I had a great time at No Limits in Kearney yesterday, reading from my dissertation on Matilda Fletcher and Ghost Girl, hearing some smart feminist scholarship and creative writing, attending an inspiring poetry workshop with Lenelle Moise, and of course, seeing all the birds. Really is was stunning – the hundreds of sandhill cranes singing their eerie song in the air and in fields, the thousands of geese swarming the sky, and even the occasional normal birds like Canadian geese, robins, finches, an eagle, and a kestrel. I did drive over to see the cranes near Grand Island two years ago, but I literally saw thousands more this year, especially the glittery movement of the geese against the blue horizon. Wow.
Category Archives: ghost girl
recent news
Since my last post, so much has happened. Thus, I present you a bulleted list.
- On Valentine’s Day at 7 p.m I read at Crescent Moon‘s reading series “Poetry on the Moon” with Mary K. Stillwell, and several others who read afterward during the open mic. I had a wonderful time reading from My Imaginary and Ghost Girl, and from my two forthcoming collections Branding Girls, and Sprung forthcoming from San Francisco Bay Press. I had such a great time! I even read a few poems from my dissertation on Matilda Fletcher. I’ll be reading at “Poetry on the Moon” a little later this spring. More on that soon.
- Earlier that day, I successfully defended the above mentioned dissertation. I am thrilled! It was a good conversation, with thought provoking questions and suggestions. I’m very much looking forward to my continued research on Matilda to see what other opportunities Matilda might inspire in my future writing.
- Coming up in the very near future, I am reading tomorrow from my dissertation at No Limits, 9 a.m. March 5, 2011, in Kearney in the UNK Nebraskan Union (Ponderosa Rooms).
- At the end of spring break, I will also be reading at Red River Graduate Student Conference at 3:15 on March 26 at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. I’m very excited to see North Dakota. I had the opportunity to read at the Western Literature Association in October 2009 that was held in Spearfish, SD, which gave me a little bit of time to see beautiful South Dakota. Such lovely country! I cannot wait to see the landscape in and around Fargo, as well as some friends and family along the way in Iowa and Minnesota, including my two nephews and the new one on the way due this July. During the reading, I might even sneak in a poem or two from Branding Girls.
- Speaking of Branding Girls, I’m thrilled to have my first course adoption! Yeah! Yeah! Carole Levin will be teaching Branding Girls in her history course on Saints, Witches, and Madwomen here at UNL in the pre-session this summer. When I took Carole’s class in the summer of 2009, we read such wonderful books and had such great discussions, including a day that focused entirely on advertising, branding, and the commodification of the body, which fits perfectly with Branding Girls. In conjunction with the course adoption, she’s invited me to read in her class and in town. More on that soon. I’m so thrilled!
- The final, but certainly not last, thing I want to share is news on an anthology. My essay “Dear Diary: Violence, Confession, and Creative Writing Pedagogies” was accepted in 2009 by the editors of Dispatches from the Classroom: Graduate Student Essays on Creative Writing. The editors, Dave Yost, Joe Rein, and Chris Drew, now have a contract with Continuum Press, scheduled to publish the anthology soon. I am over the moon! My essay, originally written as individual papers that I delivered at AWP in 2009, NWSA in 2008, and Split this Rock in 2008, I combined, revised, and reworked them to eventually become one of my scholarly essays in my comprehensive exams for the PhD. I am so excited that all that hard work I did in writing the academic piece, now has a home, and soon, will be out there in the world.
work to see what other opportunities Matilda might inspire in my future writing
Ghost Girl on the Moon, and an interview
I do hope you’ll drop by Crescent Moon on Valentine’s Day at 7 p.m. Here’s another sample of what I’ll read from Ghost Girl, “The Living Parent Emails Ghost Girl.”
I’ll also likely read from My Imaginary, like “In the New House.”
Jen Kindbom, editor of The Floorboard Review, has just added a new feature to her new literary magazine: interviews. I was delighted when she asked me to be one of the first poets and artists she featured in “The Ground Floor.”
Valentine’s Day reading
On February 14 at 7 p.m. I will be reading at Crescent Moon with Mary K. Stillwell. Given the date, I will be reading love and anti-love poems from my new chapbook Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), poems from my dissertation on Matilda Fletcher, and maybe some other new work or poems from my forthcoming chapbook Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011).
Here’s a sneak peek: In my chapbook Ghost Girl the poem “Ghost Girl Wonders if she’s Always had Bad Eyes” is a new love poem and a break-up poem that meditates on vision, how traveling becomes an inspiration to re-see the world around us. In the poem Ghost Girl flies to Florida to walk the white sands, tours a city garden of roses, and visits an art museum with an exhibit on artistic responds to Hurricane Katrina.
Podcasted
The No Name Reading Series have been podcasting the readings by the talented work of creative writing graduate students. Back on March 26, 2010, I gave a reading. I read four poems from My Imaginary, and a poem from my dissertation on Matilda Fletcher.
Two weeks ago on November 12, I gave my reading at the No Name, reading poems from My Imaginary, Ghost Girl, and from my forthcoming Branding Girls.
The sound quality is really good. And what a wonderful addition to an already wonderful reading series.
Ghost Girl at Zen’s
My No Name reading has been moved to this Friday November 12 at 4pm at Zen’s Lounge on 11th Street just north of O. I’ll be reading from my two new chapbooks, My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010) and Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010). To get you in the haunting mood, here are two new audio tracks from Ghost Girl:
I hope to see you there!
Ghost Girl Blurb
I first read the wonderful poet Lana Hechtman Ayers when I read her book Dance From Inside My Bones (Snake Nation Press), a book I reviewed in Concho River Review. Lana is also the author of several books and chapbooks, including What Big Teeth, a retelling of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” I love poetic works that retell myths and fairy tales, such as Gluck’s Averno and Sexton’s Transformations, and visual works, such as Miwa Yanigi’s Fairy Tale. Lana is also the editor of the annual Concrete Wolf poetry chapbook competition.
Here she is on my newest chapbook, Ghost Girl:
Laura Madeline Wiseman’s Ghost Girl chapbook collection is not for the faint of heart. These are alert, visceral works of imagination and true grit. Intelligent and sophisticated, Wiseman becomes the clear-eyed oracle for our contemporary culture. Ghost Girl is as much a metaphor for being present in our lives as it is a haunting presence in these unforgettable, sagacious poems.
—Lana Hechtman Ayers, author of A New Red
Wow. Thanks, Lana!