Flowers That Gloze

Get thee hence to: aaronmccollough.com/blog

So, I've decided to set up a proper website as an interweb clearinghouse for my literary exploits:http://www.aaronmccollough.com

Please do come visit and buy books by me.

I am listening to the Divine Comedy at the moment. The track "Regeneration" from the album Regeneration.

I am teaching poetry tomorrow ... specifically Olson, Levertov, and O'Hara poems.

I am reading Fear by Joanna Bourke, Berrigan's Sonnets, Frank Stanford, John Weiners, and the graphic novel, From Hell, about Jack the Ripper. Also, watching Deadwood, season two.

Also, I am drinking Trader Joe's Coffee (Bay Blend).

And...

Reading again Ted Berrigan's The Sonnets and so delighted to hear Ted talk about the poems are read them at Penn Sound http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Berrigan.html.

Such a great voice and a great soft persona. This time through the book, I'm feeling so much more like I get what he has done / was doing. Part of what brought me back to it was a return trip through the New American Poetry in prep for teaching an intro to poetry course. And I thought, oh should I put some Berrigan in here. Well.

So, I'm feeling like I understand what he has done, I think, because I've gone through a number of the processes he went through to make the sonnets happen. That's not to say that I think I've written anything like his book. It is only to say that working with chance operations makes it much more feasible to read work produced in this manner.

In any case, old Ted, or a bear disguised as GBS. Very good to see you, hear you, again.

Labels: Ted Berrigan

This poem appeared at Verse Daily some time recently: McCollough poem at Verse Daily.

Interesting review of Little Ease by Andrea Baker (whose work I admire) here: Baker Review of Little Ease. Thanks, Andrea.

Very nice review of Little Ease here: Little Ease Review in Coldfront. Thanks to the reviewer, Jason Schneiderman.

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last post. What happened to me? Well, my friend, dissertation happened. It had been happening all along. That's true. This year--the last year--was the full-court press, however. All other aspects of my life have been completely on hold. It is just now that the haze is beginning to clear. So, I thought...why not post to the blorgh. And that's what I'm doing.

My new book, Little Ease has just been released. I'm not sure if it is available for purchase yet, but I got my author copies yesterday, and I'm very pleased with the way it looks. Jeff Clark did the the cover, and boy is it cool. I've always admired his work, and I'm excited I got to work with him.

I'll be doing some readings in the near future. I hope you can make it to one or all of them. I'll post the dates soon, but right now I need to go talk to my disertation chair about George Herbert.

In Chattanooga for a week or so, working on a book project that has been very long in the offing. It's not poetry. It's ... well ... I don't know what to call it. Histo-ethno-editing. University of South Carolina Press is meant to publish it. Dissertation: rolling along.

Took in some yacht rock whilst down Tennessee way. Since A didn't want to go, my pal K took me along to the Steely Dan show in Nashville. It was excellent. Long time Dan fan. To my tremendous surprise, however, Michael MacDonald (the singer, not the world's foremost authority on mental illness in renaissance england currently serving on my disseration committee) was the opening act. He also did his first set with the Dan since the seventies, backing up such fan favs as "Peg" and "Hey Nineteen." They even did a version of "Dirty Work," but they had the backup singers do the lead vocals, which was ok but not super.