Thu 3 Apr 2008
Rattle e.4 - Released
Posted by Tim under Uncategorized
This blog is supposed to be more than just a place for announcements, but I’ve been too busy to live up to my end of the bargain, and sometimes there are just things worth announcing. So here it is, this spring’s free online supplement.
61 pages of art, poetry, and essays. Our two book features are each outstanding for entirely different reasons — John Amen’s More of Me Disappears and Diane Lockward’s What Feeds Us. As if on cue after the last couple posts, David James writes about the joy of inventing new poetic forms. Then Gary Lehmann asks, Is Poetry Fiction?, and trust me, he knows the answer. The art spread is five hand-colored photographs by Dianne Carroll Burdick, from which the cover above is drawn.
As always, a fun quick read — something to whet the appetite before the big issue in June. Click here to download the PDF (1.6 MB).
I just hope I wasn’t too gloomy at the end of the introduction. I mention a great anthology I just read, Seeds of Fire (Smokestack Books, 2008), edited by former Rattle contributor and Curbstone author, Jon Andersen. The book was an uplifting reminder for me that so many people see this war industry for what it is, and while real change operates at a glacial pace, it’s worth it to keep plugging away, to keep standing together and speaking out. But you can’t explain being uplifted without mentioning what you’re being lifted from.
I’m starting to feel like the existence of a poetry community is more important than the poetry itself. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for an editor to say.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hi Tim: Jon Andersen here. Thanks for the shout out about Seeds of Fire. I wasn’t the one who sent the book to you — it must have been Smokestack Books. This summer Martin Espada and I are doing a reading tour of England to promote our books through Smokestack. (See http://www.smokestack-books.co.uk)
I like your honest and acute comments on poetry and its impact (or lack of impact) in the world. It would be hubris, as you say, to claim that poems will change the world — a comment which reminds me of Eduardo Galeano’s statement that “To claim that literature on its own is going to change reality would be an act of madness or arrogance. It seems to me no less foolish to deny that it can aid in making this change.” And as Adrienne Rich pointed out recently, poetry literally saved lives of prisoners in the hell-hole of Gitmo. Who knows how a poem might galvanize us or sustain us along the way? But I agree, the bigger mistake is to claim too much. I have heard poets and seen poets remark — excited in the glow of political poetry events — that they are creating a movement, etc. Such untoward claims, while understandable, don’t help. Right now, there is not cohesive international movement towards justice. It’s fragmented and compromised. But there are signs of life, signs of openings. So we keep writing. And writing isn’t enough. In the big picture, the kudos and awards don’t mean much of anthing. On the other hand, every little act we decide to do adds up.
Thanks for the mention, but most importantly, thanks for your thoughts, which extend to the bigger issues that go so far beyond my little book.
Best
Jon
April 17th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Hi Jon–
Glad you found me here; thank YOU for the book. It really was uplifting, reading through all those concerned voices. Watching the nightly news and reading the papers, it’s easy to start feeling alone.
I was going to write you a letter about it, but I thought it would do more good to mention it in the newsletter and on the blog — maybe some will order a copy.
I agree with you on Rich’s example, that poetry can do things on an individual level. And all those individuals add up. I think I’ve been feeling guilty lately, though, about how much (or how little) I’m really contributing to the greater good with my life. It’s easy to convince yourself that writing a poem and publishing a magazine is having an impact, but it’s really not — you have to be out there doing things. And I’m glad you’re out there. Keep it up.
Tim