Marilyn Kallet's Blog
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Jan.19.2010
This is my 25th year of teaching Dreamworks--writing poetry from dreams--at the University of Tennessee, and I'm still amazed by the quality of the work. More than the "regular" writing workshops, the poems spurred by dreams tend to be wilder, more inventive, and to have mythic tinges...
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Jan.18.2010
Here's your chance to write in France, in a little jewel of a village. (Did you see Chocolat with Johnny Depp? The village of Auvillar looks just like the movie.) In fact, Auvillar is one of the "most beautiful villages in France." The people are really kind and sweet, the food is...
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Jan.18.2010
Here's your chance to write in France, in a little jewel of a village. (Did you see Chocolat with Johnny Depp? The village of Auvillar looks just like the movie.) In fact, Auvillar is one of the "most beautiful villages in France." The people are really kind and sweet, the food is...
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Jan.16.2010
Here's one that wants to be part of my Dante and Beatrice series. I keep tinkering with the ending. Are we there yet?
Treachery
Beatrice never caught Dante with a blonde.
No need, Dearie.
The sky cat kept his boys in line.
If Dante drew near
someone unbeatific,
Whiskers cracked a steep...
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Jan.15.2010
Here's another poem I return to, by Denise Levertov (may she rest in peace!) Denise was born in England, self-taught, moved to the U.S. with her then husband Mitch Goodman, and studied with William Carlos Williams. The poem takes a line from Psalms and makes it about the richness of life...
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Jan.14.2010
Here's a poem I return to all the time for its inner affirmations, its glow. And it's about a radiant pig! My students all have to memorize this one. Better to have this meditation on one's lips than the negative mutterings that might take its place: Look at the way it fans out on the page...
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Jan.13.2010
There are too many to choose from! Some of them I return to like prayers. In fact, I've just been asked to offer the convocation prayer at the Martin Luther King commemoration at Knoxville College, and I have been meditating on appropriate poems. (Today, at the interfaith prayer service, I read...
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Jan.11.2010
I can't believe that time is going by so fast! The next writing workshop in Southwest France will take place May 17-24th, and we have only three spots left. The workshop, "O Taste and See: Writing the Senses in Deep France," offers a life-enriching experience. The sights and sounds...
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Dec.23.2009
When we first moved to Blueridge Drive, a tone-y neighborhood in Knoxville, Heather was just four years old. We walked across the street with a freshly baked loaf of sourdough to introduce ourselves to one of our new neighbors. This kindly white-haired lady was wearing a picture sweater with...
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Dec.21.2009
I was asked to review a manucript for possible publication by a reputable university press in the South. There would be payment for my report. I could see from the table of contents that 90 per cent of the manuscript was dedicated to male writers. All of the women writers were lumped together...
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Dec.09.2009
This winter poem is an oldie, from the time when my daughter was small. The poem weaves in narratives about my friend who went to a sperm bank, about my daughter's first encounter with anti-Semitism, and about loving my husband with his great sense of humor. The poem is found in Packing Light:...
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Dec.04.2009
Tonight I'm baking ruggalach--or cream cheese cookies--for the holiday party held at our boss's house. He's head of the English Department, and a nice guy.
I've been asked to bring one of my specialties, the Jewish cookie, ruggalach. My tried and true recipe never fails to be crowd pleaser...
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Dec.03.2009
A younger woman writer wailed that she felt like a fish seller when she had to pre-sell her book. Honey, in this environment we all have to help promote our work. The publishers can't afford to do the public relations. It's up to us. We need to get past that feeling of humiliation or distaste...
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Dec.02.2009
Signed books make the best holiday gifts of all! The University of Tennessee authors held a holiday signing yesterday, and we had a great time! Margaret Dean ("The Time it Takes to Fall"; Arthur Smith, "The Late World"; Michael Knight, "The Holiday Season"; Allen...
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Nov.25.2009
I'm thankful every day. I'm thankful when my luggage comes down the chute. I'm thankful when my daughter comes home for Thanksgiving (and not in that order). I'm thankful for organic turkeys that give their little lives for us. I'm thankful they don't know what's ahead.
I'm thankful for my...
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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.