Went downtown L.A. to a series called ALOUD. It’s people shouting at each other. (Joke). It’s a reading/conversation series. Last night was Pico Iyer chatting somebody from the L.A. TIMES.
Pico Iyer has long been a fave of mine. His recent article in the L.A. TIMES was in defense of long sentences! (Sorry, Elanora) It was a beauty, too. He’s a very graceful writer. And — here’s the point — long-winded and knows it. He writes, he says, regularly and has few boundaries.
His recent book is about Graham Greene and it’s probably a couple of hundred pages long. BUT he wrote 3000 pages. Then he edited. Not must taking out, but shuffling early pages into later ones and chronological sections out of time. He just wanted to see what would happen as he handled/fondled/caressed the rough drafts.
I particularly liked the out-of-time suggestion since I cling to time-lines. If that resonates with any of you, join me in the new time-dance where the last might be first or even in the middle
P.S. February’s poem is up on the RK site: http://ronkoertge.com/rons-books/
