Poetry, when it’s happening, is like sex (Nin Andrews Interviewed by Grace Cavalieri)

Nin Andrews

Poet Nin Andrews (Why God is a Woman,  Southern Comfort, The Book of Orgasms) is interviewed by Grace Cavalieri.

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When you write a poem, what do you realize about yourself that you didn’t know before?

NA:   Maybe what I realize has a lot to do with how I experience poetry, the writing of it anyhow. Poetry, when it’s happening, is like sex. It totally suffuses me. (I like the word, suffuse.) Afterwards I always forget how it worked.

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 but for me, it begins by chance. It usually begins in a moment when imagination meets reality.

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Language, whatever else it is, is a mystery when you examine it. The way it pretends or attempts to replicate the world and what is in the mind or heart or soul. As a poet, I am forever leaning closer to it, trying to see or hear what needs to be said. And how. And each time I lean in, I try my best to get even closer to the fire, to the truth, to whatever it is that is inside the words and that moves me. Or whatever makes magic happen on the page. Sometimes the language is resistant—it’s hard and cold like the surface of a shell. Other times, it opens easily and lets me in, lets me flow. But it’s never predictable. I can’t guarantee when the heart will speak. Or if the journey will begin or end well. 

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Yet Another Screed about Political poetry

Even a year and more before the election, it's getting pretty hard to get away from politics.

I was reading Nin Andrews' blog post about political poetry, "Of Course Men Suffer From Vagina Envy--a few thoughts on political poetry"-- and, once again, thinking about political poetry.

I hate political poetry too*, but on the whole, I rather agree with Nin.

What it is that I really dislike is bad political poetry, by which I mean superficial political poetry, but "bad political poetry" is what far too much of it is.

• If your poem says nothing but how outraged you are about things happening to people you've never actually met and don't know anything about except what you read in the same paper I read
• if you are shouting at me opinions I could have read in the editorial page of the Plain Dealer--or for that matter the Wall Street Journal  
• If your poem is nothing but a long scream of rage about unjust society
• If you think your poem is funny because it lampoons cartoon stereotypes about people who disagree with you*
• If you've never actually listened when people who disagree with you are talking, but are nevertheless burning to explain to me why opinions that you've never listened to are wrong...

--I don't want to hear it.

On the other hand, if your political poem has vividly-observed details about real living breathing people--people you actually know, or at least have seen in real life, and not cardboard imitations--  people with stories of their own-- people who don't fit any stereotypes and have quirky and even contradictory viewpoints... if you have insights that are more than soundbites that fit on an index card... if you see society as a complicated interactions among humans no two alike, all with differing goals, without easy solutions... in short, if you see the world in swirls of vivid color, not black and white certainties...  yeah, maybe that one's for me.  Bring it on!

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*although sometimes I write it anyway.

Five to Nin

Nin Andrews answers five questions from Cleveland State University's Poetry Center:

• 5 Questions with Nin Andrews

Nin Interview

image by Nin Andrews

Northeast Ohio poet Nin Andrews is featured in an interview at the LunaLuna site:

• Interview with Poet Nin Andrews

Bernstein and Andrews

      Nope - Bernstein and Andrews is not some personal injury law firm. They were the features at  a reading I attended at Visible Voice books in Tremont.

Michael Bernstein growls through his set.

    Michael Berstein and Nin Andrews held court in the cozy upstairs reading room for ten or so listeners on a rainy Saturday night. Berstein took the "stage" first dragging a chair up, sitting down, then launching sans prelude into scores of short poems. He flipped through pages stapled in the corner as if he were counting money from a bank heist in some backroom rarely looking up from his page punctuating every word with the same strained intensity. When he did look up he didn't raise his head giving the impression of a center eyeing a nosegaurd right before the snap of the ball.

     Then as abruptly as he started, Bernstein flashed a peace sign growled over and out and he was done. I felt like he was enduring his set as much as delivering a reading. In my opinion Bernstein seemed much more comfortable introducing his fellow feature Nin Andrews than he did presenting his own work.

Nin Andrews at Visible Voice Books

In stark contrast to our first reader Nin began her set  conversationally giving a bit of background info on the subject matter of her first couple pieces. Folksy narratives about  superstition, her father and aunt followed, poignant and humorous read with a smidgen of Southern charm.  She wasn't quite as comfortable when she switched to pieces from a new collection she is working on centered around a fictional island state where the ultimate authority and political power rests in woman's hands.

To paraphrase Nin's introduction - there was certainly worse things one could be doing with their time on a rainy Saturday night and I did not regret my trek.

Learning to Write the MFA Poem

Since we've been talking about MFAs, don't miss "Learning to Write the MFA Poem," by poet Nin Andrews.

...even if she does say

"the truth is, I never learned to write one very well."

Here's how to do it.

The Difference between Prose Poetry and Poetry, Truth and Bullshit

In her blog, Ohio poet Nin Andrews addresses the questions, what is the difference between prose poetry and poetry? Truth and bullshit?

Important questions, to be sure.

"It’s sort of like the difference between potato fritters and crème brule..."

Her answers are worth memorizing-- after all, there might be a test.

Nin Andrews - Poem of the Day from Poets.org

Congrats to NEO's own Nin Andrews for being selected as today's "poem of the day" author by the Academy of American Poets!

Click here to read the piece

Hooray!

The Poetry Keeps Coming

This is a far from complete listing of poetry events in and around the Cleveland area in the next couple of weeks. I'm sure it's missing something. If you know what it is, please provide details in the comments below.

Sat. 11/28/09 (1:30 p.m.) - Poet/physician John "Jack" Vanek reads from his book Heart Murmurs: Poems (Bird Dog Publishing & Bottom Dog Press) at MindFair Books, 13 W. College Street in Oberlin.

Tues. 12/1/09 (6 p.m.) - Nia Coffeehouse open mic emceed by Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets at the Coventry Village Library, 1925 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights.

Thurs, 12/3/09 (7:30 p.m.) - Twysted Thursday open mic for poets, singers, emcees, musicians, and comedians at the Olive Twyst, 26159 Euclid Avenue in Euclid - James "Poetryfeen" Kidd features - hosted by LS Royal Stewart and Keli Danice - $5 cover.

Fri. 12/4/09 (7 p.m.) - Free poetry workshop hosted by the Cleveland State Poetry Center, Main Classroom, Room 105, 1899 East 22 Street at Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

Fri. 12/4/2009 (6:30 p.m.) - Ashland MFA grads Jen Kindborn, Maureen Flora, Joanne Lehman, and Sarah Wells will read poetry at Pumpkin Hollow Antiques & Cafe, 24 Bell Street in Bellville (just south of Mansfield). Event will include featured music by Allison Schuller and an open mic emceed by Mark Hersman.

Sat. 12/5/09 (9:30 a.m.) - Eastside Writers Workshop hosted by Alynn Mahle at the Euclid Public Library, 631 E 222nd Street in Euclid.

Mon. 12/7/09 - Poet Edward Tick, a nationally recognized expert on the psychological and spiritual aspects of war and the healing of PTSD - will give a slideshow presentation at noon and a reading at 7:30 pm., hosted by the Wick Poetry Center in Kent at the KSU Student Center.

Tues. 12/8/09 (6 p.m.) - Nia Coffeehouse open mic emceed by Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets at the Karamu House, 2355 E. 89th Street in Cleveland.

Tues. 12/8/09 (9 p.m.) - Spoken word artist Future performs at the B-Side Liquor Lounge, 2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights, hosted by ChiefRocka Entertainment.

Wed. 12/9/09 (7 p.m.) - T.M. Göttl, Gina Tabasso and Sammy Greenspan will be featured poets at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights. Open mic will follow.

Thurs. 12/10/09 (7 p.m.) - Poetry hosted by the Brunswick Art Works at the Beuhler's Foods Community Room, 3688 Center Road in Brunswick. Includes open mic.

Thurs 12/10/09 (9:30 p.m.) - Poetry night blowout at the Literary Cafe, 1031 Literary Road in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, hosted by Steve Goldberg and Nick Traenkner.

Fri. 12/11/09 (8:30 p.m.) - Mark Wilson will be featured poet during the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour at Borders Books, 17200 Royalton Road in Strongsville.

Sat. 12/12/09 (3 p.m.) - Round robin style poetry reading hosted by Russ Vidrick at the Brandt Gallery, 1028 Kenilworth Avenue in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

Sat. 12/12/09 (7 p.m.) - Saturday Night with the Poet's Haven features poets Wendy Shaffer and Eric Alleman, along with an open mic, at Phoenix Coffee, 1300 W.9th Street in Cleveland. Event will be recorded for podcast.

Tues. 12/15/09 (6 p.m.) - Nia Coffeehouse open mic emceed by Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets at the Coventry Village Library, 1925 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights.

And finally, I beg you to indulge me in a bit of shameless self promotion:

Tues. 12/15/09 (7 p.m.) - In our last regular Lix and Kix at Bela Dubby before we go on a sabbatical of sorts, Dianne Borsenik and John Burroughs will host an open mic and two featured poets: Heather Ann Schmidt and Nin Andrews. A poetry and music open mic will follow.


poster by Dianne Borsenik

Heather Ann Schmidt will be here from Michigan to launch her just released Crisis Chronicles Press chapbook The Bat's Love Song: American Haiku. Heather is an adjunct professor at Oakland Community College. She edits the tinfoildresses journal and is the publisher for recycled karma press. Her chapbook Channeling Isadora Duncan was published earlier this year by Gold Wake Press. Her Transient Angels will be published by Crisis Chronicles next year and she has a full collection of poems forthcoming from Village Green Press. She received her MFA from National University and hopes to begin pursuing her PhD in 2010.

Nin Andrews will be here from Youngstown, Ohio, celebrating the release of her new book Southern Comfort (from CavanKerry Press). Nin received her BA from Hamilton College and her MFA from Vermont College. The recipient of two Ohio Arts Council grants, she is the author of several books including The Book of Orgasms, Spontaneous Breasts, Why They Grow Wings, Midlife Crisis with Dick and Jane, Sleeping with Houdini, and Dear Professor, Do You Live in a Vacuum. She also edited Someone Wants to Steal My Name (Cleveland State University Press), a book of translations of the French poet Henri Michaux.

The Crisis Chronicles Press anthology Fu@k Poetry will also be available that evening (12/15) at Lix and Kix. A year in the making, Fu@k Poetry features work by nearly forty no-BS poets from around the globe - including many from northern Ohio.

All around Cleveland, the poetry keeps coming. Consider it a multiple orgasm.

Peace and poetry,
John Burroughs

Cleveland, Wannberg and Smith

Oh my!
Remember Salinger's blog about California poet David Smith's spectacular September appearance in northeast Ohio? Here's a video sample from Smith's 9/15 reading, featuring a guest appearance by the Literary Cafe's Steve Goldberg:

Good news for those who missed it or want to hear more (I know I do!)... David Smith is returning to our area this week and bringing the incomparable Scott Wannberg with him. I devour a lot of books, and I must say Smith's White Time [just published by Off Beat Pulp] and Wannberg's Strange Movie Full of Death [Perceval Press] are two of the most delicious I've read this year. Don't miss your chance to see these two fine poets together right here in "the heart of it all"!

And that's not all.... The following is by no means a comprehensive list of northeast Ohio poetry events in the next ten or so days -- these are just the ones I expect to attend. If you know of others, feel free to mention them and provide details in the comments below.

Tuesday 11/10/09: Nia Coffeehouse at Karamu (6 p.m.) -- open mic hosted by Vince Robinson and his band the Jazz Poets.

Wednesday 11/11/09: Kazim Ali and Nin Andrews read at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry (7 p.m.) -- and the subsequent open mic will feature an appetizer of poetry by David Smith & Scott Wannberg.

Thursday 11/12/09: The Literary Cafe in Tremont features David Smith & Scott Wannberg (9:30 p.m.) -- with an open mic and free-for-all to follow.

Friday 11/13/09: The Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour at Borders Books in Strongsville features John Burroughs (a.k.a. Jesus Crisis) at 8:30 p.m.-- with an open mic to follow.

Saturday 11/14/09: The Brandt Gallery in Tremont (3 p.m.) hosts a round-robin style open poetry reading led by Russell Vidrick.

Saturday 11/14/09: Saturday Night with the Poet's Haven (7 p.m.) features Gina Tabasso and Terry Provost at Angel Falls in Akron.

Tuesday 11/17/09: The Lix and Kix poetry series at Bela Dubby in Lakewood presents three more fine poets: Mnemosyne editor Jen Pezzo (aka Kerowyn Rose), MoonLit editor (and author of the vanZeno Press collection Emergency Contact) Claire McMahon, and (from Cincinnati) novelist (and author of the West End Press poetry collection Crow Call) Michael Henson. An open mic will follow.

Peace and poetry,
John Burroughs