Saturday, December 02, 2006

writing, reading, and listening to music

i am still writing daily, of course - day 24. some regulars are back at 30:30 now, sarah and annie, for example. i've written some more "letters", and alex has sent me some new ones. it's going really well - the feedback has been really good. we have between 25 and 30 letters now. :)

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i went to a reading yesterday evening, an open mic. the labyrinth group are putting on open mics every first friday of the month. i met up with sylvia, a now-vienna-based writer, at 7 and we chatted a little about poetry, stories, and life in general. before i had really made up my mind about reading something, sylvia informed me that she was "going first, and i put your name down after me". so. i had to do it. i am glad though. i read one of alex' poem and my reply, the one i refer to as "Rome Revisited". i was nervous in the beginning - there were quite a few people there - but i was alright after a while, except for the dry mouth halfway through my poem. people clapped a lot after i finished, and i got some encouraging nods, and later on quite a few "i really liked what you read" comments. so, i was quite happy. i am going again, and i am also going to read again. i bumped into a few people i met at the lit fest in october, so that was nice. some of the poetry i heard was good. i was happy to hear szmyborska read in polish for the first time - not that i understand it, but it was nice. they had the translations, too. one of the poems was "The Railroad Station", one of my favourite szymborska poems. i also liked a few of the poems in german and austrian dialect(s), and the songs a couple of people played towards the end - especially the fun one about england and the football world cup. :)

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i sent out quite a few submissions lately. does your head in after a while ... here's a "cherylian" about it.

The Guidelines Tell Me To Send Between One And Five, No More Than Three, And Up To Ten Of My Best Poems In A Single Word Document - .rtf Format - Within The Body Of An Email During The Reading Period From October Through June, With A Deadline On April 1; Previously Published Work That Has Simultaneously Appeared In Print Journals Is Welcome, A Cover Letter Required But Optional, Provided A Brief Bio Is Included (No List Of Publication Credits, No Trivia)

I submit.
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i've found some terrific music lately, eg emily haines, thea gilmore (beautiful lyrics!), the decemberists (and i just found out they are playing in vienna in february and i went and bought a ticket straight away), band of horses, nellie mckay (just a delight), the fratellis. you can find links in my navigation bar on the right. i also look forward to hearing muse live on dec 8th.

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had an exceptionally busy week - even without work. and december will be filled with lots of socialising, and more writing, and also subbing. had my hair cut today (finally), and am meeting friends for a drink soon - alex is visiting from south tyrol.

and here's a little me ...



song of the day: where did my baby go by john legend (thank you, nusic-man! *wink*).

2 comments:

SarahJane said...

hey, congrats on your reading! i bet you'll soon be addicted. What is the language thing, though, did you read in English or German? and the audience, were they mostly austrian or international or what?
cheers

michi said...

hi sarah - thank you. :)
i read in english. i don't write in german anymore. the audience is a mixed crowd, lots of expats from all over the world (england, usa, canada, australia, india, ...), but also austrians, some of them i believe have lived abroad, or are married to expats. you can read in any language you like at the open mic, and as i said, there were some poems in dialect. if you ever make it to vienna on a first friday of the month, you'll have to come along. :)

m