Foetry: Latest News

My Last Post in the Latest News Section

2007-05-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

is a poem by Christopher Woodman.

See this thread for details.

My thanks to everyone who has had a part in foetry.com.

Robert Pinsky on Line 3

2007-03-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

"I don't plan ahead," he told WW via email this week . . . "

Perhaps he should. In an embarrassing appearance in Portland on Wednesday, Pinsky, former laureate, tried to rest on his laurels and failed miserably. Portland is notorious for being overly generous with standing ovations, but not a one person stood up for him.

I don't feel badly about the money I paid to hear him (supposedly) talk about the links between poetry and music. After all, it was a benefit for Poetry Northwest. But I do feel badly for Poetry Northwest, which deserved better.

Pinsky (I kid you not) read to us from that day's local newspaper: an article about band classes in a local school. He talked about being in the dumb class in his own school. At some point, a man in the audience shouted, "We're not the dumb class."

His own poems used to be good. And if you're going to talk about the music of poetry, the new poems better reflect that. They sounded like bad, musicless prose.

He made a bad joke about poets wanting to work the word "crappy" into a poem and all I could think was, "What a rebel."

In his defense, my wife said he visited her MFA program 20 years ago and was very generous then. It's too bad about him now.

Vanity Plate

2007-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

While perusing the foetry tags at Flickr, I came across this shot, taken by mr38, a flickr pro user. He graciously allowed me to repost it here.

The Final Straw at Tupelo Press

2006-11-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Discuss Jeffrey Levine's letter.

Tupelo Press sounds tempting. After collecting $35 each for 1000 manuscripts during a questionable "open reading," the press has sent some (or maybe all) of the poets a subsequent form letter. Written by editor Jeffrey Levine, the letter is made to seem like it's a special invitation, but the wording is identical to the letters other poets received, with the unique name of each manuscript substituted.

Levine offers a "full manuscript review" for only $295.00, with a note that he normally charges $900! The critique offer preys on hopeful poets on many levels. (And be sure to make your check payable to Levine himself, and not Tupelo Press.) He cleverly says that "It does not represent a prelude to publication by Tupelo Press, though of course . . . do not rule out the possibility in some cases." There will be some poets desperate enough to accept his special offer, but I urge you to avoid this press. Levine had me fooled for awhile, but it seems to me that he is one of the sneakiest of the Foets.

Also troubling to me is this note: re-submit the manuscript to the Dorset Prize, where it will automatically skip over the first round of readings. To me and others who notified Foetry.com, this is a violation of Tupelo's own guidelines. Furthermore, despite the fact that Levine claims manuscripts will be read blind, he is obviously familiar with the names of poets and their work at this point.

I'd like to thank the poets who alerted me to this problematic situation and I'd encourage poets to find a home for their work that doesn't cost them large amounts of money. Right now I'd recommend a few presses that are editing with integrity:

Steel Toe Books
WordTech Communications and its imprints
Pleiades Press

Others, like Carnegie Mellon University Press, have low reading fees. (Disclosure: this is my wife's publisher). Reading fee is only $10.

If you have received a letter from Tupelo Press, please contact me.

Never Before Published

2005-05-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Remember when Harvard Professor and Pulitzer winner Jorie Graham wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe to claim she had recused herself when Peter Sacks's manuscript ended up in the finalist pile at the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series? Her letter was in response to Alex Beam's article about Foetry's allegations.

Because I was still anonymous at the time, I asked Ed Dupree to obtain additional records from the University of Georgia because her letter conflicted with the information in the first set of open records, which showed she was the judge. The university was much more forthcoming this time around.

As you know from the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, " . . . documents . . . do not seem to support [Graham's] scenario. For instance, in a letter Mr. Ramke wrote in 1999 to the director of the press, he says that Ms. Graham "enthusiastically concurs" with his decision to pick Mr. Sacks's work."

So for Foetry fighters everywhere, here are the documents in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. The unsigned page is text that Graham wrote in support of Sacks's manuscript. You will also notice a "letter of explanation" with a recent date, written by University of Denver professor, Bin Ramke (who edited the Georgia series until he stepped down because of the controversy).

Please discuss the documents in our forum.

Cue x-files theme

2006-10-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Trust No One

Hop On Board

2006-09-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Wave Books Poetry Bus is coming to your town. But are you welcome?

Update: a few "poetesses" (I'm using this ironically, k?) have now been added to the Portland stop. Maybe Matt Zapruder doesn't hate women after all! (Or, more likely, he saw my complaint, and asked tokens.)

A Hilarious Twist in Poetryland

2006-09-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

David Lehman, who edits the bestselling (for poetry) Best American Poetry Series, has often been criticized for his "editing" of the series, which is top-heavy with his friends and students. As revealed yesterday by the brilliant Jimmy, Lehman's wife, Stacey Harwood was included as one of the Best American poets in 2005. Funnier yet, she created an Amazon profile as "Poetry Lover" in "Madison" and reviewed this year's edition, giving it stellar marks, natch. She berated Jimmy's bad review and Jimmy himself. Amazon then removed Jimmy's review, yet left hers. Meanwhile, Harwood fucked with the wrong poet; Jimmy clicked through the anonymous reviewer's breadcrumbs and revealed her identity. How em -- bear -- assing!

Remember, don't buy Foetry and don't buy from Amazon!

The Death of Foetry.com

2006-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Not.

As much as some people want Foetry.com to go away, the site keeps plugging along. Posting drops a bit in the summer, but just as an FYI to all the closet fans: we're averaging about 250 unique visitors per day with 1,100 page loads. People are reading the truth and foetry.com's gonna keep dishing it.

Those of you who know the truth about contests like the National Poetry Series and the Sawtooth Prize might want to consider - oh I don't know -- NOT ENTERING. Voice your dissatisfaction by withholding your MONEY. Otherwise, you'll always be a fool.

Stepping Aside or Down

2006-04-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you've heard the rumors. It's true: I'm retiring from Foetry.com! The great news is that there's a new team in place to take over the duties. And we all expect big, exciting changes. Matt Koeske will be chief administrator, and there are many others that I expect will take on roles as moderators in the forum. Others will be obtaining open records from the contests under scrutiny. Still others will be contributing in different capacities.

I want to thank everyone who visits this site, provides information, and challenges the status quo, which so many poets and universities seem to think is the acceptable way to do business. I have really enjoyed the two years on the site and I've made some incredible friends.

I will be working on a new project for the next six months or so, and then I hope to return to Foetry.com as a participant in whatever form it takes. I believe it's going to be the premier place for poetry on the web and it's in excellent hands!

P.S. Iowa's prize guidelines and deceptive practices still suck. If you enter their contests, you help to perpetuate fraud.

Holmezilla Strikes Again

2006-05-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

Reptilian brains often trigger a strike first response in the puny forearms: Knock the tops off of buildings, topple the electrical towers, fight Mothra's larvae.

Many of you already knew that Boise State's Janet Holmes just can't get much right. But only two of you correctly guessed a surprise victim in her careless (and libelous) attempts to "out" foetry's administrator.

And now the truth is out: Janet Holmes once speculated that Jeffrey Levine, editor of Tupelo Press, was the person behind Foetry.com. Strangely enough, Janet was Tupelo's first contest judge. And Janet's hubby, Al Greenberg, was published by Tupelo in 2003 under circumstances -- according to Janet -- that would trouble foetry members. So why did Holmes think that Levine was behind Foetry?

I have no answer, but Holmezilla is a person who snickers at the sexual harassment of students by professors, her Sawtooth contest winner's lovelife, and poems about Foetry.com, among other things. Maybe it's time for Janet to retire to Monster Island. We must save POETRY!

Incredible hypocrisy at the Harvard Crimson

2006-04-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

So the Harvard Crimson broke the big news that sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan (unintentionally?) plagiarized work by Megan McCafferty. It's true that this is commercial publishing and a half-million dollar advance was involved. But why did the Harvard Crimson kill a story implicating *star* poet/professors, Jorie Graham and Peter Sacks in a fraudulent contest in which Graham awarded a prize to Sacks?

He is not only her colleague, but equally disturbing, also her husband. The judge (Graham)'s name was kept secret until foetry.com obtained open records from the University of Georgia Press, the contest sponsor.

Is it only acceptable for the Crimson to go after their students who succeed too early? Shady professors are off limits? Graham has awarded prizes to students, friends, and lovers in various poetry contests with fees collected from entrants in amounts estimated at more than $100,000. Graham also told one foetry.com member that "most manuscripts are thrown out unread."

When the Boston Globe wrote about the Graham story, she wrote to the paper denying she selected her husband's book and they printed both her letter and a retraction. Foetry.com then obtained an additional set of records that showed Graham's complicity.

Clearly Jorie Graham thinks she controls the media. Perhaps it's because she was once the daughter-in-law of Katherine Graham, former head of the Washington Post, or maybe it's because Graham's father, Bill Pepper, was in charge of the Newsweek Rome bureau.

Incidently, the reporter at the Crimson working on the Graham/Sacks story was Lulu Zhou. The one who reported on this plagiarism is named David Zhou. Hypocrisy. It's all in the family.

Discuss.

The CLMP is Proud to Present the Winner of the Nightboat Books Contest

2006-03-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

As I feared, the CLMP "ethics" guidelines, endorsed by numerous presses, has generated the first faux-winner in a contest. Joshua Kryah's Glean was the talk of this year's AWP conference because it's the alleged winner of the 2005 Nightboat Poetry Prize, selected by "esteemed" poet, Donald Revell. Strangely enough, Kryah is a PhD student in the creative writing program at UNLV, where he surely knows and/or studies with Revell's wife, Claudia Keelan.

Start saving your money to enter next year's Nightboat contest. Esteemed foet Brenda Hillman's judging. You know, because there are no other poets in the country. She just doesn't get enough chances to pick her friends at your expense.

Troublemaking Librarians

2006-03-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

I'm the guest, along with Radical Librarian, Jessamyn West, on Moby Lives Radio. Today I speak about my concerns with the CLMP Ethics Guidelines for contests.

Walk, do not run.

2006-02-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

Part two of the interview with 1/2 of Poetry Snark is now available.

A New Fauxcast is Now Available

2006-02-10T05:54:00.000-08:00

Featuring Jim "Banned from Poetry Snark" Behrle in a sneak preview role and part one of a two-parter with Poetry Snark and his Crew.

Calling Bullshit

2006-02-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

For the second time in my memory, Reb Livingston, editor of No Tell Motel has fired off a disingenuous snipe at Foetry.com. I called her on it the first time, and I'm doing it again -- this time with statistical evidence.

Here's what she says:

Oh and I think now would be a perfect time for Foetry to start it's [sic] own press with it's [sic] own contests . . . Perhaps it's time to show how it's done by example? Instead of the relentless picking on individuals. That's getting SO tired. You're setting some pretty high standards -- show the "foets" how to live up to them.

If you're interested in reading more, that's taken from the comments in a post about the current "Anthology Wars." If you'll read my comments there, you'll see I was being fairly nice to Reb. Sure I mentioned she had a few Foets in her anthology, but I was praising her for her approach -- only to be met with comments like, "Instead of the relentless picking on individuals. That's getting SO tired" and "I consider myself a good and honest and hardworking person . . . " So I've decided to take it upon myself to force Reb to be a little more honest.

For someone tired of the actions of Foetry, she sure visits the site a lot. The excerpt from my statistics above shows that she consumed 198 pages of Foetry.com in January in 697 hits. She used 11.32 MB of bandwidth that month. Reb, I hope you're visiting my sponsors to pay for all that! Now let's look at the next data set:

Here are Reb's total pages, hits, and bandwidth SO FAR in February. The person ranked just below her is Monday Love. ML, you know I love you, so this is not a criticism. I'm just pointing out that Reb Livingston has visited Foetry this month MORE than Monday Love.

This final screencapture shows her most recent visit at just past Midnight my time. Reb, what on earth are you doing visiting a site you claim to deplore in the middle of the night? It's clear you're an addict.

So I leave you with your own words, nothing will " . . . stop me from calling bullshit when I see it." Bullshit indeed. Reb Livingston can't stop soaking in Foetry!

Foetry: the 2005 awards (part 2)

2006-01-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Patricia Smith Prize (formerly The Paris Hilton Review Prize for Self-Promotion) goes to Shanna Compton. You all remember Shanna, right? When she's not hosting readings for book contest judges at her home, she's an editor at Soft Skull. Conveniently, all of her Amazon recommendations were published by her. Transparency. It's a good thing. TM

The Sexy Award (formerly the Louise Gl�ck circa 1980 Prize) goes to Jim Behrle. Not so much because I think he's sexy, but more because he assed for it.

The National Poetry Series Should Be More Transparent

2006-01-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

Are you thinking of sending your poetry manuscript and a check for $30 to the National Poetry Series? You might want to save your money.

First, take a look at the questionable record of the "contest." Second, realize they do not name their five "celebrity" poet judges in advance -- often a sign of foul play. Third, the contest does not explain the screening process.

Finally, and most important, I contacted the National Poetry Series to request an interview. I never received a return call. Where is Daniel Halpern? They are hiding something and I think it's your money.

Foetry.com has issued a press release calling for transparency in the National Poetry Series. Feel free to distribute.

Discussion of the NPS is here.

Fauxcast

2006-01-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Fauxcast, the Foetry.com Podcast, launched yesterday. The first guest is Red Hen Press Managing Editor, Kate Gale, in coversation with Alan Cordle of Foetry.com. Topics include Red Hen's contests, potential problems with book prizes, and a reading of work written by author, Peggy Shumaker.

Foetry: the 2005 awards (part 1)

2006-01-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

The Paris Hilton Review Prize for Self-Promotion goes to forum member WRDWM who spent a month this summer on the site asking eager questions about the National Poetry Series winners and listing underrated poets, one of whom was Patricia Smith, the fired Boston Globe reporter turned slam poet turned serious poet. Within days of her first appearance on the site, WRDWM announced the winners of this year's NPS, including none other than Patricia Smith.Recently a LiveJournal turned up by Patricia Smith. Her username: pswordwoman. Coincidence? You decide.

The Linda Tripp Award for Backstabbingest Bitch goes to C. Dale Young, who both practices medicine and edits the New England Review. If you are his friend, maybe you're not. Foetry's just sayin'.

The Ricky Schroeder Silver Spoon Prize goes to John Casteen IV. You haven't heard of him, either? Well, his big daddy is the president of the University of Virginia (and presumably the III), known to themselves as "The University." Casteen went to "The Workshop" at Iowa and is more than a little pissed about foetry.com because it's ruining his chances to get a book published by someone from Iowa. Maybe his daddy can make it right.

The Corn Husks Cup, sponsored by former Foet headquarters, Iowa, is presented to the Creative Writing Department at Missouri, home to Foets including, but not limited to Scott Cairns, Sherod Santos, and Karen "Cottonmouth" Holmberg. And someone please explain how a husband and wife, both in the program at MO both won the National Poetry Series. Again, coincidence?

More awards later this week.

The Hair Poets

2005-12-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Poetry Snark has been a little underproductive lately, so I thought it would be a good time to mention The School of Poetry referred to by Foetry Forum Members as the Hair Poets.

Seen by Monday Love's ex, nekkid in the locker room: It's Lucie Brock-Broido! [raise the roof, y'all]

She'd wear a laurel wreath if she could only fit it on her head: America's number one Foet is also Queen of the Hair Poets. Let's hear it for Jorie Graham. [crowd goes wild]

And today, we're proud to announce the newest inductee in the Hair Poet hall of fame: Tony Trigilio [applause]! Tony won the Three Candles contest fair and square. And if hair is any indicator, he's got a great career in Po-Biz ahead. Congrats Tony!

My Amazon List is Back, Babies!

2005-11-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

and you babies who whined about it know who you are!

Check out the Foets! And if you must buy their books, buy them at Powells.com!

Guest Spot

2005-11-15T05:53:00.000-08:00

Dennis Loy Johnson of Moby Lives Radio hosts me, Alan Cordle, today. If you're a podcast listener, you can subscribe to his show.

A few notes: as is my m.o., I name names in this interview. One of them is Peter Yumi. Since the interview was conducted, Peter and I have resolved our differences amicably. My campaign against Amazon.com can be found over at shamazon.blogspot.com.

And I mispoke during one part of the interview. I meant to say that Mike White and Scott Cairns studied together with Mark Strand at Utah. Who else got named and what contests were implicated? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out.

Greetings from Monterey

2005-10-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

il05

Today I met Karen Schneider, the Free Range Librarian, after her discussion about blogs and ethics at the Internet Librarian conference. A few people have complained about my lack of citations here at Foetry, and she has convinced me that I need to change that. I chose not to cite sources in the past because I was worried that it would clutter the site.

Unfortunately, there are so many conflicts of interest in poetry that it is becoming difficult to remember the details and my sources. So now I'm trying to think of ways to cite sources. (I intend to forever protect the anonymity of tipsters, but I will insist on knowing who my source is OR they will have to provide a way for me to verify the information they provide via "dual-sourcing."

Let me know if you have ideas of ways I can elegantly reference the information on the site. Thanks!