MONDAY NIGHT

So here we are, in the "otherwhere," with our accumulating
books of verse and improvisational W280 schedule. Just to
reiterate: Courtney, I saw (sadly) dropped the class (I think
she had a lot of extra stuff going on) so we'll look, first thing
on Wednesday, at the manuscripts by Tom, first, then the
conceptual poetry by the man known as Christopher Jack
Williams. Remember, we're bringing our last versions of
our book mss. on March 25, which is also the day Kathleen
Rooney will visit our class. PLUS I want to schedule an in-class
interview with Clayton, so start reading Watermark (or
re-reading, if you've read it). I'm thinking we'll do this
on April 1. I will go over the anthology stuff this week.
As far as questions for JG, we'll talk about his work in class
in two days, AFTER you have read the interviews and
reviews (or "review") I posted on the blog, because, shit,
let's be really informed this time. Let's know enough going
in, in order that we may ask brilliantly mind-numbing
questions. Just what is this project Gallaher has undertaken,
influenced by both Ashbery and John Cage, a work that is
so transparently autobiographical (is it a memoir?) but that
is also slightly slippery, surreal in those spots where we
rub up against fact?  This poetry DOES have PATHOS,
but the subject matter--sometimes, shocking as it is--
never feels melodramatic or sentimental: why is that?
The poem on page 76-77 is reported very casually, for
instance, but the reader is not exactly casual reading this
information . . . So we'll talk about JG's book after break,
after I go over the details for the anthology. BRING your
questions, questions we may modify, as we all become
expert interviewers. Understand: many poets interview
other poets (and artists, etc) and publish those interviews.
It is one way to add to your publications (also, write book
reviews). We may also look at some book cover designs
Austin is playing around with (if he'd like to do that).