An MFA is also not about impressing one’s fellow students, or even the faculty. Cut off from daily life, thrust into long hours in close quarters with other artists, many of them strangers, others new acquaintances–the temptation to impress, or at least win acceptance, is all too human. The same insecurities of grade-school children searching …
Ellen Bass gave an excellent talk today on the importance of discovery in both the creation and development of narrative poetry. She pointed out that as much as detail matters on the tactical level, strategically, it is discovery that can answer the “so what?” of a narrative poem. She offered a number of useful, practical …
“You must be careful not to deprive the poem of its wild origin.” -Stanley Kunitz Peter Sears gave a dense and compelling talk today on the larger aim of revision–which is not only to add and subtract from a work, but to also to re-envision. Drawing on numerous specific examples from talented poets, including himself, …
I leave tomorrow for the third residency of the Pacific Unviversity MFA in writing. Despite a brief reprieve from lashing rain here in Southern California, I am doubtless now heading straight into the source of the wet. No matter. I have been longing to reconnect with friends and teachers up North, and look forward to …
This year marked the first anniversary of the passing of our son. Leading up to those difficult days, I was away at the first residency of the Pacific University MFA in writing program, shivering through an Oregon Winter. During the semester that followed, I studied with Joseph Millar, and began writing in earnest about grief, …
Kudos to Phil Taggart for a rare feature in Ventura Life magazine detailing his extensive support of the Ventura-area poetry scene. The article also includes a striking combination of Phil’s poems overlaid against photos of his schizophrenic brother, Rick. A digital version of the entire magazine is available here. The “Living Askew” article begins on …
