Monday, December 06, 2004

Billy and Barfin'

It seems Florida and the writer’s conference is getting closer and closer. Today I received an email about Sunday brunch and I began to realize that in less than one month I will be sitting at a table with Billy Collins. (I'll try not to blurt out all the secrets between him & Suzanne lmao)

The truth is I am nervous as hell. This is how paranoid I am-- I googled the names of other people who will be attending the workshop with me, of course some are professors, translators, most have their first books already completed. I am trying not to freak myself out. All that ever matters is the work, they could put me in a class with Jesus Christ and he’d still have to write better poems than me.

I keep thinking of what Rebecca wrote, how you must love your work more than anyone else. You must be enamored by your own voice. It feels so arrogant saying that but there is a part of me that believes without any doubt my voice is necessary. In the world of writing I am needed. There are lots of things I do well and lots of things I could be but writing isn’t a choice, it just is.

Of course then there’s that question about whether or not I am delusional and we may have to wait a good fifty years for the results to come in. But the fact is I am, in less than 30 days, going to read my poetry in front of Billy Collins and then I am going to throw up…..

6 comments:

Radish King said...

T, what workshop are you attending? Are you assured an audience with Sir Billy?

early hours of sky said...

Palm Beach. I will in a classroom with him and nine other people for three days then we have a student reading I believe with him, Thomas Lux and Sharon Olds. Yep it is pretty safe to say my stomach will be doing flip flops.

Suzanne said...

T, Billy is really down to earth and very nice, Tom Lux is also. I haven't met Sharon Olds. You will be fine don't let your stomach get tied up! You're also going to have a fabulous time and glean lot's o' stuff. And you get to go to Palm Beach. I'm so jealous. It snowed ice all day yesterday. Nothing worse the icy snow imo.

Wendy Wisner said...

Sharon Olds is a sweetheart too :)

You'll have a blast!

Ivy said...

I be sending you good mojo, Ms T.

Two thumbs way up!

Unknown said...

I'm not really nervous at all.

Does that make me weird?

I just think of other poets as regular people
who happen to write poems.

I'm excited though to meet Sharon.
& learn some new tricks from her.

Guess I'm just selfish, it's all about how I
can make my writing better.

Don't be nerved Treeze. i'll be there and we can
make fun of Jack and have a pillow fight!

(sober of course. well, you can get drunk.)

jenni