full range of activity we might wish to honor, a pretty decent part of it.<br /><br />Here's the schedule:<br /><br /><h3>RICHARD CHESS‚ PATRICIA SMITH</h3> <p>Thursday April 24 7:00 pm UNC-A Humanities Lecture Hall</p> <h3>SIMON ORTIZ‚ MARIJO MOORE‚ KATHRYN STRIPLING BYER</h3> <p>Friday April 25 7:00 pm UNC-A Humanities Lecture Hall</p> <h3>GLENIS REDMOND‚ ALLAN WOLF‚ JIM NAVE‚ LAURA HOPE-GILL</h3> <p>Re-Opening the Green Door: a Retrospective of the 1990’s Performance Poetry Scene<br />Friday April 25 10:00 pm Malaprops Bookstore/café corner of Walnut and Haywood St.</p> <h3>COLEMAN BARKS WITH ELIOT WADOPIAN</h3> <p>Saturday April 26 2:00 pm The Fine Arts Theater 36 Biltmore Avenue</p> <h3>WORDFEST AT MALAPROPS: RECEPTION AND SIGNING</h3> <p>Saturday April 25 4:00 pm Malaprops Bookstore/café</p> <h3>FATEMEH KESHAVARZ‚ GALWAY KINNELL</h3> <p>Saturday April 26 7:00 pm UNC-A Humanities Lecture Hall</p> <h3>POETIX LOUNGE</h3> <p>Saturday April 26 10:00 pm Bobo Gallery on Lexington Avenue</p> <h3>FLOOD GALLERY READING: GLENIS REDMOND‚ SEBASTIAN MATTHEWS‚ LAURA HOPE-GILL‚ JEFF DAVIS‚ and MARK PRUDOWSKY</h3> <p>12:00 noon. 109 Roberts St. at corner of Clingman and Roberts by the river.</p> <h3>LEE ANN BROWN‚ CATHY WAGNER‚ DEVIN JOHNSTON</h3> <p>This History Isn’t Closed: A Protospective of The Black Mountain College Legacy: Sunday April 27 2:00 pm Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center</p> <h3>WORDFEST LOCAL: DAVID HOPES‚LEE ANN BROWN, GARY COPELAND LILLEY‚ THOMAS RAIN CROWE‚ ROSE MCLARNEY, ALLAN WOLF‚ KEITH FLYNN<br /></h3> <p>Sunday April 27 7:00 pm Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, 56 Broadway in downtown Asheville.</p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />There's more information over at <a href="http://www.ashevillewordfest.org/">the festival website</a>.<br /><br />Glenis, Rick, Navé and I will also be providing workshops in various approaches to poetry; mine will focus, as you might suspect, on writing about or from what we usually call "Nature". More on those workshops in another post.<br /><br />Come out if you can to catch us all at work, doing what we love most to do, celebrating language of the mind, heart and imagination.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />Thanks to Megan McKissack for creating the festival poster.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Cross-posted at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com">NatureS</a>.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-51681513807315080562008-03-22T19:24:00.001-04:002008-03-22T19:24:52.780-04:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCa94Oa5qgqz3S5AA2w7MAGZkbQunvyGxa73Y1eEx34d7o1qqgXW77gMmznYyEEg4wFAYbWizLcnOQb74FTFiq_zXsE8kwQspkS-1AVE-oZOMPKD09UqbSHJGiCc91i6l-mSxPA/s1600-h/chad-prevost-rev02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCa94Oa5qgqz3S5AA2w7MAGZkbQunvyGxa73Y1eEx34d7o1qqgXW77gMmznYyEEg4wFAYbWizLcnOQb74FTFiq_zXsE8kwQspkS-1AVE-oZOMPKD09UqbSHJGiCc91i6l-mSxPA/s320/chad-prevost-rev02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180709411285333042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />features Chattanooga poet <a href="http://faculty.leeu.edu/%7Ecprevost/aboutme.html">Chad Prevost</a>, author of <span style="font-style: italic;">Snapshots of the Vanishing Worl</span>d (out from Cherry Grove Press in 2006) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Chasing the Gods</span>, a chapbook (Pudding House, 2007). It was a fun show, and Chad read several of his hilarious new mock-autobiographical prose pieces. It'll be available as online stream and podcast from the <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">WPVM archive page</a> through Sunday, tomorrow.<br /><br />I'm still going through recordings for tomorrow's show, but it will feature Jonathan Williams, who passed on last Sunday night at the age of 79.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-73386708021823393662008-03-06T04:36:00.003-05:002008-03-06T04:45:22.214-05:00All the hits ...Some Sundays <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">Wordplay</a> is the high point of my week - we'll have a guest whose work provides unexpected pleasures, or who's really <span style="font-style: italic;">on </span>and leads us into great conversations or a happenstance collaboration. There are many ways it can exhilarate and delight.<br /><br />So it was great to learn tonight at the monthly WPVM staff meeting that in the latest reporting period, Wordplay's podcasts got over 5000 hits, which makes it one of the station's most popular downloads.<br /><br />It seems that some folks out there in cyber-radioland enjoy the show, too. Thanks.<br /><br />We've got some fine programs coming up, including readings and interviews with poet and translator Coleman Barks, and poets Ross Gay and Jonathan Williams. Sebastian and I are both working with our former co-host Laura Hope-Gill to produce the upcoming <a href="http://www.ashevillewordfest.org/">Asheville Wordfest 2008</a> poetry festival, and we'll be recording many of the readings and performances it'll bring to town for future shows.<br /><br />So, keep coming back, whoever you are; we'll certainly try to make it worth your time.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Up this week: <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Thomas+Rain+Crowe%22">Thomas Rain Crowe</a>, reading from his recent collection <a href="http://www.mainstreetrag.com/TRCrowe.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Radiogenesis</span></a>, and Blaise Ellery, a young poet from Black Mountain whom Thomas said "stole the show". See what you think; it's available as a stream or, of course, podcast, from the <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">station archive page</a> (just scroll down).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com">NatureS</a>.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-57353660666603807732008-02-22T03:52:00.001-05:002008-02-22T03:55:06.212-05:00NatureS on the air, now, actuallyWell, last week’s show with Lori Hovitz was permanently lost in the aether, but the show from the week before, in which I give my <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2008/02/this-week-on-wordplay-natures.html">first reading of <em>NatureS</em>,</a> to the delight, amusement, and/or consternation and utter bafflement of an audience at the <a href="http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/">Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center</a>, back in April, 2006, is now actually up, ready to be streamed or podcast from the WPVM Archive page. Enjoy. <p>This week (2:00 Sunday) we’re hosting the very literate singer/songwriter <a href="http://www.angelafaye.com/home.html">Angela Faye Martin</a>, who’s said she’s bringing her guitar.</p>(We do like to mix things up.)<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted at </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/">NatureS.</a>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-76616405664970747142008-02-17T20:00:00.007-05:002008-02-18T04:49:34.377-05:00Wordplay, Mercury retrograde edition, part 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyi8l4Vm-T2W11EolORkuPhHWWih50uv9upeFnMsbXhR2iBHQ6QAgbSAy1TnOSgFrHVn4mG1DKLvIuPxS3ZovBCcerv5MdLWXvApaAJKvQUhRrGKnl3lCWJ3jHGElsFUwEmIGVA/s1600-h/mercury2008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyi8l4Vm-T2W11EolORkuPhHWWih50uv9upeFnMsbXhR2iBHQ6QAgbSAy1TnOSgFrHVn4mG1DKLvIuPxS3ZovBCcerv5MdLWXvApaAJKvQUhRrGKnl3lCWJ3jHGElsFUwEmIGVA/s320/mercury2008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168113978258364882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Today's show with Lori Horvitz was really fun, had a great spontaneous flow, and Lori read some material from her memoir-in-progress that included really well-observed scenes and stories of some wonderful encounters - I especially enjoyed those that included her father. Unfortunately, if you didn't hear it live, you never will. Once again the WPVM archiving system failed to record the show, and neither Sebastian nor I, sadly, had brought a blank CD to use in the low-tech, but mostly reliable, back-up system. So it's gone, sound waves dissipated into the atmosphere.<br /><br />My apologies to Lori; we'll have her back on the show and do it all again just as soon as her schedule and the show's permit.<br /><br />After the show I poked around and found another issue: the automated FTP upload for last week's show had also gone awry, and the show never uploaded to the site from which it podcasts and streams. In fact, it's impossible to tell now when the last show uploaded. So we'll be talking again to WPVM's beleaguered manager about how we can fix the latest round of glitches, and make as certain as possible that they won't occur in the future.<br /><br />At least until Mercury once again goes retrograde.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-22043605695951954872008-02-16T21:44:00.008-05:002008-02-17T03:00:59.591-05:00This week on Wordplay: Natures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfLCUBlTVe81oL8Gq42rl3_-UsBGNwanPwY8C8kPaLe1TQvN0pEPbGZGStO7e0Jfcr9wG2VQUDBqBa-n8mvTw5CWI5HbLipkF5-zo30HWDw1BI34MYXP9LhAQvqCl8X4IeO7HsQ/s1600-h/Davis-Natures-rev03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfLCUBlTVe81oL8Gq42rl3_-UsBGNwanPwY8C8kPaLe1TQvN0pEPbGZGStO7e0Jfcr9wG2VQUDBqBa-n8mvTw5CWI5HbLipkF5-zo30HWDw1BI34MYXP9LhAQvqCl8X4IeO7HsQ/s320/Davis-Natures-rev03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167722771162208706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>This week’s show, still available via stream or podcast from the WPVM <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">archive page</a>, features my debut reading of <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/search/label/NatureS">NatureS</a> from April, 2006. The reading took place at the <a href="http://www.blackmountaincollege.org/">Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center,</a> and I talked a bit about the Black Mountain poets, especially <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2006/01/something-quite-different-farewell-for.html">Creeley</a>, and my sense of their relevance to my own work. I also wanted to speak to the poetics that informs the work, and so spent probably too much time talking about parataxis, as practiced particularly by Robin Blaser, and about Novalis, whose Encyclopedia explores the identity of the character each of us calls “I” in a way that remains useful some two hundred years, now, further on.</p> <p>Listening to the recording for the first time just ten or twelve days ago, I realized that I had seriously mangled my recapitulation of Creeley’s accounting of the argument between Wittgenstein and Russell. Wittgenstein refused to agree with Russell’s assertion that there was no rhinoceros in the room, and Russell, so the story goes, tried to prove to him empirically that, in fact, no such creature was around; he looked under tables and chairs, and so on. My telling scrambles Wittgenstein’s position, and so obscures the import of the whole argument - and, sadly, likewise obscures the humor of the situation as legend tells us it unfolded. When Creeley told the story, he managed to keep that humor. My apologies to Bob’s spirit, and to any who might listen to this version, for getting things scrambled in my jangled brain that night.</p> <p>We don’t offer feature our own work on Wordplay, but we had a week with no guest on board, and I’d been having difficulties cleaning up a noisy recording of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Williams_%28poet%29">Jonathan Williams</a> that I wanted to air, … so there it is. Enjoy. We’ll hopefully be able to include the Williams reading in a future show.</p> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />Update: Coming up Sunday (or Monday via on-demand stream and podcast), <a href="http://www.unca.edu/lit/faculty/horvitz.htm">Lori Horvitz</a>.<br /><br />Cross-posted at <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/">NatureS.</a>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-14516896408736004872008-01-15T19:43:00.001-05:002008-01-15T19:53:14.853-05:00This week: Ed Dorn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_-bhFCvmfk9zapxLJFP51YI7HaSN-HFQbDWo_9FNaWzVNP5Yywm0z4sEKy_X_nbiR4bZuGLuuB9lPuCBjFqhFx2fOd8YRaX0W7Uj2Ffnyxu-nQ_jytY2_2_vNoWWUE5xsrpnJQ/s1600-h/dorn_buffalo_19740419_006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_-bhFCvmfk9zapxLJFP51YI7HaSN-HFQbDWo_9FNaWzVNP5Yywm0z4sEKy_X_nbiR4bZuGLuuB9lPuCBjFqhFx2fOd8YRaX0W7Uj2Ffnyxu-nQ_jytY2_2_vNoWWUE5xsrpnJQ/s320/dorn_buffalo_19740419_006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155646805161782642" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thanks to Donald Allen's 1960 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_American_Poetry_1945-1960"><span style="font-style: italic;">New American Poetry</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dorn">Ed</a> <a href="http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/dorn/">Dorn</a> is still primarily known as a Black Mountain College poet. After his years at the college, though, he went on to become one of the foremost poets of the American West, in all its dimensions. This week's Wordplay features Dorn reading two works that helped to define that legacy: <span style="font-style: italic;">Idaho Out</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Recollections of Gran Apacheria. </span><br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">Idaho Out</span> opened a 1962 reading, probably in Albuquerque (Robert Creeley, who'd been his Examiner at Black Mountain, introduces him, and Creeley was then, I believe, still teaching in New Mexico). Dorn followed it with an equally spirited take on "From Gloucester Out", but I decided to save that poem for another show so that I could fit the second reading, from April 19, 1974, in Buffalo, into our hour. This reading was one of the first to which I lugged my trusty Uher reel-to-reel; I set up on Dorn's right, fairly close to the front of the room, and held the single mic in my hand (no mic stands in those days, so I could travel light) for the duration. I also managed to shoot several photos of Dorn as he read; I've posted them <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27143&l=35b06&id=552184387">over at Facebook</a> (that's the public link), and will probably upload them to Flickr also.<br /><br />Before he read <span style="font-style: italic;">Recollections</span> that night, he read a few short selections from the later books of <span style="font-style: italic;">Gunslinger</span>, whose conclusion hadn't yet been published. I omitted those from the show in order to include all of <span style="font-style: italic;">Recollections</span> - or all I had; back in those days of reel-to-reels, I always had to keep my fingers crossed that one five inch tape would make it all the way through a reading. That night it didn't, not quite: the end of the tape slipped through the capstan and across the heads just before Dorn spoke the last few words of the final poem. I supplied those for the show.<br /><br />The readings are both now available online, the 1962 reading at the <a href="http://slought.org/">Slought Foundation</a>, and the 1974 reading at <a href="http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/">PennSound;</a> I uploaded it a few years ago to The Factory School site, and it somehow made its way across Philadelphia to PennSound. Ah, the wonders of the internet.<br /><br />The music I played to open the show was "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrKzULc4Sfg">Apache", by The Shadows</a>; I found it at YouTube. That's also where I found Vaughn Monroe's version of "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsfw9CEQITA">Ghost Riders in the Sky</a>", which led into the break. Leading into <span style="font-style: italic;">Recollections</span>, and then out of the show, are short sections of two cuts from the Peter Kater/R. Carlos Nakai collaboration <span style="font-style: italic;">Natives</span>, as haunting, and haunted, as the West which they echo.<br /><br />Enjoy.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo: Ed Dorn reading in Buffalo, April 19, 1974.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-44307092870069704022008-01-03T20:01:00.000-05:002008-01-03T20:04:59.914-05:00A new year for Wordplay ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrB68lEoU1zE3xLtY4cXbMX2VhLBi1h92AZPARYoe8kY0DhMQhJjOOiMYpWp8zgWb-o9IxwZBv4iNh5EqAuZzSfPWC-N-jMCxkPrfTKXyPrkmaXtrtDKk8ah3AjutKOhAdV7xiA/s1600-h/radio.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrB68lEoU1zE3xLtY4cXbMX2VhLBi1h92AZPARYoe8kY0DhMQhJjOOiMYpWp8zgWb-o9IxwZBv4iNh5EqAuZzSfPWC-N-jMCxkPrfTKXyPrkmaXtrtDKk8ah3AjutKOhAdV7xiA/s320/radio.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151178385611533650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Behind the scenes ... er, no, I should use a less visual metaphor. How about "off-mic?" As, something that happens in a radio studio that the audience never hears. If you've listened to <a href="http://wordplayradio.blogspot.com/">Wordplay</a>, you know that it's been a half-hour show for that past two and a half seasons. For the last several months, though, I've been gently nudging the powers that be at <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">WPVM</a>, Wordplay's home, to let us go to a longer format, one that would allow us to play more of pre-recorded events, and to entice our live authors into stretching out, telling us more about what they're up to. And now all the off-mic activity is about to be audible indeed.<br /><br />Beginning Sunday, January 13th, Wordplay will be moving two hours up on the station program schedule, to 2:00 PM, and going to a full hour format. Woohoo!<br /><br />Sebastian and I have already been recording additional material with some of the guests we've had on the show this fall, and booking new guests who'll fit much more comfortably into the hour format. The show should be a bit more spontaneous, and we plan to enrich and vary its sonic collage more than we've had the simple time to to this point. We believe you'll find the shows even more interesting, more engaging, than the ones we've produced so far.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:webdings;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br /><br />There have been several requests for a replay of the early November show which featured the work of <a href="http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v3n2/nonfiction/wojahn_d/matthews_interview.htm">William</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_%28poet%29">Matthews</a>, Sebastian's father and my friend during my last year in Chapel Hill; this week it's available again from the station's <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">archive page </a>as a stream or podcast.<br /><br />This coming Sunday we'll take a look back at a few of the fine moments from 2007 with a show that features poems by a diverse crew, including <a href="http://www.robertbly.com/">Robert</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bly">Bly</a>, <a href="http://english.unc.edu/programs/wolfe/chappell_bio.html">Fred</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Chappell">Chappell</a>, <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.irisbooks.com/bowers/index.htm">Cathy Smith</a><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.irisbooks.com/bowers/index.htm"> Bowers,</a></span> Matthews, and <a href="http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/matthew_dickman/">Matthew Dickman</a>.<br /><br />And let me be the thousandth person so far to wish you a Happy New Year. Onward!<br /><br /><span style="font-family:webdings;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Radio image from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ttrn.com/">Travel Talk Radio Network</a><span style="font-style: italic;">'s site.</span><br /><span style="font-family:webdings;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >Cross-posted at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/">NatureS</a></span><br /></span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-66161279643804935102007-11-30T03:01:00.000-05:002007-11-30T04:39:07.976-05:00This week, tooRobert Morgan's <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/11/wordplay-this-week-robert-morgan.html">interview</a> about his biography of Daniel Boone is available as either stream or podcast at <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">WPVM.<br /></a><br />(Inertia of Thanksgiving and all ...)<br /><br />This coming Sunday, former co-host Laura Hope-Gill joins Sebastian and me to talk once again about poetry - and about <a href="http://ashevillewordfest.com/default.aspx">WordFest</a> (parts of the site are still under construction), the poetry festival that will unfold in Asheville next April. I hope you'll join us.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-70224412478642144722007-11-20T04:03:00.001-05:002008-02-22T04:00:17.742-05:00This week: Robert Morgan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oOri99UnftFge5PpGTbYWq0G5PwVykS1qjO_rmk0Mxh_qgboKaTbiWuq6KG8zWQmHa51y8ASdPlU1ASrsomWHslSHiUchwXFrToDVwGXpr4MLESh4syBCppABJCjDk5UuR28OA/s1600-h/robert_morgan.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oOri99UnftFge5PpGTbYWq0G5PwVykS1qjO_rmk0Mxh_qgboKaTbiWuq6KG8zWQmHa51y8ASdPlU1ASrsomWHslSHiUchwXFrToDVwGXpr4MLESh4syBCppABJCjDk5UuR28OA/s320/robert_morgan.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134843434096078450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A little over a week ago, poet and novelist <a href="http://www.robert-morgan.com/">Robert Morgan</a> made a visit home, and gave a few readings while he was here. After his <a href="http://www.malaprops.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=352378">reading at Malaprops</a>, we walked over to <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">the station</a> and talked about his new biography, <span style="font-style: italic;">Boone</span>. The book takes as one of its tasks the liberation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone">Daniel Boone</a> from the two century deep accretions of folklore and media-made myth which have come to surround him, and in our interview you'll hear that Morgan has indeed gone to work pulled back as many veils as could be pulled from the real woodsman.<br /><br />Give it a listen; you're likely to learn some surprising things about this complex early American icon.<br /><br />The program will be broadcast and carried on the station's live stream Tuesday at 6:00 PM and Wednesday morning at 7:00. It's also available as either a stream or podcast from the <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">Archive page</a> through next Sunday.<br /><br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thanks to Malaprops for the photo.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-76748505876509025162007-11-14T18:55:00.000-05:002007-11-16T16:05:16.891-05:00This week: William Matthews<a href="http://www.sebastianmatthews.com/">Sebastian</a> had a trove of old cassette tapes of his father, <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/132">William</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Matthews_%28poet%29">Matthews</a>, reading his work, so I digitized them and made a selection for last Sunday's show; were Bill still living, it would have been his sixty-fifth birthday, so it seemed a more than appropriate moment to listen to his work.<br /><br />Given the limits of our thirty minute format, we wound up favoring the more formal readings Bill made for his 1984 cassette collection <span style="font-style: italic;">Days Beyond Recall, </span>just because that choice allowed us to include more poems. We closed the show, though, with two poems from a live reading Bill had given at The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Simmons_%28poet%29">Poet's House</a> in Ireland in 1992, complete with the "amiable banter" that provided settings of the poems for that audience.<br /><br />I'd worked with Bill in the late 60s on the <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/09/pictures-from-great-war.html">little magazine <span style="font-style: italic;">Lillabulero</span></a>, and have though ever since that he was one of the most gifted of my contemporaries; it was great to hear his voice again, preserved on these thin charged strips of polyester film.<br /><br />Give him a listen.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-26779519465565086512007-11-03T05:41:00.000-04:002007-11-05T15:16:00.098-05:00Jessica Smith comes to WordPlay<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhongiiWWiyP1L9JAx1M4IHhzGIcDnHuoDD2S6Zd5Yy6FJRbaLNl5-hpX90zXmPgfrVruMT_oVX8EiyiQooq5RVKEbZonaD8vus_2FzPkQ31gHqEnw7XgFkPIQ6-ZPIsN_Rm_tjpg/s1600-h/jessica02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhongiiWWiyP1L9JAx1M4IHhzGIcDnHuoDD2S6Zd5Yy6FJRbaLNl5-hpX90zXmPgfrVruMT_oVX8EiyiQooq5RVKEbZonaD8vus_2FzPkQ31gHqEnw7XgFkPIQ6-ZPIsN_Rm_tjpg/s320/jessica02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128545466420090322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well, actually, <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/10/charlottesville.html">Wordplay went to her</a>. But in any event, this week Charlottesville poet <a href="http://www.looktouch.com/">Jessica Smith</a> reads from her book <span style="font-style: italic;">Organic Furniture Cellar</span> and talks about her work. Her poems have spatial as well as the usual temporal dimensions we associate with poetry, which most often remains, as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Howe">Susan Howe</a> put it in the title of her 1987 book, the <span style="font-style: italic;">articulation of sound forms in time</span>. While there's no way to share the visual fields via the airwaves, you'll find, I think, that there's plenty left to catch your ears.<br /><br />The program broadcasts (and streams) at 4:00 PM on Sunday, and then is available from the <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives">station's archive</a> page as either a stream or a podcast through the following Sunday.<br /><br />If you check the archive before Sunday, you'll hear Walt Whitman (yes), Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, and Edgar Lee Masters on a special fall fundraiser edition of the show. The recordings were drawn from the collection <span style="font-style: italic;">Poetry on Record</span>, produced in 2005 by Rebekah Presson Mosby, though I had to do some additional digital cleanup on the Whitman to make it listenable.<br /><br />If you haven't dropped some coins into WPVM's bowl yet this fall, please do click on the "Donate" button on the <a href="http://wpvm.org/">station's homepage</a>, or drop a check, whatever you can, into the mail to:<br /><br />Mountain Area Information Network<br />34 Wall Street<br />Suite 407<br />Asheville, NC 28801<br /><br />Just make your checks payable to WPVM.<br /><br />You'll be supporting Wordplay and some other fine musical, news, and talk programming - real grassroots radio.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update 11/5/2007: The version of Jessica's Wordplay that's available today begins with a couple of minutes of the show which precedes Wordplay, Pathways to the Sacred. Tonight a trimmed version of the show will go up on the internet server. The automation system's been slightly crazed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jessica's photo via Facebook.<br />Cross-posted at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/">NatureS</a>.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-57328482875001918352007-10-24T14:55:00.000-04:002007-10-24T15:00:03.803-04:00Marvin Bell tonightWhile we were running down upcoming poetry events on last Sunday's show, I believe that Sebastian and I both mentioned the Bell reading at UNCA; unfortunately, we gave the wrong day for the reading. It's tonight, not Thursday, or tomorrow. Hopefully there's been enough other information about the event out there that most folks who'd attend have the date right.<br /><br />Sorry about that.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-25910937398416912192007-10-16T21:15:00.001-04:002008-07-21T19:35:30.218-04:00Coming up this week ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE1MgMAHrS1rYkFvDUCMGGxRrnsUQ6wteJYW4_sVF94h8SFokSbPOXfwTvUhL23qPn7CmUCvO9Lc2pTcaWAcnx1EqMZKhLgAT0eDFoHWAymHwEmQlckRrBX3ZnQNY9SFk5QaS/s1600-h/bmcmac+poets+rose_20060519_0005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE1MgMAHrS1rYkFvDUCMGGxRrnsUQ6wteJYW4_sVF94h8SFokSbPOXfwTvUhL23qPn7CmUCvO9Lc2pTcaWAcnx1EqMZKhLgAT0eDFoHWAymHwEmQlckRrBX3ZnQNY9SFk5QaS/s320/bmcmac+poets+rose_20060519_0005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122112239852981042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2006/10/meet-rose-mclarney.html">Rose McLarney</a> joins us again this week, another year older (happy birthday, Rose), and wiser. She's now in the MFA program at Warren Wilson, and seems to like it so far, despite earlier reservations about such programs for poets. She's got lots of new work, so we'll listen to some of it and talk with her about her developing views on poetry and poetics.<br /><br />Hope you'll come join us.<br /><br />That's 4:00 this Sunday on WPVM, 103.5 FM, or streaming from <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">the station website</a>.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The photo of Rose dates from a reading at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center in May of last year.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-50229629844915606692007-10-16T21:10:00.000-04:002007-10-16T21:14:47.506-04:00Fifty years later, still no HowlUser Knowfish of <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">WPVM</a>'s listserve passed along last week an editorial from the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/opinion/08mon4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">N.Y. Times</a> which reflects on the fact that 50 years after its having been declared "not obscene", Ginsberg's "Howl" still can't be broadcast on the public airwaves:<br /><br /><blockquote>WBAI, long the radio flagship of cocky resistance to government excess, decided last week that it couldn't risk a 50th anniversary broadcast of the late poet's recording of "Howl."<br /><br />...<br />If Ginsberg were still with us, he would undoubtedly pen a mocking line or two about his poem being banned from the airwaves 50 years after it was ruled not to be obscene. Congress, of course, could redress the F.C.C.'s bullying powers if it wanted to. But lately, the Capitol's most energetic broadcast agenda has been conservative members' organizing against any attempt to restore the fairness doctrine to political broadcast, which could crimp the 24/7 rants of right-wing talk radio. The poet would understand, having once noted: "Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture."</blockquote><br /><br />Indeed. We've thought several times about playing "Howl" and "America," another wonderful Ginsberg poem, on Wordplay, but have passed, since we'd have to bleep or cut them under current rules. Strange but true.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cross-posted at <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com">NatureS.</a></span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-47447752658925033792007-10-08T15:37:00.000-04:002007-10-08T15:54:19.282-04:00Last week ...<blockquote>on WordPlay, Audrey Hope Rinehart, who wrangles poets for the <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/09/wordplay-this-week.html">Flood </a><a href="http://www.floodgallery.org/">Gallery</a> <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2006/12/friday-reading-for-flood.html">reading series</a>, sat down with me to talk about her own work and read some recent poems. Our conversation will be available as a download or stream on the <a href="http://wpvm.org/nav/archives/">station Archive page</a> until Sunday night.<br /></blockquote>So I wrote <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/10/and-this-week.html">last week </a>over at NatureS.<br /><br />Make that <span style="font-style: italic;">next</span> Sunday night, October 14th, though, because the station's automation system glitched, and didn't record yesterday's fine program with California poet Mara Leigh. If you were listening live, you heard something much more ephemeral than any of us could know at the time!<br /><br />Not to worry, though; we'll have Mara on again in the very near future. I'll keep you posted.<br /><br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-22373926591767021632007-09-27T16:57:00.000-04:002007-09-27T17:15:09.118-04:00WordPlay this week ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTkql-9uRtd9ym-my6jvw9_jaUwdThvtWf8teJwJQd7iplQeaE3QeT-DDw97aK1w8CofJbp2oNlxntbb3ZFxI0kTd3Jx_AyvSrT90hV6QNOSDdKOUdx_mW2rgDi75dwxsmCg_/s1600-h/van_jordan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTkql-9uRtd9ym-my6jvw9_jaUwdThvtWf8teJwJQd7iplQeaE3QeT-DDw97aK1w8CofJbp2oNlxntbb3ZFxI0kTd3Jx_AyvSrT90hV6QNOSDdKOUdx_mW2rgDi75dwxsmCg_/s320/van_jordan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114994843388349090" border="0" /></a>This week Sebastian and I rushed back from a fine reading at the Flood Gallery by our own sometime co-host Glenis Redmond, A. Van Jordan, and Juilian Vorus to talk with poet Steve Godwin. Fortunately, Steve had also been at the reading and could share his impressions of it, as well as some recent work. Sebastian read from Jordan's new <i>Quantum Lyrics</i>.<br /><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJYGK1_lhHceXfbNuI-HQYbg0FBgVX2PrZK1XXTborIc9nkBGFwnwhQNgirygLSoOK52kwL4B8xIofBEnRuBs-yMsEpe1qIbymrSxYWuGg5oK25U1CxkD8N8sSSJZw2e_8uo4/s1600-h/williams.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJYGK1_lhHceXfbNuI-HQYbg0FBgVX2PrZK1XXTborIc9nkBGFwnwhQNgirygLSoOK52kwL4B8xIofBEnRuBs-yMsEpe1qIbymrSxYWuGg5oK25U1CxkD8N8sSSJZw2e_8uo4/s320/williams.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114995388849195714" border="0" /></a>Two weeks ago I took some time off to visit my son in Chapel Hill - and, of course, book addict that I am, hit a couple of used book stores, including the great The Bookshop on Franklin Street. There I found some early books by the sage of Scaly Mountain, <a href="http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2003spring/williams.shtml">Jonathan Williams</a>, including his <i>Amen Huzzah Selah</i>, which collected very early work from the period when he was a student of Charles Olson's at Black Mountain College. From it I read "The Anchorite", a poem that's held up well enough through the years to have been included in 2005's <i>Jubilant Thicket</i>, a selection of poems from his whole career. We had a little time, so I also read a poem by the great Hilda Doolittle, or H.D., as she preferred to be known, her musical take on Sappho's "Fragment 113", <i>neither honey nor bee for me</i> ...</p> <p>Enjoy. And, hey, it won't hurt you to read a poem this week.</p> <p><i>(Similar text cross-posted at <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">WPVM).</a></i></p><p><i><a href="http://www.wpvm.org/">(</a>And now at <a href="http://www.wpvm.org/"></a><a href="http://www.naturespoetry.blogspot.com/">NatureS</a>)<br /></i></p>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-85994275250313195122007-07-31T23:01:00.001-04:002008-07-21T19:32:31.041-04:00Gary Snyder on WordPlay<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gMo5L1MMLPqbojXf9q_vFjIWD-Fn-QJMiCjdp63ddGcnm8i75WQIH3g2wPe-VRHuQA8GS82BEFyU_BWBVGknjl4Sp5IxRnpXwMdZJC1SJpr9yPc7c_4GEzRJRI7hyphenhyphenpLxS1gf/s1600-h/Thomas+_+Gary+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gMo5L1MMLPqbojXf9q_vFjIWD-Fn-QJMiCjdp63ddGcnm8i75WQIH3g2wPe-VRHuQA8GS82BEFyU_BWBVGknjl4Sp5IxRnpXwMdZJC1SJpr9yPc7c_4GEzRJRI7hyphenhyphenpLxS1gf/s320/Thomas+_+Gary+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093565762537753394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Back in April <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2007/07/old-guy-still-on-road.html">Gary Snyder</a> came to Hickory for a reading at Lenoir-Rhyne College, so fellow poet Thomas Rain Crowe and I headed down the mountain to hear what he had to say. Though we'd both read his new work as it had appeared through the years, neither of us had heard him since the 70s. Snyder gave us permission to record for the show, so this week we feature excerpts from that April reading, and a rare clip of him reading in 1965, as well.<br /><br />The show will be rebroadcast tomorrow morning at 7:00, but you can always listen from the Archive page; just scroll down to the WordPlay link and stream away, or download the podcast.<br /><br />We're working with the station web master to create a new feature for WordPlay, by the way: a permanent online archive of some of our best shows. When we've worked it all out, this one will be likely be there.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">August 6th Update: Sebastian and Laura were both out of commission yesterday, so I decided to play the Snyder reading again - so it's held over, and will be available for another week.</span><br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I took the photo of Gary Snyder and <a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/search/label/Thomas%20Rain%20Crowe">Thomas Rain Crowe</a> at the reception following Snyder's reading in Hickory. There are more </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7485&l=123c5&id=552184387">here</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, over on Facebook (no membership required).</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-66805883346603794322007-06-08T14:33:00.001-04:002008-07-21T19:33:12.960-04:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN0V0gPTBcgCHdPsq6RlKczYsR060eqy2zZVKPqT1XRaQ-wqTDSTc02HgDE81ZzRe0XJS_iXb5_bbdn0K4Rp0gPBnmIM3NOr-5ukmbYFog8E9-mJYcZbAkKLkGMFXpm3Ld5t9/s1600-h/bly_outdoors_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN0V0gPTBcgCHdPsq6RlKczYsR060eqy2zZVKPqT1XRaQ-wqTDSTc02HgDE81ZzRe0XJS_iXb5_bbdn0K4Rp0gPBnmIM3NOr-5ukmbYFog8E9-mJYcZbAkKLkGMFXpm3Ld5t9/s320/bly_outdoors_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073763710910378034" border="0" /></a>In late April <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/280" title="Robert Bly at Poets.org">poet Robert Bly</a> came to UNCA for a reading that featured many of his translations of Kabir, Jiminez, Rilke, and others, as well as some of his own recent work. WordPlay, of course, was there. Bly graciously gave us permission to record the reading, and this Sunday we hope you’ll join us to listen to this master at work. Tune in at 4:00 PM, or for the rebroadcasts Tuesday at 6:00 PM and Wednesday at 7:00 AM. The show will also be available all next week as streaming audio and podcast.<div class="entry"> </div>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-53092918717214221792007-04-30T04:11:00.000-04:002007-04-30T04:17:54.867-04:00Oops ...Technical issues today, and the automation system that usually records the show got only twenty minutes of it before it croaked for reasons unknown. I'll try to get in to the station tomorrow to add ten more minutes of something; the first twenty minutes have Laura and me talking about Robert Bly's reading and workshop last week, so a few more Bly poems would seem to be in order. If you stream or download the show before Tuesday, you'll get the abbreviated version, so check back later in the week.Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-66783415517384595472007-04-13T18:36:00.000-04:002007-04-13T18:46:05.184-04:00Tables Turned<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqkL0kPhiilv4Wm8SLisjnuQRxLCaxPBKgN3z5n6YODd0fmygwP7lV6K5ceruyqxmpAPLIPVtfPA4eFMn86aNevtoT4CFiRH4ceaq31QryRYVkhHJz9R1vDTCtkKkbmSvnKgw/s1600-h/jeff+cover+rev01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqkL0kPhiilv4Wm8SLisjnuQRxLCaxPBKgN3z5n6YODd0fmygwP7lV6K5ceruyqxmpAPLIPVtfPA4eFMn86aNevtoT4CFiRH4ceaq31QryRYVkhHJz9R1vDTCtkKkbmSvnKgw/s320/jeff+cover+rev01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053046079027750930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As a WordPlay host I've interviewed a score or more of poets for the program. Last Sunday, though, found me on the other side of the console, interviewed myself by co-hosts Laura Hope-Gill and Sebastian Matthews. The program includes readings of several poems from my book <span style="font-style: italic;">NatureS</span>, including the serial set "Strata: Rhododendron". The show’s still available via streaming or podcast from the <a href="http://wpvm.org/wp/nav/archives/">archive page</a>. <p>This Sunday’s show will feature a reading by Oregon poet <a href="http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/matthew_dickman/">Matthew Dickman</a>; it was recorded last month at Warren Wilson College by WordPlay team-member Dylan Flynn. Tune in at 4:00 for his warm and genial presentation of his work.</p>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32428320.post-30421470178605001402007-02-01T02:50:00.001-05:002008-07-21T19:34:34.343-04:00And a happy birthday ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sYS458sN4gG54ARMlLLr9AcqgsKIuYNWcPdX-Ija3bKsVT2bERKwTVpjH-f2Y5OQb-f9f0aD0V589Z7jGL21sovhMEInccVl_IMPcSJDwW-kVe3OFhFAXbabTfeDS9wOnQtm/s1600-h/galway_kinnell.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sYS458sN4gG54ARMlLLr9AcqgsKIuYNWcPdX-Ija3bKsVT2bERKwTVpjH-f2Y5OQb-f9f0aD0V589Z7jGL21sovhMEInccVl_IMPcSJDwW-kVe3OFhFAXbabTfeDS9wOnQtm/s320/galway_kinnell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5026485613044663378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.elabs7.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=89119&mlid=499&siteid=20130&uid=4f7a8e27b0">Writer's Almanac</a> today shares the news that it's Galway Kinnell's birthday:<br /><br /><blockquote>It's the birthday of poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway_Kinnell">Galway Kinnell</a>, born in Providence, Rhode Island (1927). He became obsessed with the poetry of William Butler Yeats in college when his roommate, the poet W. S. Merwin, woke him up one night and read Yeats to him until dawn. After that night, Kinnell devoted himself to writing poetry.<br />He's the author of many books of poetry, including <span style="font-style: italic;">Body Rags (</span>1968) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Mortal Acts, Mortal Words </span>(1980). His <span style="font-style: italic;">Selected Poems</span> (1980) won both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize for poetry. He said, "Maybe the best we can do is do what we love as best we can."<br /><br /></blockquote>Kinnell's also the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Strong-Your-Hold-Galway-Kinnell/dp/0618224971/sr=8-1/qid=1170316951/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-1594268-3730851?ie=UTF8&s=books"><span style="font-style: italic;">Strong Is Your Hold</span></a>, published this past November, his eleventh collection. I've not yet seen it, but have heard reports that it's an intense, rich book - what I'd expect, given his previous work.<br /><br />A little known fact: though not generally associated with the Black Mountain Poets (<a href="http://naturespoetry.blogspot.com/2006/11/this-week-celebrating-black-mountain.html">Olson, Creeley, Dorn, Jonathan Williams</a>, et al.), Kinnell did attend Black Mountain College just after he'd encountered W. S. Merwin and the poetry of Yeats. More about that, no doubt, in a future post.<br /><br />Happy birthday to one of the essential poets of his - or any - time.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thanks to</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/galway_kinnell/photo"> famouspoetsandpoems.com</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> for the photo, and to <a href="http://laurahopegill.blogspot.com/">Laura</a> for the news that Kinnell attended BMC.</span>Jeff Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06410386491643353394noreply@blogger.com0