Handmade cover by Jodi Hoover for ‘Skittering Thing,’ Baltimore poet Julie Fisher's first published book of verse.
PUBLISHES INITIAL BOOK
OF COLLECTED VERSE
I am just a skittering thing.
Tiny eyes ambering at the edge
of the clearing.
— Lines from ‘Skittering Thing’
By Anthony C. Hayes
Skitter: to skip or glide lightly along a surface; to move hurriedly with frequent light contacts or changes of direction
Ten years ago, Julie Fisher was asked to do something she’d never done before — organize a poetry reading.
The experience of coordinating that initial event started Fisher on her own artful journey, a journey that turned another page Friday night with an event at Goucher College that drew more than 50 poetry fans for the release of her first collection of poetry, titled Skittering Thing (Furniture Press).
For Fisher, the release of her book on that particular evening seemed just right. But for many in the local literary scene who have followed her career, both the book and recognition were long overdue.
Turning the clock back a decade, Fisher told Voice of Baltimore that at the start of the new millennium she was “working for a foundation called Parks and People.
“It was post 9-11,” she said. “A lot of events had been canceled or put on hold. With the poetry event I organized at Leakin Park that fall, there was the feeling of trying to return to some sense of normalcy.”
The spirit of the performances that day struck a nerve with the novice poet. Her interest piqued, she set out to attend the next reading she could find.
‘ONE OF THE FIRST READINGS’
“One of the first readings I visited was at Notre Maison [Teahouse, in Charles Village],” she said. “After that, there were readings at Minás Gallery, the Tea House, the Congress Hotel. The one at the Congress was a Poet’s Ink workshop and reading. There I met [poets] Alan Barysh, AdLib, Tom Swiss… and maybe 5thL.
“I was excited by the talent and started to scour the events page of the [Baltimore] City Paper, noting the diversity of readings which were going
on around town.”
The city had a diverse poetry scene, all right. Maybe too diverse. Fisher quickly came to realize the fragmented nature of the scene, where readings were often broken down along lines of race, age, genre and gender.
“There was so much happening,” Fisher noted. “So much passion — but no one knew what was going on across the alley.”
LAUNCHED WEBSITE POETRYINBALTIMORE.COM
Seeing this problem, the budding poet put her organizational skills to work and with the help of a friend launched a new website, PoetryInBaltimore.com (PIB). It would be a clearinghouse for local poets, a place with an exhaustive events calendar and links to venues all over town.
It would also provide a forum where poets could post their works-in-progress and get helpful, honest feedback from peers in a friendly, open setting.
Fisher’s first PIB post? “January 30, 2005,” she laughingly recalls, “at 11:21 a.m.”
In the years since launching the site, there have been, to date, 71,843 posts to 10,840 topics by 6,085 members.
“It can be a little overwhelming at times,” Fisher notes.
MATURE AUDIENCE FARE IN HAMILTON
In addition to her work with the website, she also hosts a number of events
around town, including PerVerse Poetry & Open Mic, every third Thursday at Cyclops Bookstore in Station North; Essential Sundays at Minás Gallery in Hampden; and a bimonthly edition of mature audience fare called B-More Erotic Performance Arts Series, formerly held at the Hamilton Theater in North Baltimore but currently looking for a new venue.
Charm City poet Julie Fisher published her initial book of verse this week.
“It was a labor of love,” she told VoB. “But I guess like most writers, you don’t feel like you’re really a writer till you get published. When I mentioned my manuscript to Christophe Casamassima [the publisher of Furniture Press], he didn’t bat an eye. He just said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
The process of bringing her book to print however was not without its hurdles.
TRUE TO HER OWN VISION
Fisher gave the galleys of her manuscript to two other poets, Bruce A. Jacobs and Barrett Warner. Their critiques were frank and fair but at times completely contradictory. So keeping the work true to her own vision, she explained, was at times a bit vexing as she set about sharpening the occasional stanza.
Is she happy with the finished product? “I’ve had some panicky moments since it went to the printer,” she confessed. “Like, ‘Did I forget a comma?’
and stuff like that. But overall, I’m thrilled.
“Seeing my book in print makes me feel like I’m a real poet.”
When asked how she’s been able to manage so much while also being a mom to three very active children, Fisher smiled and replied:
“I guess I’m just a skittering thing.”
mypoetrypage@yahoo.com
EDITOR’S NOTE:
“April is the cruelest month,” so wrote the poet T.S. Eliot.
To mark National Poetry Month 2012, Poetry in the Community presents the 7th Annual Cruellest Month Poetry and Performance Festival, where Baltimore area poetry lovers may find Julie Fisher hosting a reading Thursday night, 6:30 p.m., at the Village Learning Place, 2521 St. Paul St. in Charles Village.
Numerous other poetic events are scheduled throughout the month. For information (including street addresses) go to crumopoperfest.blogspot.com (click here) or contact Julie Fisher at poetryinbaltimore.com.
At the launch party for Fisher’s book Friday night, which was sponsored by the Word 4 Word Student Group of the Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College, performances by seven “local poets who influenced Julie Fisher early in her poetry adventure” were featured.
Hosted by Christophe Casamassima and featuring music by Her Fantastic Cats, the seven included: Olu Butterfly, Barbara Decesare, Femi the Dri Fish, Deanna Nikaido, Alan Reese, David Native Son Ross and Rupert Wondolowski.
Skittering Thing is a “chapbook” — a small book or pamphlet containing ballads, tales, or tracts, formerly hawked about (especially in Great Britain) by chapmen, or peddlers — and was printed by Jodi Hoover and handmade.
