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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:13:16 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I have just spent a dawn hour in the midst of AWP chaos with the anthology--and I am so very moved by it. This richness is amazing. I can't think of any anthology of contemporary poetry I've ever read that I have found so moving. It is the swirl and mix of so many various layers and currents of feeling and meaningfulness--poetic, personal, political, national, international, formal, thematic, social, emotional--you'll see what I mean when you get your copy. It's sort of like meeting everyone on the list in person, all at once, in a huge cocktail party in a church or temple yet while yet being absolutely alone. Thank you all for the gifts of your poems, and thank you to the editors. To have my name in the dedication to this book is a profound joy to me.
Thank you, Annie Finch
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:44:15 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I was so busy with out Plain View Press table and our writers -- 30 plus of our writers come this year -- that my first real look at the anthology -- was midair between Chicago (where I grew up -- on the North Shore) and Austin, Texas (where I live and work). We -- you-- the editors and Red Hen have done something important and beautiful and full of hope.
Our PVP reading at the Bowery was earlier in the day on Saturday and I had to return to the hotel to get ready for our press party that night so had to miss the reading. But we all have something to savor, one poem, another, another, day after day -- for a long time. A path into the future full of poems and shining souls.
Congratulations all! Susan Bright
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:47:04 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I have to say that my copy of "Letters to the World" arrived today (the very day that I told Diane Kendig how I couldn't wait to read it!) and I am astonished by how gorgeous it is. I'm doing my best to read it slooooooowly--it deserves as much time as I can possibly give it. Thanks and congratulations all around.
Ruth
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:47:37 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I received Letters To The World today. It is beautiful and readable, poignant and strong. Thank you Red Hen, Kate, Eloise, Moira, Rosemary, Lesley, Annie, Ren, D'Arcy, and all of the editors for this fulfilling book. Really, it makes me feel like coming out of my shell a little bit and contributing to the online discussion . . .
Love, Cynthia Roth
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:47:58 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I also received the book yesterday. It is, as all agree, beautiful! I'm very much looking forward to reading it. Thank you, Red Hen and all!
Laura Cherry
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:48:21 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I received my book yesterday and it is gorgeous... Thanks once again to all who made it happen... Beautiful....
Lisha
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:48:49 GMT 2
Dear Friends,I learn much here. Someone mentions a title, and I seek it out. Sometimes I think: I admire this work. Sometimes: I don't understand this work. Sometimes: I am frightened, and I don't like this. But each time, I add the experience to my own expanding world.
Some of us don't have books. Some of us have small books with limited distribution. Some are published in magazines with circumscribed readership. Some of us appear only within our own notebooks, only on our own computers.
This afternoon I hold 259 of us in my hands, a miracle by the grace of Moira Richards, Rosemary Starace and Lesley Wheeler, along with Kate Gale and Annie Finch. I can put words with our names. I am humbled.
Thanks. Anne *** Anne Britting Oleson
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:49:15 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:My copy arrived day before yesterday and I felt just as Anne describes here. Here so many of us are, in all our huge range of experience, brought together physically between the anthology covers for our work to have the conversations we would love to have in person. What a wonderful thing to hold and read!
Many thanks to all of the wonderful Wom-Po people who contributed and special thanks to the hard-working editors and the editorial committee, publisher, and our list founder. Thanks, too, to the people who work to make this list a congenial place with the website, the gazette, and the blogs lists, the foremother postings, and everything else that goes into making this such a special place for women's voices to thrive.
--Neile
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:49:40 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Mine came in today's mail. Great work, everyone! Thanks, Red Hen!
Judy Kerman
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:50:30 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I received mine (in MD) this afternoon! I confess to getting a bit teary-eyed when I read the intro and then opened the book randomly to whatever gift was offered on any given page--this after the cover almost took my breath away! I then just sat there and held it on my lap. I am going to be enjoying your words and the stunning visual art for many years to come. I am humbled to be included. Thank you to everyone who had a part, large or small, in bringing the anthology to fruition. And thank you all for your company on this list.
Kim Becker
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:51:27 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Hey all, I just got the anthology in the mail this evening -- so thought I'd pop in and say, fabulous, lovely, thank you all.
xo Elizabeth Elizabeth Treadwell
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:51:56 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I finally got my copy and have been racking my brains to think how I can avoid boring everyone and reiterating what others have said so many times. But I can't find an original way of appreciating its beauty and its extraordinary scope, and the fine attention to detail that has gone into the making of it.
Bravo, all editors and publishers. And bravo poets, too!
Judith Judith Barrington
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:52:26 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Well, I was the first one to pop up and say, "Hey, where's my copy?" Got my copy here in MA in today's mail. Sampled a few poems, (goldmine!) then spent some time scanning the bios and then the publication credits. So many familiar names and then the rich sampling of lurkers. And I was surprised how little duplication there was in lit mags etc. where the poems were originally published.
Beautiful execution of a dream...more than I ever expected at the project's inception. Thanks to all those whose work made it real. And now I'm off to bed where I'll be reading, reading myself to sleep.
Joyce Heon
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:52:51 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Yea!! I too can now say "It's here! It's here!" What a treasure chest!!
patf
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:53:18 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:My copy arrived today! It's beautiful, hefty, and full of wise words. Thanks to all!
Peace, LouAnn Muhm
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:53:44 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I can't help but feel that this wonderful Letters has made us all more appreciative and aware of who we are and how lucky we are to share this List. I see that sentiment in lots of the subs now and feel it so strongly myself. Thank you everyone who contributed and of course those who made this book possible. Thank you. Thank you.
Katherine Drabek
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:54:19 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:The box was so big I had a hard time getting it out of the mailbox--but what a wonderful book. Thanks to everyone for doing this. I have been consuming poems like chocolates...will be carrying around the book for a long time.
Janet McCann
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:54:55 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Yes! Mine came today too. Perhaps the first in Ohio? I think Susan G. is now jealous :-(
It's beautiful--great quality (poems and production values). I'm thrilled to be included.
Laura Kennelly
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:55:29 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:I'm happy to hear that LETTERS has been arriving all over the world--and delighted that you are all so pleased with the book!
Rosemary Starace
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:55:57 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Rosemary, I received mine today too! Pleased, yes! I have been sitting here petting it. Thank you for all your work-- all of you!!
Carol Levin
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:56:32 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Me too!!!! Yea! This is the kind of book I salivate over, stroke page after page and eat up greedily. Wonderful project! Wonderful result! Thank you everyone! I'm hoping to get it included as part of the curriculum here in this little community college.
Ann White
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:56:58 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Thank you. The beautiful WOM-PO anthology arrived here in San Diego this week.
Joyce Nower
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:57:27 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Thank you so much for doing this! I am in awe of the generosity at the heart of this book. It's a beauty & I'm honored to be in such good and lively company. My copies are already in circulation among poet friends:-)
Abrazos, Diane Gage
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:57:54 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:Four Copies of LETTERS here-- I'm beyond stoked!!!
OK Texas women--let's have a reading!
wendyc
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:58:36 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:This is true pleasure. I hope every Wompony has got their copy by now. (Grammar wrench deliberate.) With the arrival of this book, I feel rather as if some element of the dream remained in my hands in the morning, solid and true. I am enjoying every poem and essay. THANKS!
Janet McCann
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 17:59:03 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:It's one of the most gorgeous books I've ever seen! I'm so honored to be included with such talented people and I've only read a dozen so far. I know what I'll be doing tonight. Thank you again to everyone who brought their magic to this amazing collection. It's delicious to the mind and heart.
Shayla (happy in Alabama)
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Post by moira on Oct 18, 2008 18:00:32 GMT 2
Dear Wom-Pos:...that I joined the list too late to be included in "Letters"...
Sigh. :-(
Patricia Smith
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