tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65429628022385680662024-03-13T14:03:19.575+11:00366 metablogThe purpose of this blog is to facilitate discussions by the participants about Project 366Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-7886213591379933792023-12-14T06:04:00.001+11:002023-12-14T06:04:46.136+11:00In plain view <div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigw2WX1eNBLgDzpXFYnMpwCWb3cZAToJ1ebalLc3YNZf-I1fCmLtFVlM5zAft_e4cq4Mf2UD7jnySPlnSeXugSaLwDiT8LjsrskcV1d6YBujXZR7KbmxD5iUzV4GTo7fcPjoQG_FTeYsH__uEAHNJw4sjK_3vhju6J-2nL6lFXEKvz1zgDBY1x6zW9FT3q" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigw2WX1eNBLgDzpXFYnMpwCWb3cZAToJ1ebalLc3YNZf-I1fCmLtFVlM5zAft_e4cq4Mf2UD7jnySPlnSeXugSaLwDiT8LjsrskcV1d6YBujXZR7KbmxD5iUzV4GTo7fcPjoQG_FTeYsH__uEAHNJw4sjK_3vhju6J-2nL6lFXEKvz1zgDBY1x6zW9FT3q" width="400">
</a>
</div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Their colonial </div><div>catastrophe crossed all lines</div><div>thought invisible </div>Jeffree Skeweshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897170453813353795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-12982912703016694652017-02-01T14:52:00.002+11:002017-02-01T14:52:28.316+11:00Thank You and GoodnightApologies for the tardiness of this - I took off with my kids for a whole month with no internet. That's as refreshing as jumping in the sea and just as energising, too. It's taking me a while to catch up with my life online, to read what's been written and see what's been happening.<br />
<br />
Having said that, life online is real and perhaps it's meta-real when you connect with your community and share something as strong as poetry together.<br />
<br />
Thanks to the poets on 365+1 I felt a strong sense of community that is missing in the daily act of writing poetry. Others have said it well; the thrill of being read; the challenge of writing even though the baby wasn't sleeping and no ordinary tasks completed; the wonder as words and work appeared from unexpected dark, delightful places; the excitement of seeing work translated; the full belly feel of reading all that fresh work. I cherished my three months along for the ride. Thanks Sarah SVW for inviting me. Thanks Kit for all the work involved. Thanks to the poets to commented and encouraged and read and fed me with your poems.<br />
<br />
<br />Lucy Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08797873895395109435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-77470974098710567642017-01-22T00:51:00.002+11:002017-01-22T00:51:34.496+11:00Kit Kelen - rather a long rant about it all
<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); line-height: 120%; text-align: left; }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif",serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: "FreeSans"; font-size: 12pt; }a:link { }</style>
<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Kit's
366 metablog comments in January 2017 </b>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Project
366 was an on-line community of practice that ran for the whole of
2016 (a leap year, hence the 366). Over that time, about 120 poets
and artists contributed, some daily for the year, some daily for a
month, and some more occasionally. The project involved the posting
of about 7000 draft works throughout 2016 and had about 300,000
visits to the blog. And it's still going (though at a slower pace) at
</span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/</span></a></u></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(because some people just can't help themselves). It also has a
meta-blog, where people have been discussing the experience. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
While
we're giving the vital statistics: for me personally, posting to the
366 blog involved putting up more than six hundred pages of drafts
from a word file that had more than a thousand pages of rough notes
by the end of the year (and which is still growing, in both ways, at
the time of writing).
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Daily
practice might be a hard thing to get going, but once embarked upon,
it has a way of insisting on its part of your day, its place in your
head, its trace in the records you keep.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
terms of the geo-political context, 2016 was the year of Brexit and
the Trump ascendancy; a seeming definitive end to the possibibility
of positive politics – i.e. of electorates actually voting <i>for
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">someone or something. As if the
true believers of the political landscape had finally and
definitively come under the water level. 2016 was of course the
hottest year ever again, so we witnessed the rise of climate-change
deniers, like Trump, </span><span style="font-style: normal;">just as
the truth of global warming was becoming even more undeniable</span><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Among all the various horrors entailed in making </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Trump</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
the most powerful person in the world, the most horrible, for me, was
the feeling that democracy had simply given up on the planet.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Why
did I start this thing? What was I thinking? </b>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">(Play
with the supra-segmental tone here to have some irony or not.)</span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
proceed in a sort of a haibun style. </span></i>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
note that in this piece I deal almost exclusively with the poetry
side of the project, on the basis that it was billed as a
poetry-centric activity. </span></i>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
think poetry, and art more generally, should be a community, rather
than a competition. I think poetry is, most essentially, a process.
Poetry is a thing we do, especially if we're poets (which I suppose
means, if others come to think of us this way). Regularity is a key
for me though. You can't be a street sweeper if you don't sweep
streets. It's not just a lifestyle thing.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
think poetry has no natural geographical or political borders, though
it has obvious language borders. I say this because it bugs me that
poetry is arranged on so much of a national basis in the world today.
Because of funding, because of academia (and the academic reception
of poetry as an artform), because even the most creative and
cosmopolitan of wordworkers find it hard to see beyond the national
context in which they are forced to imagine themselves and their
work. Poetry does come from somewhere and hopefully has destinations
in terms of readership, but as far as borders are concerned, poetry
has the function of getting through them, slipping under or over,
breaking them down. The something that doesn't love a wall is poetry,
or ought to be. There's a lot of fun and a lot of poetry in the
crossing borders, in lifting a leg on the wall. And there's important
work in recognising the presence of borders others cannot, or choose
not to see. As <span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Auden </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">wrote</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">:
</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">'</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">The
greatest writer cannot see through a brick wall but unlike the rest
of us, he does not build one.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">'</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yes,
folks, poetry has functions. Because it is, again most essentially, a
form of speech. And speech is for getting things done, for making
things happen, for bearing witness as well. Poetry is a way of
speaking with the world. With, about, of and for, under and over –
every preposition is in on the act. And poetry should make you
re-think them – the positions and the pre-positions – among
things, among processes, actions, acts.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Poetry
is as spoken as it is written, though this is not something our blog
has been able to demonstrate.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the circumstances of our community of practice, poetry inscribed on
the screen is a kind of pseudo-speech. As is the commentary and the q
and a that follows. Speech is full of echoes.</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><b>the echoing </b></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">at the turn of the tune </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">know all these things </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">were in the years </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">always a voice </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">the waking comes </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">as if it were only mine </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">a voice uplifts </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">even </span><span style="color: #801900;"><i>sotto voce
</i></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">an orchestra sawing itself off a limb</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">with only a violin bow </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">that's my beautiful civilisation </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">we witness</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">writing is always descent </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">the mind's a thinking up </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">the heart is where we find it </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">a story tells no tales of its telling </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">a song is just this voice now </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So
poetry is process, is community, is something we do and something we
say to each other. All of this is more important than being in a
book, however important it is for us that poetry has a past (as most
commonly available to us in the form of a book's pages or their
virtual approximation). <br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
live in an age where every form and instance of thought finds some
computer analogy, as if the human (and every other) brain were
striving to attain the level of complexity of a human-made machine.
This paradoxical (perhaps nonsensical?) wishing to understand
ourselves as machines has been going on for a few centuries now
(especially since Descartes) but seems to have reached a fever pitch
with the current mania for cognitivism, and the making of a science
from everything creative, for every kind of brain entertainment.
Witness – the future is the prime atavism we face. Witness – the
resurgence of nationalisms, their burial in pseudo-religious
rhetoric. Witness Trump. The impossible future is with us now and
this seems to be a more dangerous place than the one we inhabited
before.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Where
is poetry in the 24 hour news cycle? With facebook? In the post-truth
world? With so many threats to the idea of democracy, with democracy
itself an apparent global threat, popular will seems like a shaken
idea. Is poetry in these circumstances a store of fixed wisdom (a
corpus open to the work of interpretation)? I do think that is true.
And the same can be said of philosophy and the novel and music and
Shakespeare and painting... And poetry is also a thing we can do.
What sort of a power is it we exercise by doing poetry, by spending
time with poetry – trying to understand it, trying to respond to
it? Is it a still centre to our lives, a place that can hold in the
chaos, a meditative space for reflection? I hope it's a space in
which we can look again, think again, and not simply accept the
world-as-given. See ourselves as part of a dialogue, as part of the
process of contention as to what the world can be. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
hope that poetry is more like a forest than a factory. A garden
would be a good compromise. What makes the garden go? Not one or
five or a hundred plants but all the different shapes and sizes,
colours, rates of growth, ways of going. What makes it go is that
it's going, growing. It's always at once, you'll never see the whole
of it. That's why the birds come and after the insects. That's why
you see, because the eye was made for it. Start counting it all,
start getting it all into files and folders – you're just having
fun with more mind-forged manacles.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's
have some wonder for wilderness, some wonder for the garden, some
wonder for being where we won't know ourselves. That has to be where
we are.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
don't know what you'll write tomorrow. I don't know what I'll write
either. I think that's a good space in which to be together.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>What
sort of an eco-system was/is 366?</b></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
flowers blooming and the schools contending? Where are we in all of
this?</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
poetry.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
I was in Europe, and in Australia and in Macao. And back in Australia
again. And now I'm writing this back in Macao. Just for the record.
Apologies for the carbon footprint. But I did get the solar panels on
my roof in 2016.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
was just me. Others were elsewhere. But more were in Australia than
anywhere else. A case of who you know.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Poetry
in Australia is in a very healthy state, and it has been for some
time. Healthy in the sense that lots of good poetry is being written.
And it's getting healthier and healthier; it's already so healthy no
one can read it all. Take a look each year at <i>Best Australian
Poetry</i> or, for longer poems, The Newcastle Prize anthology. These
very limited and (probably necessarily) biased snapshots show you
just how healthy things are. You'll especially notice the contrast if
you compare annually with<i> Best American Poetry</i>. Often a lot of
wading through the shallows there.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
poetry in Australia – there are in my estimation about 500 people
seriously doing it and who have been doing it over some length of
time. A few dozen (a significant number) of them were involved in
Project 366 during 2016. Some still are as I write this. By doing it
seriously, I am speaking mainly of lives – one way and another –
devoted to poetry. True believers. (Now and then a ring-in wins a
prize and all are shocked but not as shocked as when a true-believer
wins too many prizes!) Outside of the 'serious', many more dabbling
here and there. I should say the serious poets + the dabblers
outnumber the serious readership (as opposed to the dabbling
readership [Henry Lawson on the shelf]). Meaning the readers of
poetry in Australia are by and large poets. Meaning among other
things that to speak of commercial viability of poetry as an artform
in Australia is a joke (or rather a powerful delusion, from which an
extraordinary number of people, not least of all, poets, suffer). Let
me be clear – there are various command economies entailed in
poetry's reception in a country like Australia. So money can be made
by or for poets/poetry, associated with school or university
syllabuses (i.e. compulsory encounters with poetry), grants and
prizes. Little livings can be made in the short term through
residencies.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Making
a living out of poetry is something I suppose I've in fact been doing
for years, though not in any way my employer would have condoned or
considered as such, and certainly not by selling poems to anyone. I
would be a lean and hungry fellow had I been waiting for that ship to
come in. Rather I have been able to coordinate a number of
inter-related poetry-oriented teaching and research activities in
order to keep an academic career afloat. </span><span style="color: black;">National
anthems and poems about children and animals have been my most recent
objects of interest. </span><span style="color: black;">I think a sizeable
minority of poets have been able to patch something like this
together for themselves </span><span style="color: black;">by way of a
living</span><span style="color: black;">. </span><span style="color: black;">A
living from poetry i</span><span style="color: black;">s a life path full
of contradictions and accommodations, compromises. </span><span style="color: black;">That
said, I do believe anthems and children and animals are of great
interest and deserve more attention. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">How
to get the money side of the poetry business into perspective? I
think there are some theoretical tools that may helpfully guide us
here. Robert Graves is famous for saying something like there may not
be much poetry in money but there's even less money in poetry. Poetry
and money are a great ambivalence generating combo. Why should we
pretend things could or did or do run on a commercial basis where
poetry is concerned? But why shouldn't people get paid to do it?
Should the union be onto 366 participants for giving the stuff away?
(Ah, halcyon days! Remember when we had a union?) </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">But
on the other hand, why should poetry be limited </span><span style="color: black;">to
</span><span style="color: black;">any kind of money economy? Should poetry
not be created if no one is paying for it to be created? We could
find ourselves downing tools for a very long time were we to follow
that principle.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In a
capitalist economy, and in some other economies before capitalism,
labour is alienated – the process of performing labour for others
divorces the one working from her/his own potentials and vital
energies and life choices (in the immediate as in the longer term).
The practice of art is the opposite of alienation. Making art you
reclaim your life. Let's say it's what we're here for. So-called
'primitive' people spent a lot more of their time doing art and
culture than so-called industrial and post-industrial people have
been able to do. I think they had a better lifestyle overall, at
least in that regard. If you can feed yourself, keep a roof overhead
and the rodents out, stay warm in winter, then why do you need to
work in a dull job? Time for art is time for self-realization, paid
or not. If that means that work and play ought ultimately to be
indistinguishable then so be it! I'm not really sure if that was what
Herbert Read was teaching but it's what I learned from him. I call my
creed anarchist hedonism (which is really just a contemporary take on
the doctrine of Epicurus – which I take as being, <i>we should all
have a good time</i>). The way we have a good time is by making what
we will of the world, making our world together, within the limits
given, with due consideration for the wishes of others. With peace
and with friendship as our highest attainable goals. Making this our
art. Making art from this.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So
the necessity of doing art presents us with political struggles of a
kind that are far more fundamental than the question of whether
particular instances of art work are paid for or not. And still,
inherited wealth aside, whether by being paid for doing art, or by
being paid to do something else, we do need each to make some kind of
treaty with everyday economic realities of the kind that pay the rent
and put food on the table.<span style="color: black;"> While many of us
have worked out practical day-to-day accommodations (enabling </span><span style="color: black;">us
</span><span style="color: black;">not to have think too much about this
stuff), I do not think that the questions about art and money
mentioned above are easy questions with obvious answers.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Pierre
Bourdieu's idea of an avant-garde artworld as the economic world
reversed is a useful construct for th</span><span style="color: black;">inking
this through</span><span style="color: black;">. </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Bourdieu
writes that the 'economy of practices' in his 'autonomous sector of
the field of cultural production' amounts to a reversal of the
economic world – 'in a generalized game of “loser wins”, on a
systematic inversion of the fundamental principles of all ordinary
economies' Poetry, is in these circumstances, for Bourdieu 'the
disinterested activity </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, serif;"><i>par
excellence'</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, serif;">.
</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Times, serif;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
How
to reconcile these lives lived partly in the economic real-world,
partly in its reversal in the world of art-making – in an outside
of that normal space in which money is the measure of everything.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Michel
de Certeau's idea of the <i>perruque</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is a helpful for thinking this through. The </span><i>perruque </i><span style="font-style: normal;">is
a kind of bricolage, but it is more specifically what de Certeau
thinks of as 'time stolen from official consciousness' – the love
letter written by the secretary in the moments she can steal, the
wooden toy the carpenter makes in the workshop for his kid when the
lathe is otherwise unoccupied. The poem. The poem by pretty well
anyone anytime (as long as they're not a poet lorikeet or on a grant
or something). That's to say the poem when it's at home is generally
some kind of a perruque. It's the thing you're doing when you might
been doing something you were meant to do, when you might have been
gainfully employed..</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I
think one of the hard things for poets when they retire from their
otherwise gainful employment (aka day job) is that they are suddenly
and unceremoniously deprived of their </span><i>perruque</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
From whom should they steal time now? They can only steal it from
themselves. And this might seem not quite right, or at the very least
it might take a little adjusting to. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's
consider in a little more detail then this question of where the time
for poetry comes from. I think more than anything else it has to come
from a kind of self-belief, again, the opposite of alienation. I
think this self-belief (close relative of self-regard/self-esttem)
can be encouraged. I think this is a function of community, likewise
of family, likewise of a school that is a place where real questions
are asked, as opposed to being merely an institution for the
reproduction of existing ideological conditions.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There
are all manner of ways in which poets and poetry might be encouraged.
As far as the presence of poetry is concerned, we should be no more
surprised at the disappearance of poetry from newspapers in recent
years than we should be at the disappearance of the short story from
the tabloids in the sixties. Consider who owns newspapers and why.
Consider how newspapers compete for market share. (Note that in Macao
there are papers that publish poems every day [in Chinese of course]
and this is a great encouragement to young poets, of whom there are
many in Macao, likewise across the border on the Mainland.)
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the 'level playing field', in the 'open market', exceptionally, a
notional peak product like <i>Best Australian Poetry</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
might turn a profit, but this is a very rare thing (aside of
collections able to set as class texts). And of course one can and
should see that kind of product as enabled by the various command
economies of poetry in Australia, that do, among, other things,
create poets and readerships (even if these categories of person do
largely overlap). Likewise judicious print-on-demand might be
profitable on very low volumes, if the books are expensive enough and
if authors and their close cohorts come to the aid of the party. Rob
Riel pioneered this and David Musgrave is a master of the art. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Long
live Newcastle and the Hunter!</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">But
there aren't many punters out there (ones who are neither makers or
critics of the stuff), collecting and keeping up with the latest
thing in Australian poetry, when for instance there are many many
such punters in the case of popular music or popular culture, or
sport, more generally. I personally think that's a great shame,
simply because there is so much and such varied great material being
produced (so unprofitably, if not selflessly) by the noble 500 I
mentioned before. And of course it's easy to be involved and to
follow in the case of popular culture: simply turn on the telly or
the wireless. You won't get very much poetry out of these machines.
We're supposed to believe that that's because nobody wants it. I'll
leave for the moment the question of how spontaneous, or to what
degree manufactured, such opinion might be. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
let me interrupt myself to say again – it pains me to write of
Australian poetry, as if poetry were something <i>of</i> this
national construct to which I belong and in part adhere. It pains me
to write of newspapers and mass media and punters and livings when my
theme is the making of poetry and the making of poetry's community.
But here we are <i>in media res. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Eyes
open to the objective conditions. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">And
to our objective conditions.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For
a long time I believed that poetry should be banned in schools in
Australia, that driving it 'underground' might give it a chance of
acceptance, of finding the enthusiasm it deserves. I'm much more
ambivalent about poetry in institutions of learning now, having been
involved with it for so long, having made a living out of it from
time to time (albeit generally overseas), and seeing how many people
do get to discover poems and poets and poetry through institutional
means.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Making
Poetry Possible</b></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
You
see, all along, I was a believer in poetry. Which of course means
that I was (and still am) a believer in the traditions that make
poetry, that make the making of poetry possible. That's to say, I do
not believe that poetry is some moveable feast or signifier floating
about for the convenience of an elite culture. I think that those who
make poems in an intelligent way, on the basis of reading as well as
feeling, are connected with a knowledge of all the pasts of poetry.
Like Freud's all the cities that were Rome co-existing to illustrate
the idea of the unconscious (in 'Civilisation and its Discontents') –
all the poetries of the past and of elsewhere are with us here and
now – we only have to read. We have a duty to read. People who tell
you they don't read because they're worried it might influence them
in some way are kidding themselves that they're poets. On the other
hand, those who decide to be highly selective in their reading might
be quite sensibly honing their best intelligence for the task they
see as theirs. I wish I were better at that, less omnivorous. In
every case though, there is a kind of canonic (so highly mediated)
knowledge that allows to be who would choose to be as poets. Academic
training might help you along here, might also be the death blow.
Poetry's true believers are at heart all auto-didact though: they
read there for themselves, however awful or wonderful or lacking the
guidance on the way.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
However
one comes by it, canonic knowledge is inevitable, a knowledge that is
to say of the corpus of work surviving from other ages and cultures,
and constituting the totality we understand in common as poetry
(however much, and however justly, one struggles against totalities).
Harold Bloom tells us – <i>who reads must choose</i>. But the more
apposite observation would be that <i>who reads without the advantage
of immortality must have their reading largely chosen for them.
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">That's where cultural and
educational elites show their dirty hands. How could they not? Even
the auto-didact only gets to read what's been organised to survive on
the shelves somewhere, Dark Ages notwithstanding. (One happily notes
that in the case of Chinese poetry, there having been no Dark Ages in
quite the way we know in the West, the extant archive is immense [and
often largely untranslated]).</span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
How
dark is the Age now? Who darkens our doorstep? Let's leave the
obvious answer, Trump, for the moment. (I'm finishing this piece on
the day of his inaurguration.)</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
<span style="color: black;">also </span>believe that there is deep
disrespect for poetry in Australian culture, and it is a disrespect
that comes from a kind of cultural/intellectual laziness, an
unwillingness to think or feel further than necessary, a reluctance
to think or feel further than one has thought or felt before. The
same sort of thing applied to soccer when I was a kid, so there's
some hope that things can change. A large part of the population
fiercely resists this barbarous condescension of living culture and a
large part of the population practises it with a vengeance. The
disdain that is dished out to effete and often congealed culture
(opera, ballet) is equally applied to the vanguard of word work in
Australia. Those at the cutting edge of how we express and so see
ourselves are seen to be pretentious posers, putting on airs. Are
there among us any who feel that they could comfortably give their
occupation to anyone asking, as 'poet', without being thought of as
wankers? Without a high probability of being thought of as a wanker.
Without oneself suspecting that one might be a wanker to think of
oneself this way? Few sneer when they turn past the page with the
cryptic crossword. That's not because they're comfortable with the
cryptic crossword, it's because it's not a category of activity
they've ever noticed. There's no tall poppy there. And so on our
tombstones will be engraved 'Poetry was the main thing s/he did, but
s/he dared never call herself a poet'. Actually the cringe is
somewhat worse than I'm suggesting. Just to pick two persons I
mentioned earlier on – David Musgrave and Rob Riel. Or 366
participants for that matter – Susan Hawthorn and Anna Couani, Phil
Hammial, Chris Mansell – I don't want to go all national on you,
but why are they not at least OAMs for their services to Australian
poetry? I humbly submit that if they had done as much for the All
Australian Topiary Guild or the Gem Collectors' Society they most
certainly would be. So there's a big self-esteem issue here. For some
reason we've collectively allowed ourselves to be convinced by the
philistines of the relative worthlessness of the cultural form we
hold dearest and devote ourselves to, body and soul.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The
Noble 500 and the Enemy Within</b></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Other
shadows loom over the practice of poetry in Australia. Enemies within
the citadel. The canonizing instruments of the here-and-now of high
culture, for instance. Not so much prizes. Although turning poetry
into a competition (despite the precedents in ancient theatre,
despite the slam delights today) is a bit of weird idea. The idea
that a poem should be thought of in terms of better or best, winner
or loser, is a little infantalising, let's say. But prizes at least
carry the benefit of helping the unknown of the Noble 500 be
discovered, at least by some of their brethren/fellow travellers.
Prizes can offer a huge moral boost and they can bring people into a
conversation from which they were otherwise excluded. Likewise
residencies and grants, and sometimes even teaching positions. Darker
and darker territory.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Beyond
the general idea that ballet and poetry are the anathema of sport,
the prime culprits casting the shadows over poetry as practice are
grants (as in Australia Council Grants), school and university
reading lists and definitive anthologies. That's because each of
these canonising instruments is, however it pretends otherwise, based
on selection and so exclusion, as doled out by persons (whether poets
or not) with position in hierarchies – those cultural elites that
right wing morons (press and parliamentary wings) rant on about,
knowing nothing of, but assuming sentences shouldn't end with
prepositions.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's
take these in turn. The grants.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
OzCo
grants (and others) typically find their ethical pivot in the
illusion of peer review: the idea that you can't complain about the
results because they are from judgement by your peers. There are no
peers. Everyone thinks their stuff is better than every one else's
and they're waiting for the others to get off the stage so they can
have their place in the sun (as brilliantly expressed in Rae Desmond
Jones' great 70s poem, 'The Poets'). And there are other senses in
which peer review is a fiction. As we saw with the money side of
things in terms of book sales, there is no level economic playing
field in the here-and-now creation of literary value (a kind of
cultural capital). Poets, academics, reviewers – how wildly the
headgear circulates! – are persons with position and disposition.
They are from somewhere in a system of value. They are of tribes,
they swim in schools, they look after their own and the rest had
better look out for themselves. You have to be from somewhere to get
somewhere. That's not to say that talent isn't continually being
discovered. It is. If there were enough funding to go around to
foster the available talent, none of this would matter. But there are
piddling amounts to go around and there is a lot of talent. So
tribalism tends to win. Tough for those who are not the tribal type.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'Peer review'
is one of the more pernicious shams that has been perpetrated on an
artistic community</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Based on the
lie of a level playing field of peerdom, it involves your creative
types, in a degree far more than is necessary, in a culture of
judging each other. So it puts people who ought to be sparking off
each other, collaboratively, in the position of rotating from and to
the judgement seat. Let's be clear – judgement is a necessary, an
inevitable, part of the individual process of finishing one's work to
a publishable standard. It is also an inevitable part of the process
of magazines and publishing houses (of which in both cases there are
sadly too few). But how necessary is it to the process of deciding
which poets ought to be able to set aside the day job for a spell to
focus on the making of poetry? And </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">how
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">much
of a poet's time should be spent performing that sort of labour?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
problem with the reading lists is more fraught, because this tends to
entail judgement by lit crit academics (who are typically not poets).
Speaking with high school English teachers (and having been one for
quite a while myself) – and particularly the ones who don't write
poetry – I get the feeling that they find it perfectly reasonable
there should be a first eleven in Australian poetry and a second
eleven, and leave it there. And they find it perfectly reasonable
that a bunch of non-poet academics would be making the call because
it seems reasonable to assume that poets would be too biased to do it
themselves. You can't really have a democratic cricket team, or footy
team, can you? And while we're at it – why not have a top poet, and
maybe a runner-up and some highly commendeds? One can see where these
ideas come from. But here's the thing. One might easily argue that
without Creative Writing in the academy there would be just as much
good writing going on as there is with it, and that one might be
dealing with a corpus overall less obscurantist, more communicative,
if the academic types got their paws off it. I can countenance that
critique, but I cannot countenance the idea that there would be the
flourishing state of Australian poetry we have today if it was just
Kinsella or Beveridge or Murray or Adamson or Tredinnick or Tranter,
and a little first and second eleven gathered at their side. (Which
of you won't have gasped at the mention of at least one of these
names?) This thinking is, not to disparage the fine works of these
folk, horrible – an anathema of poetry. Of poetry as practice and
as a community – of poetry as a community of practice. And I would
like to point out that it is not the fault of high school teachers
who don't write poetry or participate otherwise in poetry's
community/ies, that they should see it this way. They get their
impressions from somewhere. Nor is it the fault of the fine few they
cannonize.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">As
for Creative Writing in the academy and the general utility of this
</span><span style="color: black;">well-</span><span style="color: black;">burgeoned
industry: yes there are sound existential doubts to strew in its
path, and what does not kill it might even make it strong.
Essentially, beyond the idea that it ornaments the university, there
are two reasons for teaching Creative Writing in the academy – what
I would call the canonic reason and the therapeutic reason. The
first, </span><span style="color: black;">canonic, reason</span><span style="color: black;">
is the idea that poetry (in the keep-able sense) has to come from
somewhere and if you don't teach it then where will it come from </span><span style="color: black;">(?)</span><span style="color: black;">.
(This is along the lines of if no one learns how to build houses
there won't be any, if no one learns how to do brain surgery, then
our brains will never be mended.) The second is the idea that doing
Creative Writing is good for you – spiritually, morally,
psychologically, however. It might even mend the brain or some dark
region thereof. Personally, hav</span><span style="color: black;">ing</span><span style="color: black;">
taught the stuff for a long time now I find the second reason a lot
more plausible than the first. But I would like to insist on one
point before conceding anything to the doubters. Cast whatever doubts
you like as to efficacy of Creative Writing pedagogy – is it less
justified than the whole faculties devoted to the praise of
capitalism or military hardware or the indoctrination of the young or
the justification of all sorts of normative nastiness as goes on
throughout academic institutions in a fairly generalised way (along
with lots of good stuff, of course – white hats and blacks and many
more grey)?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
remembers Allen Ginsberg's famous 'word on the academies': 'poetry
has been attacked by an ignorant and frightened bunch of bores who
don't understand how it's made, and the trouble with these creeps is
that they wouldn't know poetry if it came up and buggered them in
broad daylight'. Nietzschean! Even though I still have a dayjob as an
ignorant frightened bore, I never manage to get offended by this
challenge of Ginsberg's. But you see how opinionated poets need to
be.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Reading
lists tend to be tepid and timid and are frequently geared to give
the impression that the canon they can't help but represent was
brought down from some mountain by some biblically bearded bloke who
just knew. When in fact Matthew Arnold invented the whole business
not so long ago. And Aust Lit is really not much past the teenager
stage (I don't mean the writing, I mean the academic discipline.) Not
to say that there aren't some great poems on those reading lists.
(<i>Some of my best friends have been set,</i> etc.) Not to say that
there isn't some great scholarship directed at some of the good
stuff. But most of the good stuff is well under the academic radar at
this stage of the game. Next hat!</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
anthologies.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><b>on first looking into the latest anthology</b></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">every canon
is a clique </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">let
large</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and often </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">leaks </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">says who's </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">in charge </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and who </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">are
freaks </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I prefer </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">a garden
tended </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">fences gone </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">won't need
mended</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For instance
there's a recent anthology that might better have been titled </span></span><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">My
White Friends – Some Living and Some Not So Perky</span></i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Of course it's sour grapes to tell such truths i</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">n
or out of</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
school. But dammit, life is short. </span></span></span>Why not
simply call your anthology <i><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
Book of Me and Me Mates</span></i>? Or <i>Me and Me Mates and a Few
of Us Gone to Ground</i>? What would be wrong with that refreshing
kind of honesty? The point is that it wouldn't be hard, especially in
on-line form, to really include everybody – that's to say, all of
the Noble 500. But it's never been done. Musgrave and Co may have
come closest with their recent effort. But opening that fine stopper
of doors, anyone who knows Australian poetry and poets runs out of
fingers and toes for the missing persons in no time flat. Okay, it
takes paper to publish a book in book form. But what about the
Webby/Tranter job on-line? No excuse there. The reason it's never
been done – the reason there has never in any format been a
properly inclusive anthology of Australian poetry, one that reflects
the reality of poetry on a national basis at a particular moment –
is that the selectors feel the need to exclude. They can't think too
much more democratically than putting together a cricket squad. If
someone doesn't lose then nobody's a winner. This is, I think, the
unconscious assumption at work. So I fancy myself as the rebel
anthologist – the one who puts between the same covers those who'd
rather not pass time in the same room.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When
I first started thinking poetry shouldn't be allowed in schools,
climate change denial had not been thought of. That's to say that
generic kind of anti-intellectualism had as yet no hold on the
popular and political imagination. But the loathing of poetry had
long been in full swing in Australia. I think it's entirely possible
that disrespect for poetry has given rise to climate change
skepticism. (I thought I should make an effort to get into the
post-truth swing of things.)</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Summinng
up then. Peer review, reading lists, national anthologies. Canonic
knowledge is necessary to poets. We write from where we've read to.
We read from what has survived to us. But the star systems produced
through so called peer-review, through the force feeding that happens
in literature classes, through the production of national
anthologies, through the selection of poems for those venues (like
the few papers that publish or like <i>Australian Poetry Journal</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
(the ones who can only take 2% of what's submitted)</span> –
however fine their intentions, these institutions stifle poetic
practice, they homogenize (quite unwittingly I think), they make
everyone aim to fit on a page that every poet must picture. I truly
hope that projects like 366 are the opposite of that. Communities of
practice may necessarily be cliquey, but they are honestly so, and,
to the extent that they are open, have the capacity to liberate poets
from constraints of expectation.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Staging
One's Disappearance </b>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Those
who've read this rant thus far are probably wondering why he needed
to cover so much territory. It's simply because there is a need to
render in words, for the record, an attitude to the territory from
which so many of us have carved so much time to spend together this
last year. (And I know quite a number of us are neither poets, nor
Australians. Nevertheless, Australian poetry was at the centre of
things and I hope that my analysis might be useful to those
participants who are not from this neck of the generic woods.)
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
truth few will have read to here. I feel like that naughty schoolkid,
writing something filthy in the middle of the essay, with the 'I
betcha stopped reading ages ago' tag. If I were on fb there'd be some
infantile dare and pass it on at this point. The joys of not being
read! Yes, I've been hard on the fantasists of poetry's economy. But
what of the joys of pretending readers who simply are not there?
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">life's
short </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">and</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">life's
towards a disappearance </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">that's
fact </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">we
should temper our moral outrage for suicide with this recognition </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">obscurity
is the garden I tend </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;">in
which I'm growing ever in </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><b>song
</b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><b>the
unknown artist to his love</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
have found the vanishing point </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">come,
take my hand and let's be there</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">first
thing and last and in between </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">an
hour painting – there goes the day </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">not
just this but ages in it, same </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with
book, or a few lines </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">point
to the boards, the canvas, tell</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that's
where they were, in there, last scene </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
whole historical tribe – brushtailed </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poets
spilling out of the frame </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">seeping
through to what's under, making </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">impression
of the thinnest air </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
wonderful thing so few have noticed</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
have found our vanishing point </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">come,
take my hand and let's be there</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">first
thing and last and in between </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">you
won't put a price on it, though they </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">feed
somehow, these creatures </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it's
like pond life </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
the casual observer </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ducks
take off so there's nothing</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but
our days go on </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">first
thing and last and in between </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
have found our vanishing point </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">come,
let's just be there</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's
not just going up the country. Among poets, one has the chance of
perfect anonymity. There was a time when the letters of dead authors
were returned in neat little bundles tied up with string, and
archived somewhere, possibly published in some chest-crushing tome.
Not any more. Now that poets write more and write more to each other
(and more good, interesting stuff) than ever before, it's basically
all e-mail and blog and messenger and text and so totally lost to
posterity (as this little diatribe will be). Poets are the ideal lost
tribe of our time. Names writ on water? They inscribe thin air. Do we
all fully appreciate the freedom of the invisible we enjoy as poets?
A poem is a perfect place to stage one's disappearance.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="center" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Who
Wants to Practise in a Community?</b></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
You'll
probably also have noticed, if you're still with me, that I've not
quite yet solved all of the problems of Australian poetry, although
removing the word 'Australian' from most of the vocabulary most of
the time might go a good way to helping.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
had a solution for the reading list problem – which was simply to
ban poetry altogether from institutions of learning. But, as I said,
I've had to re-think that one in order to gradually become less of a
hypocrite. I have suggested a solution for the anthology problem –
<i>The Book of Me and Me Old China Plates.</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
There is a very simple solution for the pernicious culture of
so-called 'peer review'. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The ideal solution to the problem
of funding writers to write and artists to make art – and the
ideal solution to so many other problems of inequity/iniquity in our
economy/labour market – is a guaranteed universal income. I'm not
going to rehearse the arguments for the economic viability of such a
proposal, relative to stratospheric CEO salaries or multinational
mega-profits </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">(these
inevitably matched with dole-torture)</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">;
I would simply say that the cultural benefit of de-stigmatizing the
parts of the population currently accused of sponging and bludging,
would in fact be nation building, would lead to improved productivity
and innovation in many many areas of the economy and would bring on a
cultural golden age, by removing from everyone willing, the most
fundamental excuse not to follow their creative star – </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">that
being </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">the need for
subsistence. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'You may say
I'm a dreamer'... Until such time as universal minimum income can be
introduced however, I recommend the peer review procedures of the
Australia Council be replaced by </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a lottery
with clearly defined levels and qualifications. These will of course
be squabbled over </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(numbers of
poems or books, numbers of reviews, the kind of citation
quantification crap that drives humanities academics mad) but will
not take much bureaucracy to administer. There would also be fairness
measures alongside, to ensure for instance that poets in particular
categories do not get awarded consecutive grants before others
eligible in the lottery have had a turn. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Do I
paint a contradictory picture? Then surely it's useful to try to work
through the contradictions, to understand one's ambivalence?
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the world where poetry endlessly proliferates because more of us have
access to the means of becoming poets, because more and more of us
have the time and resources to produce the stuff, there yet remains
no convincing suggestion that there could be more readers. Not in a
country like Australia at any rate. Where could they come from? Even
for those poets in Australia who are interested in reading each
other's stuff, it's pretty near impossible to keep up. Even in
Project 366 – how many of the participants were able to read
everything every day, or over all?
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
simple fact is that there is more good and more bad poetry being
written in the world today, and in Australia for sure, than there
ever has been before. I prefer to see the cup half full.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Surely
as process becomes the focus of poetry's appreciation (in slams, on
blogs, in the hearts and minds) – as the emphasis moves from the
text on the shelf to the making of the stuff, we will see the
withering away of the canon? This may be the case, but I'm not myself
capable of either seeing this future or of wishing for it. Rather in
my</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
ideal world, editors and publishers pursue the mid-career poet for
the good stuff they can be sure she and he are churning out on a
daily basis, on the basis of the form for which they are known,
because there is a readership at their beck and call who care about
their culture and are hungry for this manna. This is what I try to do
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with
my little meand </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
an editor/publisher. I want to encourage through respect. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
it's why I dreamt up Project 366 – as a kind of a show and tell
thing, I suppose. Project 52, the follow-up project, happening this
year, as I type, is more of a workshop thing – about finishing work
towards publication. But I suppose Project 366 was something of a
dare – to see if you could indeed post new draft poems every day
for a year. I kind of had an inkling I could do it myself because I'd
done a few months worth when on a residency in Norway in 2015, and
then later, on a smaller scale in Cyprus. Still, a year </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">of
it </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">always
going to be </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
challenge. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Early
days yet, but I think Project 52 might be easier because it's more
focussed (or has that potential). One of the problems with 366 was
the feeling (self-imposed of course) that one had to keep on being
spontaneous: one wasn't writing a series (or not mainly), one was
simply producing a new poem possibility every day. The pile of
wreckage after a full year of doing this is, shall we say, daunting.
So much so that's actually easier to go on making daily drafts than
it is to really get stuck into tidying up the mess. But it takes time
to turn around a ship at sea. And maybe that's what we're looking at
here? </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reasons
for delight and disgust.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Vis-</span></span><span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">à</span></span><span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-vis
Project 52, in 2017</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><b>where am I now? </b></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">do I ever
catch up with myself </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I doubt it </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but I do do
it every day </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I have
arranged my life that way</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Phil Hammial
(happy 80</span></span><span style="color: #663333;"><sup><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></sup></span><span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">!)
once told me </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that he was
so disgusted with the way poetry was run in Australia</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">he decided to
just give it up for a bad joke </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(my words not
his, so the paraphrase may not be perfectly accurate)</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but he found
after trying this for a a bit </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that he
actually felt physically ill</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">… <span style="font-weight: normal;">and so he
went back to his writing practices</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and with a
new perspective on them</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm not
planning to get sick either </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'm planning
to go on forever </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I know about
the best laid plans too </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I know all
about that </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">But in any case, questions arise at
the wrap-up, including not only 'what was I thinking?' but 'was it a
good idea?' in the end, 'did it have the desired effect?', 'was it
worthwhile?', 'did it result in the making and the preservation of
more good poetry than might otherwise have been produced/preserved
had the project not happened?' I leave these questions to the
competence of the reader (who, knowing the work of at least some
participants, might browse the blog to make up their own mind</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
I don't think my own experience is anything to go on really. Poets
come in various temperaments and while I think all of them, however
reclusive, participate in some kind of 'community of practice' that's
be no means to say that doing it together on a daily show-and-tell
basis is for everyone. There's a reason there's yet to be (to my
knowledge</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
a slam named for Emily Dickinson. (Although I have to admit that </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">discovered, in checking this
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">apparently </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">outrageous
claim that the Emily Dickinson Museum at Amherst does indeed conduct
slams.) </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Many poets of my long acquaintance
declined an invitation to join 366, quite a few others accepted but
never really got it together. A few climbed on board but quickly ran
out of steam. All of which leads me to conclude that the whole thing
was a little outlandish to some and a tall order for many. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Doing it and showing it every day
is odd, I think, for many who haven't been teachers of a creative
practice, and I believe a lot of us who made it through the month or
the year were indeed from that kind of background. For people who've
expected students to show and tell in every class, participating in
something like 366 might simply feel like a personal demonstration of
how one wasn't a hypocrite after all – I mean, of how one could in
fact oneself do what one was asking students to do. Many of us were
probably making this a late-career activity too, so probably it may
have been a safe bet at this point. Beyond that I do think creative
persons of every artform can probably be placed somewhere on a
sliding scale from precious to prolific (most probably find it more
like a see-saw than a continuum), but in any case a project like 366
clearly isn't for everyone. Very many poets are nervous about letting
(especially early) draft work see the light of day. Others worry that
there's something poserish about exposing one's process, or that it's
simply not helpful to them for anyone to see their private work
business. It's neither why nor how they do poetry.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">All of this is fair enough. But
seeing poetry as something precious in one's life or in the world
more generally need be no excuse for preciousness. And I think
there's a strong argument for projects like 366 on the basis that the
precious assumptions about poetry are the ones most generally
prevailing in 'serious' poetry circles today. Many people see poetry,
and other artforms, as something they could not do themselves. And
possibly they couldn't, but how could we or they know if they didn't
have a go? This could just be what you'd expect in the way of
self-justification from a Creative Writing teacher. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">In any case it's good to shake up
some of those precious assumptions – and it's good to run with that
key hypothesis common among teachers of a creative practice –
namely that, in this case, poetry exists as a product to consume
because people do it, and people might learn to do it better or more
easily if they can watch and also participate in the process.
Opportunities to do this outside of the classroom are I think rare,
dare I say precious. And what happens inside the classroom is rarely
as egalitarian I think as what we've been doing on Project 366. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Hobby and Vocation </b>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Star systems are great killers of creativity, because they encourage
people working creatively to believe that greatness is some kind of
religious singularity mere mortals might not attain. When in fact
acknowledged greatness in letters is more obviously limited by the
capacity of readerships to take on the available material. In the
case of Project 366, now that it's more or less over, are we trying
to find a winner? In beginning to put together the anthology to
represent the project, the editorial group begins by asking each
participant to self-select a best work for inclusion (somewhat in the
manner of Phil Roberts' <i>Poets' Choice</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
in the seventies</span><span style="font-style: normal;">)</span><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Community is to encourage. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Encouragement
is an act of faith. Let's at least try to have some faith in each
other's ideas about the worthiness of our own works. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Who's
interested in what we're doing? Who cares? There really are enough of
us doing it seriously and well these days for us to not need to care
about whether or not anyone else sees or cares. Ukulele orchestras
don't devote a lot of time to worrying about their audiences (however
nice it is to have one) – and neither should we. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">A
community of practice, like Project 366, is an instance of
participatory culture – it's like a bushwalking group, or a gem
collecting group or a ukulele group. It's different from a book club
because it's about making the stuff, not simply soaking it up. Back
to the perruque, to stolen time. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Let's
admit it – poetry's a hobby. Let life consist of hobbies! If we
poets think that poetry is more interesting than cricket or bird
watching, it's not because we're better than cricketers or twitchers,
it's because this is our thing. And poetry is also a vocation. By
some means we are called to it. We never elude the possibility that
we are kidding ourselves. We never know if this splendid raiment we
don is from the emperor's closet </span><span style="color: black;">or
</span><span style="color: black;"><i>pr</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><i>ê</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><i>t-</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><i>à</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><i>-porter</i></span><span style="color: black;">
or really our own invention</span><span style="color: black;">. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Poetry.
</span><span style="color: black;">A hobby and a vocation. By contrast,
'professionalism' as it is understood today is a curse on creativity
from the economic world the-right-way-up. I think we need to embrace
hobbyism, to de-professionalise this </span><span style="color: black;"><i>m</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><i>é</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><i>tier.
</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">We
need to a</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">ccept
our calling to turn worlds upside down (or show how worlds </span></span><span style="color: black;"><i>are</i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
that way </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
might be righted</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">).
To do this with the words at our disposal. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Recap.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Poetry
is at once hobby and vocation. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">and
why?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;">because
we care for </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">the
truth </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
the heart </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
the voice </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">like
a hand held out </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">to
save the one drowning </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">never
too late </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">say
it </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">never
too late</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">say
it </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">and
it is so</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
poetry </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
music</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">paint
</span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
all the art </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">between
us </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">my
medicine </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">my
poison too</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">in
the storm </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">your
hand </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">I
take it </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">take
all the heart offers</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">all
that will save me </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">art
my raft </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">to
which life clings </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">dear
art</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">dear
heart</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">dear
life </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663333;">*</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poets!</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a season of
love is coming </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it's not a
kingdom </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it's on Earth</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and we won't
say republic </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the whole of
the world will be out of doors </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we'll call
our polity the picnic </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and we'll
continue afternoon </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as long as
suits </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and we'll
imbibe </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">freely but
wisely </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we'll each of
us </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">be muse and
mentor </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">standard
bearer, hack </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">who is there
won't anthologize,</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">while days
away in praise of skies?</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we'll cut our
purse to suit the cloth </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">once money's
from the picture</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poems will be
our currency!</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ginsberg
wants to pay with good looks </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but some of
us are godawful ugly </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">still sing
like angels</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(better,
cause we're real) </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poetry's the
precious thing</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">not so for
rarity </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but for
abundance </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">appreciated!</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">known! </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poems in the
letterbox </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">every
magazine's for poetry </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and every
poem's accepted too </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">not because
standards have fallen </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">far from it </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">no, because
every poem is good </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">everyone
knows how poetry's done</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">cause
poetry's for everyone</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and rings in
the air when read aloud </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and though
still chock with mysteries </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">every poem is
understood </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">because in
the time to be </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poetry will
be the way of things </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poetry will
rule </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ubiquitous
poetic spirit</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as wise as
worldly </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">philosophers
bow </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">before the
fact concise </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">made popular,
particular </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">made portable</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">made prompt</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but hark I
hear a blowfly drone </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">there is a
smell of something rots </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was creature
once as we</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it seems a
long way to the light </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">when you sing
from the foot of the well</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">yes poets, we
write from dark times </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and darker </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">this last was
a year of darkness coming </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we may be
playing with ourselves now </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we have that
old defence </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">we're
doing the best we can </span></i></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we write now
for the time when </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">truth has set
all free </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">for the world
come green </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we're to
observe</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">make paradise
our paean! </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we're
bringing truth back into the picture, </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with justice,
with freedom, with right </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but we must
compose a way there too </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a way that
can't be known yet </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">begins with
some simple words</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">they won't
swallow manifesto </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">if you call
it that these days </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">o brave new
world that we're beginning </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">no church
could be as broad as ours </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the hundred
flowers are blooming </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the hundred
styles and modes contend </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">here's
Cassandra</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poets, on our
collective tombstone </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">these LED
lights coloured, flashing </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">BEWARE WHAT
YOU WISH FOR</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">fair enough,
she has a point </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and there's
Zarathustra</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">railing from
heights</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but let's not
let that get fascistic </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blake weighs
black with joy</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Whitman wags
his tail </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Dickinson's
still working in doors </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sappho's on
the way</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">o poets </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we live for
such a time </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">beyond
ourselves</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">we live </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">!</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<span style="color: black;"><b>Last Word from the Sacrificial Altar </b></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I suppose it
behooves me – as he who cooked this up – to end with a rousing
call to pens or keyboards somesuch, but I should reflect briefly
first on how it's been for me </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">personally</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
as a participant. Was it a good thing to do, to be actually doing
each day? Did I produce good stuff as a result? Probably it's not for
me to judge that and it's certainly going to be hard for me to judge
my overall effort till I've actually worked through the year's
drafts. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nd
that might be a year or more away yet. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
poets do need to make some judgements in order to get works finished.
So that's all ahead of me, one way or another.</span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I guess
another serious issue is – was it a distraction to be working on
little things every day – things that might not amount to </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">much</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
things that might not come together convincingly – when probably
there were major works I could have been focussed on instead? </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">A personal note on process here. I tend to have
fairly distinct phases in my work – collecting, drafting,
revising/editing/polishing, leaving well alone, bouncing back to with
fresh eyes, generally piling up and failing to despatch... drifting
into the next thing and forgetting what was before...</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">I also have several distinct modes –
especially the peripatetic (I walk and collect lines with a pen or
pencil on paper) and the annotation mode (I read and I write in the
margins of other poets' work [I love blank space!] and then I type up
the marginal notes later and see if there might be any poems in
there… For a long time I thought of the annotation or marginal mode
as a kind of poetry of response (and I was actively hoping for poems
I could bill 'after …' [and I do have a lot of those]), but now I
realize what I was doing all along was simply following the principle
– </span><span style="color: black;"><i>in the presence so a poem comes</i></span><span style="color: black;">
– i.e. when in the presence of a proper poem you have a good chance
of making one. I came to the conclusion that I wasn't really
necessarily in response mode </span><span style="color: black;">by doing
what I was doing</span><span style="color: black;">, because so very often
my marginal notes had absolutely nothing to do with the poem printed
on the page – no thematic, structural or other connection I could
discern. It was simply a case of having a good idea because of being
in a conversation worth being in. </span><span style="color: black;">And
often feeling perhaps a little rude about it, as in – had I really
been invited into the conversation (?). Well, the words were there so
I thought I'd have my say too. </span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">This annotation mode is I think similar to the
principle on the basis of which I think translation is excellent
training for poets – work with a structure and a whole that works
in one language to try to make something in your language: if you
succeed you have a good translation and a good poem; if you fail at
translation you might still have a good poem with a sound structure.
(If you don't have much in the way of other-language skills to get
yourself started on such a path, you can always dabble with
google-translate or something like that [and I mean this not just for
having fun coming up with crazy stuff, but seriously... think of
Bloomean misprision – out of mistaken-ness great new conceptions
come! Or can come! Or might be worth giving a burl at least</span><span style="color: black;">])</span><span style="color: black;">.
</span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Stephen Spender wrote a wonderful essay, ‘The
Making of a Poem’, in which he contrasted what he called the
Beethoven and the Mozart methods of creative effort. Essentially the
difference is that Beethoven composed from fragments whereas Mozart
worked organically. Beethoven jotted down ideas and then later
assembled catches of tunes and ideas for orchestration into a whole
work. Mozart, by contrast, seemed invariably to begin with a complete
conception of a work and then to fill in the details as he finished
it. I think a lot of us naturally or unthinkingly tend to work one of
these ways or the other. Or </span><span style="color: black;">we </span><span style="color: black;">might
work one way in one phase of life (or the day) and another in
another. For those who do seem to be in the one mode mainly it might
be good for you to shake things up a bit in your practice, by making
yourself work the other way for a bit. For myself, I think I'm
naturally in the Beethoven mode, but I need more of the Mozart
approach – in order to do larger coherent works. I do indeed worry
that with 366 I was indulging the Beethoven side too much, allowing
things to be a bit too bitty. On the other hand the pressure to daily
come up with a complete coherent poem-draft entity – well that's a
pretty Mozart thing to be attempting. But I'm ambivalating out loud
again!</span></div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I have to
confess that I have indeed been putting off what I see as major
things (more in the prose line) for years, also work on some of my
dad's 'legacy material'. But I've always put that procrastination
down to the academic life. And now, is it the case that I have simply
elaborately tripped myself up, just when I might have started to find
the clear air to get on with the big stuff? The irony there would be
that that is exactly what I saw my parents doing with their lives
from the point of retirement (</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">retirment
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">from
gainful employment) on. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There's yet
another way I might have tripped myself up, and that's by going too
far and too consistently into a draft mode of working. I think this
at least partly disturbed my normal writing rhythms of collecting and
drafting and revising – i.e. it favoured the early over the later
stages of the cycle. Had I engineered the kind of trap for myself in
which one cannot see the wood for the trees? I hope not, but it does
feel a little that way right now. Maybe I just have to follow that
moonlight cast through the forest in order to find the exit? </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Or have I
sacrificed myself and my art on the altar of pedagogy? At least that
would be suitably dramatic. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A more
positive way to look at things would be to recognise that it is good
to shake things up in terms of one's practice and also to realise
that teaching (like translation) has been an important part of my
creative practice and that creating an on-line community of practice
was not just an interesting role model for students and others I'm
mentoring, but was a great inspiration for me personally. It was a
great thing to feel that I was working with others on a daily basis
and surely the pressure to produce on a daily basis will have got me
some personally worthwhile results. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Attempting
to make a coherent work each day, however heroic the failure, might
yet be a helpful kind of Mozart-push. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I'll
probably know more about that in a year, more or less. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let me leave
these doubts here to resolve or heal or fester or whatever doubts do
and leave you with a little medley based on my Day 310 draft </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #661900;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>the
words and their poem</b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">no
one knows where words are from </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">those
who say they do </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">have
simply not dug deep enough </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">all
credit to them though for digging </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">no
one knows where words go </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
ones who pray are merely wishful </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">we
take those horses for a run</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">it
must have been the heart let them out </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">words
once and upon a time for all</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">but
whose and why?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
how far back?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">no
one knows </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">why
a word means</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">how
it sounds </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">you
can wow </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">bow
wow </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I'm
sure </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">each
word had its own tune to begin</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">some
are still scribbled into air </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">even
to clear up a doubt</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">words
are with us</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;">though
not to start </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: maroon;">they
may not be there at the end</span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">no
one knows how it is we are spelled </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
sound and the sense </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">we
have by convention </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">nobody
knows where they're from </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">but
mainly in falling together's the magic </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">with
words as with us all </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
prefer no punctuation </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">it's
just the words rub up, abut </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">range
freely on the page </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">as
they were wont in air </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">words
always wish a way beyond </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">they're
forever getting over themselves </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">but
we're still stuck with them</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">a
next and a next </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
the one before's </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">always
still echoing after </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">without
words</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">we'd
be less than lost </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I'd
like to get my words stuck in your head </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">without
even a tune </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;">…
<span style="font-style: normal;">I'm doing things the hard way</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">so</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
scratch around a poem </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">hoping
to bring its shadows to light </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
fall into the thing</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">will
I be more than found?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">words
show a pale imitation of life </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">but
it isn't life I want to show </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">words
in their own deep down </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">do
me</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">some
days do my head in</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
house is electric in that nest </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">it's
every limb's extension </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
what I think, how far </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">it's
as if the poem were deeper in the page </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">far
below the surface seen </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">as
if these signs were </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">traces
of another journey </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">(long
since and yet to come are one)</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">as
if the map were scratched with truth </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">scraped
over with all the terrors to it </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">so
the land lay waiting </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">for
orders to make mean </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
call to words </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
will they come </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">some
lie in wait </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
some will run</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
with or against </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
grain</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">just
like the truth </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">lies
under paint </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">when
a picture is revealed</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">like
your face as I caught it once in a dream </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
never in the ever after </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;">have
to get out and breathe with the trees </span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #663300;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">let
the page be blank again </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>*</b></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">comrades
</span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">let
me cast this coda</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">bugger
the rest of the world</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">it's
off to buggery all by itself </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">requires
none of our help to buggerup</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">this
last year was ours too </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
wrote for you </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">you
wrote for me </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #801900;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">isn't
that what counts?</span></span></div>
Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-28442216532393350272017-01-10T18:56:00.002+11:002017-01-10T18:56:31.882+11:00from Jeltje<span class="_5yl5"><span>Writing on the blog every day I felt was performative, I liked the activity of gathering thoughts one part of the day, and putting it all together whenever there was time, usually in the late afternoon. It was such a buzz, too, to be read, immediately, and to read the poems that just kept on pouring out, from everyone, such a privilege to be part of this. I was stopped in my tracks by the sudden passing of my sister Li, I couldn’t find my way afterwards, and as the year drew to a close, and the blog was also closing down, I wasn’t able to write the poems I would have to liked to, to continue. Everyday I look at 365+1, and it’s a bit like standing at the edge of a swimming pool, and not being able to dive in, not yet, wait… a little longer.
I’d like to thank everyone, and especially, Anna Couani for encouraging me to take the initial plunge… it’s been a wonderful experience. jeltjex</span></span>Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-28645956076300632922017-01-10T12:36:00.000+11:002017-01-10T12:36:34.694+11:00Mikaela Castledine - If you love something<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #16191f; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I have been thinking, but don't know if I have anything useful to add to my
post from July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://366metablog.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/mikaela-castledine-thoughts-on-project.html">http://366metablog.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/mikaela-castledine-thoughts-on-project.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #16191f; mso-fareast-language: JA;">The second half of the year proved harder than the first and there were
many days where I resorted to posting the bare minimum. Perhaps it was due to the death of my mother, perhaps the ever increasing amount of work I had to complete in the second half of the year. Perhaps it was just the usual sputtering out new year's resolutions as the year goes on, I don't know. However, I did manage to keep going and to finish on time. I think the lessons to be learnt from this project </span><span style="color: #16191f;">of daily practice; of habit, attention and application, communication and community </span><span style="color: #16191f;">were useful ones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #16191f; mso-fareast-language: JA;">While I am torn between relief at finishing and a worry that I am letting
possible poems fly by without attempting to catch them in my butterfly net (If you love something let it go - if it comes back to you write it down for gods sake!) I
am hoping now to return to my previous method of writing which is to spend a
few moments each night working on one piece.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #16191f; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Here is a piece of prose I have previously written about my usual daily writing
practice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span lang="EN-US">One Thing</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Two things. I have a bad memory and my
mother was an insomniac. I have a horror of becoming an insomniac - that may be
three things. She also suffered from dementia. I have a horror of losing my
memory. Ok five things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For my mother, insomnia started when she
was menopausal, my age, so I try to find methods to help me sleep whenever I
have wakeful moments so I can employ them if ever I fall into that sleepless
abyss.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My most successful method so far has been
to write poetry. I have found that those few minutes when I close my book and
turn off the light and curl into my most comfortable position are the only time
in the day when I can be simply, legitimately, by myself in my head. It is a
good time to write. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">However I do have a bad memory so I have to
concentrate on the words, look at their patterns, memorise them like a speech.
I do this every night, starting from the beginning each time. Eventually I find
myself falling asleep at the same point in the writing and so I will physically
write down that section during the day and that night start from the point at
which I had finished and go on. This is helping my memory, my sleeping and my
writing - killing birds with stones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My mother was as small and fragile as a
bird. I don’t want to become my mother. There are seven things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I describe my writing as observational. I
see strange things – or normal things that seem strange to me, or I see quirky
connections between words or the behaviour of people. These are the things I
write about when I drift to sleep each night. Counting birds, weighing sleep
down with words, memorising stones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Studies into dementia and memory loss investigate
sleep issues and heredity. Perhaps there is only one thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251015872807531382noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-2294782609358310192017-01-09T19:08:00.003+11:002017-01-10T01:51:06.386+11:00wownot sure if it's me<br />
but far from completing itself<br />
the meta-blog seems to be actually shrinking<br />
... posts are vanishing<br />
this is slightly surreal Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-62668657507629158252017-01-03T10:26:00.001+11:002017-01-03T10:26:46.987+11:00Kit Kelen - pondering I suppose as this was my hare-brained scheme to begin with, I'd better say something soon Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-45396378318716927892017-01-03T03:22:00.003+11:002017-01-03T03:24:57.485+11:00Rob Schackne #204 - "Slam it"<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Slam it"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slam it</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">judder it<br />hard against<br />the tunnel<br />upside down it<br />like Alice<br />go to work</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
Rob Schacknehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820621386743394312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-17236459282912032392017-01-02T22:34:00.001+11:002017-01-02T22:34:34.728+11:00Kit contacted me and asked me if I would like to participate in Project 365+1 for a month. I nominated a month and then contributed each day, no matter what was happening in my life. There was one night - when my horse became ill with colic - on which I did not post a poem, due to tending my horse all through the night in order to prevent her death. The following night I wrote a poem about this experience and made friends with Anne Walsh who loved the poem I wrote.<br />
<br />
For me best part about the project was the connections I made with other writers. I also loved the fact that I was able to read the works of other poets and to be able to have a conversation with them about their poems.<br />
<br />
At the end of the year I nominated to make a return to postings of poems to the site for the month of December. This month proved to be far harder for me to participate in due to having two jobs, as well as moving between living in my shed and my home, and as a result enduring internet issues.<br />
<br />
I am used to the daily discipline of writing as I write prose novels. When I am working on these novels I commit myself to writing a five hundred words each day. The difference with producing work each day for Project 365+1 was that I was writing posts for the project during times when I was working as a teacher in the day. When I write my prose novels I only write during the school holidays. It was interesting to see that although I was often very tired when I composed my daily poem for the project that this had very little impact on the piece of writing itself, although when I was posting the work I feared I was contributing a piece I would later regret publishing.<br />
<br />
I published a collection of the poems I wrote for the project in a book titled 'Somewhere Milk and Sugar' and launched this at the Cairns Writers Festival.<br />
<br />
I wish there had been more time in my life to read and comment on the work of the other poets on the site. I am happy that the project is still open and look forward to reading and commenting on the works of others over the next month.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Kit and all of the other poets who contributed to the project. I am grateful that I was invited to participate.<br />
<br />
Claine KeilyClaine Keilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13578100260457042870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-38955935296300184362017-01-02T21:55:00.000+11:002017-01-02T21:55:55.116+11:00A month on Project 366 - soon to be between coversHi. I'm Melinda and it has been eight months since I posted regularly to Project 366.<br />
<br />
I was a guest during April 2016 (<a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-1-artist-as-april-fool.html" target="_blank">here</a> is my first post and <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-30-valediction.html" target="_blank">here</a> is my last) and came back for <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/melinda-smith-31-your-client.html" target="_blank">one cheeky festive season post</a> on 6th December. I figured I should come here to the meta-blog and do a reflection on my experience before the whole thing receded any further into the past.<br />
<br />
Looking back over 2016 I am amazed and gratified by how helpful that frenetic month of daily draft-posting in April was, and I want to thank Kit and everyone here for making such a stimulating and safe space for the sharing of new work. More than half the drafts I started here in April 2016 have gone on to become poems in my new book <i>Goodbye, Cruel</i> (out in April 2017 with Pitt St Poetry). And of course Project 366 gets a special credit in the book's acknowledgements.<br />
<br />
I must admit I was apprehensive about joining Project 366, even for a mere 30 days. This was because I had just completed an exhausting project writing 365 micropoems in response to 365 photographs of the sky by artist Rhonda Ayliffe (one taken every day of 2015). It had been a huge effort completing all the micropoems in time for the festival where our photo+poem installation was to be premiered (in March 2016), and I had vowed never to do deadline-driven daily creation ever again. But I knew and admired several poets on the project and was impressed with the range of work appearing here - and so somehow I allowed myself to be convinced.<br />
<br />
(If you are curious about the sky photographs project, you can check it out on instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lookup.project/" target="_blank">@lookup.project</a> - we will be sharing each photo+poem pair there in real time, each day of 2017)<br />
<br />
My first few posts on the Project 366 blog back in April were simple exercises in play, trying to respond poetically to various photographs I had taken. I added a layer of experimentation, using an app called Phonto to overlay poem text directly onto the photographs, with mixed results. Some of these poems (those that could work well without the pictures that inspired them) have ended up in a light, playful section of my new book (the title of the section is 'Tiny Carnivals').<br />
<br />
Also in that section of the book is a poem (called 'pine') intimately connected to this blog: a cento composed of lines from all the other posts that had been made so far on 8 April 2016 by the time I composed it. I did ask permission from every poet whose lines I used (not wishing to repeat any plagiarism scandals!). Check out the <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-8-pine.html" target="_blank">8th April draft of pine</a> here. The (fully credited) version which will appear in the book has not changed much from this draft. It began as a simple wish to pay homage to the collegiate and positive atmosphere of exchange and encouragement on the blog, but ended up a good enough poem to make the final cut. For which kudos (and thanks) is obviously due to all the Project 366 poets who wrote its constituent lines: Andrew Burke, Jeltje Fanoy, Lies Van Gasse, Brian Purcell, Robert Verdon, Anne Walsh, Lizz Murphy, Coral Carter, and Sue Rawlinson for her picture posted that day.<br />
<br />
Moving on from the earlier 'exercise' - type work, the pressure of the daily deadline soon forced me to tackle more difficult poems which I had been subconsciously putting off. One example was a group of poems inspired by 10th-century Persian poetess Rabi'a Balkhi - including a dramatic monologue and a translation of one of her ghazals. I had done the prepatory research and had had discussions with the incredibly helpful Omid Behbahani and Abolhassan Tahami, who had provided literal translations of some of Rabi'a's work. But I had become daunted by the task of trying to get inside the head of the poet well enough to go further - until Project 366 forced me to go there. The relevant posts are <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-10-hammam-translation-of.html" target="_blank">10 April</a> and <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-13-nastaliq.html" target="_blank">13 April</a>, and the resulting work has also (after much redrafting) made it into the book, in its own small dedicated section.<br />
<br />
Probably the most important work Project 366 forced me to confront was the drafting of several poems on the theme of suicide for the central section of the book <i>Goodbye, Cruel</i>. I had already written a few of the 'supporting' type poems for this section but many of the main ones I had hoped to include were still just collections of jumbled notes at the start of April 2016. The daily blog deadline made me start to write them, and helped me firm up the approach and tone. Some of these (such as the <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-16-failed-attempt-1.html" target="_blank">16th April</a> and the <a href="http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melinda-smith-18-other-manual.html" target="_blank">18th April</a>) now occupy positions of importance in the final sequence.<br />
<br />
During my month on the blog I also began using old newspaper articles to source specifically Australian suicide narratives and to create some found poems on the theme, several of which appeared as drafts on Project 366 in the latter half of April. All the newspaper articles were found using the National Library of Australia's fantastic free online archive, <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/" target="_blank">Trove</a>. While not all of the resulting pieces ended up in <i>Goodbye, Cruel</i>, this was the beginning of an ongoing obsession with making poetry from archives which will probably never go away. (Yes I know <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/08/25/brutal-american-epic-reznikoff-testimony/" target="_blank">Reznikoff</a> and the objectivists got there two generations ago, but the best thing about archives is they are growing and changing all the time - and so is the poetry which can be made from them !)<br />
<br />
Finally, towards the end of April I was able to make a start on some found Hansard poems which I needed to create for another project (a collaboration with letterpress printer Caren Florance, inspired by a show we did together at Old Parliament House). The resulting limited edition artist's book will be called <i>1962: Be Spoken To</i> and the chapbook (of the same poems) will be called <i>Members Only</i> (out early 2017 from Recent Work Press). The last three poems in April are part of this project.<br />
<br />
In conclusion I think it is safe to say I owe a great debt to Project 366 and to the comments and reactions of the other poets and artists on the project, not to mention the inspiration offered by their own work. It was a privilege to participate. It is amazing to stand back and look at the scale of what has been produced from this year of steady activity by an enormously diverse range of creative consciousnesses. What a mountain we have made together ! I look forward to hearing of more positive results as we tick over into 2017.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year and best wishes -<br />
Melinda SmithAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11098111817923451891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-35122176598755014912017-01-02T20:41:00.004+11:002017-01-02T20:41:55.975+11:002016 and poetry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I am posting this in the man metablog although it was organizing nally pisted as a comment to Lizz. I realized I had gone beynd just replying.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Dear Lizz,</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">What a moving statement you have made. You did better than me because I almost gave up in the first or second week. And then I thought what a cop out, keep going. I almost stopped again in February after my beautiful dog, Freya died suddenly. But she insisted I write about her, so I did. And so it goes on. Quite a few duds among what I wrote, but there are also poems I'd never have written if I hadn't hung in. I remember June as an especially talkative month between poets responding to one another - but by no means the only month.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I'm also quite amazed at what seems to work when you think, oh that's definitely a dud - and then someone responds saying love it, wow or something similar and as you say, it keeps you going. I've also been thrilled by the many different ways poets approach poetry, the range, the subject matters and styles - while I know this, to see it is another matter. Thank you for broadening my poetry education which is a never-ending task and one to take right to the death bed I reckon.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">I loved seeing all your visual art, especially the head series. It was such a very different way of seeing.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">No doubt we will bounce off one another again - individually and collectively. We should put ourselves forward as a group to one of the writers or poetry festivals.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">The other big plus for me is that I was meant to be working on my novel this year and I was so lost that I just couldn't do it. But the daily poem writing has given me material to turn into prose (mostly) and in fact it's really helped me find certain elements of my novel that also wouldn't have happened. So thanks to everyone for your part in that. For that reason I have to pike out now and focus on getting it completely finished among a range of other things on my plate. Maybe I can participate in the 52 project. We'll see.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
Susan Hawthornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02333515454554905385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-3792515397945425012017-01-02T19:17:00.001+11:002017-01-02T19:17:41.272+11:002016 is not completely bad <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have to admit, it was pretty daunting when Kit asked me to join in Project 366. When he first initiated the project in January, he already extended the invitation to me. Seeing the list of names, however, gave me a chill of fear. Most of the names there I have known from working on their pocket books or several Anthologies that I designed. Who am I to try to sit together with them?<br />
<br />
It was not until several months after the beginning of Project 366 that I started to join in. I translated several poems to Indonesian, with the initial skepticism whether people would appreciate the effort or not. The feedback that I received was pretty positive that it became a daily habit for me. If I have to recall those days, a day without a translation posted felt like a day wasted. The post became a mark of my successful working day, it gave me a sense of accomplishment for the day.<br />
<br />
The translation process 'forced' me to read deeper on those poems and provided a way for me to learn more about poetry writing. I started to emulate some styles in my own writing - some experiments took place in my own poems. Some poems were changed in favour of these experimentations. Of course, some worked and some didn't.<br />
<br />
When I posted my original work for the first time, it felt very scary. A question haunted my mind, "What if this poem is not up to the standard?"To my surprise, everybody was so welcoming. I became more motivated in writing more. I developed a self-imposed shame in those days I could not post a new poem. What was once seem like a chore had become a habit - a part of my day.<br />
<br />
What was started as a fearful step grew into something else. The community felt (or feels) very warm and welcoming. Despite never met the other participants in person, I have developed a sense of kinship. Everyday, it was as if we are gathering in a big table for dinner and everybody told how their day was through poems. That's how I got to know everybody.....<br />
<br />
All in all, I feel very honoured and glad to be a part of this wonderful project. While 2016 might be one of those bad years, Project 366 made me realised that the whole year was not completely horrible....</div>
Chrysogonus Siddha http://www.blogger.com/profile/09224785999694683280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-84463402864466880162017-01-02T12:28:00.004+11:002017-01-06T00:51:28.804+11:00Lizz Murphy: In for the long haul<br />
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Arial;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;
mso-font-charset:89;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:513 0 0 0 4 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Trebuchet MS";
panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
@page Section1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;
mso-header-margin:36.0pt;
mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">I know it’s been
decided that we can keep going if we want to but some need to move on and so do
I. I don’t have to be anywhere but it has been a struggle at times. (This was
not a surprise.) I considered dropping out more than once in the second half, but
somehow stayed on for the long haul. I’m amazed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">At the same time
I feel quite emotional about the project ending and saying farewell – even to
those I know personally (huh?). Not helped by some very moving parting poems by
other contributors. It’s been a very special experience. I have loved being
connected to this group of poets and artists and seeing so many new works in
the fresh. It’s at times electric. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">each adieu a ship’s siren</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">a slap of salt against the quay</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">the poets are departing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">It’s also shown
me that no matter how tough things get I can still be creating, that the pieces
I feel are such a compromise are … authentic? ... and that it’s not that big a loss
if I don’t get into the deeper research I’ve been interested in. I need to
think less about what I’m hankering after and think more about what I’m
actually achieving and to see that resulting work as still credible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";">It has been an
exhausting year (I have a carer’s role) and this took its toll. I wrote on my
own <a href="http://lizzmurphypoet.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">blog</a> in <a href="http://lizzmurphypoet.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/hauling-out-poems.html" target="_blank">October</a>: </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">I have reached a stage where I
don’t think I can haul another word out of me.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"> But then I began drawing. Quite soon I
introduced found text and began to feel very satisfied, because after all art
& text is something else I’d been wanting to do more of. The pressure of
the daily commitment made me get on with that welcome alternative. I enjoyed
being in that zone – scribbling, smearing, molding, layering, shading. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Around
the same time a mild sense of panic also set in. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s as if everything now hinges on this project – all the writing I
may ever do has to happen in the two months before it finishes. </i>Not
rational I know. I think those feelings were really in anticipation of continuing
the writer’s daily life in this new year, without the daily deadline and the
generous support of the group. So often a comment would warm the cockles of my
heart and set me in a ‘yes I can (again)’ mood. I can’t thank you all enough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">Today's revelation is that the project has given me the will to keep writing - maybe without knowing it I had lost some of that.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial";"></span></div>
<br />Lizz Murphy Poethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13054842807907134650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-17409990145105323392017-01-01T15:54:00.000+11:002017-01-01T16:05:58.613+11:00About becoming a poet on 366 if that ain't too dramatic. Kerri Shying RI started posting in July, having had the month of June to prepare myself. Thankfully I didn't take one second to google anyone. I never would have done it if I had.<br />
<br />
I had seen Kit before at the launch of "A Slow Combusting Hymn" and loved the shed poem and his reading. I knew poets, I had a poem in an anthology, I won a little prize for one but I was a short fiction writer that was that. However, when the launch of his pocketbook was on at the Newcastle Poetry at the Pub, and Beth Spencer was introducing, I made this massive effort to get there and thus the invite.<br />
<br />
It was terrifying and thrilling and my habit of sleeping with a notebook, the large piles of written over papers, all were exposed when Kit and Carol paid me a visit. I am told he still reels at my filing system ( large piles, everywhere).<br />
<br />
The first week or so I was in a hotel, so that made it easier to grab a poem out of the air. Then it got harder. Then it got harder. I asked if I could outstay my month. The tempo of the six months in retrospect seems maddening fast. Of course, you could sift through all the coffee and grubbed up papers here and say it was years really, but it was increasingly difficult to not continue and then make decisions about REALLY continuing.<br />
<br />
In the end poetry won. The praise was good. The no comments were also good, they told me which things needed to be redrafted, what was 'meh', or sometimes just what was internal to me and not yet ready to go fly. Another poet, the amazing Judy Johnson, was saying to me that daily writing makes drafts and this was a very pertinent comment. I need the drafts. I need the community to bounce them around on and not having a university, or a common space ( I have an isolating physical disability) to gather this electric common green was just my ticket in.<br />
Mwah!Kerri Shying Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04359649587927589065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-63653700107911744722017-01-01T15:48:00.002+11:002017-01-01T15:48:27.533+11:00Béatrice Machet (from the Chicago area, 2016 comes to its end) <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Version>14.00</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>FR</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>ZH-CN</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Tableau Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<h3>
<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Béatrice Machet (from the Chicago area, 2016 comes to
its end) </span></u></h3>
<h3>
<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some insights and my testimony about the experience of
Project 366 (Project 365+1)</span></u></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I was in
Lyon when Kit’s invitation popped up on my computer screen. It was something
like ten days after New Year 2016 and I was treating myself with outings and
art exhibitions and concerts … A period of time I also dedicated to meditation
and reflection on what my life would become after the “Macao episode”. I was
back to a French environment, so the idea of keeping in touch with the English
language on a daily basis, not only through reading and translating, but also
through writing, immediately appealed to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not to mention that I was thrilled about discovering a bunch of people
whose poetry I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to read without being
introduced via the 366 blog. Apart from Kit, Chrysogonus, and Feï, all the
other participants were absolutely unknown people, perfect strangers to my
consciousness. Also, to be connected with visual artists was great. And the
ritual of posting, reading, commenting, participating was one of the highlights
of the day. A way of escaping the Franco-French artistic environment and to
unfold other antennas, to stay plugged in a strange web where people were
living part of their lives together though on different continents. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So I just
got myself started and posting a poem a day was a bit of a challenge when from
time to time I had to cope with a hectic time table, and yet I almost managed
to write each day a poem in English and come with a French version for it. </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was
important for me to start directly writing in English. Translating my French
stuff would have sounded weird I suppose. The momentum had to be in tune with
the rhythm and peculiarities of the English language first. But as a non-native
speaker, having my drafts read was an intimidating experience … luckily enough
I’m not gifted with a high sense of competition while sharing means a lot to
me! So shame never found me too much blushing! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(But I’m aware some poems showed flaws or their
content sometimes was shallow … ) And I planned to "answer" other poet's poems ... but it rarely happened because I might be a too spontaneous kind of writer unless I'm too much an ego-centered person ... who knows ....! </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I would
have loved to make comments and spend more time on each posted poem. This was
the main frustration I must confess… sometimes I just skipped through and
scrolled down when more attention and more time would have been necessary in
order to make substantial remarks and observation. In this regard, Project 52
seems to be a more reasonable and a more doable one in terms of going deeper into
analysis. Some works left me speechless and though, if I have had more time, I
would have loved to come back to them and words eventually would have ended up in
my mind that I would have shared… feelings are strange flows and to catch them
demands some patience … it’s like hunting! Sometimes I also would have loved to
find and share poems I like, written by my “favorite poets” ( Frank Bidart,
Alice Notley, and so many others) on topics tackled by the 366 Project members.
Alas alas … but I don’t give up this idea since Project 52 will give us more
time to react less superficially <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The funny
thing is that after a little while, getting some kind of familiarity with many
of the involved poet’s styles, I could tell without reading names, whose poem I
was discovering, whose picture or painting I was watching. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To make a
long story short, the whole experience was just delightful and I’m very
thankful, even feeling blessed to have been part of this adventure … so it was
obvious to me that I would, should continue with the Project 52, I didn’t
hesitated, not a single second! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Again,
thanks to everybody for having been such good companions during this 2016 ending
year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Looking
forward to experiencing Project 52 and I wish you all a happy New Year </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Béatrice</span></h3>
Béatrice MACHEThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07296584755071209068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-59876866407967576652016-12-31T12:49:00.001+11:002016-12-31T12:49:16.230+11:00Next yearVery much interested in either a Project 365 again or Project 52. The Conversation in Poetry perhaps too. Replying to Kit's post from September. Unable to offer any assistance in running things - too many family commitments at present and study too.<br />
LOVED being part of this - wish we could all get together in person and just yarn around a fire or something - just once... Or at least some of us.Kathstuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03311801873560730245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-4036046946887355122016-12-30T09:18:00.000+11:002016-12-30T09:18:48.302+11:00Sarah St Vincent Welch - the experience of Project 366 (Project 365+1) <div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">A friend died in a head-on car crash a year
ago. Cathy was a runner, and she was driving home from an event that was a goal
for her, that she had planned and trained for, that she exhilarated in
completing. She was with her best friend, Helen, and she died too. I cannot yet
comprehend it, and probably never will. Like with the deaths of other friends
and colleagues, my response eventually was, to just try and live. To do things.
Like a great dark clumsy submerged creature asleep, I stirred, listening, what
could I do, what could I do? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">Just before New Year 2016 Lizz Murphy told
me about Project 366, and hell, Kit and Anna were getting it going (friends
from Sydney in the 1980s). Why not do it I thought? I had been feeling other
calls, having moved from Sydney in the late 80s for study and work, the
association and allegiances of that time in Sydney so dear, Poets Union, the
workshops of No Regrets, Left and Feminist, and poetry readings in Newtown and
Redfern, and I decided, yes, I will try to do this post a day thing, be with
these dear people, meet new ones. Me, someone who writes, but doesn’t publish
very much, doesn’t send my work out through fear that it’s not good enough, who
has mainly written short fiction and an unpublished novel, and part of another,
whose prose is poetic, poetry is prosey, who doesn’t know where to try to be
with my writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">Kit suggested I think whether I could
manage the post a day thing, and I figured if a photo could count too if no
words were there for me that day (which seemed quite possible) I would try. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have managed to post a poem and image every
day. For me to keep producing something however small or light has meant a
great deal to me, and to be connected to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>other poets and artists, to be part of their
day as they are part of mine, has been so good. Over the year I have thought if
this participation in Project 366 is the major creative output in my life, then
I am happy. I am blessed. And I thank this Project 366 (aka Project 365 + 1) community
and especially Kit and Anna and everyone who has done some administering and
helping out over the year, everyone who has been so generous with their creativity
and friendship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">I wake and the first thing I do is read
what is new on the project, and often it is the last thing I do as I go to
sleep. Dylan, my husband, has joined recently and I have watched others’
appreciation of his connection with animals and landscapes, and seen him walk
and find and wander, finding time in his busy work life, to find and make images.
Project 366 is such a good space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">At first I wanted to document all the connections
and currents and responses I felt and perceived in all the poems and art, but
realised I wouldn’t be able to do a post a day if I did that. I would have loved
to have done that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">I feel more legitimacy as a writer through
this project. I have become more comfortable with showing pieces in this way. I
have attempted new forms for me, sought advice when I didn’t quite get how to
make them. I have become interested in rhyme, something I have disdained in the
past. I am more attune to my own patterns of creating. I have been doing other
creative work, as we all have, along with this project. But Project 366 is a
current running through it all, and I have felt to be in great, generous, kind company.
I have always wanted to comment and respond and engage more, but am often staggering
to the line with my poem at 11.59 pm. Often in awe of others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">In terms of practice I notice I sometimes travel
over the same territory again, re-remembering, and I realise that is OK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">The photographic element has surprised me.
The ease of using the iphone as a camera, and its unexpected quality, has
enabled the image project to travel with me and be something in itself. I have
noticed how much I enjoy details and textures, how much I dwell on them whether
I am taking a photo, writing a poem, or not. How much joy that observation
brings me. Shadows and dreams were what I told Kit 2016 would be about, and it
has been, as well as other things. I often turn to my recent catch of images to
find inspiration for a poem, match them with the inspiration of others’ poems
or art, to see how they might work off each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">I didn’t want my quick visual capture of
images to override what I was trying with words, which is a more laborious
process sometimes, more fearful. Then I realised the photos weren’t just an illustration
but part of the project, my noticing and capturing and framing in the visual
world a parallel journey to the one in language, perhaps the same journey. I am
often thinking about the same things, even subliminally, when noticing that
potential photo, framing it, or asking for a poem, for words to form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
<o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="false"
DefSemiHidden="false" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="382">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Smart Hyperlink"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-ansi-language:EN-AU;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">I admire the groups political poems, and
want to find the voice for my own. I go there sometimes, but it wrecks me
emotionally, and I have to go back to nature, memory etc to rebalance, to be able
to create again the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sarah St Vincent Welchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778995457371106915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-52099070328538982402016-12-02T10:03:00.000+11:002016-12-02T22:34:17.007+11:00The Disconnect <i>(And a summing up.)</i><br />
<br />
Not meaning to sound negative for its own sake, but because project 366 was an experiment and so I guess everyone's experience is of interest –<br />
<br />
Participating in June was a joyous experience for me. I loved the work I was exposed to and the sense of community. I didn't continue longer although Effie invited me to, because of being busy elsewhere; then regretted that and made noises about rejoining, but they went unheard – and it soon became obvious that I really am so busy elsewhere that it's hard to take on more for very long.<br />
<br />
Also I already write nearly every day – often every day – and am very much involved in other online poetic groups and communities, so can get some of the benefits elsewhere. (366 had a more carefree feeling than most, probably because it came with fewer responsibilities, and that was particularly delightful.)<br />
<br />
Most of that I've said before, but it's part of the account.<br />
<br />
I thought I would continue to read and enjoy the posts, particularly as I arranged to do a little behind-the-scenes admin work. But it didn't turn out that way.<br />
<br />
One problem was that I had huge internet access problems for a number of weeks, which took time, effort and persistence to sort out. I think, also, not being part of the daily interactions resulted in a gradual distancing.<br />
<br />
I want to come back and read things in December, when I expect a bit more free time; and I do hope Project 366 will remain online as an archive, regardless of the creation of an anthology.<br />
<br />
I like the idea of an anthology, and will of course hope to be included.<br />
<br />
I like the idea of a Project 52. I like the idea of a 'Conversation in Poetry'. And even of a new Project 365. And earlier on I was declaring myself 'in' for such future endeavours. But now I'm reneging. I'm involved in more than enough writing, editing and publishing commitments to be going on with. Sorry!<br />
<br />
I wonder what happened to others who participated for a month only. Do they miss it? (I do, but not enough any more – though at first exceedingly.) Or are they so busy with other things that it is largely forgotten? What do they feel they got out of it? (I have already indicated what I did – joy, delight, a strong sense of community – and yes, an experience of being in a poetic conversation, though not as directly and overtly as Kit seems to have had in mind.)<br />
<br />
I also wonder what the experience has been for those involved for the whole year?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-38641667567475320622016-11-03T12:06:00.001+11:002016-11-03T12:06:16.477+11:00Kit Kelen - record keepin -- filing all yr own stuff for future reference<div class="_4tdt _ua0">
<div class="_ua2">
<div class="_4tdv">
<div class="_5wd4 _1nc6 direction_ltr">
<div class="_h8t">
<div class="_5wd9" data-hover="tooltip" data-tooltip-content="9:03am" data-tooltip-position="right" id="js_1v">
<div class="_5wde _n4o">
<div class="_5w1r _3_om _5wdf" style="max-width: 185px; width: 178px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="_4gx_">
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span>can I please encourage everyone to keep the best record possible of your own work ... however yr creating it ... can I also suggest the metablog is probably the best place for more detailed discussions of all of these things... this conversation thingy here is limited, unreliable and liable to disappear!</span></span></div>
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span> </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="_4tdt _ua0">
<div class="_ua2">
<div class="_4tdv">
<div class="_5wd4 _1nc6 _2_-t direction_ltr">
<div class="_h8t">
<div class="_5wd9" data-hover="tooltip" data-tooltip-content="9:03am" data-tooltip-position="right">
<div class="_5wde _n4o">
<div class="_5w1r _3_om _5wdf" style="max-width: 185px; width: 183px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="_4gx_">
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2F366metablog.blogspot.com.au%2F&h=HAQGYxYWx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://366metablog.blogspot.com.au/</a></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="_3e7u _16ys _n4o" data-testid="attachment_root">
<span><div class="_3_om _3cpq" style="max-width: 185px;">
<a class="_5rw4" href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2F366metablog.blogspot.com.au%2F&h=JAQGR3A6p&s=1" target="_blank"><div class="_49or _49ou _310t">
<div class="__6j">
<div class="__6k">
366 metablog</div>
<div class="__6l">
The purpose of this blog is to facilitate discussions by the participants about Project 366</div>
<div class="__6m">
366metablog.blogspot.com</div>
<div class="__6m">
</div>
<div class="__6m">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</a></div>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="_4tdt _ua0">
<div class="_ua2">
<div class="_4tdv">
<div class="_5wd4 _1nc6 direction_ltr">
<div class="_h8t">
<div class="_5wd9" data-hover="tooltip" data-tooltip-content="9:04am" data-tooltip-position="right">
<div class="_5wde _n4o">
<div class="_5w1r _3_om _5wdf" style="max-width: 185px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="_4gx_">
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span>... it's important to keep yr own records because the finder in the blog is so diabolically crappy ... and my hunch is that when we start collecting for the anthology we will start by asking people to send their own selections of their best few pieces ... so yll need to have yr files about you in order to do that!....</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="_h8t">
<div class="_5wd9" data-hover="tooltip" data-tooltip-content="9:05am" data-tooltip-position="right" id="js_1u">
<div class="_5wde _n4o">
<div class="_5w1r _3_om _5wdf" style="max-width: 185px; word-wrap: inherit;">
<div class="_4gx_">
<div class="_d97">
<span class="_5yl5"><span>just sayin'</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-33784391415017186402016-11-02T21:34:00.001+11:002016-11-02T21:34:59.646+11:00Kit Kelen - Projects for 2017
<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }a:link { }</style>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Projects for 2017
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With November off to
a flying start, I would like to again canvass the possible projects
for 2017. I'm hoping someone (or a group of people) will take the
reins for a new Project 365 for next year, but there have been no
solid offers so far. Also I'm looking for people who are interested
to be on the editorial board for the Project 366 anthology I hope
we'll be putting together. If you're interested in that or in
participating in Project 52 or A Conversation in Poetry, but haven't
told me yet, could you please send me a private message. Project 52
and A Conversation in Poetry, are the two projects I'm planning to
run next year, but I don't want to bore those who are not interested
with organisational details about them. I think the 366 anthology is
something we really ought to do but it will only work if we can have
a group of people willing to put in the hard yakka in terms of
editing, designing and also fundraising.</div>
Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-53418034605803352312016-09-25T23:41:00.001+10:002016-09-25T23:54:50.049+10:00Kit Kelen - foreshadowing discussions about next steps and next projects Dear all,<br />
I'm going to make this super-brief because I know people don't have time to read anything that isn't.<br />
<br />
I want to suggest the options for next steps/projects that spring to mind to me as of now<br />
<br />
<b>Project 365 </b><br />
I won't be running this, but it would simply be a project for next year along the lines of 366, augmented as those participating see fit. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Project 52</b><br />
The idea here would be weekly posts, from a group of people interested in developing materials out of 366 - possibly for book m/ss. I'm not sure how public/private it ought to be or what kinds of feedback system ought to be a part of it. I guess participants might nominate the kind of feedback they're looking for.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>On-Screen Poetry Slam </b><br />
People write poems for pictures as they appear, in a time-limited, though not necessarily competitive effort to match the visual work with words. This could be of interest to people who are interested in more conventional slams. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>A Conversation in Poetry </b><br />
No time-limits, no need for daily posting, but every work is a response to a specific previously posted work (or possibly more than one work). I'm not sure how it starts! <br />
<br />
Of most interest to me personally are The Conversation in Poetry and Project 52.<br />
<br />
But what do people think?<br />
<br />
And also to remind people that we need to think about the 366 anthology issue for when the shutters come down on this one (which I frankly think is more likely to be in January or February 17, rather than December 16).<br />
<br />
I hope we can discuss these things on the meta-blog (rather than on the message thread)! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-52050151170000733082016-09-23T23:57:00.001+10:002016-09-23T23:57:23.249+10:00Mikaela Castledine - Of Size and Shape<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, after the various cuttings and
pasting I do - from Word where I jot down and rework, to Onenote where I
catalogue and date, to Blogger where I post, I found my poem had changed font
and size of its very own accord. It made me think about the way we present our
poems on the blog.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I am married to a graphic designer (28
years tomorrow!) and some of the intricacies of type selection have necessarily rubbed off, but mostly I am after a clean non interfering font that lets the poem do its
work. Back when the now ubiquitous computer didn't exist I would always laboriously
type up my poems when I felt they were finished as I could erase all the
chatter of my handwriting and let them stand clear of me. I have always found there
is a finality to typesetting a poem which makes it harder to rework and at the
beginning of this project I was concerned about typing and essentially
publishing drafts in case they refused to be changed later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On the blog I often look at Kit’s sometimes
choice of sepia type and Beatrice’s French and English red and purpleish blue
and wonder how I am being affected by their use of colour. Also Robbie V’s
spacing in, for example ‘sugar dumbs down’ which feels quite deliberately
stressful in its crowding. Lesley Boland’s enormous letters make me quite
fearful of their monstrosity and sometime I don't want to read the poems as
they look as though they will be strident and unsubtle - though when you read
them you find they are not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am wondering if there is any conversation
to be had about this important part of our poetry writing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> xM</o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12251015872807531382noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-84725850972130321242016-09-21T18:34:00.003+10:002017-01-01T15:58:27.008+11:00Béatrice Machet, September the 21rst, south of France-- to pick people up in an endless journey <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Version>14.00</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>FR</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>ZH-CN</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Tableau Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dear all, </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sorry I’ve been very busy
with visitors and poetry projects in France, so I might have missed posting a
poem each day, … in English, …. Which is a challenge as I’m following another
demanding daily writing practice in French! It’s like I’ve got two lives at the
same time, one in French and one in English! </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyway and considering I’m
still wanting to continue this project, count me in the next project 365, or 52
depending on how things happen. </span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now responding to Kit’s
questions:</span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #801900; font-size: 12.0pt;">What does it mean to show our working like this to the
world? What does it mean to the world? And what does it mean to us?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sometimes I feel living is
like walking on quicksand and to show our working is like saying : writing is somewhat
testifying that to go through life is like walking on quicksand. Sometimes I’m
more assertive and to show our working is saying to people: hey, you too, be
creative, enjoy writing-painting or shooting photographs, take the plunge and
have fun. Dare and share! </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 7.2pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #801900; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What does it mean to be
an artist or poet and not do it every day/not show it to the world every day?
Is there something extreme about what we're doing? Is there a politics of this?
A psychology/sociology? Were we just born this way? What are we about? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 12.25pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Well, it merely means I have no other
choice to feel good, “bonne qu’à ça” (this is all I’m good for) as Beckett would
have answered! Being, thinking, living as an artist, connected to creativity,
improvisation, sharing, exchanges etc, is my way to feel some kind of fulfilment
and joy, to feel I’m fully human. ( But it doesn’t mean I need to be on stage
or admired and applauded, not at all! It means I’m on my way and having a “quest
of vision” to reach my true self) And yes there is something extreme about and
into it! Because it means pushing some limits, it means asking questions all
the time, it means being demanding towards yourself and accepting some kind of “insecurity”,
as Pesoa would have put it: l’inquiétude, the state of mind when you feel
concerned, un-quiet, (not exactly worried in its French or Portuguese meaning).
It means to “explore”, to take risks, not physical risks per se, (even though
sometimes when performing you do take physical risks and you have fun!) but it
means to risk your mind, your sense of identity, of belonging, and even the
sense of being someone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure there is a
politics of this ( and a sense of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>discipline as well) and to my eyes, somehow, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s related to a psychological/sociological personality
profile, which seems to be having the will to make as many experiences as
possible, to keep your heart open, to pay attention and be aware of the little
tiny things (considered as nothing, unimportant) that happen just next to you, to build bridges between disciplines
and people, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to feel yourself involved in
an endless journey, <span style="font-size: large;">to pick people up in an endless journey </span>… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to work so as to gain integrity and honesty and
sincerity in every aspect of your <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>life ….
</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Were we </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">born</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> this way? It’s hard to tell and harder to </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">believe</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">! </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Since we know the
main importance of environments, education, people you meet, childhood
experiences etc etc… nevertheless I would easily assert that a big seed of
curiosity and the capacity to live intensely are required. What are we about ...???
Well in my mind and the way I look at it, from my utopist perspective, it
connects the dots between art and politics! We are about to build an
egalitarian community, (if not society), because we are widening our minds to
what it could mean to be human, to be alive. We are shifting from one cultural
reference to the other so as to be able to look at the world without being
protected behind any shield, any cliché … we are about to reach some universal knowledge
and wisdom which is different from being labeled as “scholars” (learned, savants,
experts etc) … and we do it together, wanting to be in tune, and it’s just wonderful! (
I just sometimes feel frustrated to have little time to completely devote
myself to it!) </span></b></div>
Béatrice MACHEThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07296584755071209068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-26397842677065216782016-09-19T16:02:00.000+10:002016-09-19T16:02:09.955+10:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Why were you interested in joining Project 366, and how did you see it relating to your art practice before you got involved?</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br />I was invited by Anna, and to be honest the project (together with the participating writers) was a complete cipher to me. I simply jumped in thinking it would be a lot of fun, and I also thought it would give me a chance to hone my poetry. More than anything I was looking forward to the process. Initially, I thought I would participate for a month. It is inexplicable to me that I'm still here, despite some time off for illness, and deaths. I'm certain now, in a way that is new to me, that I'll be writing more frequently, forever. As a former academic, I've never thought of poetry as therapeutic however, there is something about having one's work recognised by fellow poets on a daily basis, warts and all, that is energising, even liberating. Recently, however, events have overtaken me, and I've had to consider seriously dropping out. But I simply can't leave. I'm voting with my feet to stay. It's a brilliantly conceived project. I'm personally grateful for it.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Do you think others in the project have influenced you / affected your ways of working or your subject matter?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Do you think there's what you could call a learning process going on through the project? If so, could you describe that?</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />Stylistically, certainly. My use (and abuse) of compressed forms like the haiku and senryu now informs the way I construct lines and images, particularly in my longer poems. The occasional insightful comment goes a long way too. I pay close attention to everything posted on the blog. In addition, using images as part of a text is something I'd never done before, and now love to do.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> How have you found the cultural diversity in the project so far? Has this had any effect on you? Do you think things could be different / better in this regard?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">More is needed, always. I've tried to rope in a number of writers from different backgrounds, but the daily deadline is daunting for them. I haven't given up.</span><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> How has participation in Project 366 affected your sense of yourself as an art practitioner?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I now call myself a poet without feeling like a fraud - something which affects many of us, it seems. Like others, I have to be writing actively in order to feel comfortable in asserting this. Publishing drafts on a daily basis here is a way of enabling that sense of self identification - so necessary, I think, if you want to keep writing with enthusiasm. It helps immensely to have a sense of being read by others who understand the pressures of time etc. To know that your work is being read is at the heart of writing here, for me. Comments are a bonus, too. The community is tremendously supportive. I know some of my poems have benefited from other's readings, and not just of my own poetry. I've learnt a lot about what makes a poem interesting to other poets. That doesn't necessarily change my approach, however. It's an observation. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">On the topic of the future for the project - I hope that a collection of our work can be published. I'm all for individual collections as well. Online publishing is ideal as it would save on printing costs. Alternatively, we could consider crowd funding the publishing of the project's anthology/ies if we decide to go the route of traditional hard copies. Why not? </span>Efi Hatzimanolishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05353535863228831260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6542962802238568066.post-15783093828805277482016-09-07T01:39:00.002+10:002016-09-07T01:39:27.109+10:00Day 250 - quick observation Just noting that, among various other effects, Project 366 has really altered my perception of the year as passage through time and of where I'm up to in it...<br />
I've never thought of myself as at Day 250 of anything before, let alone the year. But actually it's a commonplace of life to have reached the beginning of September in any given year. Somehow this numbering of the days is quite affirming though. I wonder how others are experiencing it?Kit Kelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039514155142268468noreply@blogger.com2