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E-NOTES: WHEN THE NEWS IS NOT ENOUGH. THE BLOG OF E. ETHELBERT MILLER
Friday, September 06, 2013
Is that a vote in your pocket or are you just happy to go to war?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/syria
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/syria
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN DOVES CRY
So what politicians will begin to talk loudly about peace? When and where will the profiles in courage emerge? It's language that keeps trapping us. We think about the unthinkable without pause or hesitation.
We talk about bombs as if they were candles on a birthday cake. What are we going to bomb and destroy in Syria? What are the targets? Bridges and roads? Will an entire nation be kicked into darkness without power? How many more Syrians will become refugees? What good will emerge out of the coming chaos? Winter in America after an Arab Spring?
We talk about bombs as if they were candles on a birthday cake. What are we going to bomb and destroy in Syria? What are the targets? Bridges and roads? Will an entire nation be kicked into darkness without power? How many more Syrians will become refugees? What good will emerge out of the coming chaos? Winter in America after an Arab Spring?
November 1, 2013 – ROBERT HAYDEN: A CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE AND POETRY TRIBUTE
The Department of English at the University of Michigan has announced plans for a one-day conference on November 1, 2013 in honor of Robert Hayden, the distinguished poet and educator who received an M.A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1944 and returned to teach at the university in 1970 as Professor of English until his death in 1980.
Hayden has emerged as a major figure in American literary history. He is the leader, along with Gwendolyn Brooks, of the generation of African American poets that emerged in the 1940s to achieve widespread critical attention and a massive presence in anthologies and textbooks. He served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as Poet Laureate of the United States) from 1976-1978. The U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp in 2012 to honor his achievement.
The keynote address of the conference, to be held in the Rackham Amphitheater, will be delivered by Harryette Mullen, Professor of English and Creative Writing at UCLA, a Guggenheim Fellow (among other honors), and a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her volume of essays and interviews, The Cracks Between What We Are and What We Are Supposed to Be, appeared in 2012.
Professor Mullen will be introduced by A. Van Jordan of the U-M faculty. A panel discussion in early afternoon will include Mullen, Linda Gregerson (of the U-M faculty), Lawrence Joseph, a Detroit native and the preeminent Arab-American poet of our time, and Frederick Glaysher, editor of Hayden’s Collected Poems and Collected Prose. Robert Hayden is a character in Glaysher’s recently published epic poem, The Parliament of Poets. Laurence Goldstein, Professor of English and co-editor (with Robert Chrisman) ofRobert Hayden: Essays on the Poetry (University of Michigan Press, 2001), will serve as panel moderator.
In late afternoon, MFA students will read from and speak about Hayden’s poems, along with other participants in the conference.
Timetable:
10 a.m. Keynote address by Harryette Mullen
12-1:30 p.m. Lunch at various restaurants around campus
1:30-3:00 p.m. Panel discussion
3:00-5:00 p.m. Readings and remarks by audience members
The Department of English at the University of Michigan has announced plans for a one-day conference on November 1, 2013 in honor of Robert Hayden, the distinguished poet and educator who received an M.A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1944 and returned to teach at the university in 1970 as Professor of English until his death in 1980.
Hayden has emerged as a major figure in American literary history. He is the leader, along with Gwendolyn Brooks, of the generation of African American poets that emerged in the 1940s to achieve widespread critical attention and a massive presence in anthologies and textbooks. He served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as Poet Laureate of the United States) from 1976-1978. The U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp in 2012 to honor his achievement.
The keynote address of the conference, to be held in the Rackham Amphitheater, will be delivered by Harryette Mullen, Professor of English and Creative Writing at UCLA, a Guggenheim Fellow (among other honors), and a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her volume of essays and interviews, The Cracks Between What We Are and What We Are Supposed to Be, appeared in 2012.
Professor Mullen will be introduced by A. Van Jordan of the U-M faculty. A panel discussion in early afternoon will include Mullen, Linda Gregerson (of the U-M faculty), Lawrence Joseph, a Detroit native and the preeminent Arab-American poet of our time, and Frederick Glaysher, editor of Hayden’s Collected Poems and Collected Prose. Robert Hayden is a character in Glaysher’s recently published epic poem, The Parliament of Poets. Laurence Goldstein, Professor of English and co-editor (with Robert Chrisman) ofRobert Hayden: Essays on the Poetry (University of Michigan Press, 2001), will serve as panel moderator.
In late afternoon, MFA students will read from and speak about Hayden’s poems, along with other participants in the conference.
Timetable:
10 a.m. Keynote address by Harryette Mullen
12-1:30 p.m. Lunch at various restaurants around campus
1:30-3:00 p.m. Panel discussion
3:00-5:00 p.m. Readings and remarks by audience members
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Tuesday, September 03, 2013
E- Thoughts in September
So who is the president listening to these days? Susan Rice? This is the question historians will be asking if history is still here.
How close are we from bombing another nation? Who is the chemical culprit?
My mother believed someone was always testing chemicals in the New York subway system.
Go figure...
She told me this years before I went off to college.
What is the president trying to do? What happened to all the concern about the economy?
Was it just the other day we wanted to bomb Iran?
I must confess the North Koreans landing near Portland or Seattle is what keeps me up at night.
Remember that movie?
How close are we from bombing another nation? Who is the chemical culprit?
My mother believed someone was always testing chemicals in the New York subway system.
Go figure...
She told me this years before I went off to college.
What is the president trying to do? What happened to all the concern about the economy?
Was it just the other day we wanted to bomb Iran?
I must confess the North Koreans landing near Portland or Seattle is what keeps me up at night.
Remember that movie?
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Pennant race or just time to relax with The 5th Inning?
https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=103
https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=103
Monday, September 02, 2013
This is some serious Syria.
Just a few weeks ago...the concern was with Syrian refugees. Now it's war talk. Bombs will always put McCain back in the news. OK...maybe I'm dumb - but where do folks keep the chemical stuff?
Under the bed? How come when we drop a bomb the deadly stuff doesn't spread? Who is going to make money from the gas masks that have to be sold?
So on the road to Damascus where do we stop? I can't see a reason for voting to bomb a nation that hasn't bombed us. I'm upset with guns in the black community - when does Russia attack?
Under the bed? How come when we drop a bomb the deadly stuff doesn't spread? Who is going to make money from the gas masks that have to be sold?
So on the road to Damascus where do we stop? I can't see a reason for voting to bomb a nation that hasn't bombed us. I'm upset with guns in the black community - when does Russia attack?
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 2, 2013 | |||
Support for your Meditation
- Leigh Brasington, "A
Mind Pure, Concentrated, and
Bright"
|
Sunday, September 01, 2013
Quote of the Day
And I say, "Aw come on now
You know you know about my debutante"
And she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want"
- Bob Dylan - Memphis Blues
You know you know about my debutante"
And she says, "Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want"
- Bob Dylan - Memphis Blues
ONE OF US MUST KNOW. ARE YOU SAYING GOOD-BYE FOR GOOD?
Pick a country for Halloween. It seems every few months we seem to confront "terror"
from a nation that was outside in the yard too long for recess.
Remember when Libya was playing on the monkey bars? Was that North Korea kicking sand in someone's face? Is Iraq still throwing stones? Egypt is looking for an adult to put a stop to the fighting. After the Arab Spring I'm waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Things have come to this. How serious must I now be about Syria? We live in a world where leaders like guppies eat their young. Call it genocide or citizenship by another name. We wear the mask. Our eyes hidden by the darkness and the desolation. Tell me more or just change the channel.
from a nation that was outside in the yard too long for recess.
Remember when Libya was playing on the monkey bars? Was that North Korea kicking sand in someone's face? Is Iraq still throwing stones? Egypt is looking for an adult to put a stop to the fighting. After the Arab Spring I'm waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Things have come to this. How serious must I now be about Syria? We live in a world where leaders like guppies eat their young. Call it genocide or citizenship by another name. We wear the mask. Our eyes hidden by the darkness and the desolation. Tell me more or just change the channel.
.JPG)
RE-BLOG FROM JIM McWILLIAMS
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Meeting Charles Johnson
Charles
Johnson, winner of the National Book Award for Middle Passage, is one of my favorite writers. In
philosophical, yet lyrical prose, he spins tales of 19th- and
20th-century America with a voice that captures readers from the very
first pages. Although his work is extremely imaginative, it is often grounded
solidly in American history—specifically the history of African Americans—and
instructs even as it delights. A Buddhist theme is often a subtle undercurrent,
but his novels and short stories never become didactic.
I first met
Chuck in 1995 when he returned to Southern Illinois University, where I happened
to be a Ph.D. student in English, to receive an honorary degree as a distinguished alumnus. (Chuck has a B.S. in Journalism
and an M.A. in Philosophy from SIU.) Although I was aware of his name when the
Alumni Association announced the award, I hadn’t read any of his work, so I
headed to the library to check out his fiction. What I read—especially Oxherding Tale and Middle Passage—knocked me
out. I bought a copy of the latter and then stood in line to meet him when he
came to campus a few weeks later. I later bought copies of the rest of his
novels and read and reread them.
At that point,
I was more fan than scholar, but in 2002, after finishing my third book, I realized that Chuck had never been
interviewed at length, and I decided I was the man for the job. I first queried
Chuck (after all, if he wasn’t interested, there wasn’t any point to the
project), and after he gave his enthusiastic approval, I found a home for the
proposed book of interviews at the University of Washington Press, which was
delighted to accept it since Chuck had been a professor at UW for nearly thirty
years.
Chuck and I
then had two years of email correspondence as I formally interviewed him and
informally got to know him. I also found dozens of other interviews with
him—mainly from literary journals—and secured reprint rights for them. In
November 2004, UW Press published the book, Passing the Three Gates, and hosted a publication
party for Chuck and myself in Seattle. That would be the first time I would meet
him in person, and I have to confess that I was extremely nervous. After all,
how often does one meet a certified genius? One with a Ph.D. in philosophy and a shelf full of literary prizes? But I found him to be just as warm and
generous in person as he had been in his emails.
Over the
years, in addition to keeping up by email, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet
with Chuck a few times at various conferences. In 2005, in fact, he came to my
home institution, Dickinson State University, to give a reading and meet
with students. The photo below is from that evening.
If you haven’t
yet read the works of Charles Johnson, then you really need to head to your
local library or log into your amazon.com account and get started, for I promise
that you will find his fiction to be extraordinary, and, maybe, he just might
change your life as he changed mine.
September 2013 Poetry News
Celebrate Washington, DC's rich literary history this month with three highly recommended FREE events:…
On
Wednesday, September 18 at 7:00 pm, join award-winning authors Richard
McCann and Danielle Evans for a "DC By The Book" event. The authors
will read from their fiction and discuss why Washington DC has been an
important setting for their work. "DC By the Book" is a new initiative
to map DC fiction, sponsored by the DC Public Libraries. It's a
terrific resource that shows how literature can enhance our connection
to a sense of place. Event held at the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw DC Public
Library.
On
Wednesday, September 25 at 6:30 pm, "A Splendid Wake" brings together
current DC poets to honor past DC poets who have built and sustained a
complex and multifaceted literary community in the capital city.
Speakers include: Karren L. Alenier, Luis Alberto Ambroggio, Sarah
Browning, Grace Cavalieri, Teri Cross Davis, Brian Gilmore, Dolores
Kendrick, E. Ethelbert Miller, Richard Peabody, Kim Roberts, Christopher
Sten, and Terence WInch. This program also inaugurates a new Wiki to
collect information about poets, movements, publications, events,
institutions, and broadcasts in DC from 1900 to the present to "provide a
picture of the diverse and unique life of poetry that evolved over more
than a century." Event held at the Gelman Library on the George
Washington University campus.
On
Monday, September 30 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, "The District of
Literature Festival" brings a full day of readings and panels to
highlight DC's poets, fiction writers, and literary critics past,
present and future. Panels are hosted by the American Poetry Museum,
Split This Rock, 826DC, DC Writers' Homes, The Writer's Center,
PEN/Faulker, and Slate Magazine. Daytime presenters include:
A. X. Ahmad, Marie Arana, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Henri Cole,
Camille Dungy, Terrance Hayes, Elliott Holt, Dolores Kendrick, Dan Kois,
Richard McCann, Kim Roberts, Shakeema Smalls, A.B. Spellman and Dan
Vera. Evening readers include: Elizabeth Alexander, Edward P. Jones, E.
Ethelbert Miller, and George Pelecanos. Daytime events held at the
Library of Congress; evening readings at the Lutheran Church of the
Reformation.
Full information on these events and much more.…
"Like" our Facebook page to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Beltway Poetry Quarterly
is an award-winning online literary journal and resource bank that
showcases the literary community in Washington, DC and the surrounding
Mid-Atlantic region.