What Day Is It Again?

The 2014 Timeline Seminar

There comes a point, every year at the West Chester Poetry Conference, when I catch myself saying "Yesterday, when..." and suddenly realize that I am, in fact, not talking about something that happened yesterday, but rather something that happened earlier that same day, and I am reminded yet again what a concentrated whirlwind of activity takes me up the moment I arrive.
This moment usually occurs around Friday, as it did this year. Not withstanding my own advice (Check out item 5!) I almost invariably DO try to do everything, or at least as much of it as possible, and the consequences are that I find myself running around in a pleasantly euphoric poetic fog.
The Town Hall Meeting on Thursday with keynote speaker Natasha Trethewey was thoroughly moving--she had mentioned the previous night that she was still grieving her mother's death, even though it happened several decades ago, and that was plain from the deep emotion she privileged us to see as she discussed those poems.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons at the conference I run the seminar dedicated to the Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline where we spend an intense few hours discussing amazing essays prepared by the participants with women poets as the subject--this year we had Phillis Wheatley and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, among others.
After that I gave my first book feature reading for Sisters & Courtesans, which you can read all about on my own blog, although this was, of course, put into shade by the marvelous faculty readings that evening--Mary Jo Salter, Josh Mehigan, Dana Gioia, Annie Finch, Dick Davis, David Yezzi, Rafael Campo and the incomparable Marilyn Nelson.
On Friday I attended an excellent panel on the new Hudson Review anthology, Poets Translate Poets, and I'm happy to say that A.E. Stallings has promised me a copy of her rhymed Lucretius!
That evening the faculty readings were crowned by the presentation of Molly Peacock's Critical Monograph, by Jason Guriel, which looks fantastic although naturally I haven't had time to crack the spine.
Speaking of time, it's getting away from me again! It's almost time to head over to the Marianne Moore panel, which will be followed by the book signing (27 copies of S&C now sold!) and picnic. Finally I can't wait to hear Diane Schuur in concert later this evening. What a week!