Sunday afternoon on campus, J.D. McClatchy will be reading. He's in town for the world premiere of the Our Town opera, for which he wrote the libretto & Ned Rorem (who's here as well) wrote the music. Yep, Our Town as in Thornton Wilder. I probably won't make it to the opera, but do plan to get to the poetry reading. I have to admit I haven't read that much of McClatchy's work, but have liked what I've read.
Thursday evening of next week is a hot double bill at the John Waldron Arts Center downtown: Marianne Boruch and Campbell McGrath. Both are poets I read for the first time when I took a class with Cathy Bowman a couple years ago; McGrath's Florida Poems was one of the books read & discussed by the whole class, and I enjoyed it a great deal.
Next month (March 24, to be exact) Five Women Poets, my poetry group, will be reading at the Runcible Spoon in celebration of Women's History Month. No idea yet what I'll be reading, but readings at the Spoon are always fun. It's a local coffeehouse/restaurant that's been around since the late seventies, which qualifies it as a Bloomington institution; it's known for excellent coffee, less-than-lightning-fast service, and the fish living in the bathtub in its bathroom. The bathroom was actually featured on the Travel Channel once, some show about the "ten coolest bathrooms in America" or something. The owner and chef, Matt O'Neill, is a poet and very supportive of Bloomington's poetry community. Plus, they have the best brunch in town -- wonderful omelets and perfect bacon.
I am supposed to be getting my car back tomorrow -- yes, more than three weeks after the accident. It's been fun driving the rental (a brand-new 2006 PT Cruiser, not the car I'd pick out to buy for myself, but always fun to drive something shiny and new) but it will be good to be back in my own little Corolla again.
Tonight is all about the skating -- Olympic ladies' finals. I've been assiduously avoiding spoilers all day. Not sure whether I'm cheering for Sasha Cohen or Irina Slutskaya; I just hope both of them (and heck, everyone else too) skate their best. I love watching ice skating. Someday I'm sure it will turn up in a poem.
3 comments:
I've read Hazmat, which I really enjoyed, and The Ten Commandments, which was OK but has my favorite poem by him, "My Mammogram." He's good—for such a strict formalist—and this past weekend I bought his partner Chip Kidd's book featuring a retrospective of his book cover design work. I f-ing love it.
I want to go to the R.Spoon, esp if you are reading there. I love a place that serves breakfast all day because I only eat breakfast at night mostly. And I want to see the famous bathtub, too.
The Runcible is where my wife and I had our first "date", if it could be called such. I worked for IU in the late 90's, and she got her BA there. Small world.
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