What did you say?

An incredible schedule of work and personal affairs has prevented me from spending a lot of time blogging recently, but I promise to update the calendars this weekend. In the meantime, I want to leave you with a humorous observation.

For the past couple of years, I've experienced a significant amount of hearing loss, particularly in my left ear. (It's the ear mentioned in my poem "Banzai.") Anyway, I've noticed that I have difficulty at times understanding what some people are saying, even when they're speaking directly to me. As explained to me, it has something to do with my ears' inability to process the tonal frequencies of certain voices. (I'm not sure of the exact terminology). As a result, I'm now wearing hearing aids, and when I attend readings, a new world of sound has been revealed.

Unfortunately, what I suspected in some cases has been confirmed: Some poets do indeed mumble at the mic. And all this time I had thought I couldn't hear them.

Inner Act, a report

On Tuesday night (Oct. 21), I attended the Inner Act reading, sponsored by Etheridge Knight Inc. This is the reading series that was revived after a fitful run at Earth House in Downtown Indianapolis. The new venue is uptown, at 3338 N. Illinois St., at the Cosmo Knights, a private club. Of course, it's an adults-only place, mainly a bar with lots of small tables and two small dining areas.

Do you remember the scene in "National Lampoon's Animal House," when the white guys spill into an African-American establishment just so they can hear thier favorite singing group, Otis Day and the Knights? It was sorta like that at first. I wasn't expecting a private club (you have to activate a buzzer to gain admittance), and I was the only non-black person there. (I think the initial shock was with the regulars. After all, as a member of a minority that numbers fewer than one percent of the population, I tend to stick out anywhere I go.) Anyway, I explained I was waiting for Mijiza yaa Soyina, the person in charge of the poetry reading. As it turned out, she and I were the only ones who showed up specifically for poetry. We ended up talking at the bar (I had a Michelobe Ultra; she had a glass of wine), and we discussed music, work, grandkids, parents, aging, politics and, finally, poetry.

She wondered how she could spread the word and attract more people to the place. She said she yearned to hear more poetry from mature people, proposing a reading series for folks older than 40, or perhaps 35. I asked what would happen if we began reading poetry right now to the other people at the bar? Before I knew it, Mijiza was up querying individuals about the type of poetry they'd like to hear. They told her they wanted to hear something about love, something about the war, and something that inspired hope. She ran out to retrieve some poems from her car, returned and began reading. She and I traded readings, and the crowd was appreciative.

(The last time I read poetry in a bar, I was with a group at the Yellow Tavern in New Harmony, and all of the customers cleared out, leaving a very pissed bartender. So to make up for her lost business, we all ordered drinks, and customers started filtering back in by the time we were done.)

And that's how I spent my Tuesday evening.

Note: Inner Act convenes every third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. The next one Nov. 18.

Music Monday: 'White Room,' performed by Cream, lyrics by Pete Brown

“A few weeks ago, Music Monday highlighted the Jefferson Airplane song “We Can Be Together.” Since then, a Web site that discusses the song (and others) has been brought to my attention. Herb Bowie writes in his “Reason to Rock” Web site about rock music as an art form. Which brings us to “White Room,” perhaps the first post-modern poem used as lyrics in a rock song. According to Bowie:

http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/white_room.html



Can you identify a song that can fit in a discussion of poetry? Want to be a guest writer on Music Monday? Contact me at jl(dot)kato(at)sbcglobal.net.

For previous related-posts, just click on the Music Monday label eblow.

Emily Dickinson: An immoral woman?

Christopher Benfry writes for Slate about evidence indicating Emily Dickinson had a secret lover. Despite the revelation, public reception remains cool to the notion, perhaps because it runs counter to the romantic image of a spinster spinning her passionate poems for herself and the drawer.

Housekeeping

Hi, gang. The day (and sometimes night) job and other family responsibilities are eating up my time, so please excuse the recent dearth of blog entries and newsletter mailings. I did want to remind folks to check the calendar listings. I have a feeling that some of the events are no longer current, and I'll be checking soon. If there's no contact number or confirmation, your listing will be dropped before the end of the year.

You can help by shooting me a message at jl(dot)kato(at)sbcglobal.net. concerning invalid calendar listings, cancellations, new poetry events, awards, publications, etc.

I'm looking for reactions to local readings. (For example, I did not attend the Sherman Alexie reading at Butler, but I heard that a portion of it was not suitable for children.)

Also, I want your output on etiquette at local readings and venues. What's acceptable behavior? What's not?

Also, for those of you who sent me titles to include in my list of Indiana-related poetry publications, I should be caught up by early next week.

Well, I have to return to my reality check if I want to keep earning my paycheck ...

Music Monday: 'All I Wanna Do,' by Sheryl Crow and Wyn Cooper

Most poets are resigned to the fact they’ll never be famous or rich. But one way to tap into the popular culture and make it pay is to have a poem transformed into a mega-hit pop song, which is what Sheryl Crow did for Wyn Cooper when she adapted his poem “Fun.” She changed the title to “All I Wanna Do.”



Compare the song to the original poem here.

Do you know of a song that can be tied to poetry? Nominate it, or be a guest on this feature by contacting me.

For previous postings, just click on the Music Monday label below.

Billy Collins and Kay Ryan, together at IU

I just wanted to give readers a heads-up for a dual reading in Bloomington soon.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5
5:30 p.m. Billy Collins and Kay Ryan at Rawles Hall, Room 100, Indiana University, Bloomington. Free. Part of the College Arts & Humanities Institute "Solitude" and "Cultural Conflicts" lectures. For info: cahi@indiana.edu.

Broken Plate: Ball State literary magazine

Deadline for submissions is Oct. 31. Details: http://www.bsu.edu/brokenplate

Juried Reading Contest

The Poetry Center of Chicago announces the 15th annual Juried Reading contest. $1,500 first prize; eight poets will have chapbooks published. Final judge: Brenda Hillman. Deadline: Jan. 30, 2009. Details here.

Wanted: a poet laureate for Brownsburg

This from the Writers' Center of Indiana:

The Brownsburg Public Library seeks a local writer to serve as Brownsburg's second poet laureate. The selected poet will promote a receptive climate for poetry locally by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging others to read, recite, and write poetry. This is a two-year post offering a $200 stipend granted through Friends of the Brownsburg Public Library. Previous publication of poetry is NOT required. Each candidate for the position of poet laureate must be a Brownsburg resident, or attend school or work in Brownsburg. The deadline for applications is Oct. 30. The position will be named on Nov. 14. Applications are available online or at the adult and junior reference desk, Brownsburg Public Library, 450 S. Jefferson. For more information, contact Jennifer Prokes, 317-852-3167.

Music Monday: 'Tutti-Frutti,' by Little Richard

Sometimes language fails to provide the precise words to express emotion. In several recently written poems, I’ve created new words for their effect on mood and tone. Songwriters do the same. In this week’s example, Little Richard sings one of the most famous words in rock-and-roll history: “A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop-a-lop-bam-boom.”



Got a song that relates to poetry? You can be a guest commentator. Just drop me a line at jl.kato@sbcglobal.net.

For previous posts on this subject, just click on the Music Monday label below.

Banned Books Week, Sept. 27-Oct. 4

In 1973, when I was a senior at Tech High School in Indianapolis, one of my teachers consficated my paperback copy of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, which I had purchased at a Downtown bookstore. It wasn't part of any curriculum. I was reading it for my own enjoyment and enjoying decoding the strange language that Alex and his droogs spoke. She saw the title that I carried as I walked past her classroom, and she asked to see the book. When I handed it over, she told me it's now gone.

Big deal. I checked the same title out of the public library and carried the book to school, down the same hallway, past the same teacher. The only difference was that she couldn't confiscate a library book.

Thanks to the excellent Indianapolis-Marion County Library system, I made it a practice to check out any book that a teacher, clergyman or protector of public morals told me not to read. Hello, Vonnegut. Hello, Salinger. Hello, Jong.

Click here for info about frequently challenged books.

What encounters have you had with challenged or banned books?