Comments for SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog An Imprint of Skywater Publishing Company Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:02:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on eReaders by Calibre « SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=532&cpage=1#comment-532 Calibre « SOL Books Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:02:31 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=532#comment-532 [...] been experimenting with the shareware program calibre, which I mentioned in an earlier post (eReaders) could convert Word files to the epub format. It also can convert one ebook format, such as epub, [...] [...] been experimenting with the shareware program calibre, which I mentioned in an earlier post (eReaders) could convert Word files to the epub format. It also can convert one ebook format, such as epub, [...]

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by Interview with John Davis | Flat Sole Studio http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-522 Interview with John Davis | Flat Sole Studio Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:54:32 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-522 [...] kick off National Poetry Month, both Sol Books and Bainbridge Island Review have interviewed John Davis, author of Gigs. Some of John’s [...] [...] kick off National Poetry Month, both Sol Books and Bainbridge Island Review have interviewed John Davis, author of Gigs. Some of John’s [...]

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-521 SOL Books Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:37:10 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-521 John, thanks again for participating in this interview, and best of luck with all your future writing endeavors. We'll post a couple poems, including Story Problem on our blog during National Poetry Month. John, thanks again for participating in this interview, and best of luck with all your future writing endeavors. We’ll post a couple poems, including Story Problem on our blog during National Poetry Month.

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by johnd http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-520 johnd Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:48:04 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-520 I always have something in the hopper. I'm working on a new collection and will see which direction the syllables and sounds take me. Call it Book II. It will mold into a more permanent shape this summer. NaPoMo is here. "Story Problem" is a wacky poem. I was terrible at math and the poem is the best way that I can make sense of numbers. I will read it on Sunday, April 3 at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island. Come if you're in the area. I always have something in the hopper. I’m working on a new collection and will see which direction the syllables and sounds take me. Call it Book II. It will mold into a more permanent shape this summer.

NaPoMo is here. “Story Problem” is a wacky poem. I was terrible at math and the poem is the best way that I can make sense of numbers. I will read it on Sunday, April 3 at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island. Come if you’re in the area.

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-519 SOL Books Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:09:03 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-519 So what's next for you as a musician/poet? Do you have another collection in the works? And with National Poetry Month just around the corner. Are there any favorite poems from Gigs that you'd like us to share on our blog with readers. So what’s next for you as a musician/poet? Do you have another collection in the works?

And with National Poetry Month just around the corner. Are there any favorite poems from Gigs that you’d like us to share on our blog with readers.

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by johnd http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-518 johnd Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:13:02 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-518 I am cognizant of the music in my poems and am employing more assonance and alliteration. In the vein of "everything springs from rhythm" and "if it ain't got that swing, it ain’t got that thing," I am conscious of the flow of a poem whether that means iambic or dactylic rhythms or accented and unaccented syllables. Regardless of meaning, if my stanza doesn't have much rhythm, it has little chance of succeeding. Rhythm takes on the meaning of the poem and vice versa. Word choice for the sake of sound and rhythm is a priority. It also helps to trick my brain into choosing words I might not choose. It’s a process that gooses the writer, sends him in different directions, makes him play music he’s never played or bite into a slice blackberry chiffon pie he’s never tried, or raspberry-gooseberry ice cream over warmed apple strudel. I think I’m hungry. It’s time to write a poem. I am cognizant of the music in my poems and am employing more assonance and alliteration. In the vein of “everything springs from rhythm” and “if it ain’t got that swing, it ain’t got that thing,” I am conscious of the flow of a poem whether that means iambic or dactylic rhythms or accented and unaccented syllables. Regardless of meaning, if my stanza doesn’t have much rhythm, it has little chance of succeeding. Rhythm takes on the meaning of the poem and vice versa.
Word choice for the sake of sound and rhythm is a priority. It also helps to trick my brain into choosing words I might not choose. It’s a process that gooses the writer, sends him in different directions, makes him play music he’s never played or bite into a slice blackberry chiffon pie he’s never tried, or raspberry-gooseberry ice cream over warmed apple strudel. I think I’m hungry. It’s time to write a poem.

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-517 SOL Books Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:56:07 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-517 Has your music/band experience also influenced your writing, beyond just subject matter? Does it affect your word choices and language or the rhythm of your poems? Has your music/band experience also influenced your writing, beyond just subject matter? Does it affect your word choices and language or the rhythm of your poems?

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by johnd http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-516 johnd Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:08:31 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-516 I entered poetry writing through the back door. I didn’t mean to get hooked. I just meant to understand it. I had been obsessed with marathon running for years. I ran 60 miles a week, talked running, talked training schedules, drank plenty of beer with the theory that I was carbo loading, ran marathons, even ran a two-man relay across Death Valley. Eventually my knees gave out about the same time I was riffed from a teaching job (remember Proposition 13?). I returned the Northwest and decided I needed to know more about writing poetry since I had done a poor job teaching it the year before. I took a class, started writing and haven't stopped. I guess that back door sort of slammed me into the poetry writing room. Poetry replaced my running obsession. I still work out, though not by running. Poetry writing helps me validate my actions. On the theory of writing what you know, the rock n roll and garage door factory events seemed to be natural fodder for poetry. I read Jim Daniels' book Places/Everyone in the late 80s and was quite taken with the concept of work poetry. I realized I had an untapped vein of material about which I could write. In grad school (in the late 80s), I wrote a letter to Jim Daniels. He was very generous with his encouragement and suggestions for a paper I was writing on work poetry. He's a very prolific poet. I must own a dozen of his books. I entered poetry writing through the back door. I didn’t mean to get hooked. I just meant to understand it. I had been obsessed with marathon running for years. I ran 60 miles a week, talked running, talked training schedules, drank plenty of beer with the theory that I was carbo loading, ran marathons, even ran a two-man relay across Death Valley. Eventually my knees gave out about the same time I was riffed from a teaching job (remember Proposition 13?). I returned the Northwest and decided I needed to know more about writing poetry since I had done a poor job teaching it the year before.

I took a class, started writing and haven’t stopped. I guess that back door sort of slammed me into the poetry writing room. Poetry replaced my running obsession. I still work out, though not by running. Poetry writing helps me validate my actions. On the theory of writing what you know, the rock n roll and garage door factory events seemed to be natural fodder for poetry.

I read Jim Daniels’ book Places/Everyone in the late 80s and was quite taken with the concept of work poetry. I realized I had an untapped vein of material about which I could write. In grad school (in the late 80s), I wrote a letter to Jim Daniels. He was very generous with his encouragement and suggestions for a paper I was writing on work poetry. He’s a very prolific poet. I must own a dozen of his books.

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by SOL Books http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-515 SOL Books Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:24:21 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-515 I believe in past conversations I may have said that your poems, especially the factory ones, remind me of Jim Daniels. And Dorianne Laux is a favorite of mine as well. Now with your factory and musical background, what inspired you to become a poet? I believe in past conversations I may have said that your poems, especially the factory ones, remind me of Jim Daniels. And Dorianne Laux is a favorite of mine as well.

Now with your factory and musical background, what inspired you to become a poet?

]]> Comment on Interview with John Davis, author of Gigs by johnd http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443&cpage=1#comment-514 johnd Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:24:21 +0000 http://solbooks.com/blog/?p=443#comment-514 Certainly with the benefit of reflection, I can offer more insight to events that occurred years ago. I set few limitations when I write. I snag a line from one writer to jumpstart a poem and twist the phrase into something that is mine. I’m a big fan of Yusef Kommunyakaa, Phil Levine, Joy Harjo, Jim Daniels, Dorianne Laux, Pattiann Rogers and have imitated them repeatedly. I have gobs of poetry books and journals beside my bed and read them all the time. I stuff them under the seat of my car and in knapsacks. A good poem can save your life. You never know when you will need one. I make it a point to never attend a faculty meeting without carrying a book of poetry with me. Back to your question…I can remember the details of events if I jot them down shortly after an experience. If I let them go, I can have more perspective, but the facts aren’t as accurate which isn’t as important as writing about the human experience. I invent when I don’t know. Don’t trust the writer. The writer is a liar. Trust what he writes. An eighth grader at a local school is writing an essay on my work. She wants to know how much is true in my poems. I want to know that too. In some poems it’s 90%. In some poems it’s 30% or 15%. Certainly with the benefit of reflection, I can offer more insight to events that occurred years ago. I set few limitations when I write. I snag a line from one writer to jumpstart a poem and twist the phrase into something that is mine. I’m a big fan of Yusef Kommunyakaa, Phil Levine, Joy Harjo, Jim Daniels, Dorianne Laux, Pattiann Rogers and have imitated them repeatedly. I have gobs of poetry books and journals beside my bed and read them all the time. I stuff them under the seat of my car and in knapsacks. A good poem can save your life. You never know when you will need one. I make it a point to never attend a faculty meeting without carrying a book of poetry with me.

Back to your question…I can remember the details of events if I jot them down shortly after an experience. If I let them go, I can have more perspective, but the facts aren’t as accurate which isn’t as important as writing about the human experience. I invent when I don’t know. Don’t trust the writer. The writer is a liar. Trust what he writes.

An eighth grader at a local school is writing an essay on my work. She wants to know how much is true in my poems. I want to know that too. In some poems it’s 90%. In some poems it’s 30% or 15%.

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