Marilyn Kallet's Blog
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Apr.24.2010
The skies are clearing over Europe, thank God. I went to temple last night to offer prayers of thanks for this blessing and many others. The passage of Torah the rabbi read was intriguing, commenting on the days after Passover. The passage commanded us (the Jewish people) to nurture trees for...
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Apr.18.2010
Baudelaire got it right when he wrote, "When the low, heavy sky hangs down like a cover..." (Spleen). He gave the images for how it feels when the world weighs down. And he didn't even know about Iceland, volcanic ash, and cancelled flights. His work was all inner.
He coped with...
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Mar.24.2010
Baudelaire urged poets to travel "Anywhere Out of This World," and to use all possible means, "wine, poetry, virtue..." My favorite wines are the 2005 Bordeaux which are hard to find at reasonable prices. That was a memorable year! The wines are ruby-colored and layered in...
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Mar.24.2010
This is the last chance to sign up for "Writing the Senses in Deep France," my workshop in Auvillar, sponsored by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Christophe Gardner, a chef who has owned two successful French restaurants, will offer an afternoon lesson on cooking French, and...
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Mar.20.2010
We've had a cancellation in the workshop, "O Taste and See: Writing the Senses in Deep France," May 17-24. This frees up a space for you, for for you and a partner. The village, Auvillar, is one of the "100 Most Beautiful Villages in France." You can't get a bad meal, the...
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Mar.20.2010
Now That the Snows Are Melting
Down from the Pyrenees,
the Garonne swells
close to the houses,
no longer our friend.
The Garonne rises up to the willows,
near the pretty rose-covered doors,
not our friend.
From mouth to tail, it threatens.
Snow roars down. Near the...
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Mar.09.2010
Sunday night my hosts at the amazing Cassilhaus in Chapel Hill will host a poetry party at the house. This couple of dreamers--architect and filmmaker--have built a house that's a work of art in its own right, one Frank Lloyd Wright would have envied. They are not rich people, except in talent...
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Mar.05.2010
I'm off tomorrow for Chapel Hill, to be the first poet in residence at Cassilaus, a modern house that would make Frank Lloyd Wright envious. I saw this article in the New York Times, emailed the filmmaker who is one of the partners, and asked if they would like to have a poet. On Location - A...
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Mar.03.2010
I have written about teaching and breaking boundaries, have spoken about the risks a teacher faces whenever she crosses the line even in small ways. And yet, I find myself facing the same challenges. When I hire students to teach for the university, at the Young Writers' Institute, when I take...
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Feb.27.2010
My good friend Kali gave me an extraordinary gift. She set up a fan page for me on Facebook. And right away, former students of mine connected--I was so happy to find people I thought I'd lost. And even happier to learn that they are still writing!
And touched that my adult daughter is a...
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Feb.15.2010
Lucille Clifton passed away on Saturday, February 13th. She had suffered from congestive heart failure for years, and had struggled with other ailments.
She was my teacher several times at Squaw Valley, and I regularly teach her book, Blessing the Boats. She was large in spirit and in body--she...
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Feb.07.2010
Often my dreamwork students record dreams involving babies. Frequently the dreamer is careless with the baby, letting it starve or die of neglect, treating it absent-mindedly.
Once we begin to practice active imagination, Jung's technique for dreaming further and letting the dreams inform the...
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Feb.06.2010
I won't swear to it, but this may be my last time teaching the poetry writing workshop in Auvillar, France, under the auspices of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. I love the village and its people, the wine, the food, the Garonne River. The place has given me a book of poems, and then...
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Feb.03.2010
Spent several hours trying not to crawl at the the cockroach party this afternoon. They called it an English Department meeting, but we all knew what it was. The head roach led us in some feeler-twitching to celebrate the excellent ways in which we are all coping with the budget cuts: bigger...
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Jan.22.2010
In Dreamworks on Thursday, we read student poems, and after about an hour of discussion, I sensed it was time for a change of pace and tone. One of the dreams presented the dreamer as quietly and calmly letting someone shoot her dead. Not an optimal ending! The affect in the dream was flat,...
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"Eternity is in love with the productions of time."”
—William Blake
About Marilyn
Marilyn Kallet was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and grew up in New York. She is the author of 16 books, including The Love That Moves Me (poetry); Packing Light: New and Selected Poems, Black Widow Press; Circe, After Hours, poetry from BkMk Press; The...
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Causes Marilyn Kallet Supports
Southern Poverty Law Center, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, ACLU, Amnesty International, Save Darfur.