Adam Robinson
http://www.publishinggenius.com
Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he operates Publishing Genius Press. His book of poems, Adam Robison and other poems, will be published by Narrow House Books this year.
Meta Context
I love John Rutter. His Requiem is my favorite of all Requiems. You should check it out.
But here is another piece of his, “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” which I also find exquisite. But what strikes me as most interesting now is that, just by posting this here, I’m making the video scary. The question is: what about this do I think is appropriate for this site? There isn’t an answer, but if you watch the video looking for one, I expect you’ll have some dark thoughts. Or funny thoughts.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong. I’d be interested to know.
Adam Robinson—
But if everyone just reposts (slash-republishes) their stories at Fictionaut, won’t I just go there to read everything?
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Matthew Savoca, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
Today’s contestant is Matthew Savoca, who’s story “Everybody Painted the Barn that Day,” in Kathryn Regina’s brilliant childhood photo project at Wunderkammer, struck me as the closest thing to Mark Twain I’ve ever read on the Internet, as much for the voice as for the quaint story. Hoping that you’ll still follow the link to Wunderkammer in order to see the picture that Savoca is responding to, I have pasted the story here:
Everybody painted the barn that day. There was Ma, Paw, Timmy, and Mr. Walsh. We’d been planning to paint it for three or four weeks starting in the beginning of April but didn’t actually get started until early May which really messed up my plans because I had decided sometime in February that I was going to leave as soon as Winter broke. I was five years old. Paw couldn’t understand why I was so enthusiastic about getting the painting started, which was because I had decided I’d stay and help so as not to upset Ma. Eventually we did it, over two days – Saturday and Sunday. The picture was taken on Saturday that’s why it doesn’t look like much has been done. I got paint all over my overalls when one of the cans spilled off the ladder Paw was on. It even got in my hair and we spent all night washing and scrubbing it out. Then my overalls were all messed up and Ma got to working on mending an old pair of mine that she’d been meaning to fix up for a long time, so I had to wait even longer before leaving. One thing led right on to another thing happening and I never did run away that summer.
Not much to explain there, Mr. Savoca, but I do want to know: did you run away when you were a boy, and if so, for how long? Matthew Savoca: EXPLAIN YOURSELF! (applause).
(For last week’s edition featuring Peter Berghoef, who lost, click here.)
O Poetry Collection
Narrow House, who has been “creating interdisciplinary language-based craziness for five years running,” has released the pre-orders for the I.E. Reader, which features work from, omfs:
Elena Alexander, Bruce Andrews, Michael Ball, Sandra Beassley, Lauren Bender, Bill Berkson, Charles Bernstein, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Miles Champion, Norma Cole, CA Conrad, Bruce Covey, Tina Darragh, Ben Doller, Sandra Doller, Buck Downs, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, kari edwards, Cathy Eisenhower, Graham Foust, Heather Fuller, Peter Gizzi, Adam Good, Jamie Gaughran-Perez, K. Lorraine Graham, Jessica Grim, P. Inman, Lisa Jarnot, Bonnie Jones, Beth Joselow, Michael Kelleher, Amy King, Doug Lang, Katy Lederer, Reb Livingston, M. Magnus, Tom Mandel, Chris Mason, Kristi Mexwell, Megan McShea, Anna Moschovakis, Gina Myers , Chris Nealon, Mel Nichols, Aldon Nielsen, Tom Orange, Bob Perelman, Simon Pettet, Tom Raworth, Adam Robinson, Phyllis Rosenzweig, Ric Royer, Ken Rumble, Justin Sirois, Rod Smith, Cole Swensen, Maureen Thorson, Chris Toll, Edwin Torres, Les Wade, Rosemarie Waldrop, Ryan Walker, Mark Wallace, Terence Winch, Rupert Wondolowski, John Yau, Geoffrey Young
The work is drawn from readings at Baltimore’s most formidable poetry venue, the I.E. Series. All those poets read there and then Narrow House put the book together with Michael Ball, who curates the series.
Explain Yourself: Peter Berghoef in ROBOT MELON #9
[I’m starting a new weekly feature, in which I scour my favorite journals and pick something that I like and want “explained” (I will accept anything for an explanation). I won’t be alerting people when I make the selection though, so it’ll be interesting to see who has their ears on. If I pick you and you respond before the post scrolls off the page, I will contact you (if contact info is provided) and send you a gift in the mail. Like a book or something.] [PS: When the words, “EXPLAIN YOURSELF” appear, everyone has to clap. Like a game show.][PPS: Some weeks there will be extra challenges, like “The Apologist” and “The Rebuttal,” in which random commenters can steal the gift . . . but that will come later. This being the first week, I want to keep it simple.]
So what the heck is this awesomeness:
the first time I believed I had Cadillacs running for office in my veins
freshly anointed with new headdresses
hats the neck can’t support
stop signs on top of stop signs
It’s good, right?
If Peter Berghoef is reading, would you please EXPLAIN YOURSELF! [applause!]
Joseph Young’s Easter Rabbit trailer
Are you ready for something sublime? Ol’ boy Joe Young made a heartwrenching video to promote his book, Easter Rabbit (which I’m putting it out with Publishing Genius in December).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eIpZii_PZo
Oddly beautiful, no? It’s amazing how much how little can do. And it seems like there have been a lot of special offers here at HTMLGIANT lately. See below for a couple more.
Adam Robinson—
Want to kill a couple hours? Check out my new favorite website.
Especially the success story interviews.
Adam Robinson—
Hey, check out this transcript from an NPR report on the idyllic life of poet Jim Harrison. It’s bizarre because it weaves through biographical notes by the host and interjections by Harrison. I suppose it makes sense if you watch it, but reading it is funnier:
JEFFREY BROWN: After years of barely scraping by and refusing offers of academic positions, Harrison made his money and began living the high life in Hollywood, writing films like “Wolf” for Jack Nicholson, who became a friend.
JIM HARRISON: … look at those juices.
JEFFREY BROWN: Harrison also became known for his legendary eating and drinking. Food, for Harrison, is more than just one of life’s small pleasures. His motto is “eat or die.” He wrote a food column for Esquire magazine for many years, and he and Linda, his wife of almost 50 years, still cook and feast together.
They shared with us what Harrison thought of as a modest meal of roasted wild pig, homegrown vegetables, and fine wine.
JIM HARRISON: And it’s an especially flavorful pork. It’s perfectly cooked, Clementine.
Here’s a poem called “Rooster”: “I have to kill the rooster tomorrow. He’s being an asshole,” . . .
Adam Robinson—
Jim Ruland wrote a great open letter to Matthew Simmons about A Jello Horse at The Believer. It starts:
Dear Matthew Simmons,
I am writing today to ask you a question about your book, which I read with great pleasure: what is it?
Sean Lovelace Is the Server Working Now
I think Sean Lovelace’s blog is hilarious and always spot on. His writing there makes me not hate runners as much. Like when he did the airforce marathon, I thought that was a fascinating and rugged bit of literary essay.
I also think he thinks that how a thing is said matters more than what that said thing is. That’s a smart rule, a top ten rule, one that can’t be made too elastic. I mean, really, I don’t know him at all so there’s not much reason for me to care about his running habits, impressive though they are, or his disc golf hobby, whatever that is, or how much he likes hot dogs and thinks they are the greatest food on the planteen. But since, blogwise, he often opts to invent a phrase like “hang something all oyster” rather than to further explain a point that is (maybe) clear enough or (maybe) less valuable than the vim of the saying or (maybe) whatever — since that — then I’m piqued and I have a reason to care about all the else, the running and deer hunting and whatever hippy hobby he has.
He can’t, thank heavens, go a blog-sentence without ending awonk. A paragraph like this gives the reader a lot of credit and gives him the opportunity to use language like paint:
. . . I ate my pre-race meal, a mixture of liquids and gels and potato chips and solvents and Near Beer and oil additives. My body felt like a Global Hawk. My stomach did the cloud-cover, the sandstorm. I then descended into the arms of Morpheus.
That excerpt starts with lucid detail then crashes another party. This is the reading eye I brought to his chapbook, How Some People Like Their Eggs, fresh from the Rose Metal Press skillet. How does it measure up?
13 Comments
September 30th, 2009 / 3:24 am
September 30th, 2009 / 3:24 am