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Andrew Weatherhead gets into Queens College, Wins Award, Paints 9 Foot Glass of Wine
I got into Queens College, still waiting to hear from some other colleges. I won the "West 10th Editors' Award"/$200 for my poem, "St. Patrick's Day". I painted a 9 foot tall glass of wine to hang somewhere in my apartment. 
Sitting in on Queens College MFA Workshop + 3 books of contemporary poetry  A week and a half ago I sat in on a Queens College MFA workshop. Queens College is a great distance from where I live. I took the F train until there was no more F train and then I had to take a bus then I had to walk a little bit. While walking, I saw an African American couple screaming gibberish at each other. I couldn't tell if they were serious or not, or if they were mad at each other or not. I bypassed them quickly. Once inside of Queens College, I went to the Student Union. I was over an hour early. I went to the bookstore. In the bookstore, I heard a 'Sublime' song and then a popular rap song from, like, 2002. I sent a few text messages that said things like "I'm at Queens College" and "this bookstore doesn't make sense". I walked through the aisles and thought about becoming really good at philosophy. Then I hung out in the cafeteria quietly before going to the workshop. I ate a clif bar and drank some coffee. In the English Department, I sat in a chair and waited for the program director. A guy sat next to me and asked me questions in a foreign accent. He made me feel a little nervous - he seemed emotionally unstable or something - and I tried to answer his questions tersely and definitively. I got out of my chair and looked at a window until he went away. In the workshop, a gay guy talked to me at length about the Queens College MFA program. At one point, I stopped listening to him. Later, he made a joke to me and I looked at him. I was told that I was not allowed to participate in the workshop. The workshop discussed 3 books. I will blog a little bit about each book now. "School of The Arts" by Mark Doty The poems in this book seem to be heavily based on Mark Doty's experience of reality. In one poem, the author/Mark Doty experiences the filming of "The Hours". He experiences his dog often. He does yoga in one poem, maybe two. On a piece of paper, I have written re: this book, "If dogs lived longer than humans we probably wouldn't like them as much." "Wind in a Box" by Terrance Hayes I read this book in the fall for Matthew Rohrer's "Advanced Poetry Workshop" and wrote 1-2 pages about it. Rereading those 1-2 pages is slightly embarrassing. I used the word "weltanschauung" at one point. I think I concluded that the book works really well "as a whole". "Deepstep Come Shining" by C.D. Wright I think this book is supposed to be one long poem, although I have seen parts of it 'anthologized' in her collected poems. A lot is made of eyes throughout the book/poem - things with eyes and things without eyes. I feel like C.D. Wright probably did a lot of research about eyes while writing this. At one point, a swan explodes or something. I think it's hit by lightning. There is also a recurring piano. A lot of phrases are repeated, although maybe 5-10 pages apart. This seems like a good way to make a large poem/book make sense in an 'intuitive' and maybe 'visceral' manner. "Harmonium" by Wallace Stevens  I read this because I'm going to attend as much of this Wallace Stevens conference as I can this weekend. Seems like a good opportunity. I don't have a job. I read on wikipedia that Wallace Stevens once got into a fistfight with Ernest Hemingway. Here's a list of words in "Harmonium" that I don't know: aspic older posts newer posts |
WEEATHERHEAD@gmail.com facebook | twitter | tumblr AJW is the author of numerous poems and short stories, both online and in print. He makes collages here. He is from Wilmette, Illinois. He is an Eagle Scout.
Poetry:
Banango Street Aesthetix Pop Serial 3 Shallow The Broome Street Review (print) The Scrambler HTMLGiant Metazen Juked, Juked 2 NYU Prize Thing HRM Literary/Arts Journal Fiction: MuuMuu House Juked Misc.: HTMLGiant Author Page Thought Catalog Author Page People I've Interviewed: Matthew Rohrer Matthew Rohrer again Michael Earl Craig David Fishkind Human 500 Harriet Alida Lye Anthony McCann Blake Butler
in alphabetical order
Ben Mirov David Fishkind FreeDarko Her Royal Majesty Jordan Castro Mallory Whitten Miles Ross Tao Lin Timothy Willis Sanders
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