Live or Memorex?

I've always been fascinated by technology and how we both we communicate with each other through it but also how it shapes what we say. So when the Kindle 2 came out and it was a product that people were really engaging in, I immediately thought about how does this affect poetry. We know it's a medium for novels and prose text, but what about the poem? Since I still had the layout files for Kali's Blade, I decided to transform the book into Kindle form. Because if I really want to know how this medium changes the face of poetry, I might as well dive right into it.

And not only put it up on Amazon, but also sell it at the special price of $0.99. Unlike the web, which shaped language, the Kindle brings about another important avenue for authors, the price of poetry. How does interacting with poetry on your iPhone change the experience? How does not having physical media to print change how authors make their work accessible to the public? And is the public willing to pay for it? If so, how much?

We know a good poetry book from a small press might sell 100 copies. 1000 copies would be astounding! But even author's who get their texts on their friend's reading course lists will be lucky to hit 1000 copies sold. Let's be honest. Plus how much of the actual cost of the book does an author really get? Not much because of the labor of production. But how many copies could you sell on-line for the right price? And while less and less people have room for shelves, there is growing storage on their computers. But do we want to interact with poetry through technology?

Right now Amazon isn't charging people to put their books on Kindle, so any price is a good price for now, but I suspect like the cuts publishers and distributor's take on paper books, how much Amazon eventually charges will affect the profitability of all of it. And since we're talking business, what of the publisher's, small print distributor's, and book stores? And even the non-businesses like Libraries? Imagine that libraries truly simply become cafes with reading tablets, instead of vast halls of books.

I'm not judging right or wrong, good or bad, I'm simply exploring possibilities. I've already had some lively exchanges with Jean and I'm looking forward to having lively exchanges with any of you!

Kindle Edition (will be up in a few days)


or

Print Edition

G-G-Great Reads for your winter reading

Hey folks, Galatea Resurrection Numero 11 contains Katherine Levy's review of Kali's Blade as well as a long list of other possible reads this holiday season!

In addition, Senor Priego has come out with the The Amazing Adventures of Gravity & Grace.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Some time during the 5 hour program of Pilipino OURstory 2008, they will be broadcasting a review I did of Eileen's last two books, "The Blind Chatelaine's Keys" and "The Light Sang As It Left Your Eyes".

The review is about 5-8 minutes, though I don't know what they will edit it down to for broadcast. In any case, they plan on posting a longer version of the review online as well. My first take was 20 minutes long. What can I say? Eileen's books make one prone to blather! After the initial blather I was able to segment and isolate themes to make it easier on my sound editor.

Will post the online link some time when it's up. But if you're in the Berkeley area 94.1 on Sunday evening 10/26 5p-10p!

There's swag

Ernesto continues as our bestus campaign manager for the Tabios/Bautista 2008 ticket running on the Peace and Poetry party ticket.

Yes, indeed, we have swag:

campaign materials

Ernesto continues to do a fine job as the Tabios/Bautista 08 campaign manager.

We even have some "press":

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Fjmffo1Ubcjpt/&altl=Njdifmmf1Cbvujtub

The Peace and Poetry Party marches on!

(Thanks to another friend for the link to this site!)

write-in candidate

Muchas gracias, Ernesto, for your endorsement as VP on the Tabios Presidential ticket.

And as part of the economic platform, I'm going to take the advise from Oliver de la Paz, who "suggests we all buy shares of poetry and that we invest heavily in language." As shares of poetry have a guaranteed immeasurable rate of return and our investments in language have the trickle down effect of communication.

Blind Chatelaine's Keys

Just got our copies of Blind Chatelaine's Keys. You just have to get a copy for yourself, plus get the special value deal over at The Blind Chatelaine herself where you will get 3 books for the price of 1.

I know, the math, is weird, usually you have to buy 2 books to get one free, but in this case you buy 1 book and get 2 free. But so goes the mathematical theories along with the economic theories of poetry, it's like the parallel opposite universe where up is down and down is up. Poetry always has a way of flipping thing upside on its head.

Yet if you're into the sci-fi/fantasy type realms, feel free to peruse the pages of the Blind Chatelaine's Keys because you will feel like you're in some other universe. As with people without sight, it is not the words on the page, but feeling the space in between. Reminds me of 2nd grade when the teacher pointed to a row of trees and asked us not to draw the trees, but the sky above it, which forced us to see the space between leaves and branches and how the sky permeated into the ground. Somewhere between the otherness the biography of someone appears, of someone there and not there, fiction and real.

It is also a rather interesting view of biography, from the vantage point of the Other and what one inspires. And the mirror is not necessarily the prettiest thing as it also reflects a harshness at times, but the Blind Chatelaine is not afraid of this reflection because it is still an honest one. It is often the critic artists are most fearful of, but their reactions to the Chatelaine's work is a collaborative effort of inspiration and reaction. This exchange that runs from pure and sublime to downright harsh.

The harshness can be found in part IV, "To bring a poem into the world, is to bring the world into the poem" a juxtaposition of poems involving a young boy with an ongoing narrative of a letter that begins, "Dear GOVERNMENT AGENCY IN CHARGE OF CHILDREN," a plea for someone to save M. It does not sugarcoat nor make assumptions. There is a melancholy in wanting to love a boy whose life experiences in ten short years may become the ingredients to an adult sociopath, that even in the adults we see as monsters had at one point an innocence to them. That even love may not enough for someone who does not know how to receive it. That even a child understands the veneer we hold up to the world, makes the reader question the views of others in creating biography which brings us back to the secrets beyond the page which are both secret yet apparent.

the wind turns up the soil 2

Turbulent winds break branches, swirl soil into dust storms
In a blue blue sky so clear, so still
Dreams filled with people known only to each other
In my memories, red stained rooms
Your touch reveals, a small crouched man atop the swings
A double-take in the corner of my eye
Extend through to create long lines, muscles unuse to expansion
Return to a sorrow the wind dries a mirror's reflection

left-facing bird

In the evening, no, early morning a left-facing bird came to my window and whispered in my ear.

hooked on poetry

I got a recent email from the fabulous scrabbulous, Nick Carbo, which just made my day!

He writes:

a couple of weeks ago denise (duhamel) travelled to duluth, minnesota and did a couple of events at st. scholastica's college. at one of them she had 150 high school kids to hook 'em into poetry so one of the poems she did was your "I am sixteen..." poem. first, handed out copies of your poem, then she showed a clip of the sound of music movie, then she had the whole room sing your poem out aloud. they loved it and now michelle bautista is a hit in chilly duluth.

That is freakin' fabulous!

It's moments like these that remind me of how far poetry can go and how it can change how you think of something like poetry. And maybe even think about the plight of third world women and mail order brides. Ok maybe not. But maybe yes.

But it does make me happy watching poetry I've written travel to places I would never imagine going myself. And hearing about people who found some fun and enjoyment from it. I don't know, maybe they'll rewrite a Britney Spears song lyric. Maybe not.

Then again, I still can't imagine 150 high school kids singing the words of my poem to the Sound of Music tune in the middle of winter! But I can imagine all the laughter and the fun!

rip roarin' good time

I always love reading at Eastwind Berkeley and Harvey, the owner, is always such a welcoming host. You can read more detailed happenings of the event from the woman of the hour.

At a party the day after, I recalled that Al's scroll poem was much like his poetry: a bold swatch of blank ink along a sheet of fine paper that goes on and one, meandering and returning. It's quite hypnotic.

And the sound of ripped paper is not what you expect coming out of a book store, and from the sound of the paper, it too was mighty fine, but that's the sound that permeated as Eileen made her way through the crowd tearing sheets from "The Light Sang as it Left Your Eyes". She had us imagine her walk out the door continuing to tear pages handing them to strangers, and one can only imagine then where the poetry would have taken her, and ponder too if she would ever return.

Tony Robles really is cultivating a Tony Robles style to his poetry with certain wit and charm from the cholesterol inducing ode to a short order cook to personal narrative on Muhammed Ali and his Uncle Ted.

Prau is an even lovelier creature in person. Having spent hours staring at it on the pixelated computer screen, there was a certain warmth to holding it. I kept staring at how nicely the blue came out for Michael Fink's design. And even lovelier still to hear Jean read from it.

I think this was my first reading in about 5 or 6 months. I posted it up on facebook. My co-workers found out about this life I have outside of work. And there in the cozy bookstore, those halves of my life met. It's a strange feeling, like when you introduce your beau to your parents. A slight awkwardness at first until someone dares break the silence and hopefully in a joyful way. Tis the season fortunately and it was joyful. whew! And I did get the Sound of Music song stuck in one person's head with my rewrite of the lyrics. sorry!

One of my coworkers bulked up on his winter holiday reading by buying a copy of all of our books. Thank you! Goes to show that everyone can have a section of Filipino poetry in their book collection and you need not be Filipino nor a poet to do so.

Wonderful too to see Cal and Leny come down from yonder. Always a long and arduous drive but then again having 5 Pinoy poets read at the same time gives a person a lot of bang for their gas mileage! Can I calculate that into poetry economics?

Afterwards we had dinner trading pictures of pets, grandkids, nieces and any other cute adorable pictures we each carried around. El restaurant, El Platano, es muy delicioso. Try the albondigas with the casamientos (fried black beans and rice, that reminds you of totong at the bottom of the rice pot). A yummy dinner to cap a yummy afternoon!

Amused Muse

It's actually been a while since I've gone to an art event. They just haven't been in my calendar flow. So I was quite happy to have been a muse for Eileen's piece in the Cheers to Muses Anthology.

We of course ran into Mr. & Mrs. Bermeo. I was flipping through the book seeing who else was in it and was happy to see a poem by Lolan Sevilla. Since this anthology includes artwork along with writing, I noticed another familiar name, Lori Kay, a sculptor I had taken kulintang classes with years ago. Her piece, "Heir Rice," in the anthology is the picture above. Click on it to see more of her work. Some of which you may have seen around SF, including the broken wishbone piece that sat on the SF State campus.

Lori was one of the first sculptors I had ever met way back when my life was mostly filled with poets, not that there's anything wrong with writers, but artistically speaking, it's nice to have a variety. Plus I was fascinated at how she worked with large sculptures and metal. I remember thinking, it's one thing to write, I can write just about anywhere, but to do large sculpture, where do people do that? So it was good to run into her again. Maybe someday I'll ask her to commission something for me.

I also found out that Ms.Evelina Galang was also a muse for contributor Vanessa Merina.

giddy, it makes me giddy!

I've always loved books. In elementary school I volunteered in the school library and learned how to fix books: repair spines, save torn pages. I'm only now remembering that I used to do that.

And really what I love about being an Associate Editor for Meritage Press is being a part of creating books. Making books makes me giddy!

I'm currently making my way through a read of Jean Vengua's Prau, which will be on sale this Fall.

It's always one thing to read a book on the computer and always another to read it with the feel of paper in your hands.

Also right now, I'm printing out a draft for a friend's novel. I'm tempted to read it having had numerous discussions with him about plot and character development, and he said I could read it if I want to, but then I'm not sure if I want to wait until it's in book form. I'm almost sure my curiosity will get the better of me and I'll end up reading through it. It's a book, I just can't help myself!

Even though I didn't write the book, it's still just as exciting to be right in there, standing this close to the process. The triumph of subtle word changes, of font choices that glide across the page, the oh so wonderful book cover that creates the first allure.

As much as I enjoy writing, I realized just now that I also really love publishing and editing. Grant it, those parts are not as sexy as writing where your name gets to be on the cover, they're more like the down and dirty parts, all the things that have to happen behind the scenes to get us to that point where the books finds its way into your hands.

Meritage Press' new Associate Editor

As I knelt down, bowed my head, the Chair of the Universe of Meritage Press took my Kali's Blade and with deft and dexterity lightly tapped my shoulders to elevate moi (the way all staff members of Meritage Press call themselves when speaking of official press matters) to Associate Editor!

I probably won't be leaving my day job any time soon. But apropos to have a ceremony as in the days of olde, as I see this more like an apprenticeship. If you wanted to learn about a craft, you didn't go to school, you found someone you thought did it and became their apprentice for however long it took for you to learn said craft then branch off on your own. I realized that I'm not just interested in poetry but that I'm interested in its entire process which includes how the poetry travels to you, the reader.

So I'll be off carrying buckets of water up the hill (oh wait, that's a scene in Kill Bill), or whatever associate editors do, because these books just don't magically appear, someone's got to make them happen.

Tonight: KPFA 94.1 Radyo Kalayaan

The annual celebration of Radyo Kalayaan at KPFA hits the airwaves tonight 8p-midnight. The show kicks off with none other than Marianne Villanueva at 8p. I'll hit the air around 9:20 or so. It's packed full of music and information.

Can't catch the airwaves? Click on the KPFA link and listen live online.

Kali's Blade on KPFA 94.1 June 12

I'll be on Radyo Kalayaan, some time after 10p talking about Kali's Blade and Women and Martial Arts. You'll hear me somewhere in between the raggae and electronica.

a film that unfolds

I was completely enraptured by Nick Carbo's film poem, Mon Pere, a video of a hitchhiker interspersed with the story of his father, the swollen river, and the pilgrimage to a church in Spain in the hope of miracles.

[Stop reading if you don't want to spoil the film.]

The hitchhiker, a man with a backpack and gray hair, changes as the film goes along. You want to know where he is going, and who might stop to help him. The patience he has in waiting. How far has he come? Why has he stopped walking? And you wonder at first, is this Mon Pere?

Then the words narrate the story of his bedridden father who is dying, the water literally running from his body, in the way the river swollen from two days of rain runs. Then he speaks of the pilgrimage to a church across the mountains, where people pray for miracles and healing, where they wash their feet, a cleansing at the end of the journey and how his father would have liked this place, but how he too is on a spiritual journey.

Suddenly, at the end the hitchhiker changes. There was a constant juxtaposition of things there and things here, the illness to the river, the father's prostate to a pear, the father to the hitchhiker. Who will take the journey for Mon Pere? Why is the hitchhiker on this journey? Is he travelling for himself or for others?

The ending brings out a great deal of emotion, sometimes I think the narrator is the one going on the journey for the father, at others I feel a helplessness and distant voyeurism from the window from which the video is taken, that the narrator cannot take this journey with the hitchhiker, he can only stand and watch and wait.

to the right

I had to remove Wilma's Blog as she is no longer with that radio program. The station switched their programming and poof overnight they were done. Radio is fickle that way. Fortunately, Wilma is a fabulous reporter and has several new opportunities to choose from.

Adding to the list is Pana-langue, the blog for the Panama Poets, a group I've never met in person, but have been a part of online for a couple of years. They're a gracious group of writers who provide feedback, critique and encouragement. They meet once a month when they can, but I haven't been able to make their gatherings, though they've tolerated my dramatically moody writing styles from narrative to wtf and were a great asset when putting together Kali's Blade.

The blog right now contains a lot of quoted poems along with artwork as well as some grooving beats.

A-Muse-ing

As someone often seeking a Muse, it's nice to end up as a muse for someone else! Check out the exhibits, panel discussions, and literary readings for Cheers to Muses.

a lovely kind of valentine

Galatea Resurrects 5 is now out! And as a very lovely gift on Valentine's day, it contains a wonderful review of Kali's Blade by William Allegrezza. Thank you William!