WRITER ON A ROLL

The number of poems published since I resumed submitting material on a regular basis has surprised me very pleasantly. Every writer goes through stretches in which publishers accept their work readily or reject it equally readily. At the moment, I seem to be on a roll. I hope it continues.

Anny Ballardini curates the Poets Corner of the multi-lingual magazine, FIERALINGUE. Her selection of poets includes a veritable thumbnail directory of cutting edge poets along the Beat-Language Poetry-Visual Poetry continuum. The link for the Poet’s Corner is:

http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=Content

My own poetry is at:

http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=Content&pa=list_pages_categories&cid=373

Felino A Soriano, editor of Counterexample Poetics, has accepted a batch of my poems. You can read them at:

http://www.counterexamplepoetics.com/2010/06/vernon-frazer.html.

But you’ll also find a number of other interesting poets on the site, including some who might not be familiar to you. Check them out.

Scott Bentley’s LETTERBOX Magazine is a publication I just discovered. I gather that Bentley compiles the best material he can find and publishes it in a box format. Bookstores such as Moe’s Books and Pegasus Books in Berkley, Bookshop West Portal in San Francisco and St. Mark’s Books in Manhattan carry the boxed magazine. The publication of the latest issue of LETTERBOX probably will probably mark the first time my work has appeared in any form in any of these bookstores.

FOFFOF, a blog of asemic writing, has just posted my texto-visual piece, “Textural War at Play,” at

http://foffoffof.blogspot.com/2010/06/vernon-frazer-textural-war-at-play.html.

Although I don’t consider my work asemic per se, I do incorporate non-textual elements into my work, and am pleased to see that editor Satu Kaikkonen sees the relation between my work and the non-textual pieces he publishes.

While talking about the asemic, I should mention Michael Jacobson’s blog, The New Post-Literate: a Gallery of Asemic Writing. He publishes many of the same writers who appear in FOFFOF, and has published two of my poems, “Ode to a Cryptic Blood Mantra,” at

http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com/2010/05/ode-to-cryptic-blood-mantra-by-vernon.html

and “Oracle Glyph Messaging” at:

http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com/2010/05/oracle-glyph-messaging-from-vernon.html

I’m very pleased to see venues such as these emerging to publish more radical work. Aside from my personal time constraints, the closing of many magazines that had published my work in the past led me to restrict my submissions to calls for work posted on the various writers lists I subscribe to. Literary magazines are not unlike alternative performance venues. Each struggles to present the best possible and stay afloat economically. After a period of time, the drains on energy and personal finances cause the venues to close. Eventually, as I’ve learned the cycle goes, new ones take their place. It’s taken a few years for these publications to emerge, but I’m very pleased to have them available once again.

CATCHING UP ON CATCHING UP AND A NEW VIDEO

For some time, I’ve wanted to update this blog. But I’ve been too busy clearing up a two-year backlog of old projects, learning the software necessary to create new ones and sending out poems that have been sitting in my folders for months and, in some cases, years.

In the few weeks since I’ve returned to submitting work, I’ve had a number of poems accepted, but none have been published yet. When they appear in print, I’ll post the the news here. If I post the news prematurely, I might find myself counting eggs as chickens.

The most important piece of recent work that exists outside the pending file is the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZmBlA2WiY4

It’s my basspo rendition of the opening pages of IMPROVISATIONS. In addition to advancing my knowledge of the software involved in making videos, it’s also given at least one colleague an insight into the way the lines of my multi-voiced texts interact. Interested readers can find the discussions in the May archives of the Buffalo Poetics List or on the WRYTING list.

Ever since I heard Ted Enslin read in Willimantic, Connecticut twenty-five years ago, I’ve maintained that hearing a poet’s voice gives readers a key to understanding the work. Even the recitation of a shy or uncomfortable performer renders the rhythm and sense of a work more accessible. For several decades, I’ve thought the best rendering of my work would involve a recitation, a screen portraying the text and a band. Although I’ve retired from performing in public, YouTube has provided me a venue that allows me to present my work in a way that will entertain others and, as I’ve discovered, help guide them to a greater understanding of my work.