Tom Pickard opened his October 8, 2008 set for the New Writing Series with a poem still in manuscript paying homage to Robert Creeley.
The Whole Sweep of the Day by Tom Pickard
Month: October 2008
That Thing Will Never Fly by Davis Schneiderman
A track from Davis Schneiderman’s October 2, 2008, set for the New Writing Series.
Dormitory Life by Tom Raworth
A track from UK poet Tom Raworth‘s performance in the New Writing Series on October 16, 2008. That’s our recording engineer Rebecca Griffin in the front row.
Event Report – Lydia Millet
Event Report On October 23, 2008, novelist Lydia Millet read to an audience of about 65 people in Neville 100 for the fifth event of the Fall 2008 season (see preview here). Dave Kress introduced the half-hour-long set in which Millet read from her novel How the Dead Dream, the first of a planned three-book series. Afterward, Millet fielded questions from audience members.
Documentation An mp3 recording was made using an Audio-technical condenser Lo-Z AT835b microphone attached to a Marantz PMD660 Portable Solid State Recorder. The event was also recorded on digital video tape. Click images below to enlarge.
Set List compiled by Katie Lattari
Introduction by Dave Kress
Reading by Lydia Millet
Excerpt from the first chapter of the novel How the Dead Dream
Questions
1] Does the main character [of How the Dead Dream] follow along the same sort of path as Milo from Catch-22?
2] Do you know the bit from Walt Whitman about turning to/ toward the animals? If so, does this mindset inform your writing?
3] Do you have children?
4] Is this book part of a series?
5] Do you find the themes of capitalism and money in your books particularly topical given the financial crisis going on currently in this country?
6] Do you find the money aspect or the animal aspect more preferable [in the context of your book]?
7] Did you know this book was going to be part of a series from the start?
8] Would you say your novels are more concerned with plot or with character?
9] Do you think you would write differently if you didn’t have the pressure of your novels having to sell well and be liked?
10] Do you fight with your publisher much about your books, and in particular that you wanted to write a series?
11] How do you find time to write?
12] Have you seen the publishing industry change over your career as a writer?
13] When you first started writing and publishing, how wide was your distribution?
14] Can you talk about your personal relationship with animals and how that affects your writing?
Tom Raworth Event Report & Set List
Event Report In the fourth event of the Fall 2008 season, poet Tom Raworth read to an audience of approximately 50 people in the Hill Auditorium on October 16, 2008. Steve Evans introduced the half-hour long reading, after which Raworth fielded questions and talked to audience members one-on-one.
Documentation An mp3 recording was made using an Audio-technical condenser Lo-Z AT835b microphone attached to a Marantz PMD660 Portable Solid State Recorder. The event was also recorded on digital video tape. Click images below to enlarge. For the full photoset, visit our flickr page here.
Set List compiled by Katie Lattari
Introduction by Steve Evans
Poetry reading by Tom Raworth
1. Three
2. The Blown Agent
3. Ah, the poetry of Miss Parrot’s feet demonstrating the tango
4. Metaphysics of Magicians
5. King of the Snow
6. Just Another Whistle Stop
7. No Peace, Black Holes, Earth Cracks
8. Dormitory Life (opens an mp3 of the poem)
9. Shadows
10. No Hard Feelings
11. Follow the Food
12. Intellectual Compost 4
13. Coal Grass Blood Night Emerald
14. You Can’t Get Out
15. Going Away Poem for Lee Harwood
16. Georgia on My Mind
17. Caller
18. Mechanical Gardens
19. Viagara
20. Pelf, Pelf
21. Icequakes
22. Data Death: Zerone
23. Rivers of Bling
24. Once and For All
25. Creaking Candle
26. Shuck
27. Seething with Adventure
28. Chips
29. Birthday Poem (with Florence Wylde Raworth)
30. From Mountains and Gardens
31. Capture of Karadzic
32. You Need It, We Rent It
33. University DaysQuestions
1) Can you talk about the tempo/ velocity of your reading? Can you talk about the fact that you don’t introduce your poems?
2) Do you compose your poems as quickly as you read them?
3) Did your earlier style differ from your current style?
4) How long ago did you write “University Days”?
5) When did you come out with your first book?
6) When you write a poem, do you have a clear goal at the start?
7) How do you title your poems?
Up Next – Novelist Lydia Millet
The New Writing Series is delighted to welcome novelist Lydia Millet to the University of Maine for a reading on Thursday, October 23, 2008, at 4:30pm in 100 Neville Hall. The reading is free & open to the public, though seating is limited.
Lydia Millet is the author of six darkly humorous novels: Omnivores, George Bush: Dark Prince of Love, My Happy Life, Everyone’s Pretty, Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, and, most recently, How the Dead Dream. Her third novel, My Happy Life, won the 2003 PEN-USA Award for Fiction. Her fifth novel, Oh Pure and Radiant Heart was short-listed for the 2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award.
For more information about Lydia Millet visit her webpage.
For the New York Times review of her latest novel, click here.
On Facebook? Join the NWS groups here (local) or here (global).
We’ve also recently started a flickr page here.
The UMaine New Writing Series is cosponsored by the English Department and the National Poetry Foundation.
Tom Pickard – Strung Out on Hangingshaw (Video Clip)
A clip from Tom Pickard’s October 8, 2008, reading in the UMaine New Writing Series. A higher-resolution version of the clip can be viewed on the National Poetry Foundation’s YouTube channel.
Tom Pickard Audio Clip
Tom Pickard Event Report
Poet Tom Pickard read to an audience of more than 175 people in Minsky Recital Hall for the third event of the Fall 2008 New Writing Series on October 8, 2008. Steve Evans introduced the event, which was cosponsored by the New Writing Series and the Honors College. In his nearly hour-long set, Pickard read from several of his books, including The Dark Days of May and his newly published The Ballad of Jamie Allan. After the reading, Pickard took questions one-on-one and sold and signed copies of The Ballad of Jamie Allan to fans.
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Documentation An mp3 recording was made using an Audio-technical condenser Lo-Z AT835b microphone attached to a Marantz PMD660 Portable Solid State Recorder. The event was also recorded on digital video tape. Click images below to enlarge. For the full photoset, visit our flickr page here.
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Set List compiled by Katie Lattari
Introduction by Steve Evans
Reading by Tom Pickard
The Whole Sweep of the Day (link opens mp3)
“Found Object”
“Queen’s Message”
“Waiting Behind the City Crematorium”
“Starlings”
“Rope”
“Making of a Gothic Moment”
“Strung Out on Hangingshaw” (link opens YouTube clip)
“Labyrinth”
“Front”
“Prelude in Blue”
coda from “Dark Months of May”
“The Real Tom Pickard”
“Your Recent Chill”
“Strange Phenomenon on Fiend’s Fell”
“Bob’s Blues”
“Ancient Stone Dressed with Lichen”
“Denial is a River in Egypt”
“Rouck”
“Self Abstracting Poem”From The Ballad of Jamie Allan
“The Charm”
“John Bell, his information…”
“Below the ridge below the wind-inscribed stone…”“May”
“First of May”From The Ballad of Jamie Allan
“John Clark, his information…”
“Excerpt from a Walter Scott letter…”
“A Low Sky”
“Clouds drag shadows…”
“Hawthorne”“Hidden Agenda”
Up Next – Poet Tom Raworth
The New Writing Series is delighted to welcome UK poet Tom Raworth back to the University of Maine for a reading from his poetry on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 4:30pm in the Arthur Hill Auditorium in the new addition to Barrows Hall. The event is free and open to the public, though seating is limited.
LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM RAWORTH HERE
MANY MORE RAWORTH LINKS HERE
TOM RAWORTH ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA HERE
ON FACEBOOK? JOIN THE NWS GROUP HERE
The UMaine New Writing Series is sponsored by the English Department and the National Poetry Foundation with support from the Lloyd H. Elliott fund, the Milton Ellis Fund (Diane Williams reading), the Honors College (Tom Pickard reading), and the Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Series Committee. FMI contact Steve Evans on FC or at 207-581-3818.
UMaine New Writing Series 