Have to say, I like typed questions and answers and I'm not sure why. For some reason, the words seemed more "alive" or maybe it was the thoughts that were more alive.
Absolutely delightful! Making a list of books to try. I really love the freedom of not worrying about what's popular, missing out or if you don't like the big book you started. Thank you for doing this interview, Austin. It's so cool to learn new ideas and be introduced to a poet I haven't read before. Great start to this Tuesday morning... oh, and instead of bedside books, I have tub- side books. I have a few favorites I reach for time and time again for baths: 30 Poems to Memorize (Before It's Too Late), Collected Works of Robert Frost, To Kill a Mockingbird, Madame Bovary and The Forsyte Saga.
Yes! The scent of creosote in the rain! I miss Big Bend and the Superstition Mountains in Arizona for just that reason. I have a 5-year-old branch that I brought back from my trip to Phoenix that I sniff after sprinkling some water on it.
Three Takeaways: 1.) "Lonesome Dove" just keeps coming up in my orbit. It's time to read the darn thing!! 2.) I am adopting the phrase "fleeting obsessions" and will use it liberally to explain what the heck I am doing all day. 3.) "The next line could always be anything." (YES!!!!! I need to write it big and post it prominently.) Loved this interview! Thank you!
I so enjoyed this new creative format for your weekly Tuesday post. For those of us who grew up on typewriters, it's very nostalgic. (I will never forget my typewriter class in high school with about 30 (guessing) students all pounding away our exercises in unison. AAA, space, BBB, space, CCC space....
I really loved this from Elisa: When I'm writing a poem and I get stuck, it's often because I've forgotten this principle: The next line could always be anything. The poem has free will; the future in the poem is not beholden to its past.
I agree that when "stuck", the next line could be anything, and it could also end up being the beginning or the middle or the end of THIS poem; or it may go on to be a completely different poem.
Keep going. Keep imagining. Keep writing. Keep on keep on!
What a fascinating format and great content! As a New Zealander I have to confess that I don't know half of the people you reference in your posts and books but that's what Google and dedicated benign rabbit-hole time is for (currently down one :)
Petrichor is one of my favourite words along with, amongst others, crepuscular, discombobulated and horrakapotchkin (coined by one of our best loved children's book authors, Margaret Mahy)
As a middle school art teacher I very strongly resonated with the bit from John Waters and being a curious elder. Sometimes I marvel at the culture that they are creating and navigating and living in. I am also happy to swim outside of those waters. I feel like I work at an aquarium where I spend much of the time observing through the glass occasionally getting into the water to share their air. My experience has shown that most young people are simply trying to assert their independence and having your own culture/language will certainly make that easier. I actually really enjoy getting to observe it. Here is a tip if you're ever intimidated by a young person or group of young people: Make eye contact. I generally find that it pierces the air of confidence.
I loved this interview - and have added a few more books to my "on hold" list at the library. The typed questions kept tickling at something in my brain til I figured out that it reminded me a bit of the first time I read Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondance by Nick Bantock. It was so much fun to open the envelopes and read the postcards, and this interview had those same feelings. I found myself wishing the cards you typed on existed as three dimensional objects in my world so I could feel the weight of the paper and the indents in it from where the typewriter keys struck the paper. Digital artifacts have an enticing immediacy, but lack the sensory input of physical objects. We see the digital ones, but can marvel at the scent of the paper, and the feeling of it in our hands as we listen to the rustle as sheets touch one another and see color beyond the limits of our monitors.
I was a library trustee when it first came out. There was much debate about whether to add it to the collection. So many little pieces to get lost, but patrons took exquisite care with that book and not one piece went missing.
I set my Word view at 150 because that's the only way I can see it even with my reading glasses! So describing 175 as "real huge" is just, well, I don't know whether to laugh or cry... :)
Have to say, I like typed questions and answers and I'm not sure why. For some reason, the words seemed more "alive" or maybe it was the thoughts that were more alive.
There’s something about it!
Absolutely delightful! Making a list of books to try. I really love the freedom of not worrying about what's popular, missing out or if you don't like the big book you started. Thank you for doing this interview, Austin. It's so cool to learn new ideas and be introduced to a poet I haven't read before. Great start to this Tuesday morning... oh, and instead of bedside books, I have tub- side books. I have a few favorites I reach for time and time again for baths: 30 Poems to Memorize (Before It's Too Late), Collected Works of Robert Frost, To Kill a Mockingbird, Madame Bovary and The Forsyte Saga.
Yes! The scent of creosote in the rain! I miss Big Bend and the Superstition Mountains in Arizona for just that reason. I have a 5-year-old branch that I brought back from my trip to Phoenix that I sniff after sprinkling some water on it.
Three Takeaways: 1.) "Lonesome Dove" just keeps coming up in my orbit. It's time to read the darn thing!! 2.) I am adopting the phrase "fleeting obsessions" and will use it liberally to explain what the heck I am doing all day. 3.) "The next line could always be anything." (YES!!!!! I need to write it big and post it prominently.) Loved this interview! Thank you!
HIGHLY recommend Lonesome Dove. It's huge, but so enjoyable. Thanks for reading!!
Have you read the recent McMurtrey biography https://a.co/d/2fBprGG
I haven’t but I’ve read about it — sounds good!
What a wonderful interview!! And format, of course!!
I so enjoyed this new creative format for your weekly Tuesday post. For those of us who grew up on typewriters, it's very nostalgic. (I will never forget my typewriter class in high school with about 30 (guessing) students all pounding away our exercises in unison. AAA, space, BBB, space, CCC space....
I really loved this from Elisa: When I'm writing a poem and I get stuck, it's often because I've forgotten this principle: The next line could always be anything. The poem has free will; the future in the poem is not beholden to its past.
I agree that when "stuck", the next line could be anything, and it could also end up being the beginning or the middle or the end of THIS poem; or it may go on to be a completely different poem.
Keep going. Keep imagining. Keep writing. Keep on keep on!
Thank you! Expect more of these
What a fascinating format and great content! As a New Zealander I have to confess that I don't know half of the people you reference in your posts and books but that's what Google and dedicated benign rabbit-hole time is for (currently down one :)
Petrichor is one of my favourite words along with, amongst others, crepuscular, discombobulated and horrakapotchkin (coined by one of our best loved children's book authors, Margaret Mahy)
Oh so good! Love this newsletter Austin! Thank you!
So much to enjoy here, but I especially love the question “what song are you always in the mood for?” 🤩.
As a middle school art teacher I very strongly resonated with the bit from John Waters and being a curious elder. Sometimes I marvel at the culture that they are creating and navigating and living in. I am also happy to swim outside of those waters. I feel like I work at an aquarium where I spend much of the time observing through the glass occasionally getting into the water to share their air. My experience has shown that most young people are simply trying to assert their independence and having your own culture/language will certainly make that easier. I actually really enjoy getting to observe it. Here is a tip if you're ever intimidated by a young person or group of young people: Make eye contact. I generally find that it pierces the air of confidence.
I like the aquarium metaphor!!
I loved this interview - and have added a few more books to my "on hold" list at the library. The typed questions kept tickling at something in my brain til I figured out that it reminded me a bit of the first time I read Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondance by Nick Bantock. It was so much fun to open the envelopes and read the postcards, and this interview had those same feelings. I found myself wishing the cards you typed on existed as three dimensional objects in my world so I could feel the weight of the paper and the indents in it from where the typewriter keys struck the paper. Digital artifacts have an enticing immediacy, but lack the sensory input of physical objects. We see the digital ones, but can marvel at the scent of the paper, and the feeling of it in our hands as we listen to the rustle as sheets touch one another and see color beyond the limits of our monitors.
I didn’t know about this book but Elisa told me it was one of her favorites growing up — will check out!
I was a library trustee when it first came out. There was much debate about whether to add it to the collection. So many little pieces to get lost, but patrons took exquisite care with that book and not one piece went missing.
I set my Word view at 150 because that's the only way I can see it even with my reading glasses! So describing 175 as "real huge" is just, well, I don't know whether to laugh or cry... :)
My husband sets his at 200 - so yours is practically microprinting. ;-)