Summer Poetry Pop-Up: Nancy Naomi Carlson

INFUSION: ROUND III

A coded language emerged from a morpheme sea:

Hyperplasia, exemestane, nuclear grade.

Charmed times are not evoked in threes.

Three weeks between infusions, reprised

In frayed dreams of the needle’s wake.

A broken language emerges. A lymph sea

Reels with vertigo. Red blood cells retreat.

I am bald and moon-faced.

Where’s the harm in threes,

Cytoxen whispers, corroding nails as it seethes

Drip by drip in recalcitrant veins.

A muted language merges with closed seas

Of blood so pale, a slight shift of disease

Could set off a swell so untamed

That evoking three times three times three

Charms may not be enough to save me. 

My body knows how it will end but remains—

With or without charmed times evoked in threes—

A veiled language merging with closed seas.

                                                           

                                                            --Nancy Naomi Carlson

(First published by The Georgia Review)

Nancy Naomi Carlson, poet, translator, editor, and essayist, has authored eight titles (5 translated). She received a grant from the NEA to translate Abdourahman A. Waberi’s first collection of poems, which was a “Best Translated Book Award” finalist for 2016, and her translation of Char’s Hammer with No Master was a finalist for the 2017 CLMP Firecracker Poetry Award. Recipient of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, as well as the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, her work has appeared in such journals as the American Poetry Review, Boulevard, The Georgia Review, and Poetry. “Infusion: Round III” comes from Infusion of Violets, forthcoming from Seagull Books in spring 2019. Her co-translation of The Dancing Other, a novel by Suzanne Dracius, from Martinique, is due out from Seagull Books this summer. For more information, please visit www.nancynaomicarlson.com

Poetry Pop Up: Nancy Naomi Carlson

LAKE WAUBEEKA

        — A summer community in Connecticut, founded by Jewish firefighters

The lake is not what I most remember, 

     opaque between water lilies whose stems

would tug at the oars my father dipped

     into surface glaze, stirring up algae and flies—

nor the outcrop of rock, my mother standing watch

     as our boat sprang leaks on its way from the shore—

but the mountain itself enclosing the lake,

     a presence, embrace that made our Studebaker’s engine

strain in different keys as gears were changed,

     so even, eyes shut, I could guess how close we were

to the top. While my father hammered his chisel 

     into the same stone on which our summer house was built,

I’d chip away mica found in the woods,

     or strip sassafras bark with my nails, then chew 

its fragrant pulp. I’d pull Queen Anne’s lace

     by the roots, just for its mock-carrot smell, balance

on fallen trees and tunnel through hulls,

     singing, or magnify sun on a single brown leaf.

(First published by The Missouri Review Online)

Nancy Naomi Carlson/Photo by Seth Carlson

Nancy Naomi Carlson has received grants from the NEA, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and has authored three books of poetry and four books of translations, including Hammer with No Master (Tupelo Press, 2016), translations of René Char, which was a finalist for the  CLMP Firecracker Poetry Award, and The Nomads, My Brothers, Go Out to Drink from the Big Dipper (Seagull Books, 2015), translations of Djiboutian poet Abdourahman Waberi, which was a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award. Her work has appeared in such journals as APR, Boulevard, The Georgia Review, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner. Seagull Books will publish her co-translation of The Dancing Other, a novel by Suzanne Dracius, from Martinique, this fall, Naming the Dawn by Abdourahman Waberi next spring, and her second full-length collection of non-translated poems in fall 2018. For more information, please visit www.nancynaomicarlson.com.

Splendid Wake #4—A Debrief

I think this was our most community-oriented Wake that kept people talking outside the library! Hiram Larew in an email to the Wake Steering Committee called this event historic and I agree.

Joanna Howard

We had some very big obstacles this year relative to leadership and then in the 11^th hour, our program was reduced by 30 minutes because the program occurred during GWU’s spring break when the library reduces hours. We were very lucky that Joanna Howard was able to return to her leadership role. She had stepped back last fall from her Splendid Wake activities given some medical problems within her family.

To keep things manageable, the steering committee decided to limit the program to three topics instead of five, which we had last year. Here, the stars aligned because when we were told we had less time for the public program, three programs made it much more possible to present a meaningful program within a 90-minute period.

HIGHLIGHTS OF WAKE #4

—Among the three presentations was variety that included recorded “The Poet and the Poem” readings of poems by lost leaders of our DC lit community, projected photographs from the Letras Latino experience in DC, and an interactive panel on translation that had a teaching element.

—Participants were good about keeping their allotted timeframes and this allowed for audience to ask questions and make comments.

—Having an earnest moderator like Patrick Washington helped glue the parts together and keep the action moving forward.

—The warm introduction by Gelman Librarian Chief Geneva Henry set the tone for success. She said, “I know it’s spring when Splendid Wake comes to Gelman.”

—The paper program booklet similar to last year’s was exactly what we needed to follow along with the event schedule and understand why we do these Wakes.

SPECIFICS ABOUT THE PANELS

—The Poet and the Poem: Voices from the Past

Grace Cavalieri

Grace Cavalieri, the founder of The Poet and the Poem—a long running radio program that began 40 years ago on WPFW-FM and now comes through National Public Radio uploads from the Library of Congress, presented selected readings from our honored dead—Belle Waring, Essex Hemphill accompanied by Garth Tate, Lucille Clifton, Sterling Brown, May Miller, Ann Darr, Reid Whittemore, and Rolland Flint. The recording of Sterling Brown reading “After Winter” is the only record of Brown reading his poetry. While I was profoundly moved by the selections Grace picked for this presentation because I had actually heard each of these poets read live from his or her work, others in the Splendid Wake #4 audience were hearing some of these voices for the first time. Starting with our honored dead was the perfect place to begin this Wake.

—Letras Latinas: Latino/a Poetry in DC

Dan Vera

Francisco Aragón and Dan Vera introduced the literary community in the room—about 60 strong—to the Letras Latinas project and award. While Letras Latinas was established in 1999, the emphasis of this discussion was on gathering community around Latino writing being written in the Washington, DC area and the Nation. One of their points that hit home with me is that the Hispanic population in the United States is increasing and we as a literary community need to welcome Hispanic writers as one of us. Dan Vera’s reading of his poem “The Cuban Friendship Urn” was timely not only for President Obama upcoming visit to Cuba but also sobering commentary on how a gift from Cuba “now stands majestically/ beneath an overpass/ beside a parking lot/ behind Jefferson’s enormous shoulder.” Vera won the first Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize for his book Speaking Wiri Wiri in which “The Cuban Friendship Urn” is published.

Francisco Aragon and Dan Vera

—Crossing Borders: Literary Translation in DC

Barbara Goldberg created this panel inviting Nancy Naomi Carlson, Roman Kostovski, and Ting Wang to participate. All are members of DC-ALT, a translation group that sponsors writing workshops for people who would like to translate or who already are working in the field. What I particularly liked about this panel is that Barbara and Nancy talked about their process for translating. Roman spoke about his new publishing house for Eastern European languages and how the DC area is such a rich resource given the embassies here and the active literary circles and meet-up groups. Barbara also made an important point about how Myra Sklarew (one of the founders of Splendid Wake) had included a translation course in the requirements for the MFA degree she developed at American University.

Barbara Goldberg, Roman Kostovski, Nancy Naomi Carlson, Ting  Wang

Special shout outs to Jennifer King for making the logistics of all this work so well and let’s keep

Jennifer King

fingers crossed that Steve Castro shot a viable video.

To Joanne Howard for the Herculean job of creating the printed program brochure and making sure everyone was in place for the live program.

To Sunil Freeman for sitting as the hard-working timekeeper.

To Ginger Ingalls for running the mike around the room during the question and answer period.

To Jacqueline Jules and Jim Hayes for taking photographs.

LESSONS LEARNED

—Less is more. I like the idea of only presenting three panels or subject areas for our next Splendid Wake. This creates excitement among attending audience and panelists alike by not overwhelming.

—Moderator needs advanced briefing. It’s best to give our program moderator time to understand what the program entails and if possible have that person attend one of our steering committee meetings.

—Honored Dead & Here and Now. It’s important to have the lead presentation bring voices of honored dead into the room. While both the Letras Latinas and Translation panel had some element of addressing history, I think the greater portion of our program must address the here and now. This is how we are going to build community.

Karren L. Alenier