I Survived My First Poetry Reading in Years

This past Sunday I participated in my first poetry reading since i lived in across the street from Dolores Park in San Francisco in th late '90s. I went a couple times to a bar around the corner on Valencia whose name I forget and would read for three minutes. I remember the cavernous space, the stage and microphone and the luiquid green and blue spot that turned the patrons, most of whom were drunk or nearly drunk into a dim mist. I especially remember the curator motioning the "cut! cut!" motion across her throat as I went over my time and I remember thinking, people really do that?

By contrast the PRISM reading this past weekend was held at a coffeehouse in one of the most beautiful buildings dedicated to the literary arts that I know, OpenBook. I could read for up to an hour. Now, I ask you, what kind of sadistic writer would subject her or his audience to a whole hour of their poetry? Not I. Considering the special sort of trauma that public speaking visits on my brain, I was not prepared to read for more than 20 minutes.

It turned out well I was told. My partner and several of my friends came. Besides them there were maybe 10 or 11 people. The other featured reader was poised and delivered a good reading. His poetry is well worth checking out. His name is Steve Mueske. Below there is a link to his website on the left-hide side of this page under the Poets & Authors heading. He reminded me that humor in poetry is a good thing.

I'm looking forward to the next two readings I have lined up. December 18th at Intermedia Arts in Uptown and January 24th at Intermedia Arts as well. I'll post specifics soon.

Do come.

Networking: What not to do

I hate networking. It's such a pain that I think I must be doing it wrong. After all, isn't it supposed to be the holy grail of finding clients and getting work as a writer? I submit here my most recent attempt to connect with other writers and, thereby, more clients.

Editors Editors Everywhere ...

Last night I attended the Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association annual mixer, "A Magazine Celebration." Held at the Open Book building in downtown Minneapolis and hosted by the Loft Literary Center, editors, publishers and especially writers from the local scene attended. After picking up my badge I stepped into the main area and learned a couple new things:

• There are over 300 magazines published in Minnesota.


• Everyone there seemed to already know everyone else there.


• MMPA knows how to pick a pretty good red wine.

It was overwhelming. Sample magazines festooned the walls and overflowed tables. The temperature slowly climbed as more writers filed in until I was flushed and I was sure I was sweating in a very unattractive manner. Editors and publishers dressed in buttoned down shirts and pressed blouses sailed through the crowd making every effort to not meet my eye. This had the effect of making them seem a little ashamed of themselves. Their heads tilted down, eyes unfocused or trained on an empty corner of the room made it appear as though we were moving through two different worlds that coincidently, just for that night, overlapped.

However, I do count the night a partial success, because, if nothing else, I did meet someone there that I knew. Yes, I realize that the point of networking is not to meet people you know already. But seeing someone that I'd already worked with proved to me that I am making progress in cracking the circle of media movers and shakers. I like to call them the mediacrati.

What not to do when trying to work a room

Let this be a warning to you. Dont

• Waste time flipping through magazines or photocopied mastheads.


• Drink more than one glass of the wine.


• Wander aimlessly munching on a cracker so as to "give your hands something to do".


• Cross your arms over your chest, or put your hands in your pockets. Why is it that arms suddenly become superfluous at the most inopportune times?

Finally ...

Minneapolis was perhaps one of the last places in the US that I thought I would end up. But, circumstances being what they are and life being what it is, here I am. Now, after nearly three years (or has it been over three years, now?) I think this city has been a wonderful place to explore new avenues of expression and take on projects that would have been impossible in California, or other expensive and highly-hyped locales. Here I'm eking out an identity that includes

• Freelance writer
• I've written for local magazine Lavender and, years ago, for newspapers in California.
  
• Poet
• Through a Jerome Foundaiton grant, I and 5 other wonderful poets are mentoring with Sun Yung Shin in a program administered by SASE: The Write Place. This mentorship will culminate in a reading at Intermedia Arts . Stay tuned for more details on that.
• Fiction writer
• Journalist
  
• Landlord
• Homeowner
• Blogger
• 9 to 5 cubical jockey
  

You can bet I'll be blogging on all the topics above. As well as issues in the local and national lesbian, gay, queer, intersexual and transgender community.

And perhaps the crowning glory of it all, the jewel in my scepter of self-expression, the pinnacle of literary self-indulgence: I ambivalently present: this blog. Inevitable, no? I thought I would write a mission statement.

Words and Tricks establishes an intellectual space in which I and others can explore the impact of public and private ideas on our lives. The majority of posts I make to this site will concern the public realm of journalism, gathering news from around the web that I think readers will find interesting or compelling. Posting by others to this site will be encourage to foster community. It will also serve as a space for me to post excerpts from my work as a fiction writer and a poet and to market myself as a freelance writer.

So, there. One caveat: I reserve the right to change this statement as my goals for this site change and evolve.

Why have a statement like this? Well, one of the issues that kept me from being even halfway interested in starting a blog is that I'm not interested in posting a personal journal online. This isn't to say that a project like that doesn't have merit (after all, voyeurism is the force that underpins this whole World Wide Web, isn't it?), but that reason simply isn't enough to get me to the computer and pin me there to write And it's all about words. And tricks.

Just a couple days ago I read this post by Guy Kawasaki and I was struck by the first item

1. Think “book” not “diary.” First, a bit of philosophy: my suggestion is that you think of your blog as a "product." A good analogy is the difference between a diary and a book. When you write a diary, it contains your spontaneous thoughts and feelings. You have no plans for others to read it. By contrast, if you write a book, from day one you should be thinking about spreading the word about it. If you want to evangelize your blog, then think “book” not “diary” and market the heck out of it.

Of course, he doesn't believe in mission statements either, but you know ... take what you want and leave the rest. The statement gives this blog the focus it needs to remain pertinent, in my mind.

So, thanks for reading, enjoy and please comment.

Chris Pommier
c.pommier AT yahoo
Minneapolis, MN