Blog Posts for Evie Shockley

Our Writer-(S)heroes Are People, Too

Evie Shockley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:39:22 -0800

Greetings! I haven't posted an entry in what seems like ages, for reasons I don't have time to explain (though they could be summed up under the heading "Time" -- or lack thereof...). So I thought I'd just drop a quick note here to prove I'm still alive. : )Still alive, and reading. I recently read (in connection with teaching her poetry) the biography of Audre Lorde. It's by ...

ADFEMPO

Evie Shockley — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:52:11 -0700

This Thursday and Friday, I will be joyfully participating in a gathering that has come to be known as "ADFEMPO." Before you get carried away with the acronymic possibilities, let me explain that this chunky term refers to the even chunkier title of a poetry conference; to wit: "Advancing Feminist Poetics & Activism." Click to see the schedule of events. Sorry, ...

Is Rap Poetry?

Evie Shockley — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:03:25 -0700

How many times a month does someone ask me whether rap is poetry? More than you'd guess. Sometimes the questioner strikes me as a rap aficionado, checking to see if I'm going to come correct. Sometimes the question seems to come from a person who could never be persuaded to consider rap as "real" poetry, but who asks my opinion just to confirm that all _____ (black people / ...

Back to School!

Evie Shockley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:00:45 -0700

Greetings! I realize I've not posted in some time and, fearing that it might be awhile again yet before I can sit down to compose anything substantive, I thought I'd just drop a few lines to wish everyone who is starting back to school these days a fabulous fall semester! I am back in the classroom after a substantial hiatus (in support of my research) and, as sad as I am to lose my ...

A Community of Writers

Evie Shockley — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:29:43 -0700

Greetings! This post is belated and, as mine always seem to be, brief, but I just wanted to report here that my week with the Community of Writers in Squaw Valley, CA was fantabulous! It was my first time back since 10 years ago, and I had worried that my warm-fuzzy memories from 1999 had maybe been dipped a few too many times in the river of nostalgia, if you know what I mean. : ) But, ...

Sonata Mulattica

Evie Shockley — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:48:35 -0700

[Scroll down for an additional treat!] This is a heads-up for poetry lovers who are also classical music lovers. Would you be interested in a book of poems that features, among other interesting characters, Ludwig van Beethoven? If so, Rita Dove has written just the thing for you. : )Her latest collection, Sonata Mulattica, is a group of poems (over 200 pages of them!) that concern -- ...

This Is What a Feminist [Poet] Looks Like

Evie Shockley — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:58:43 -0700

The Delirious Hem strikes again! : ) Which is to say, the blog space devoted to experimental / avant-garde / innovative women's poetry (its name comes from a brief phrase in an Emily Dickinson poem) has mounted another fabulous forum that you may want to check out. I'm still reading around in it myself, but wanted to go ahead and share the link with readers here. The forum curator, ...

Encouraging News re: the Dodge Poetry Festival

Evie Shockley — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:24:06 -0700

Greetings! I was very pleased to see the below in my inbox this morning and thought I would share it with the RR and other readers. Let's everyone stash away a $20 (or more?) to throw in the direction of the beloved Festival, should things fall into place...Peace.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To: The Poets, Poetry Teachers, ...

A Canadian Poet on the NJ Turnpike

Evie Shockley — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:58:33 -0700

I don't get to write often to this blog, and when I do, it's too frequently a rush job. I meant to write about a book of poetry I was reading during National Poetry Month, but by time I looked up, April had whizzed past and we were well into May. This says something about the pace of my life -- and so many of our lives -- in these faster-than-pentium fast times. As it happens, this is an ...

What Poetry Has to Say About Torture

Evie Shockley — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:57:38 -0700

I'm not able to write a proper blog entry at the moment, but I couldn't resist linking to this article, in which writer Lea Lane brings one of Yeats' best poems to bear on the moral crisis the country is struggling with today. I thought some of you who check in here from time to time might find her post worth reading and thinking about.There are other things that other poems have to say about ...