Translating Manuel Vilas

With the help of Oregon poet Efraín Díaz-Horna, I have been translating the poetry of award-winning Spanish poet Manuel Vilas.

It is possible that he googles his name and finds me, which would be great because I can't find him. Not by email, at least.

I am working on a portfolio of his work which I hope to send out to journals this fall. Some need permission, some don't. Either way, it occurs to me that once you translate a poem, it no longer belongs to the writer anymore...

I've been reading all my life

Texas, maybe 1973 or 74. Most likely Sears Roebuck & Co.

New poems at Diode

Two poems, "father of no country. I can lie." and "Pilgrim for rain", are now up at diode, and are among many fine poets--even a few from Oregon.

New Poems at Unlikely Stories

Three new poems are now online at Unlikely 2.0, a site which, as I understand it, prefers a particular political edge to it.

Included is "Carver Country" and two of my "Montana poems"--those I wrote in '06 at the Montana Artists Refuge--"Prospects" and "In the Big Sky Country".

Two Paths to Poetry

In preparation for the reading I will host in Vancouver on Wednesday, August 13, I've considered David Biespiel's Oregonian column from Sunday. I'll make reference to it in regards to the poetics of the so-called Post-Avant, and in particular to Zach Schomberg and Emily Frey.

You can link to the archived column here: http://www.oregonlive.com/O/artsandbooks/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/121806511629990.xml&coll=7

Routes to Like When Taking a Hike

My second major travel/outdoor article for The Oregonian is now in print and online at http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2008/08/in_oregon_routes_to_like_when.html

With color photos by Ian Malakasian and Terry Richard, the story offers descriptions and deirections to Jefferson Park, the Obsidian Trail, Divide Lake, and Cairn Basin.

Oaks Bottom stories in The Bee and at Travel Oregon

My story on birding Oaks Bottom is now out in two versions--the classic "recycling a story" move. The piece is also a profile of Urban Naturalist Mike Houck, who led the fascinating tour through Portland's first urban wildlife refuge.

One version is in print in The Bee, a local Portland newspaper serving seven southeast neighborhoods including mine, Sellwood. For the month of August, the story is online at
http://www.readthebee.com/community.html

Another version is at my Travel Oregon blog, which you can access here:
http://blog.traveloregon.com/2008/08/05/birding-in-oaks-bottom/