August 02, 2006

Burlesque Hours and Boxes of Books

Hooray for everyone who came out to the Bar Rouge for Monday's Burlesque Poetry Hour (and a "we missed you," via smoke signal, for Maureen trapped at her law office). Karl and Christopher proved to be lovely dinner partners and great readers. Gilda and Lolita were, as always, sassy and brassy & perfect hostesses. The Down & Dirty martini had just the right dash of tobasco. I have to confess, I think I was underbid--only $18 for my garter belt, wrapped around a copy of the latest 32 Poems? Come on, people--that's quality poetry. Not to mention the best purple-satin-and-bordello-lace a girl can find in DC.

Jessica Smith not only made the drive all the way from Charlottesville, she did so with the imminent birth of Organic Furniture Cellar on her mind. Go buy your advance copy. The woman needs to pay rent, damn it. Don't pretend you've never been there.

This is the second time I have seriously debated posting a poem draft on here. Hmmmm.

In a mere three weeks I will be gone for twice that long (and who knows what my internet access will be, whether blessing or curse). I am driving all the way to the Millay Colony in New York, and so there is a big empty box in my backseat, waiting to be filled with books for inspiration. I've picked up essays by Cynthia Ozick, fiction by Nabokov, poetry by Josh Bell and Cate Marvin, criticism by Tony Hoagland, a few others. Deb Agers suggests Best Words, Best Order by Stephen Dobyns. Give me suggestions for books to throw in the box, please--

15 comments:

Paul said...

I think $18 was grossly underbid. I totally would have gone higher. Do you have Paypal?;)

Jessica Smith said...

I thought you should have got more money for your garter, too. I think we should have these things for sale on Ebay. I thought about telling you to take it off again, for the performative aspect (that would raise sales, eh?) but that seemed too raunchy. Not sure where the poetry/raunchy line is yet. That was a fun reading though, I want to go to more BPHs.

Thanks for mentioning my book!

Steven D. Schroeder said...

Wild & Whirling Words: A Poetic Conversation (edited by H. L. Hix)

Don said...

The Satanic Bible, a must. The Story of O. Air Force Instruction manuals. Field and Stream magazine. The Emperors of Chocolate. The Koran. Mad Magazine Superspectacular Volume #7. Love Poems on Bar Napkins, edition 1. Anything by Richard Brautigan, Revenge of the Lawn! Quilting for Dummies. He's No Damn Good For You, You Can Do Better!, Men Like Mars Bars, Women Look Like Venus. The Inferno by Dante. Jane Magazine issues. Jeffrey McDaniel's The Splinter Factory. McDonald's puzzle placemats. Who Moved My Damn Cheese? Igloos for Dummies. The Bible.

Carly said...

Ha ha, you can take the steam sequence...I pick it up tomorrow! And for Jessica, we're going to be doing a fundraiser so keep it on the hush hush (and hope you have more sexy lace to throw at us)

Sandra said...

Yep, that settles it...my "performative aspect" alone is worth $30. But I suppose I can hold off and let (the talented, soon-to-be-in-print) Carly be my Ebay agent.

I actually own Hix's Wild & Whirling Words--and attended the AWP panel on its publication a few years back, which was *crazy*. Spontaneous confrontations! Identities revealed! Yes, I should go back and take a second look.

Don, I knew I could trust you to keep an eye on my Satanic/Quilting/Igloo needs. Thanks for the litany. = )

Steven D. Schroeder said...

I'm just getting through the book myself. I bought it a couple months ago when Harvey was in town... Sorry I missed AWP identity revelation!

Sandra said...

Yeah, it was somewhat atomic...at one point one of the panelists raged on about a critique (anonymous, as they all were), Tim Liu--from the other end of the table--said "Well, as the AUTHOR of that comment..."

Unknown said...

Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Balladd
the Letters of John Keats
T.S. Eliot’s Tradition and the Individual Talent
Edwin Muir’s The Estate of Poetry.

David Baker: Heresy of the Ideal
Ellen Bryant Voigt: Flexible Lyric
Robert Pinsky: The Sounds of Poetry

Anonymous said...

Jane Hirshfield's After
and Jane Hirshfield's Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry.
Poems of Nazim Hikmet.
Poems of Fernando Pessoa.
Wallace Stevens' The Necessary Angel.
Harryette Mullen's Sleeping With the Dictionary.
Dean Young's First Course on Turbulence.

Sandra said...

Deb, thanks for suggesting Voight, and reminding me about the Eliot essays. I forget how wonderful a critical writer he could be. Dis you really like Pinsky's Sounds of Poetry? I remember being a little let down, but it also may be that I'd already overdosed on John Hollander.

Jack, you're the second person to recommend Harryette Mullen this week. Must be a sign.

Anonymous said...

Harryette's real good.

sam of the ten thousand things said...

Refusing Heaven, Jack Gilbert
One Art: Letters, Elizabeth Bishop
Blue Pastures and American Primitive, Mary Oliver
Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness, Ed. Carolyn Forché
Above the River: The Complete Poems, James Wright
The Ink Dark Moon -- poems of Ono no Komachi & Izumi Shikibu -- Trans. Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani
The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara
Open House: Writers Redefine Home, Ed. Mark Doty
The Only World, Lynda Hull

Sandra said...

Sam, the Forche anthology was assigned to me by Myra Sklarew some years ago--that a jewel. I'm intrigued by this anthology edited by Mark Doty. I trust his tastes. Thanks for the long list!

Sandra said...

Hmmm..."what" a jewel, not "That a jewel." That a boy.