"Linger to Look" reviewed on "Braver Self"

Roberta Shultz has reviewed "Linger To Look" on her blog "Braver Self... Tells from the Tall Side".

Among other things, she said: "The over-arching themes of Linger to Look seem to be desire, belonging, transformation, and loss. Many of the poems are spoken in the voice of a woman who longs to dance and break free from the bonds that tether her to dusty reality. Horse, bird, water, and stone images abound. Musical use of language led me to finally read many of the poems aloud to myself to further experience the poet’s skill with sound. ... Linger to Look is a dance of musical language and metaphysical imagery, swirling in experimentation and shimmering in the jingling of human heart."

Thank you, Roberta Shultz, for your kind words!

Contemporary Appalachian Poetry: Something Taken, Something Given - Three Book Reviews

Jessica D. Thompson, Bullets and Blank Bibles, (Liquid Paper Press, 2013),  32 pages, poetry, $6.00 U.S.

Roberta Schultz, Outposts on the Border of Longing, (Finishing Line Press, 2014),  32 pages, poetry, $12.00 U.S.

Marianne Worthington, Larger Bodies than Mine, (Finishing Line Press, 2006), 30 pages, poetry, $12.00 U.S. 

Appalachian poetry, like its culture, is changing fast. If you think you know what to expect from it, think again. The three books I am reviewing here are on the more traditional end of contemporary Appalachian poetry, but this is not the poetry that came from the region 100 years ago. And it is not the poetry to come in the very near future. Still, one over-riding principle remains for Appalachian poets - no matter how they choose to practice their art: "For something taken, something/must be given." ("Something Taken", Bullets and Blank Bibles, Jessica D. Thompson). 

When one's culture is in a rapid state of change, the urgent need is to reflect that instability while paying proper respect to what is passing. For some poets this means taking something - experimenting with radical new modes of expression in an effort to capture the mood of change and possibly form a language for what must inevitably follow. For other poets it means giving something - attempting to preserve some of what is passing. The three poets in this review are largely seeking to preserve the heritage and culture that is almost faded entirely into memory, that cozy, warm past that outsiders once derided and now seek out as tourists. 

Marianne Worthington is probably the most notable of the three for this patient homage. Her tipping of the hat in Larger Bodies than Mine consists of family portraits painted deftly from memory in careful metered lines. There is very little alliterative play here, but the preciousness of it renders it surprising and rich where it does occur. Most of her collection focuses on various grandmothers. Heaneyesque in many ways, her verse teeters on the thin line of over-sentimentality without slipping over. This is nostalgia on the tongue and in the mind. While the forms rely heavily on meter, she does not make the mistake of rhyming into sing-song.

Jessica D. Thompson writes of the rural setting and a little of family, but Bullets and Blank Bibles is not as polished. It retains a bluntness Worthington does not allow for, an anger biting subtly below the surface. One might call it simply Discontent. Take this line from the best poem in the volume ("Turquoise") as an example: "We measure our life by what we love/but settle for what we are given". That's Appalachian culture summed up in one neat little aphorism (Thompson is good at that). Compromise is everything in a region that both nurtures and murders, and that is something she knows well. As with Worthington, her verse depends much on meter, but she stretches it a bit. It's a little more fluid, slightly unhinged. Alliteration gets more time on the page. But the overall pace is kept appropriately slow, measured, and deliberate, like the passing of the seasons.

Enter Roberta Schultz' Outposts on the Border of Longing. Though I don't think she means to, she serves as a kind of mediator between the more traditional poets of Appalachia and the radical, avant garde. She too pulls mostly from memory for her subject matter (and not all of it is PC), but her style makes the end result feel less lyrical and more confessional. She deviates from variations on blank verse  more than the previous two and tries out forms less often used by the majority of poets on her side of the spectrum (striking example: "War: A Sestina"). Schultz does, unfortunately, indulge in a nauseating cuteness when she writes of her pet cat ("Be Careful What You Wish For"). For one horrifying moment, I thought I was judging an elementary school poetry contest! But then she recovers nicely with this anecdote as an explanation of her poetic philosophy:

"Night vision begins

at twenty minutes - 

ten minutes after most

of us reach for a switch,

flushing our faith with fear, 

leaving us night blind."

("Night Blind")

The encouragement here is explicit. Poetry is about intuition and insight, not the gathering of data or facts. This is even more true when the old modes of expression are rendered largely irrelevant by seismic cultural shifts. So we must allow ourselves to develop "night vision" and write from that.

While it is true that narrative, form, and meter remain strong components for these three poets, their work nevertheless contains powerful realisations that the old Appalachian ways are gone. Wistful and mournful, these poets clearly feel a keen sense of loss and separation from that which made them who they are. In doing so, they give something back to the culture that it is now missing from it. This serves as a needed balance to those contemporary Appalachian poets who take something by forging ahead to see what they can make of what comes next in the blinding light of the new unknown.  

(For full disclosure: this is an unpaid review. No good or services were received.)

Up and Coming: More Reviews and a New E-zine

It's been quiet on this blog, but busy in the background.

Up and coming:

 -- Reviews of three poetry collections procured at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School.

-- Launch of new e-Zine for the most groundbreaking avant garde in Appalachia and the world.

I've been working on this one since the middle of September 2015 when the idea fully crystalised. My involvement with Wurm im Apfel Press in Ireland since 2010 has demonstrated to me how valuable, even vital, experimentation and the avant garde are to any healthy, living literary scene. The Wurm poets infuse Ireland with a dose of much needed excitement and energy, challenging the established modes of expression and pushing poetry into entirely new territories (Christodoulos Makris' Twitter poem "Chances Are...", anyone?). Then in July 2015 I had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School. There I found a good reception to my work, but generally a resistance to avant garde and indy publishing. Although the literary landscape of Central Appalachia is maturing once again into a more united, supportive community than it was 20 years ago, with a much more contemporary pulse, there do still tend to be certain conventions and traditions too "sacred" to be challenged. As far as I know, there is no publication that directly supports and encourages full experimentation, where rules exist to be broken and made new. Many editors of literary journals and presses told me at the Workshop that "there is a lot of work (they) must reject because it is too avant garde." I determined to create a home for that avant garde.

Introducing: "AvantAppal(achia)"

As you will see, the website has not launched yet. Web design is nearly complete. I may soon have a co-editor to help me with sorting submissions. We meet next week, hopefully, to hammer out the last few details before launch can take place. But it is coming soon! The Kin-folk - Ed(itor)s - at AvantAppal(achia) are proud to fill this gap in the literary scene of Central Appalachia, bring you earth-shattering new work by Appalachia's finest and around the world, and welcome you as Kin. Watch this space for more information!

Appreciation

Had a great time at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School, Hindman, KY. Sending a bouquet of thank yous to Brent Hutchinson and Jean Marie Hibbard who worked so hard to figure out accessibility issues and include me in everything. Also, equal thanks to all the faculty and participants for welcoming me and teaching me so much. What a truly beautiful event!



Photo of Sabne Raznik by Roberta Shultz

Press Release Regarding the 2015 Appalachian Writers' Workshop

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

Local Poet to Attend Appalachian Writer's Workshop

 

June 11, 2015, Pikeville, KY. - Local poet Sabne Raznik has been invited to attend the Appalachian Writer's Workshop at Hindman Settlement School this summer as a beneficiary of the UK Pike County Cooperative Extension Service for Fine Arts.

 

The Appalachian Writer's Workshop is the premiere writer's workshop in Kentucky. It is hosted by Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, KY. This year, it will be held July 26 - 31, 2015.

 

Raznik applied to the Workshop by sending 10 work-in-progress poems. Due to limited space, only the highest quality applications are accepted as participants. Each participant is assigned ahead of time to specific sessions. Raznik is assigned to the poetry sessions that will be lead by Crystal Wilkinson. (As of July 14, 2015, Raznik's workshop leader will be Marianne Worthington.)

 

Sabne Raznik has published two full-length poetry collections - her debut work, Following Hope, in 2007 and Linger to Look in 2015. Raznik hand made an art book to benefit St. Jude's Research Hospital, Marrow, in 2013. She has published throughout the U.S., in Ireland, and on the internet. Among those who have offered praise for her poetry is acclaimed Irish poet Brendan Kennelly. She is a songwriter and folk artist, working in both traditional and digital mediums. She has also worked with the ACT Theatre in Elkhorn City, KY.

 

Raznik says: "It is a real honor to be invited to the Appalachian Writer's Workshop. It's still sinking in, really."

 

Raznik's participation in the Workshop is made possible by a grant from the UK Pike County Cooperative Extension Service for Fine Arts that will cover tuition and rooming, as well as other expenses.

 

"It was Stephanie Richards' (the Pike County Extension Agent for Fine Arts) idea that I apply. I never would have without her encouragement." Raznik explains.

 

For more information: http://ces.ca.uky.edu/pike/FineArts

                                     http://www.hindmansettlement.org

                                     http://www.facebook.com/sabneraznik

 

 

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Etsy and Appalachian Writers' Workshop

I have closed my Etsy store. Please, let it be known that you can now find my art work and order various items and prints at Fine Art America.

I have been invited to the Hindman Settlement School's Appalachian Writers' Workshop this year (2015). Originally, I was scheduled in Crystal Wilkinson's workshops, but she has had to cancel. Marianne Worthington is filling her shoes. We will have daily workshops and readings as well as a half hour of individual teaching with our workshop leader. I am very excited and honoured to be accepted to attend! If you will be in Hindman, KY USA during July 26 -31, 2015, I'll see you there!