Sylvia Plath - Interview & Reading "Lady Lazarus"

Charles Bukowski's so you want to be a writer?

so you want to be a writer?
by Charles Bukowski

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.


if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

Poet/Prof. Rita Dove Offers Advice for Making a Career of Poetry.

Wyclef Jean: Is hip-hop poetry?

Curious: What is your favorite poem ever?

Mine is Desiderata:
written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy

Poet Adam Falkner's Beautiful Endorsement of The Inspired Word

After his Inspired Word performance on March 26, Adam wrote: "The space felt warm and honest and celebratory, and I felt grateful to be a part of it. (You could feel) the momentum buiding beneath the floorboards."

Cannot say it better, or more eloquently, about what we're all about and what we're trying to do.

Thanks so much, Adam.

Suheir Hammad: "First Writing Since"

On Thursday, I finally met Suheir. Admire her greatly. And she now knows it.

Pics of John Murillo @ The Inspired Word

Photos By: Peter Woloszyn

Pics of Diana Arnold @ The Inspired Word

Photos: Peter Woloszyn

The Spoken Word Artwork of Sharon Hodgson

By Sharon Hodgson

I live paint to promote my work, and to promote the events I paint. The regular event I've been painting over the last (nearly) three years "SPEAK!" presented by Word Iz Bond - is a spoken word event. I really feel that my involvement in a poetry event has allowed me to grow into the role of live painter by gradually getting me more comfortable with public speaking, and also having me regularly producing work in public.

Before I started live painting, I was an agoraphobic afraid of the outside world. I worked from home as a graphic and web designer for a decade, with more than half of that as a freelancer. Like many designers and artists, I became very comfortable with isolating myself to create. Being a freelancer meant I went out even less than other designers might, and I became anxious about any and all social situations. In this modern world, you can even order food and find a relationship online without setting a foot out the front door. Yet I wanted to grow beyond this.

I wanted people to see the art I was producing, and didn't feel that enough people would stumble upon my work by chance by randomly visiting my website. I wanted to get out there in the community to create work in the area and to have it be seen by others. I did a number of murals around town towards that end as well, but my dream was to paint live at events.

Then three years ago, Leslie Carvery invited me to an open mic show at her venue space called Shake It Dance Cafe & Dance Studio (http://www.shakeitdance.com/). I live painted a few Open Mic shows there. Some of the open mic performers were poets. One of the poets in attendance named Joi N. Payne (http://www.myspace.com/thejoinpayne) saw me painting, and invited me to live paint SPEAK!, a monthly event hosted by Word Iz Bond. I have been happily painting and following this spoken word event ever since, and gaining more confidence as I go.

I paint the event as it happens, adding in more poets as they go on the stage. This creates a composite image as the night goes on, with a sense of all or many of the performers being up on the mic all at once.

At the end of every show, I go up and show the audience what I've been working on. I almost always sell my pieces, and am now getting booked for a wide range of local events and fundraisers as a professional live painter. http://www.livepainting.ca/ http://www.sharonhodgson.com/ and I blog my latest live paintings and other works here: http://www.sharonhodgson.com/art

But this one spoken word event - SPEAK! - is where I really learned how to overcome my fears and get used to being in public again. I can't thank them enough for the magic of who they are. It delights me to think about spoken word gaining popularity in cities all across North America for how encouraging and magical this one event has proven to be to me.

After attending for a year, I worked up the nerve go to up on stage. I read a poem I wrote about how afraid I was about going outside, with one line in there that stated, "All the world's a stage, and I have stage fright." Now, after three years, I make a point of always going up on the microphone to perform something. I always have at least a couple poems memorized, just in case. [You never know when someone wants you to recite a poem.]

I do art about spoken word because I want the world to know about the event that allowed me to discover my voice, not only as a poet but as a painter as well. I believe that spoken word is a part of North American culture and it hasn't get received the recognition it deserves.

Spoken word events have the potential to build community. As more individuals brave the microphone, more voices are heard to raise concerns, hopes and fears to hopefully lead to greater understanding and cooperation. I do art about spoken word to capture it as it happens, and then to share those painted works with the world for any who are curious about it. I hope that it will draw people to the events so that more people will be exposed to it as an entertainment genre. Maybe some of them will be brave enough to step up to the microphone themselves!