Reading list

I have just finished putting together my reading list for school. On it is alot of American stuff, but thanks to meeting with Chris (tutor) and gleaning some stuff from James (a guy in my class who has lived in Perth for quite awhile) I now have a healthy amount of NZ and Australian writers who lean in similar directions to myself, so I am really excited about getting into them. Excited about the possibility of becoming excited, which seems like a good place to be.

So I've read a little bit of John Kinsella (who was kindly leant to me by James). He told me at the time he is/was a 'language' poet which I haven't really found evidence of yet, at least the kind of evidence I would expect. He seems to be a conventional narrative poet, although an obviously accomplished one. His poems are certainly fresh and surprising with linguistic and idealogical twists, but they don't seem to be deliberately turning language on its head as I've come to expect from 'language' poets. I'll have to read more of course before judging. 

In the introduction written by Harold Bloom of 'Peripheral Light - Selected and New Poems' (2003, Freemantle Arts Centre Press) he is compared to John Ashbery in the first paragraph, which seems to be more of a fitting comparison. He is avant garde for sure, he is experimental, his work seems to cover alot of form and function, much like the 'New York School' poets seem to have done. But still interested in the clear image and even in narrative. 

We had a talk by Paula Boock who is the writer in residence at the IIML this year about the novel she is working on and her career as a young adult writer and script writer. She was very brave to show us her work in progress and let us offer our opinions. I don't know if I could have done that. I hope she got something useful from it. I could definitely see her career as influences in what she showed us, a lot of dialogue and focus on youth/child issues, but written as a novel. It will be unique that is for sure in New Zealand literature.

I've started writing my own stuff as of yesterday before doing class exercises. In fact I haven't even started the exercise for next week. I need to find a photo in the newspaper and tell the story/lie behind the official truth. I have half an hour before I have to go to the gardening job, so I think I'll try and find a suitable photo at least.

Goodbye internet.