AWP is Coming to Kansas City - Part 2

 

Kansas City is hosting the AWP Conference this year and I've waited for this since it was kicked aside over concerns related to the spread of Covid.  Actually, I was waiting for it even before it was announced.  Kansas City is an excellent site for the conference for several reasons (besides I won't have to fly in). 

• We have excellent convention facilities.
• Fantastic food.
• Many unique sites to visit.

Kansas City actually is a culturally rich city for the arts.  

• We have a world-class center for performing arts.  The Kaufman Center for Performing Arts is just one of the jewels of the Arts in K.C. 
• South of the Kaufman Center is the Kansas Cities Arts District.  An area of Private Galleries,  Shops, Food, Bars and Coffee Shops.  
• East of the Downtown area you will find 18th and Vine. This area has a rich Jazz History and the Jazz Museum is yet another jewel of the city,  
• The Negro Leagues Museum is also in the 18th & Vine District. It shares a lobby with the Jazz Museum. 
• Kansas City has a famous shopping area called the Country Club Plaza.  It's south of Kansas City. Unfortunately you you will be too late to see the miles of Christmas lights strung there and delighting visitors from Thanksgiving until just after the first of the year. 
• East of the Plaza is the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. You will see two buildings, the mamoth origional and a new venue on the same grounds that was designed for providing natural lighting for the art displays.  Outside 0n the grounds is a sculpture garden and you will see the giant shuttlecocks which have become famous in KC.
• North of the Convention Center you will find the Main branch of the Kansas City Public Libaray.  This is worth seeing. Both the Parking garage with giant book spines and the elegent inside. It is a not just a functional library, but a spot that I recomend finding a book and getting comfortable in one of the many area you will find seating. 
• Slightly east of the Convention Center is the Power and Light -  Foor, Drink -music and after sporting events often a spontanious party location. 

Kaufman Center for Preforming Arts

J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain (east edge of Plaza)

 Nelson Atkins Museum

American Jazz Museum 

These are just a few of the many sites that I feel are noteworthy. 

Next Up I will share information about notable places to eat. 

#AWP24.  #AWPKC

Confession Tuesday -Major Snow Edition

 

Dear Reader:

It's been a week since my last confession.  Come with me to the confessional. 

This morning I awoke to major snow here in Kansas City. It Happens. This was the most severe of this winter. Our street was not plowed.  It is a few blocks off a beaten path, but it is not on the city plow route and I think it is usually plowed by someone in the neighborhood.  I confess that my efforts to get to work were stymied  I got stuck at the other end of the block, and somewhere around an hour and a half later I got the car backed maybe 200 feet from the drive and was stuck again. Eventually, with two very nice neighbors, we got it back safely in our drive. 

After exceeding my book reading goal by 1 book last year, I have upped my goal from 24 to 28 books. I confess I have finished the first of the year. A Biography on Frida Kahlo.  She is a fascinating individual who endured enormous pain in her life and crafted art that was often reflective of her pain. 

AWP is coming fast.  February 7th. I confess I can't believe how fast that seems to be closing in. 

Last night I wrote a new draft poem, working late into the night. I have struggled the last few days to feel effective with my pen. I did three drafts and I confess I believe it is a keeper, however, it still requires a rewrite. 

They have finally cleared the road out front, I confess I feel optimistic about getting to work tomorrow. 

I confess I recall being really angry about something but for the life of me, I cannot recall what it was. 

That's about it for today, my friends.  Until next time, be safe.

Best wishes,

Michael Wells

AWP Is COMING to KANSAS CITY PART 1

 AWP IS COMING - FOLLOW THIS SERIES 

#AWPreading 

Confession Tuesday January 2, 2024

 My Friends:

As a fallen-away confessor, I am back.  I don't have nearly enough digits to count the weeks since I was last in this confessional. I might have given enough for the months, but let's just agree it has been too long.

I confess that today was kind of a slow day at work and it drug on till all of a sudden, I realized it was 4:16 PM and I knew I could make it to the end. 

I actually met and exceeded my reading goal for the month by one book. I confess I was shocked that I reached it.

Believe it or not, poetry was not my number-one reading genre this year. Now I don't count the Poetry books I go back to from time to time for inspiration or to explore what some poets are doing about ampersands, form, etc. I reread parts of many poetry books throughout the year and these are in addition to my totals to meet my goal challenge. I confess I really enjoy memoirs. I think it was Mary Kerr, the poet and essayist that turned me on. to Memoirs. 

I confess that I periodically pinch myself every time I remember AWP is in Kansas City this year.  I will do a series of AWP-related posts in the next couple of weeks, so put on your seat belts and get ready. 

I'm sorry folks, I confess that's all for today. 

Stay safe,  and check back soon. 

#AWP  #ConfessionTuesday  #Reading2023

2023 Is History - Welcome to 2024

 Small Victories 

I ended up reading 25 books last year. My goal was 24. 

What's more, I expanded the reading genres considerably. I generally read mostly poetry, biographies, and memoirs.  This is how my reading broke down :

• Memoir 8
• Novels  7
• Poetry 6
• Historical / Political 2
• Biography 2

Books Read so far this year

 

1. The Tradition - Jericho Brown
2. Deathbed Sext - Christopher Salerno
3. Rough Draft: AMemoir - Katy Tur
4. Lit - Mary Karr
5. Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
6. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders
7. And We Stay - Jenny Hubbard
8. The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country
9. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom - Sylvia Plath
10. The Art of Memoir - Mary Karr
11. Bird Songs in Literature: Bird Songs and the Poems They Have Inspired - Joseph Wood Krutch
12. Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath - Heather Clark
13. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin
14. The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin - Kip Wilson

* these I have finished there are a number I am still reading at this time. 

Poet Interviews I Saw this Week

 This week I watched several video interviews with two poets.  Actually multiple interviews with each one. 

The poets were Jorie Graham and Mary Karr. I have not read Graham for a while but my exposure to her in the past has been with fascination toward her work.  I did not know that she was raised outside the United States. 

The second poet I looked for interviews with was Mary Karr. There were several interviews a couple of short ones and two longer ones. My interest in Karr is twofold. As a poet and a memoir writer, I have developed an interest in this genre over the past three or 4 years. 

Karr is a captivating individual whose conversation is very easygoing and especially witty. If I got nothing else out of the interviews, the entertainment value alone would make it worth the time. 

But Karr's interest in biographical reading on writers is similar to that of my own. I suppose, like Kerr, that is what has given way to interest in memoirs. The fact that she considers herself foremost a poet in spite of successful books of prose on memoirs makes me feel it is okay to explore the possibilities.

Karr comes across as quite authentic and hysterically funny. The humor is what has convinced me that she is totally cool with herself talking in public. 

Jorie Graham

                                                                       

                                                                         Mary Karr