and the finalists for this years Asian American literary award in poetry

7th Annual Asian American Literary Awards Finalists

POETRY
Nest- Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
Notes From the Divided Country- Suji Kwock Kim
Miracle Fruit- Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive- Patrick Rosal

Having been the judge for two of them in the past, my prediction is for Pat Rosal's fine book 'Uprock. . .' It's an honor to be listed as a finalist too.

met the new mfa students in poetry

at the meet & greet for the Fall semester. hah, I remember those young idealistic days when there was so much possibility in your poetry future. oh, those halcyon semesters of freedom!

so how was the reading on 29th July?

Re: thank you!!
  Date:7/29/2004 3:56:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time
  From:"Dennis O'Driscoll" <@gofree.indigo.ie>
  To:

Delighted to hear from you, Denise.  You were all in sparkling form last night and you are the talk of the poetry town!  Fresh and vigorous voices to discover and savor for the Dublin audience.

See you next week.  Meanwhile, I hope you and Nick will have an enjoyable and inspiring weekend,

Dennis 

ancient sowing of the seed

It is interesting what the past indicates about present Irish temperament. While reading Ancient Ireland: The User's Guide by Conan Kennedy, I came across this entry:

Onan: A Biblical character who got in trouble for 'spilling his seed upon the ground.' Generations of adolescent males have been taught that this was an example of God's dislike of masturbation but in actuality it perhaps has more to do with the pagan kingship rites of antiquity. (Hmmm, those randy Celts!) In these the claimant to kingship 'married' the earth and carried out certain rituals to consumate the marriage. In Ireland this was known as -banaisrighe-. Certain specified spots in Ireland were designated for this rite. In Connacht, for example, -banaisrighe- was carried out at Carnfree in County Roscommon.