CIEL

Poet Laureate

What a rush to see Kay Ryan on the cover of the New York Times Arts Section last week. Kay Ryan is a home girl. Born and raised in California, a product of the ever wonderful UC system, a poet that is easy to read and love, and an out lesbian. Yeah! Congratulations, Kay. I met Kay recently at my friend Connie Post's Wine and Words series out in Livermore. Sometimes you do the long haul for poetry. On that cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon this past January, it was well worth it. Ryan was a fantastic reader, very funny, relaxed, droll and deep all at once. After the reading she was personable and very chill with everyone who wanted to have a few words with her. Ryan reports that she didn't want to be a poet, but poetry called her. I can relate. And best of all, she gives poetry a good name, creating a wonderful image, a quotable quote: "Poetry should leave you feeling freer and not more burdened...I like to think of all good poetry as providing more oxygen in the atmosphere. Poems just make it easier to breathe." Ahhhhhhhh....

Authors, creative process, poetry, San Francisco, Writers

So tired

The other night I was out with my good friend Mitch. We were at the opera to see "Ariodante." He was tired. "I've been getting up at 6:30 and just jamming." Mitch is in Operations with a bank that is migrating a data center from California to the Midwest. I empathized. "Me too," I said. "Up at 6:30 and jamming." "Yeah, but what do you DO?" he asked. This is Mitch, my good friend who has known me for several years. I'm so tired, but not of jamming. This question has been coming at me more and more lately - and I am so tired of being on the defensive. I'll say it here for the record. After this I'm telling people to read my blog! First, there's the new writing. That's the morning hours. Then there is the business of writing - the submitting, the networking, the research. Then there's being the President of WNBA with two major programs to launch this fall and ongoing development. And you see all those 'events' on my web site? There's tons of work involved with all of them. Oh yes, and there's the blog, and family, and oh, I forgot - exercise. Do people ask Michael Chabon - "Yeah but what do you DO all day?" Do people ask John Irving? Is this about a paycheck? Is it about being a woman and people just assume that you couldn't possibly be working all day, but rather are reading InStyle, or Yoga Journal and eating sustainable earth friendly bon-bons?

Authors, creative process, WNBA, Writers