Holidays and Conferences

It is the time of year that students get antsy in class anticipating the end of the work for the term, Christmas lights go up in my little town, and the holiday music drifts across the radio waves of my little car. As I pulled into the parking lot at Granite State College in Conway Monday night, I found myself singing at-the-top-of-my-lungs, Dan Fogelberg’s song, “Another Auld Lang Syne.” I can remember singing along with this song when I was maybe nine or ten. I was under the impression that it was a romantic holiday song when I was young. After listening to the words again I realized how sad the story was. It is funny how our interpretation of a text can change over time.

I once had a teacher that told me that we look at life through our own “window of experience.” The longer I consider this theory, the more truth I find in it. We have all heard the saying, “Walk a mile in my shoes” but we can never really do that. Our own experience with the world infiltrates all of our perceptions. This is something that my Children’s Literature class at Granite State College discussed in length while examining the texts. We understood we couldn’t go back and see the work as a child would, and that each child may have a different experience with the text. We could agree that there were basic lessons in the stories.

This holiday I have been trying to come up with idea for hand-made, or hand-crafted gifts. I decided on gift baskets…I think…but in honor of the Children’s Literature class and the discoveries we made I decided that it might be fun to do themed baskets. Hopefully these will be something fun for the whole family.

Right after the holiday hubbub is over I am going to the Modern Language Association conference in Seattle, WA. I was fortunate enough to receive a MLA grant to go. This combined with the generosity of Plymouth State University in matching the grant, will allow me to go to the conference. It will be a busy time, but I am looking forward to the intellectual stimulation.

More grading is calling me for the time being. One more week of classes!

Writing, Publishing, etc…

For a year or so I have been thinking of writing a book on writing poetry, getting your work out there, and other writing things. I have had a number of people ask me for advice on everything from how to start writing poetry to how to shop a book of poetry out. There are a ton of these books out there. My question is…is there really a need for one more?

Perhaps there is, and perhaps there isn’t….either way I plan to write this thing. If nothing else, it will be a resource for my students and friends that ask for advice. In the planning of this book I decided to ask for some input. This is where you come in…
Call for submissions:
Send me the questions you have about writing, publishing, and anything else in this same arena. Even if you are an accomplished writer I would like to hear from you on what should be included in such a book. If I use the question/topic, and it gets published, you will be part of the book. Send your submissions to ivylpage@gmail.com with the subject line “Writing 101.” Please include your contact information.

Winding Down…Another Semester of Fun!

This has been one of the more challenging semesters, but quite fulfilling. Many of the classes I taught were filled with freshmen, excited, then nervous, then exhausted, and now feeling the pinch of the final week. I rode through this roller-coaster with them, while offering encouragement, guidance, and (of course) lessons along the way. This week has been filled with meetings with students looking for guidance with the final drafting of essays, watching student presentations, and a great meeting at D Acres. While I have enjoyed all of the classes this semester, I am thankful for the up-coming break, and the chance to work on my writing.

I have somehow managed to compose a chapbook over the semester. It would be lovely to get it published, but where to send it? I have been looking at the chapbook publishers, and many require a reading fee. This is something that I am not opposed to, but rarely have extra income to use in this way. There are a few things to consider. First, I want a chapbook publisher that has some sort of distribution. Second, it would be nice if the publisher provides a few copies as “payment” upon publication. Yes, I know…I am asking a lot since the economy is still in the proverbial toilet.

I did receive fantastic news just last week about Any Other Branch. Salmon Poetry has rescheduled my release for the end of 2012 with a launch at the Boston AWP in 2013! This is thrilling. Even though it means that I have to wait almost another year for the book release, it also means that I will have a local launch! That means all of YOU are invited.

Off to grade a few papers…

Here is hoping you are warm, writing and happy!

Thank Goodness for Long Weekends!

I was fortunate enough to have a couple of great friends join me and my family here in the White Mountains for the long weekend. We were quite the group. I couldn’t have asked for better weather or company. I even spent some time writing!

I have some amazing classes going this semester. One is Children’s Lit. with Granite State College. This is my first semester with them, and I love it! The others are first year seminars with different topics. One is What’s Love Got to Do with It? the other is Why Do We Lie? It amazes me the personality types each draw. Both groups have a good dynamic.

OVS is going strong with Sherman Alexie and Killarney Clary in it! Killarney was kind enough to be our feature. Even now we are flooded with submissions! It is fantastic!

Be sure to check out my upcoming events!

When the thing you love becomes work…

For two years now I have been working hard to publish my poetry, find teaching positions, and become a local advocate for poetry through readings and starting my own literary journal. At some point with any work, no matter how much you love it, it becomes just that…work. I sit here pondering the reason for this. My teaching jobs are varied, and change rapidly from semester to semester. This helps keep me from feeling bogged down in any routine. Writing is still a delight. Hosting open mics is wonderful, as long as you have a group willing to take the time to come to the event, and OVS Magazine’s ever-changing content keeps me from frustration with the more mundane tasks of data entry.
All of this is to say that the evolution of any environment is the trick to keeping the love in my work. I have worked as a LNA in a nursing home, as a Medical Assistant in a private family practice, and behind a desk as a Marketing and Sales Director, but each of those lost their luster after a time. They say that the average person will change careers 7-10 times in their life. That is about 1 job ever 4 years. Does this mean we are becoming an ADD culture? There is a great deal of discussion on this point, but I don’t know that I buy that.
Contentment in a career comes when the career matches the individual’s personality. So, should we all go out and get personality tests? I don’t think that is necessary. I feel fortunate to have landed in a place in my life that allows me the freedom to work at the things I love. I hope each of you can find a career that you love too. I firmly believe that success in the work place is born from this sort of attitude, a love of the work you have ahead of you.
The downside to having work that you love, you forget to stop. I am often accused of working all the time. It is true. Even when I am not actively working, I am thinking about ways I can improve, or be creative with the work I am doing. I don’t know that it is such a bad thing.

Writing

I can now breathe a sigh of relief. While last semester sent me into a spiral of letting the non-paid work slide, this semester is turning out a little more balanced. Thank goodness!

I have been able to keep OVS going, write, provide my students with feedback, and spend time with the family. Don’t ask me how. Part of it seems to be the class diversity. When you teach only writing classes, you spend a LOT of time grading papers.

I still work insane hours to get it all done. Mind you, I am not complaining. I am fortunate to have the work, and work in a field I love.

The writing is where I feel as if I need to try harder. If I am not producing work, does it make me less of a writer? I think that the practice of writing is vital to growth, but perhaps having “dry-spells” doesn’t make me less of a writer.

On that note…I have a poem to write!

Getting past winter blues…Off to AWP

Just how can one get past the winter blues? Keeping busy is the best way I have found. It doesn’t always help. I find that there are times that even with the hectic schedule, the push to get everything done, still isn’t enough to get me motivated.
I wonder what others do to fight this sort of fatigue from the bitter cold and grey sky. I would like to be producing more of my own writing. I think many writers suffer from bouts of “writer’s block.” So, how do we break through the insecurities that crop up and plague us as creative people? For me, it has always been forcing myself to write, and giving myself permission to write crap.
I am thrilled to be going to AWP this year. OVS Magazine will be sharing a table with another journal. I hope that being around so many creative, talented folks will help me get the pen moving. Off I go…

My Second Book…Getting Back to Poetry in 2011

After teaching an astronomical number of classes this Fall, I am taking some time to catch-up on the myriad of tasks that have fallen by the wayside. First, OVS submissions. Second, my submissions to journals and magazines are in dire need of attention. Lastly, writing some new work!

I have a lot of news to catch-up on!  I have had my second book, Elemental, accepted for publication by Salmon Poetry in 2014.  I would never have guessed that I would find such a wonderful publisher for my work, much less that I would have two books accepted and contracted in the same year!  When I first sent Any Other Branch (my first book) to Salmon Poetry, I had no idea I was submitting to such a powerhouse in poetry publication.  I was just impressed with many of the poets, and liked the work they were putting out.  I count myself as one of the fortunate ones to be a part of this group of authors.

The work I have done with The Mill Fudge Factory, and the reading series there has been a wonderful success.  We are on hiatus until April, but Liz Ahl will be kicking off a fantastic series for 2011. So far we have Liz Ahl (April), Dudley Laufman (July), and Jack McCarthy (June)  lined-up as featured poets.  I am finding it easier to fill the slots as word gets out about the wonderful venue!

My Kitchen Sessions have been on-hold until May.  It isn’t always easy to get folks to drive into the White Mountains during the summer, much-less the dead of winter!  I am considering hosting it as a poetry boot-camp this year…ahh the possiblities!

The McDowell Colony application has been sent, and I am fortunate enough to be able to attend AWP’s conference in Washington, D.C. this year.  It will be my first AWP conference.  I am looking forward to meeting many new poetry friends, catching-up with some old poetry friends, and last but not least, meeting Jessie Lendennie (editor of Salmon Poetry) face-to-face for the first time!

D Acres Writing Group is going strong.  There are always a flux of new folks, and the core group.  The current focus is on writing fiction.

I am looking forward to creating the new syllabi for my Spring courses at Plymouth State University, NHTI, and possibly Colby-Sawyer.  One of the things I love about being a teacher is the renewal that comes with the beginning of each new semester. The students come in fresh and ready to learn, and I am rejuvenated and ready to help them on their journey.

Off I go to get these things rolling!

Adjuncting

I turned in my notice at my full-time job today! I cannot wait to start teaching! What a year. Several journal publications, the book publication, and enough adjunct work to support my family! I feel very blessed.

I promised to start writing about the process I have gone through, and I will. I am going to post those as, “Learning to Write.” Original, I know! :)

For now, it is late, and I need to get some rest to train my replacement at work tomorrow.

A Book!

I am posting tonight to tell you that my first book will be out in March, 2012! Any Other Branch, the collection I worked on while in graduate school, is being published by Salmon Poetry of Ireland. I am thrilled!  On to the next!  I am working on a new collection.  I have yet to title it, but am leaning towards, Eating Earth.

It didn’t sink in for about a week. It occurred to me after about a week that this meant that I could start to move forward with my career path. Since starting school in 2002, I have wanted to teach, write, and publish. After the MFA program at New England College, and some encouragement from those closest to me, I started submitting poems to journals. I never expected that I would find such success in finding homes for my work. It is an exciting and humbling experience to send your work out. Over the next few months, I have decided to write about the experience for those trying to do the same.

So, stay tuned!

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