Busy week

Wednesday I attended John Ashbery's reading at Battell Chapel and then had the honour of speaking with him afterwards at the reception in Beinecke Library. I don't know if you're aware but Beinecke's receptions have the reputation of being, well, very lavish and this time was certainly no exception... All I have to say is that Yale's been feeding us very well. Also, maybe this is just me but doesn't Ashbery bear a striking resemblance to Jon Voight?

I also attended the editorial meeting for Yale's literary journal, Palimpsest, and met some great people. I'll keep everyone updated on the extent of my involvement with the mag as soon I have more details.

Yesterday I spent a long day in New York, however, it was worth it because I was invited to attend the book launch for Best American Poetry 2006, attended by a number of outstanding American poetry luminaries. Started in 1988 by series editor David Lehman, the yearly anthology is guest-edited by a respected poet, whose task is then to select 75 works they deem to represent the best work being published in America. Over the years, the anthology has been guest-edited by John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Mark Strand, Charles Simic, Adrienne Rich, James Tate, Harold Bloom, John Hollander, Robert Bly, Robert Creeley, and the impressive list goes on.

Last night the readers in attendance were: Laura Cronk, George Green, Rachel Hadas, Joy Katz, Jennifer L. Knox, Betsy Retallack, Vijay Seshadri, Sue Ellen Thompson, Tony Towle, and Paul Violi. Series editor, David Lehman, and guest editor, Billy Collins, spoke and read some works of their own as well. I had a chance to meet most of the readers, including Lehman and Collins, so you could say I was a tad overwhelmed by the opportunity to speak to poets whom I greatly respect and admire but I think I did pretty well and didn't ramble... too much anyway.

In non-literary news, Maryn and I are celebrating four years together today! It's also been a month since we've moved to New Haven and we seem to have survived with relatively few scars. I guess there's nothing else to do but roll out the welcome mat for another weekend. Have a great one.