I’ve only got a few minutes before I need to get going over to the conference for this second day of panels and readings and the bookfair that stretches into infinity. There’s a Poetry Extravaganza tonight with Thomas Lux, Dean Young, Cornelius Eddy, David Bottoms, Tree Swenson & Marilyn Hacker (filling in for Brigit Pegeen Kelley). But that’s later… Yesterday the weather was blustery and on the walk from the Sheraton to the Hilton it went from drizzle to downpour in one block, leaving me completely drenched, as my umbrella was almost torn from my hands by the wind. Nevertheless it was a great morning inside, where it was warm and comfortable.

I am sitting in on talks both about poetry and personal essay, crossing over into the latter territory is new for me, but because I’m looking to publish both it’s a good opportunity to poke my nose into what’s going on in that genre. There was even a panel discussion on poets who write nonfiction and the conflicting emotions that can arise from doing so. There was a really interesting panel on writing collaborative poems that was facilitated by Denise Duhamel (great poetry and great energy). Charles Harper Webb was also on this panel. He teaches at Cal State, Long Beach and I was in a workshop taught by him at Idylwild a couple of years ago–a great teacher and generous human being. By six pm, after a full day of sitting in those "seminar chairs," I was done for and headed back to the room to order Thai food and chill out with my roommate, Hilda, as we debriefed on our experiences of the day. It’s a lot for the brain to take in and, even though we missed the evening keynote address, we were both happy to eat some healthy food, take baths and get to bed early.

This morning the sun rose in brilliant colors and the sun is shining. Reading the paper I saw that there were tornadoes in parts of Georgia yesterday. Luckily, they bypassed Atlanta. There wasn’t a topic calling to me for the first session so I’m heading over around 10 to cruise the gigantic bookfair and then start at 10:30 with a panel on "Narrative Poetry." Before I go I’ve got to sit down and figure out a little bit more of what I’m doing with my new camera. One of the thrills of the day for me yesterday was figuring out how to operate the zoom. Today, I’ve got to get down the best way to take indoor shots. Some of the ones I took yesterday I had it on the right setting and some I didn’t. Technology strikes again! 

More tomorrow… 

Denise Duhamel on Collaborative Poetry.

Charles Harper Webb on the Collaborative Poem

Panel Discussion on "Getting to the Heart of Syntax."