You can pre-order my book!

HERE.  In Anima: Urgency

Plus, you can do it as a subscription with other wonderful poets: Gina Myers, Nick Strum & Wendy Xu, and Serena Chopra.

It's the spring, and everything is shiny and beautiful out.

Seattle Poetry Panels: The State of Seattle Poetry

Founded by Greg Bem and Amber Nelson, Seattle Poetry Panels is a naturally occurring online phenomenon. For each panel, a Seattle poet is designated captain, gathers forces, and leads the charge on tough, in-depth investigations on any given subject related to poetry, Seattle, or Seattle poetry. These panels will take place in google hangout so anyone can watch from the comfort of their sofas and snuggies.

T H E  S T A T E  O F  S E A T T L E  P O E T R Y

March 24th, 7PM

Seattle is known far and wide for its courtesy. Google "Seattle Nice" and get 126 million results. But a healthy literary community demands criticism and criticism is seen here as not nice. When was the last time that you read a real review, one that was not praise from a friend or acquaintance of the poet, or a rip job by someone with a personal grudge. Captained by Paul Nelson, we'll take the temperature of the local lit scene with four respected poets and activists who share their thoughts on what's working and what's needed to establish Seattle as a vibrant, innovative literary community. 

 

 

PAUL NELSON

Founder of SPLAB in Seattle and the Cascadia Poetry Festival. He wrote a collection of essays, Organic Poetry and a serial poem re-enacting the history of Auburn, WA, A Time Before Slaughter (shortlisted for a 2010 Genius Award by The Stranger.) One of his main writing projects currently is the next chapter of the history-in-verse mode of the Slaughter poem entitled Pig War & Other Songs of Cascadia.

 

He's interviewed Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Wanda Coleman, Anne Waldman, Sam Hamill, Robin Blaser, Nate Mackey, Eileen Myles, George Bowering, Diane di Prima, Joanne Kyger, George Stanley, Brenda Hillman, Emily Kendal Frey, many Cascadia poets & writes an American Sentence every day.www.PaulENelson.com

 

DAEMOND ARRINDELL

Poet, performer, workshop facilitator: Curator of the Seattle Poetry Slam, a raucous and engaging weekly show including a performance poetry competition judged by 5 random audience members; 8-time coach of the renowned Seattle National Slam Team; has performed and facilitated workshops in venues throughout Washington State and across the country including the Boston Poetry Slam, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC's Louder Arts Project; twice commissioned by both Seattle and Bellevue Arts Museums; facilitates poetry and theater residencies at Monroe men's prison through Freehold's Engaged Theatre program;  and is a Writer-In-Residence through Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools Program.

 

CHRISTINE DEAVEL

A bookseller for over 20 years, Christine Deavel is co-owner of Open Books: A Poem Emporium, one of three poetry-only bookstores in the country. Her collection "Woodnote," published by Bear Star Press, received the 2012 Washington State Book Award.

 

GRAHAM ISAAC

Grew up in Seattle, Washington. Currently he serves as Co-Founder of the Claustrophobia Reading Series, Co-Curator of the Five Alarms Greenwood Lit Crawl, Host of the Works in Progress open mic at the Hugo House, and author of Filthy Jerry's Guide to Parking Lots, a short collection of poetry and flash fiction. He recently joined the production team of Da'Daedal, a multimedia spoken word, music and dance program, while making his money as a tutor and professional bartender.

KATE LEBO

Poems have appeared in Best New Poets, AGNI, and Poetry Northwest among other journals. She's the recipient of a Nelson Bentley Fellowship, a grant from 4Culture, and numerous writing residencies. After earning her MFA from the University of Washington in June 2012, she opened Pie School, a cliche-busting pastry academy. In October 2013, Chin Music Press will publish her first book, A Commonplace Book of Pie, based on her best-selling zine of the same name. Not so very long ago Kate worked for Richard Hugo House; now she teaches there.

 

 

Email Greg or Amber to be invited to the google hangout: gregbem@gmail.com & ambydexterous@gmail.com

The Next Big Thing

I was tagged by Elisabeth Workman in The Next Big Thing.

What is the working title of the book?

It started as In an Emergency, after O'Hara, and became In Anima: Urgency.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

It was about halfway through NaPoWriMo of 2011 and I was working on a poem a day. I'm not sure how the process idea came, but that it did, this idea of exploding a word outward, using associative, sound, historical and etymological connections, while I had also been thinking about Time, how I sometimes feel that it is not linear but all time occurring simultaneously all the time.

What genre does your book fall under?

Poetry

 What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

There are and are not characters or people in these poems. I wouldn't have actors. I would have Michel Gondry translate it all into film, probably animated.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

The question driving me mad is: how can one manage to be simultaneously inside and outside? ~Helene Cixous, The Book of Promethea

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About 6 months.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Heaven, Earth, Language, Time.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Puns!

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It is due out in April (2013) from Coconut Books.

I'm tagging, even though I'm pretty sure none of them will participate but because I think they are all brilliant and deserving of a good read, Brooklyn Copeland, Joseph Massey, Karena Youtz, Adrien Kien, and Kate Greenstreet.

The Pies of Winter

Foods of Fall (all available on instagram)

 I had wanted to try this recipe for some time, having read about it in the Barbara Kingsolver book ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE. The idea of cooking in a pumpkin was pretty awesome, so far as I could tell.

 And she was right. It comes out looking beautiful... a stunning centerpiece for any table.

 But I have to say, I followed the recipe to the letter and it came out rather bland...like drinking straight cream with some pumpkin. The flavor was just too light, too subtle. It was nice, to be certain... but I wasn't blown away with the eating. I had revisions (which you'll see later).

 Fall was coming (obviously) and the weather chilled and when flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks (Local Flavors) I came upon a recipe I had dog eared for a future attempt. Herbed dumblings.

 And they were worth it. So easy and so delicious. I didn't use their soup recipe, but made my own. Just some veggies in pre made stock with a few herbs (bay leaves and chives and a few other things). But the dumplings were certainly the focus. Though, after the fact, I had wished I made the dumplings a little smaller. They were dense little suckers.

 I took to calling this heart break pie. It's a lot like my standard (though I usually make rhubarb because that's my personal favorite). The season being what it has been, though, I went with apple. My friend had a broken heart so I made a bourbon apple pie with pecan/oat crumble. The crust was whole wheat though. It wasn't my favorite pie, but nobody else seemed to have complaints.

 This was my second attempt with the soup cooked in the pumpkin. Here I used the Sugar Pumpkin (like for the pie), largely because it is small enough to cook for one (which I was obviously doing). I used sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and broth instead of cream.

 It made for a thicker, more savory dish. I also ran it through the food processor. I also cooked it with whole stems of rosemary and thyme. After cooking, I was able to pull out the actual stems because the leaves themselves had cooked loose from them. Very, very low maintenance soup. And then I was able to scoop off the sides. Aaaaand, I roasted the seeds. After thoroughly dusting them in a curry and salt mixture.

 I woke up with a distinct need to candy ginger. I don't know why. That's literally what I woke up thinking about. And so I did. So easy! And delicious! And great while I was home sick for the whole week.

 So I put it on this snow pudding (recipe for snow pudding was stolen from epicurious). I have to say that this looks better than it was. The snow pudding is sort of like a jello/meringue. Texturally not for me. But the lime flavor of it was just delicate enough to be astounding. And while this was designed to top a basil custard, I decided to make a basil-lime syrup to drizzle over the top, and garnished with that aforementioned candied ginger.

Altogether, a nice light dessert.

 I'm not a big chocolate person, but I made this for others. Vegan chocolate truffles dusted with shredded coconut. Very, very rich. I made it through about half of one. But delicious. Really delicious.

I made this just tonight: stir fried pumpkin with red onion, garlic, chiles, basil, and instead of using the honey (which the recipe called for), I used this fairly intense ginger syrup which I just made this weekend. The syrup balanced out the spice, and the ginger gave it nice tang.

This was something of a necessity is the mother of invention. That heartbreak pie resulted in two crusts, so I made this pot pie. It's carmelized onions in thyme, with steamed cauliflower, roasted yukon potatoes, and apple cured bacon... covered in chevre which melts into this sort of blissful cream sauce. I paired it with cider glazed brussel sprouts.

This last was a still life for a friend which I think turned out well: a fair depiction of my life.

A video of me reading, up via MEDIUM at THE VOLTA.

Check it out here.

awesome end of summer foods

Brunch at Gainsbourg. Croques Madame and an amazing bloody mary.

Plus, post race recovery dinner: Rustic Italian Sausage with Broccoli Raab and Polenta. Yum. (Recipe courtesy of Pork, Knife, Spoon.)