[New-Poetry] Re: Poetry Blogs

Mon Jun 11 13:57:59 EDT 2007

I'm absolutely allergic to journals (my own, that is) and could never 
keep one. A blog, being more public, doesn't have to be about me, which 
I find a lot more doable.

Jeff Newberry wrote:
> David,
>
> I, too, am (or was) a religious journal-keeper.  The blog has taken 
> the place of my journal because in my  journal, I wrote the kinds of 
> things I write about in my blog:  poetry, personal observations, 
> random quotations, religious questions. theodicy, philosophy, & the like.
>
> I have been trying to get myself back on a regular schedule (including 
> getting back to my journal).  Since my son was born, everything (& I 
> do mean everything) has gone out the window:  no more leisurely 
> mornings writing in my office, no more long afternoon at the library 
> or coffee shop reading a novel or book of poems, no more 
> regularly-scheduled writing. 
>
> So, I'm probably a bad case study, given my three-month-old.
>
> Still, I like having a blog because my blog connects me with other 
> writers.  I don't always agree with what they have to say, but I do 
> enjoy hearing others' words, even if I never comment.  I've even met & 
> cultivated a couple of friendships via blogs:  Gary McDowell (of the 
> Midamerican Review) & Steven Schroeder (of Sturgeon's Law) are just a 
> couple of people I've met via my blog & theirs.  Occasionally, I've 
> written a small review of a poet that I like & that poet has contacted 
> me.  I met Nicholas Samaras because this way.
>
> Aside from meeting folks, I enjoy the fact that however small, I have 
> an audience for my ideas. 
>
> Anywho, just my random thoughts.  I'm off to prep for class. 
>
> Best,
>
> Jeff Newberry
>
> On 6/11/07, *David Graham* <grahamd at ripon.edu 
> <mailto:grahamd at ripon.edu>> wrote:
>
>     No blog for me, alas or hooray as the case may be.  It's not that
>     I am not filled with lofty and important thoughts about poesie,
>     and surely it would be a kindness for me to share more with the
>     world, but the fact is, I am selfish.
>
>     I've been keeping an analog writing journal for over 30 years now,
>     and am pretty religious about putting words into it daily.  Like
>     many writers I am rather ritualistic about my habits:  has to be a
>     9x6 lined spiral notebook, black ink pen.  I am also addicted to
>     the notion--very much an anti-blog ethos, I realize--that the
>     essential nature of my journal is its privacy.  Knowing that no
>     one need ever see a word I write there is one thing that keeps me
>     honest, gives me permission to jot down *anything*, no matter how
>     disreputable, pointless, or embarrassing.  Without the privacy
>     option, I'm afraid I would do more self-censoring and less wild
>     experimentation.  
>
>     One thing that's kept me from blogging is that I'm afraid to fix
>     something that ain't broke, at least in terms of my own personal
>     workshop.  It's hard to see how blogging wouldn't cut down on my
>     journal keeping.  Or worse, encourage more self-censorship.  
>
>     And when I've got some poetical rumination in my journal that I
>     think the world needs to know about, well, I can always type it up
>     & post here. . . .  If I had more hours in the day, I'd probably
>     be tempted to blog in addition to journal keeping, but only if it
>     didn't hurt the analog journal.
>
>     I'm curious to know from the bloggers among us:  has blogging
>     changed your writing habits notably?
>
>
>
>
>     ========================================
>     David Graham
>     grahamd at ripon.edu <mailto:grahamd at ripon.edu>
>
>     Home Page:
>     http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html
>     <http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html>
>
>     Poetry Library:
>     http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
>     <http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html>
>     ==========================================
>
>
>
>     On Jun 8, 2007, at 12:23 PM, Bob Grumman wrote:
>
>>     A while back, I announced that I was going to write about poetry
>>     blogs in my Small Press review column.  Since then, I've done a
>>     number of them, covering some New-Poetry members' blogs--Mike
>>     Snider's and Chris Lott's, for instance.  I'm working on another
>>     installment in which I'll be mentioning David Graham's list of
>>     blogs, and his Poetry Library.  I want to mention the blog I
>>     thought you had, too, David--although it looks like you are one
>>     of the few of us without one.  If you have one, please let me
>>     know its URL.
>>      
>>     Anyone else who wants to make me aware of a blog, do so.  I can't
>>     be exhaustive, but I'm trying to cover as many as I can--across
>>     the whole range of what's going on in American poetry.  The
>>     column I'm doing today will be about James F.'s, Halvard's,
>>     Anny's, Jeff's, Tom Beckett's--and David's, if he has one. 
>>     Won't, alas, be able to say much about any of them--but something.
>>      
>>     Thanks, Bob
>>      
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     New-Poetry mailing list
>     New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>     http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> "Memory believes before knowing remembers.  Believes longer than 
> recollects, longer than knowing even wonders."
> —William Faulkner, Light in August
>
>
> http://museoffireblog.blogspot.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> New-Poetry mailing list
> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>   

-- 
Tad Richards
http://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/
http://opusforty.blogspot.com/