ICFA

At International Conf. on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, since Tues. night. Leaving in the morning. Bought books & got many free books; sold a few of mine. Met a couple of people I knew but had never met, as well as some we met here 4 years ago. Saw some great author readings: Kushner, Sherman, Straub, Duncan, etc etc etc. Caribbean & middle-eastern food.

031116

Anyone going to ICFA? We are, if the creek don't rise. Which it won't, cos all the rain's being used up on LA & MS.


life on a rainforest hilltop
valley life's hectic
if you can't
breathe mud
glub
glub

Deep-ish thoughts

I recently had to choose a bunch of my poems for a reading at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts. The theme of the meeting was the monstrous in literature. I realized a few things about my monstrous poetry in the process of making choices for the reading. In most of the poems, if there were two intelligent beings, one was male and the other female. The viewpoint character was almost always male. The viewpoint character almost never dismembered/devoured/made wallpaper out of any female characters. The reverse, however, was true in many of the poems. In a few of the poems, none of the major characters victimized anybody. I don't think analyzing one's own deep psychological motives is fruitful, but I did write this poem as a result of my observation.


The Poet Debates an Imagined Reader


What is it with you
and these poems about women?
Your protagonists, all of them male,
and all of them you,
are eaten, killed, turned into furniture,
by females of one kind or another.
The best they can hope for
is to lose their women to
alien monsters,
natural disasters,
ecological catastrophes,
mysterious viruses;
is this something from your childhood?

They are viewpoint characters,
not protagonists,
and never me.
Don't mistake the character for the author;
that's the mark of a noob.

Weak, very weak.
Why should we read any more of your crap?


end

ICFA

Friday. Reading this afternoon. Enjoyed some talks; eg, Alice as monster in Through the Looking Glass. some folks need to speak up; hope i don't have that problem. made it safely wed. ~4 pm but only now sorta caught up on sleep.strangely, tho this is an academic con, many participants seem to sleep late. met kij johnson, geoff landis, mary turzillo, and more. saw kessel and the duncans. saw readings by sawyer, haldeman, kress. great fun. bought a few books; old sf ppbacks.

w,th,f get one poem

kij thinks my shy
daughter will knock on strange door
hope so

032012

Leaving for ICFA in Orlando this afternoon. Spring-breaking daughter cat-sitting & plant-sitting. My internet access'll b limited thru the 25th.

night light red shift
in rear-view interstate ribbon
March summer

ICFA

Next week, Orlando.
Reading a few poems & learnin about spec lit.
Must review guest list & take bx 2 b autographed.
Will u b there?

ICFA 2012

Orlando, March 21-25. A reeeeeeeeeeeeeeel SF conference. I'll be doing a reading & hob-nobbing. Hope to c some of u there!

ICFA

Did I happen to mention that I will be reading at ICFA in Orlando in March? I will! What to read, what to read....