MARCH-APRIL 2005

Shirley Hazzard said writing is nervous work. She said we need to be nervous to write and joked, "The state we need to write in is the state other people pay large sums of money to get rid of." Flaubert told George Sand, "You don't know what it is to stay a whole day with your head in your hands trying to squeeze your unfortunate brain so as to find a word..."

"Flannery O'Connor tells this story how a writer friend had dedicated a novel to another author but the other author "upon inspecting the page proofs declared she would burn every copy she could get her hands on if she had her way." (That's actually funny!) O'Connor also wrote in her letters, "Everything funny I have written is more terrible than it is funny, or only funny because it is terrible, or only terrible because it is funny..."

You think certain writers are good because they're just smarter than the rest of the world, or that they're somehow more gifted. Take Susan Sontag for instance, whose brilliance on the page is justly lauded. Here's what she said about writing her essays, "Each of the large ones took nine months to a year. I've had thousands of pages for a 30-page essay-- 30 or 40 drafts of every page. 'On Photography' took five years. And I mean working every single day-- just writing."

Well, the Ray Bradbury approach is a little lighter: "Love. Fall in love and stay in love," he said. "Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for."

I hope you're enjoying these good pre- post-winter weeks sweating, pounding your head, re-writing, loving -- Come pound and join me on the 27th of March, that's Easter, I'll be reading in Oceanside. It will be a unique and special event. Here's the info:

PRESS RELEASE - POETRY READING IN OCEANSIDE MARCH 27, 2005
The next reading of the Sunset Poets will be on Sunday, March 27, 3 pm, at The Flying Bridge restaurant, 1105 N. Coast Highway, overlooking the Harbor in Oceanside. Free and open to the public. The featured poet will be Marie Jordan, who teaches English at Mira Costa College. A published poet, playwright, and novelist, she has received numerous awards, grants, and prestigious nominations. See www.MarieJordan.com for more information.

The featured presentation will be followed by an open reading which usually goes 2-3 times around the room. Those who wish are invited to stay after the reading for conversation and no-host food in the dining room, starting around 5:30 pm.

POETS! Submit your poems to ROADSPOETRY.com, a quality online poetry journal. Now acepting poems for new issue featuring John Dufresne. Check www.ROADSPOETRY.com for submission details.