Fanny Howe and Linda Norton: February 17, 2021

Linda Norton begins by citying James Baldwin, to introduce the idea of revision, her work with collage, and that the title of her book comes both from her use of Wite-Out in making collages and ideas of erasure, and confrontation with "the problem of whiteness." She then reads and introduces several works from her "poememoir" Wite Out: Love and Work, and finishes with an unpublished cento called "Happy Ignorance."

Fanny Howe reads her poems "Allegories," from Love and I, and, from Second Childhood, "For the Book," "A Child in Old Age," and the longer poem "A Vision."

Norma Cole opens with questions for each of the writers. In response, Linda Norton talks about revision, and directness and discomfort around writing on sex. Fanny Howe, in response to Cole's question, talks about bewilderment. In response to multiple questions from the audience, they discuss aspects of home in relation to their work, writing during the pandemic, how experience and location can impact writing, and the decision to write poems vis-à-vis writing a book, per se. Howe talks about knowing when a work is finished and the importance of writing on nature. Norton discusses how remote-access technology has provided, however improbable, a sense of closeness during the pandemic, and brings in the poem "To Marcella Durand by Marcella Durand."