11.6.09

I feel fairly terrified about life right now and the large looming presence of "FUTURE." On one hand, I want to look forward to what's coming up. On the other hand, there are complications and hurdles to be crossed before good things can happen. When I start to think about everything in one mass lump sum I feel extreme panic. In retrospect, the shit that I've been through recently seems like it should have felt a lot harder to deal with than it actually felt at the time. Or maybe, PAST as whole lump sum is equally difficult to make sense of and perceive "objectively" as FUTURE. The shittiest things that happen to me occur very much out of the blue, so that I can't even worry about them beforehand (shame). Life tends to work out eventually, in strange forms, as it does for most people. Keep on keeping on. I'm still terrified, however. The only way I make sense of shit and ease my panic is to spout off cliches and trite interior monologues about taking 'one day at a time.'

I would like people to recommend me some e-books or chapbooks that they like. I want to inundate myself with poetry this weekend.

This weekend, the small press convention is happening at the Toronto Reference Library. I want to go but feel that I will spend a lot of money on books and my reading list is already at 40+ over the next few months. I need to learn more and be more involved in Canadian literature, and not just the [mostly] dry canon of CanLit. I am now a junior editor for a lit/art journal based at my university. I get to read poetry and judge people. The more shitty poetry I read the more I appreciate all you great bloggers out there, mixing shit up, being all innovative. Keep it up, y'all make the world a more interesting place.

6 comments:

  1. hey!

    thanks a million for your very nice reviews of my chaps!!

    i'd recommend checking out tomaz salamun's SCP e-chap curtis harnack wrapped me in a shawl

    http://scantilycladpress.blogspot.com

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  2. The only canadian poetry I can think of is a book from the 80s by bpNichols. Dream Poems plus pretend linguistics plus drawings equals mostly ok.

    readsomewords.com will be putting out a chapbook this month that you should ask Zach Zimmerman for.

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  3. There's actually a lot of good things happening in the Canadian poetry scene, its just less readily available. And a lot of people don't give a shit. I want this to change.

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  4. I like Felino Soriano's work lately:

    http://www.felinosoriano.com/2009/04/blog-post.html

    Check out Blue Hour Press's e-chaps, Unnecessary Books (you might have to find the link from Crispin Best's blog). Hmmm. Why am I blanking right now? There's so much poetry out there, online. When I remember more presses, I'll come back and add them, hopefully.

    I love Toronto, by the way. Good memories of seeing shows, eating yummy foods, family vacations when I was a kid, etc.

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  5. Kristen, I started working on a remix of "We Are Only Bodies," and blogged about it so it has to come true. It will be golden brown around the edges by Monday.

    The word that I'm most afraid of is REALITY, I think it means quitting smoking and working at a desk and not a lectern.

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  6. Hey Kristen, so you're working for Existere now - that's pretty awesome. I considered volunteering there but realized I'd probably make a shitty editor due to my rather harsh aesthetic standards.

    However I will be sending some my own stuff over, so now you will get to judge my work with your own harsh aesthetic standards.

    Don't have any chapbook recommendations for you, although I have been reading some pretty awesome flash fiction at
    http://glossolaliaflash.blogspot.com/
    most of which tends to read like prose poetry anyway.

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