Upcoming Events, Wonders

I think somewhere in our talks about blogging there was mention of including local events and happenings. Last night Beard and I went to TEX gallery. I read a story about adulterous priests. One of the readers read prose poems while smearing cake all over herself. It was Kullberg's birthday. Colin Winette was in town. It was awesome.

In light of that, I decided to take up the baton of promoting these other awesome literary events which will soon be happening right here in lil d.

First, Sherman Alexie is reading on Thursday. Plus you can go to an "exclusive" Q&A session with him before the reading. Everyone likes things that are exclusive. I learned that from the movie about the facebook.

Also, there is a really cool series of events called The Narrative Arc that's going to be put on by the New Media department. They are looking for readers for the final event on Friday, November 12th.

Below are all of the details for these events. I hope to see everyone there. Happy fall!

-Hillary

Opportunity to meet writer Sherman Alexie:

We still have spots available at a small pre-lecture discussion this Thursday with writer Sherman Alexie. You must sign up in advance to attend. The event is free.

Details: 5:30 discussion on Thursday, 10/28 in Silver Eagle Suite (must sign up in advance), reading is at 7:30 in same location

This is a wonderful opportunity for creative writers at UNT. If you are interested in attending, send your name and student ID to Professor Foertsch today. http://us.mc654.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Jacqueline.Foertsch@unt.edu

Asst. Professor in New Media Jenny Vogel is asking for fiction, nonfiction, or poetry students to read for five or ten minutes on Friday November 12 at UNT on the Square. This is an impressive idea to explore the complexities of narrative in multiple forms and a variety of objects.

If you're interested in reading (and adding a useful line on the CV), please email Professor Vogel at jenny.vogel@unt.edu. She's curating the event.


UNT on the Square presents:

THE NARRATIVE ARC

November 1 – November 12
Opening Reception: Tuesday Nov 2, 5-7PM

UNT on the Square, 109 N. Elm St, Denton, TX 76201

Hours: Mon –Wed 9-5; Thurs 9-8, Fri 9-5, Sat 11-3 (closed for lunch from 12-1)

It's a lucky man who can say "when," "before" and "after."
- Robert Musil "Man Without Qualities," 1930

Narratives are based on a sequence of events, no matter how improbable, "as long as it sets off an emotional tick, to which subsequent episode can provide an answering tock." This suggests that narratives not only rely on sequencing or stringing together cause and effect, but also on our perception or misperception of relationships or dependencies within the episodes. How can this understanding of sequences and a continuation of plot through textual strings be translated into images and objects? What kind of structures can replace the words, sentences and paragraphs to experience narration in a visual context?

The moving image, the graphic novel, or digital art might be the most obvious media where both text and image collide, providing a bridge between the two disciplines. But if narratives are also established through our ability to read dependencies between two or more parts, then stories can emerge from spatial relationships, complex layering of material and meaning, or the artistic process itself.

The artists in this exhibition address the questions raised above, while challenging the conventions of visualizing story.

Artists featured in this exhibition:
Patryce Bak, Ofri Cnaani, Ellie Ga, Sven Johne, Ezra Johnson, Selena Kimball, Ellie Krakow, Dave Mishalanie, Joshua Sanchez, Julie West
and UNT New Media Art students.

Events related to the exhibition:

Tuesday, November 2nd, 5-7PM
Opening Reception

Friday, November 5th, 5-9PM-
First Friday Denton Gallery event with live-cinema projections by UNT New Media Art students

Thursday November 11th, 7-9PM
Exhibition artist Ellie Ga will perform The Fortune Tellers, a performative lecture about her experiences on board the Tara, a sailboat drifting in the frozen pack ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Friday November 12th, 5-6:30PM
Reading by UNT Creative Writing students

This Poem Tastes Funny

Recently, I received a package in the mail from a professor at my MFA program. It's a poster advertising a reading to celebrate 25 years of the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series. The reader, looking thoughtful with a stem of glasses on his lips, is Billy Collins.

I laughed when I unrolled the poster. I don't like Billy Collins. I mean, I really don't like Billy Collins. I'm sure every poet in my MFA program knew that I was adamantly against Collins' brand of poetry (I know the professor who sent me the poster knew—he was my thesis chair). If they didn't know, they could read about it—the first section of my thesis is partly devoted to critiquing Collins, particularly his use of humor.

Now, I'm not saying that Collins' is “wrong” in his use of humor or anything like that. My argument revolves around the idea that he really doesn't try as hard as he could. Sure, a reader could interpret one of his poems in x amount of ways, but one, I think, doesn't really have to apply themselves too much to “get it.” In my research for my brief discussion of Collins, I came across an interview where he said that “poetry should be transparent” and that “there's an awful lot of bad poetry...about 87 percent of the poetry in America is not worth reading.” One can assume anything that is not transparent, not easy to get on the first read, not difficult to understand, is not worth reading. Well, that's excluding an awful lot.

What Collins' does not talk about, and what seems to get lost in a lot of discussion about “good” and “bad” poetry, is taste. The literary theory class I'm in pokes at my brain and makes me want to ask, “But, does taste really exist?” And yes, it does. It has to exist. If there were no such thing as taste, Collins would love that 87% of poetry he currently dislikes. If there were no taste, I would like Collins' poetry.

But where does taste come from? How do I know what I like and what I don't? Saying, “I like making the familiar unfamiliar,” is true, but, that seems to be Collins' modus operandi too, though there are different results. Can I just say that my gut tells me what I like? Can I say that growing up in “flyover country” makes my imagination work harder? I don't know. These are questions I can't answer.

I don't know how many poems in the world I'd call “awful,” but I don't think 87% is close. I couldn't even count that number of poems. Collins' taste must be narrow in scope though if 87% are not worth reading. 87% of people who buy poetry from chain bookstores, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, probably buy Collins' books. He has broken sales records for poetry (I know, this is hard to believe, it's poetry after all). Every time I have been to a chain bookstore, I have seen Collins' name staring at me from a handful of book spines. My professor told me over 400 people came to hear Collins' read. Almost every reading I attended while I was a MFA student, there were around 25 people, maximum. Does this mean I have bad taste? Am I missing something here?

I will give Collins credit though—I am happy that poetry is still being read other than by those of us in the Academy or graduate students in English. One of the things that poetry, or literature for that matter should do, is entertain. Many people are entertained by Collins' poems. That's especially telling today, where electronic media dominates the entertainment landscape.

So, I'm going to put the poster up in my cubicle. I'm not sure what my professor told Collins about me, if anything, or if he read my thesis introduction. Collins was nice enough to sign it though, in what appears as a cheerful scribble. This reminds me that I stole a poem idea from Collins and even got the poem published. I hope it's the most awful poem ever written.