From Hobart

Thought there's a dollar store across the street, they don't have San Diego on the featherproof/Dollar Store Super Summer Tour. Still, take a second to read a message from the Burch:

Happy July, all!

We've got a lot to announce this month, but will try to be as brief
as possible. And with that, and with it being summertime and all,
here's just a little somethin' to break the monotony...



*****WEBSITE*****

The July HOBART is live now, with new stories from Damian Dressick,
Baird Harper, Stephen Graham Jones, and Jessica Piazza, and an
interview with Larry Fondation by Brian Allen Carr.
http://www.hobartpulp.com/website



*******PRINT******

HOBART #10 is done and will be shipped to subscribers and preorders
by the middle of the month, as soon as we return from The Dollar
Store Summer Tour of Awesomeness.

Everyone who hasn't already, please order the issue or a
subscription now, so we have a couple extra dollars to be able to
tour with!
http://www.hobartpulp.com/print



*******TOUR*******

Starting this Friday, I will be a part of the featherproof/Dollar
Store Super Summer Tour. Lots more info on the site, but if you live
anywhere near one of these towns, come check us out!
http://www.dollarstoreshow.com/

Nashville - Friday, July 3rd
Austin - Sunday, July 5th
Houston - Monday, July 6th
New Orleans - Tuesday, July 7th
Atlanta - Thursday, July 9th
Baltimore - Saturday, July 11th
New York - Sunday, July 12th
Philadelphia - Monday, July 13th
Boston - Tuesday, July 14th
Albany - Wednesday, July 15th
Ann Arbor - Thursday, July 16th


Also, for those on the west coast, I will be coming out that way
with Mary Miller later this summer (more details on this to come):

Seattle - Wednesday, August 5th
Portland - Thursday, August 6th
San Francisco - Saturday, August 8th
Los Angeles - Monday, August 10th



Finally, a quick announcement about some editorial changes around
here with team Hobart. Unfortunately, this month's Hobart will be
Matt Bell's last as part of the web editing team. He has been
announced as the editor of Dzanc's new online literary journal
venture, The Collagist (http://www.thecollagist.com/), and we will
obviously miss him but are excited to see what happens at his new
digs. And, with his exit, we bring a new awesome person aboard:
Andrea Kneeland! So, everyone wish Matt the best and be nice to
Andrea.


Lots and lots of summertime thanks, all.
-aaron



--
HOBART
PO BOX 1658
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
http://www.hobartpulp.com

Some Ada Limón in your life

Did you read her interview in the SF Examiner?

If you're in Austin:

Tuesday, June 30 2009
6:00pm

Boog City Presents

d.a. levy lives: celebrating the renegade press

Effing Press (Austin, Texas), featuring readings from

Farrah Field, Ada Limón, Justin Marks, with music from Katie May
Hosted by Effing Press editor Scott Pierce
Curated and with an introduction by Boog City editor David Kirschenbaum

ACA Galleries
529 W. 20th Street, 5th Floor (10th/11th Avenues)
Free, incl. wine & cheese | welcometoboogcity.com |
editor@boogcity.com | 212-842-2664
Subway: C/E to 23rd Street, or 1/9 to 18th Street

Happy Birthday, Typewriters!

It's the birthday of the patent of the typewriter.

I might have to pick up some ribbons today, one for each machine. I don't want any one getting jealous of the others.

Meanwhile:

Amy Guth's next big thing is happening. Click, Chicago. The rest of you too, if you want. I gave Ms.Guth a typewriter once. In fact, I might have given you a typewriter once.

And here's a paste from Wave Books. I'd considering hitting this up if the job wasn't sending me to the Midwest on the dates:

Greetings from Seattle. We are writing to you with the news of a
special THREE-DAY POETRY EVENT coming from Wave Books this August. In
association with the Henry Art Gallery at the University of
Washington, Wave Books is organizing and hosting three days of
poetry, August 14th through 16th, featuring film screenings, a book
arts presentation, art exhibitions, local bookstore discounts, and
readings by Wave authors, in both the Henry Auditorium and the James
Turrell Skyspace.

THE WEEKEND IS LIMITED TO 150 TICKETS, so if you are interested in
attending the event, we encourage you to register as soon as you can!
Full information is available on the Wave Books website here:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/catalog/79. Please pass this information on
to those who you think might be interested.

TICKETS GRANT YOU ACCESS TO: READINGS both large and small, by a
featured line-up of Wave authors -- including Joshua Beckman, Noelle
Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Anthony McCann, Richard Meier, Eileen Myles,
Maggie Nelson, Geoffrey Nutter, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, Dara
Wier, Jon Woodward, Matthew Zapruder and Rachel Zucker; SCREENINGS OF
RARE FILMS starring John Ashbery, Robin Blaser, Denise Levertov, Frank
O'Hara, James Schuyler, and others; poetry book DISCOUNTS at
participating local, independent bookstores; a BOOK ARTS PRESENTATION
by Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts and Rare Book Curator; and the Henry Art
Gallery and EXHIBITIONS, including exhibitions of work by Chio
Aoshima, Jasper Johns, Ann Lislegaard; new video from China; and
photographic work by Imogen Cunningham, Nan Goldin, Aleksandr
Rodchenko, and others, from the Henry's permanent collection.

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE for $100/$75 for students. You can purchase
directly online, or by mailing a check to Wave Books, 1938 Fairview
Avenue East, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98102. For complete event
details, and to purchase tickets, visit:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/catalog/79

We hope you will join us for this exciting event. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Wave Books at:
wavepoetryweekend@gmail.com. Thank you very much, and we hope to see
you in August.

Sincerely,
Wave Books

1938 Fairview Avenue East, Suite 201
Seattle, Washington 98102
http://www.wavepoetry.com
http://www.wavepoetry.com/catalog/79
http://www.henryart.org/

Workbench

So, I resolved to have a workbench in the kitchen. Like most things, these lovely pieces of furniture can be found on craigslist.

It fit in the van:

Alas, it did not fit through the front door...until I took the top off. Of course, after that it wouldn't fit through the kitchen door, and it's too old to take apart and put back together functionally.

So, there's a work bench outside my apartment now:

These things happen. I wanted a bench, found one cheap, and got too excited to take proper measurements, regardless of the 25' Stanley tape measures I keep in my kitchen and car.

I equate this to poetry in that it's a matter of intention. If the goal is simply to have something (a bench, a publication) then it is the wrong motivation, and will not work. If the intent is for a higher purpose (to have a functional bench/to create a quality poem that will or will not get published) requires more care and work. Some skills in spacial relations.

Horrible metaphor, I know. But now I have a surface to eat on outside my house...until it gets stolen. Plus there were a grip of craftsman tools in the drawers, and a vice on top, which is worth at least the $25. And the learning experience, as usual, is priceless.

On a night like this

San Diego happens to have a wonderful Jazz/Blues station, if you ever want to listen.

A friend in the office (a fellow master of the fine art) and I seem to have a joke we bring up over and over about reading each other's work, only the joke is that we say things like "I just wrote this like, 5 minutes ago. I really think you should read it. I know I just wrote it, but it's really good." When we do this, we're being snobs. We're making fun of people who press their work on other people like that all of the time. We're also, hopefully most of the time, getting into our own processes, and trying to look at context.

This evening, I'm about 9 months behind my notebook. That is to say, I'm only reading what I jotted down back last September, and typewriting it. It'll take another few months before those typewritten lines are read again and put into a file into the computer. So, it seems, a single poem takes about a year to get from my head into something that looks like a "poem." I've come to do this partially because I'm in no hurry, but also because I like to forget. That's a different meditation--in this case, I mean I like to forget the context the original stuff in the notebook was written down in. Because I can't remember what was in my conscious mind when I read the words, they are allowed to have their own context, which seems truer than my perceptions at the time they came.

Better poems come from forgetting. As it happens, I have no ownership over any moments or events. And my ability to witness is limited--my mind moment for moment is silly and distracted.

A different co-worker found a few poems online, and asked, "What were you thinking when you wrote this?"

"I don't know."

And how could we know? What do we know while in the process of creating? It seems to be a process of listening, and it takes longer to hear than it does to have a child. Ain't that something?

From Randell Jarrell's uncollected poems:

The Forsaken Girl

(after Eduard Mörike)

Ere the cock has crowed,

The least star dwindled,

I knell here at the hearth

Till the fire has kindled.

The warm light is beautiful,

The flames soar eagerly.

I stare unseeing

Sunk in my misery.

All at once I remember:

The whole night through,

Dear one, wicked one,

I have dreamed of you.

As I remember,

The tears come one by one.

So the day begins--

If only it were done!

[1952]

Casual Friday

Congrats to Bloof. What can't they do?

And a couple of event's I go to if I were in the neighborhoods:

1) Tuesday, June 30 2009
6:00pm

Boog City Presents

d.a. levy lives: celebrating the renegade press

Effing Press (Austin, Texas), featuring readings from

Farrah Field, Ada Limón, Justin Marks, with music from Katie May
Hosted by Effing Press editor Scott Pierce
Curated and with an introduction by Boog City editor David Kirschenbaum

ACA Galleries
529 W. 20th Street, 5th Floor (10th/11th Avenues)
Free, incl. wine & cheese | welcometoboogcity.com |editor@boogcity.com | 212-842-2664
Subway: C/E to 23rd Street, or 1/9 to 18th Street

AND

2) Wednesday, July 8, 2009

6-8PM

Heading Home:

Art Opening & Gallery Reading on UWS

46 W. 90th St. Fl 2

With Jason Schneiderman

AND

3) Tuesday, August 18

7:30-9PM

The Word for Word Series in Bryant Park

Robert Polito & Dana Goodyear & Ada Limón

(hope to see you!)

Kazim Ali Interview

Right here.