Domenica Martinello
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poet | writer | educator
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ORDER: All Day I Dream about Sirens

2/15/2019

 

From Homer to Starbucks, a look at sirens and mermaids and feminism and consumerism.

ADIDAS available for order HERE via Coach House Books!

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"What started as a small sequence of poems about the Starbucks logo grew to monstrous proportions after the poet fell under a siren spell herself. All Day I Dream About Sirens is both an ancient reverie and a screen-induced stupor as these poems reckon with the enduring cultural fascination with siren and mermaid narratives as they span geographies, economies, and generations, chronicling and reconfiguring the male-centered epic and women's bodies and subjectivities."

The incredible Matthea Harvey, whose mermaid poems from If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? were a huge inspiration, had this to say:

Domenica Martinello’s “All Day I Dream About Sirens,” as its title advertises, blends marketing and mythology (“luxury in thread counts / in picking up the threads / of time)”. Poems about Parthenope, Melusine and the Sirens alternate with dissections of Disney and the mermaid-like creature found on a Starbucks cup of coffee. In this mishmash world, “The sun hangs in the sky like a logo” and “AquaMermaid classes rock suburbs,” where “‘it’s all about the tail, fitness and fantasy wise.’” She writes, “Have you ever tried / to profit from the tides? / It’s now almost impossible / to coax myths from the blue / patterned fabric of the world.” Almost. Somehow Martinello manages this and more. 

Longlisted for CV2’s Young Buck Poetry Prize!

12/30/2018

 
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It was an unexpected surprise to find myself on the longlist for CV2’s 2018 Young Buck Poetry Prize (for real—a friend texted me about it and I was like huh??? I am??? Always a fun way to find out nice things).

The longlisted poem, “Just Desserts,” is something new and uncharacteristic for me. It’s a straightforward narrative lyric poem, which might be a safe zone or sweet spot for some, but is usually an uncomfortable and risky space for me.

It’s a welcomed push to continue with the new and to take personal risks—not only formal ones.

Friday, Nov. 30: FREE Atwater Writers Exhibition (AWE) Workshop

11/10/2018

 

Join me for...
What’s in a Description? Poems About Art — A Fun Writing Activity for All
FRIDAY, November 30, 2018 – 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Come have some fun at a short writing activity with poet Domenica Martinello (me! hello!). From Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” to Morgan Parker’s poems about Beyoncé songs, explore poems about art and write a few of your own. Even if the art is familiar, the results of ekphrastic (“descriptive”) poetry are often surprising. FREE and open to all.
Advance registration not required.

Save the date! Look forward to seeing you (and check our the other awesome free events happening in partnership with AWE). 

Fail Better: Reading Group & Workshop

6/2/2018

 
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Dear Montréal, I’m teaching an 8-week workshop this summer from July to August! 
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Surplace is hosting FAIL BETTER: Reading Group & Poetry Workshop! I’m very invested in the necessity and vitality of “failure” in our creative work. Together we will work through our perception of failure with innovative readings and writing that privileges process over outcome. Bring something to workshop that you believe is “failing,” or generate something completely new with permission to fail.

ALL 'LEVELS’ WELCOME (whatever that means to you!). Supportive and encouraging atmosphere.


Please spread the word! Space is limited so register ASAP to secure a spot. 
(Select sliding scale/community spots available—please reach out if cost is a barrier. A variety of payment options).

FULL COURSE DESCRIPTION:

 I saw the earth was one of the great / unsuccessful poems.—Mary Ruefle 

There is no innovation without failure. In this reading group and cross-genre workshop, we will work together to deepen our understanding of what it means to "fail" as artists, with the goal of reframing failure as a vital, generative force that is as inevitable as it is essential. Our readings of prose, poetry, and hybrid texts will thematically or conceptually intersect with the notion of failure and will inform the revising, reforming, rearticulating, and re-envisioning of the writing that we bring to workshop. Come in with a work that you feel, for whatever reason, is "failing" or write something new for workshop inspired by our readings and discussions.

Some questions we will consider: How is the concept of "being a failure" culturally inscribed? How is failure informed by capitalism, sexism, racism, and heteronormativity? How do we privately define and internalize failure? On the other hand, who gets to publically define success? How is failure a privilege? Who can afford to take risks and why?

Most importantly, we must not forget the first part of Beckett's famous quote that sometimes gets cut off: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter." Focusing on keeping our stride and privileging process over outcome will open up new and exciting possibilities to fail better.

Reading List

How Should a Person Be by Sheila Heti
Theatre of the Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama by Jordan Tannahill
The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner

Supplementary (excerpts provided)

I Love Dick by Chris Kraus (read alongside of Amazon's "failed" 2017 TV adaptation created by Jill Soloway and Sarah Gubbins).
Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle
Ban en Banlieue by Bhanu Kapil
Heroines and Book of Mutter by Kate Zambreno

Additionally, we will look at a variety of individual poems. Participants will be invited to bring in material to share with the group to round out our reading list.

This class will run Thursday evenings from 6-9pm for 8 weeks. 
Class Dates will be: July 12, July 19, July 26, Aug 2, Aug 9, Aug 16, Aug 23, Aug 30

First Reading @ Drawn & Quarterly

5/24/2018

 
Achievement: Unlocked! Thanks to Guillaume Morissette for this photo, and for hosting. Feels really great to be back in Montréal for the foreseeable future.
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“Cattle of the Sun” in Lemon Hound 3.0

4/28/2018

 
Reading Emily Wilson’s new translation of The Odyssey inspired “Cattle of the Sun,” published in the new issue of Lemon Hound 3.0.
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The cattle of the Sun depicted on a BC vase from Cerveteri (Inventory Musée du Louvre, Paris).
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excerpt from “Cattle of the Sun"

New Poems from ADIDAS

3/6/2018

 
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I’ve been fortunate enough to have several poems from All Day I Dream About Sirens surface in some pretty incredible places lately.

Check out an excerpt from DISNEY SONG published in the January/February Issue of THIS Magazine, ​PARTHENOPE & VIRGIL published on the DUSIE blog, and last but not least, the sprawling and angry THE IDEATION PROJECT (with accompanying audio!) published in Issue 40: Winter 2018 Issue of The Puritan.

Thank you for reading, friends!

“Ferrante in the Cellar” Wins the 3Macs Prize

11/26/2017

 
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Here’s an adorable picture of my best friend Rachel at the Quebec Writers Federation gala, accepting the carte blanche 3Macs Prize on my behalf for my essay “Ferrante in the Cellar: A Vulgar Appreciation” (more about the 3Macs Prize here.)

I'd like to take a moment to thank carte blanche, The Quebec Writers Federation, Klara DuPlessis, and especially Laurence Miall who solicited and edited "Ferrante in the Cellar," taking a blind chance on what I initially believed was an un-publishable piece of writing. Thank you to prize judge, the incredible Liz Howard, for recognizing my work—which feels like an award in and of itself. Also, huge congratulations to finalists Kasia Juno and Lauren Turner. I'm honoured to be in your company.

All Day I Dream About Sirens (Coach House Books, Spring 2019)

10/20/2017

 
It’s official. ADIDAS lives!

The incredible Coach House Books will be publishing All Day I Dream About Sirens in Spring 2019. More details to come!
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John William Waterhouse, Ulysses and the Sirens, 1891

Ritual Nostalgia: Revising the MFA Stasis

9/1/2017

 
"The architecture of celebrated MFA programs like Iowa reinforces the forward-propelling notion that we are part of a lauded and historied trajectory of literary production, while also providing a feeling of quaint timelessness and suspension. Considering the dark and deranged global moment we’re currently occupying, it’s a multipronged sense of unnerve. The fierce preservation of processes, procedures, and customs all around me simply amplifies the great existential arbitrariness of it all."

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Read my latest essay, Ritual Nostalgia: Revising the MFA Stasis, and think through ritual, routine, and institutions with me. 
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    I, I, I,

    Poet. Chapbook: Interzones (2015). Currently: All Day I Dream About Sirens (2019).
    MFA: Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

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