Try the bean and the cheese tamales!

Late post, but this is where I've been going one Saturday a month for the past couple months and where I'll be tonight. If you're looking for something to do that keeps you away from the NATO crowds and want to hear some writers read their stuff, come on out!

The Reading Series at the Tamale Hut Cafe

I totally want to see this!

"Told and Retold" at the Art Institute

The best book title I saw during today's library visit:

(It's slightly more amusing, I think, if you head to a new page and see the title at the top.)

It's a question I've asked myself many a time. And one day, when I'm not already leaving the library with eight books in hand (or in arm, as the case was -- I cradle my stacks like children when I'm toting them to the car), I'll go back for Ms. Winterson's answer.

It's a disease, I believe, by the way: I have three books that I own at home that I've started reading and am in the middle of, four if you count Calvino's Italian Folktales, which I pick up and read a selection from at random. Yet I keep returning to the library for more. This can't be normal, can it?

It makes me happy, at least.

What a sad showing....

Just looked at the post count on this blog for the year so far. Two posts? Really, that's all I could manage? It's especially sad in light of the ninety-four posts I put together last year, though I guess that the "My Poetry Year" project had a lot to do with 2011's productivity. So if you're a new visitor here, first of all, hi! And if you're curious about what I've actually done with this blog, I invite you to check out the posts from "My Poetry Year," which are all here from start to finish.

And who knows? Maybe I'll actually start posting again soon.

Or maybe I'll just do what I and so many others like me usually end up doing with our blogs and let a few months pass between posts. Again. Oh, the possibilities!

"I like big books, and I cannot lie...."

Very happy to share that this reference set, for which I wrote a piece last year, will be coming out this spring. Here's a set you don't want falling on your toes, to say the least:

Salem Press's Critical Survey of Graphic Novels

Everybody Begins the Year with a List....

...and here's the short list of what's been tickling my literary fancy the past few weeks:

Zbigniew Herbert, "The Fable About a Nail": A great piece of writing is relevant no matter when or where it was written or it is read. This poem could describe any number of kingdoms, fictional or real, and yet....

Tom Disch, "Abecedary": Did you know that the writer behind The Brave Little Toaster also wrote opera librettos, science fiction classics, and incredible poems like this one? I didn't know until this week! This piece is for the part of your adult brain that thinks fondly of Dr. Seuss's work and has been dying for another writer to take it out to the playground. (If that link doesn't work, you might be able to look up "Abecedary" by clicking on the Poetry Foundation's bio for Tom Disch here and then clicking on the "Poems, Articles, & More" tab.)

Steven Millhauser: The writing world at large has known about him for a while (he's got a Pulitzer). I found out about him the same way I found out about Philip Levine -- his latest book was on the "New Releases" shelf at the library. In this case, it was Millhauser's short story collection We Others that caught my eye. Magical realism that's ultimately very honest and human, as the best of it usually is. His style is gentle, and many of the stories I've read so far don't use dialogue, at least not in the conventional paragraphs-and-quotation-marks way. I've also checked out his novella Enchanted Night but have refused to let myself finish it.

Since we've brought up Philip Levine, I'll mention a fact about him that has made me happy: He and the British Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, are coming to Chicago to read! I doubt I'll be able to get in (first come, first serve basis, yikes), but it's worth a shot. And I can mention it here; there's only about ten of you at most reading this, so I'm not creating a lot of competition for a seat, and even if I were, hell, I'd be thrilled to see any of you there.

Also coming to read, in April, is Etgar Keret. I haven't gotten my hands on his stuff yet (play laugh track here), but the divine Miss M. recommended his stories to me, and that's enough to get my curiosity going.

And that's my list of literary stuff. I hope you have your own lists full of things you've been enjoying. All ten of you. :)

Last Post of the Year, First Post in a While (but there's a story at the end of it, at least!)

Hello!

So... long time, no see...

*koff*

Well, let's start with the basics: How have you been? If you've been celebrating any holidays, I hope they've been kind to you. If not, then I hope your regular days have merciful and pleasant, or better yet, interesting. Often, I think that a frustrating day full of events can actually be better for a person than one that goes smoothly. Facing difficulties helps us grow by giving us opportunities to prove what we can handle; it also gives us more to talk about. However, I might, just maybe, be trying to force optimism. Can't wait till the next time I feel like kicking a wall. I'm sure I'll find myself thinking of this post. "Screw growth and discussion! I'd rather be short and silent!" (Not to be confused with "silent but deadly"... anyway....)

This winter, I received a lot of proof of how fortunate I am to have the people around me that I do. They spoiled me beyond belief just by being who they are. Though I was given many nifty things that I don't deserve (tangible gifts as well as the gifts of kind words and thoughts - thank you all, you know who you are), one of the most amazing was this from Wes (sorry for the bad photo quality -- I was using my phone):


(Good thing he didn't draw me wearing a skirt....)

Okay, that's enough holiday cheer. I'm grateful, but I'm giving myself diabetes just re-reading this post.

In the last post of "My Poetry Year," I mentioned that I had another project I was working on, one I hoped to have ready by the end of this year. That was when I broke the first rule of planning an independent project: I spoke of a date before everything was ready. Then I broke the second rule. "Boy, hope I didn't jinx myself by mentioning it!" I wrote.

Stupid, stupid.

I read faerie tales; I know better. You don't talk about the magic. You don't speak while the spell is being cast; otherwise, well, you'll break it. And you definitely don't invite The Jinx to show up by mentioning it by name.

So, I still have these stories. I still have the materials to make the books. But now, I have to get back into the faeries' good graces, and I'm damn well not going to say how long that's going to take. But I believe in where my writing can go if I keep working at it. And that's where I'll leave that project for 2011.

In the meantime, I have a holiday story that I wrote much earlier in the year that I'd still like to share. The idea's one I like; the execution could be better. But it seems appropriate for these times. I hope that you enjoy it and that 2012 starts out well for you. Thank you.

Read the holiday story "Clean Bones" for free!