Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Split This Rock Poetry Contest Deadline Set for Jan. 15, 2008
Split This Rock Poetry Contest
To Benefit Split This Rock Poetry Festival Washington, DC, March 20-23, 2008
$1000 awarded for poems of provocation & witness
Kyle G. Dargan, Judge
Print or download this flyer and help us spread the word!
$500 for 1st, $300 for 2nd and $200 for 3rd place. 1st place winner will read the winning poem at the festival. The poem will also be published on the festival website at www.SplitThisRock.org. All winners receive free festival admission.
Postmark Deadline: January 15, 2008
Send three unpublished poems, no more than six pages total, any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock. Simultaneous submissions OK, but please notify us immediately if the poem is accepted elsewhere. The theme can be interpreted broadly, and may include, but is not limited to, work addressing politics, government, war, and leadership; issues of identity, including gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, body image, immigration and cultural heritage, etc.; poems on community, civic engagement, education, and activism; and poems about history, Americana, and cultural icons.
Staple one cover page to your submissions containing your name, address, phone number, email, and the titles of your poems. This is the only part of the submission which should contain your name. Enclose a check or money order for $20 made out to "IPS/Split This Rock," an entry fee that benefits Split This Rock Poetry Festival. Submit to: Split This Rock/IPS, 1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036. Winners will be announced on Split This Rock website by early March.
About the judge - Kyle G. Dargan’s second collection of poems, Bouquet of Hungers, has just been released by the University of Georgia Press. He is the managing editor of Callaloo and teaches in the creative writing MFA program at American University. His debut collection, The Listening, won the 2003 Cave Canem Prize, and he has received fellowships from the Bucknell Seminar, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and The Fine Arts Work Center.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness calls poets to a greater role in public life and fosters a national community of activist poets. The festival will present the rich variety of socially-engaged poetry being written in the United States today and celebrate the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for change. The program includes readings, workshops, panel discussions, poetry contests, film, walking tours, and activism. info@splitthisrock.org,
Split This Rock.org
Check back soon for more information on a youth poetry contest.
To Benefit Split This Rock Poetry Festival Washington, DC, March 20-23, 2008
$1000 awarded for poems of provocation & witness
Kyle G. Dargan, Judge
Print or download this flyer and help us spread the word!
$500 for 1st, $300 for 2nd and $200 for 3rd place. 1st place winner will read the winning poem at the festival. The poem will also be published on the festival website at www.SplitThisRock.org. All winners receive free festival admission.
Postmark Deadline: January 15, 2008
Send three unpublished poems, no more than six pages total, any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock. Simultaneous submissions OK, but please notify us immediately if the poem is accepted elsewhere. The theme can be interpreted broadly, and may include, but is not limited to, work addressing politics, government, war, and leadership; issues of identity, including gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, body image, immigration and cultural heritage, etc.; poems on community, civic engagement, education, and activism; and poems about history, Americana, and cultural icons.
Staple one cover page to your submissions containing your name, address, phone number, email, and the titles of your poems. This is the only part of the submission which should contain your name. Enclose a check or money order for $20 made out to "IPS/Split This Rock," an entry fee that benefits Split This Rock Poetry Festival. Submit to: Split This Rock/IPS, 1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036. Winners will be announced on Split This Rock website by early March.
About the judge - Kyle G. Dargan’s second collection of poems, Bouquet of Hungers, has just been released by the University of Georgia Press. He is the managing editor of Callaloo and teaches in the creative writing MFA program at American University. His debut collection, The Listening, won the 2003 Cave Canem Prize, and he has received fellowships from the Bucknell Seminar, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and The Fine Arts Work Center.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness calls poets to a greater role in public life and fosters a national community of activist poets. The festival will present the rich variety of socially-engaged poetry being written in the United States today and celebrate the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for change. The program includes readings, workshops, panel discussions, poetry contests, film, walking tours, and activism. info@splitthisrock.org,
Split This Rock.org
Check back soon for more information on a youth poetry contest.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Commentary: HAVE WE NO SHAME
HAVE WE NO SHAME
By J. Glenn Evans
It is unfortunate that the Federal Government and some states have all of sudden started creating such harsh legislation against so the called “Illegal Immigrants, ” aimed mainly at Mexicans.
Over the years our government has turned a so-called blind eye to these good family people who have cleaned rich folk’s dirty diapers and done the sweat labor others wished to avoid. I can honestly say Mexicans have been some of the finest people that I have known. They are more the victims than the victimizers. They are paid substandard wages; pay into social security from which they receive no benefit. These are people just like us, striving to feed and educate their families in a world where money and power are stack against us.
Now all of a sudden, after all of these years, this administration has seen fit to crack down on these helpless people in what I believe is a distraction from an illegal war, that also gives them an excuse to build detention centers at great profit to their big buck buddies. These centers will probably be used to detain future protesters when more of the American people wake to they fact that they have lost their rights under the Constitution.
In truth these good family people who still have the work ethic make a positive contribution to our economy and gene pool. To gather them up like cattle and ship them back after years of turning a blind eye, I believe is downright UN-CHRISTIAN. They are already here, have established roots and make a positive contribution to our country. Why not give them a Green Card and let them work toward citizenship. If our government is so concerned about more of them sneaking in ahead of becoming citizens, we might examine the effects of American foreign policy. Since CAFTA there has been a substantial loss to subsistence farms and opportunities to make a living on the other side of the border. Governments do have to protect their borders, but it would be more enlightening if our politicians would urge our government to work with the government of Mexico to examine the policies that force the citizens of Mexico to risk the illegal border crossing. The people of Mexico deserve better.
We might also take a look at history. Mexico welcomed American immigrants and in the 1820s, let settlers have land. In the next decade their numbers outgrew the Mexicans. When Santa Anna tried to reverse the trend, the American immigrants to Mexico declared their independence as the state of Texas and took away a big chunk of Mexican land with our help. Then later by conquest and a jam down their throat treaty and payment of what later proved to be a “miserly sum of fifteen million dollars” we took another big chunk of Mexican land that included California. Have we no shame in our treatment of these fine family people from Mexico.
Copyleft 2007 J. Glenn Evans
(Feel free to copy and distribute as broadly as possible)
Biography:
J. Glenn Evans is a native of Wewoka, Oklahoma and graduate Wewoka High School 1949 and of East Central University (Ada, OK) in 1956 with a BS in General Business and minor in Speech; has lived in Seattle since 1960. Former stockbroker-investment banker. Founder of PoetsWest and Activists for a Better World; author of three books of poetry: Window in the Sky, Seattle Poems and Buffalo Tracks, a history of Sweden, two local biographies, and two novels: Broker Jim and Zeke’s Revenge. Widely published in journals and anthologies. Recipient of 1999 WPA Faith Beamer Cooke Award and 2003 Seattle Free Lances Outstanding Writer’s Award. Member of Washington Poets Association and Academy of American Poets. Listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Produces and hosts a weekly radio show of poetry and stories on KSER90.7 FM.
NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email without warning, warrant, or notice. They may do this without any judicial or legislative oversight. You have no recourse nor protection save to call for the impeachment of the current President.
REMEMBER THE CONSTITUTION and 1776
Earth rights—Human Rights—Peace
I can do little to correct the wrongs of yesterday, but I can and must add my voice to the war for justice today—J. Glenn Evans—Jun2007
###
By J. Glenn Evans
It is unfortunate that the Federal Government and some states have all of sudden started creating such harsh legislation against so the called “Illegal Immigrants, ” aimed mainly at Mexicans.
Over the years our government has turned a so-called blind eye to these good family people who have cleaned rich folk’s dirty diapers and done the sweat labor others wished to avoid. I can honestly say Mexicans have been some of the finest people that I have known. They are more the victims than the victimizers. They are paid substandard wages; pay into social security from which they receive no benefit. These are people just like us, striving to feed and educate their families in a world where money and power are stack against us.
Now all of a sudden, after all of these years, this administration has seen fit to crack down on these helpless people in what I believe is a distraction from an illegal war, that also gives them an excuse to build detention centers at great profit to their big buck buddies. These centers will probably be used to detain future protesters when more of the American people wake to they fact that they have lost their rights under the Constitution.
In truth these good family people who still have the work ethic make a positive contribution to our economy and gene pool. To gather them up like cattle and ship them back after years of turning a blind eye, I believe is downright UN-CHRISTIAN. They are already here, have established roots and make a positive contribution to our country. Why not give them a Green Card and let them work toward citizenship. If our government is so concerned about more of them sneaking in ahead of becoming citizens, we might examine the effects of American foreign policy. Since CAFTA there has been a substantial loss to subsistence farms and opportunities to make a living on the other side of the border. Governments do have to protect their borders, but it would be more enlightening if our politicians would urge our government to work with the government of Mexico to examine the policies that force the citizens of Mexico to risk the illegal border crossing. The people of Mexico deserve better.
We might also take a look at history. Mexico welcomed American immigrants and in the 1820s, let settlers have land. In the next decade their numbers outgrew the Mexicans. When Santa Anna tried to reverse the trend, the American immigrants to Mexico declared their independence as the state of Texas and took away a big chunk of Mexican land with our help. Then later by conquest and a jam down their throat treaty and payment of what later proved to be a “miserly sum of fifteen million dollars” we took another big chunk of Mexican land that included California. Have we no shame in our treatment of these fine family people from Mexico.
Copyleft 2007 J. Glenn Evans
(Feel free to copy and distribute as broadly as possible)
Biography:
J. Glenn Evans is a native of Wewoka, Oklahoma and graduate Wewoka High School 1949 and of East Central University (Ada, OK) in 1956 with a BS in General Business and minor in Speech; has lived in Seattle since 1960. Former stockbroker-investment banker. Founder of PoetsWest and Activists for a Better World; author of three books of poetry: Window in the Sky, Seattle Poems and Buffalo Tracks, a history of Sweden, two local biographies, and two novels: Broker Jim and Zeke’s Revenge. Widely published in journals and anthologies. Recipient of 1999 WPA Faith Beamer Cooke Award and 2003 Seattle Free Lances Outstanding Writer’s Award. Member of Washington Poets Association and Academy of American Poets. Listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Produces and hosts a weekly radio show of poetry and stories on KSER90.7 FM.
NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email without warning, warrant, or notice. They may do this without any judicial or legislative oversight. You have no recourse nor protection save to call for the impeachment of the current President.
REMEMBER THE CONSTITUTION and 1776
Earth rights—Human Rights—Peace
I can do little to correct the wrongs of yesterday, but I can and must add my voice to the war for justice today—J. Glenn Evans—Jun2007
###
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Not What I Expected a Book of Literary Pleasure Is Perfect for the Holidays!
Not What I Expected: The Unpredictable Road from Womanhood to Motherhood edited by Donya Currie Arias and Hildie S. Block and published by Paycock Press of Arlington, Virginia, offers the reader a lush ambrosia for the mind.
Being partial to poetry, I honed in on the poems by the following:
Birth by Patricia Gray deals with a mother's relationship with her son and the subtle openings that make their way into our lives as children grow and leave and all at once become their own person.
In Second Child Sarah Kennedy deals with a mother's anxiety of having two young children and the traumas that arise due to the older possibly wanting to relive her younger years and also perhaps traumas that develop due to jealousy which seem never to die no matter how mature or old the children may grow to be. In a strange kind of way, this poem brought back memories from my own childhood.
Grace Cavalieri, a poetic jewel among the politics of the Washington area, brings the pull and push of relationships in her poem Children to life as children should come and eventually "leave" and in her poem she mixes the metaphor:
"The treasure box looks strange when empty/
I always think it/
should be fuller than it is./
If we give up loss/
what will we have left?"
Perhaps I just happened to focus on the topic of mothers and sons, as recently my own mother came to visit and nurse me after a major back surgery and, of course, had to leave to get back home to her own life, which just happened to be before Thanksgiving. So when I read Mary Ann Larkin's poem On a Son's Leaving After Thanksgiving, this poem hit a nerve though for me is was just the opposite as I have just explained.
And in a nutshell that is one of the reasons I so much love poetry. One can read and interpret/relate on the level that is appropriate for him/her and yet the poem, if it is good, can lend itself to numerous interpretations because its depth of meaning is like the nectar one needs to live off.
To purchase a copy of this anthology, visit
Gargoyle Magazine.com
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Lame Duck Books Teams Up with Pierre Menard Gallery for Show in Cambridge, Mass.
The Writer’s Brush
An Exhibition of Art by Writers
15 December 2007 through 15 January 2007
Opening Reception 15 December 6-10 (or longer if we can stand it):
We are pleased (neigh unto delighted) to announce our next exhibition, a monumental show of visual art by writers, mounted in conjunction with the publication of the wonderful new book on the subject, entitled The Writer's Brush, by Donald Friedman, with supplementary essays by John Updike and William Gass (see the wonderful review in this week’s New York Times Book Review).
The first leg of the show took place in New York in September and October at Anita Shapolsky Gallery, and our show is an expanded (and I hope improved) version of that event. It will run from the 15th of December through the 15th of January, with an opening reception on 15 December, at which Mr. Friedman and some of the writer/artists will be present and happy to sign or inscribe books. The show will go to Los Angeles from mid-February through mid-April at Denenberg Fine Arts (with a reception during the Los Angeles Antiquarian Book Fair), and perhaps then on to Houston. It will contain work by more than 120 writers, including
Walter Abish, Rafael Alberti, Roberta Allen, A.R. Ammons, John Ashbery, Enid Bagnold, Amiri Baraka, Djuna Barnes, Mary Beach, Andrei Bely, Bill Berkson, Ted Berrigan, Elizabeth Bishop, Star Black, Jorge Louis Borges, Breyten Breytenbach, Joseph Brodsky, Charles Bukowski, Gelett Burgess, David Burliuk, William Burroughs, Josef Capek, R.V. Cassill, G.K. Chesterton, Tom Clark, Daniel Clowes, Jean Cocteau, Norma Cole, Douglas Coupland, Morris Cox, Jim Crace, E.E. Cummings, Annie Dillard, J.P. Donleavy, John Dos Passos, Rikki Ducornet, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Durrell, Russell Edson, David Eggers, Kenward Elmslie, Mary Fabelli, Jules Feiffer, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jacopo Fijman, Charles Henri Ford, Federico Garcia Lorca, Kahlil Gibran, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Gluck, Guenter Grass, Alasdair Gray, Nicolai Gumilov, Alan Gurganus, Brion Gysin, Donald Harrington, Hermann Hesse, Jack Hirschman, Susan Howe, Georges Hugnet, Victor Hugo, Aldous Huxley, Tama Janowitz, Charles Johnson, Donald Justice, Anna Kavan, Weldon Kees, Robert Kelly, Jack Kerouac, Maxine Hong Kingston, Bill Knott, Richard Kostelanetz, Alfred Kubin, D.H. Lawrence, Jonathan Lethem, Wyndham Lewis, Pierre Louys, Mina Loy, Lucebert, Clarence Major, Gerard Malanga, Andre Malraux, Robert Marshall, Henri Michaux, Leonard Michaels, Henri Michaux, Henry Miller, Susan Minot, Bradford Morrow, Walter Mosley, Vladimir Nabokov, Hugh Nissensen, Clifford Odets, Fernando del Paso, Kenneth Patchen, Mervyn Peake, Claude Pellieu, Francisco Picabia, Alexandra Pizarnik, Sylvia Plath, Beatrix Potter, Annie Proulx, James Purdy, Alexei Remizov, Kenneth Rexroth, Maclaren Ross, Peter Sacks, William Saroyan, Mira Schor, Maurice Sendak, Charles Simic, Patti Smith, William Jay Smith, Iris Smyles, Ralph Steadman, Mark Strand, Aldo Tembalini, Igor Terentiev, Cecilia Thaxter, Ruthven Todd, Frederic Tuten, Josef Vachal, Cecilia Vicuna, Tino Villanuevo, Kurt Vonnegut, Janwillwem van de Wetering, Derek Walcott, Keith Waldrop, Rosanna Warren, Lewis Warsh, Denton Welch, Marjorie Welish, Richard Wilbur, Tennessee Williams, Gahan Wilson, Stanislaw Witkiewicz and Unica Zuern (and a few others not all yet committed, if you can imagine that).
A catalogue will be made for the exhibition, with an introduction by the magnificent novelist Joseph McElroy.
Contact:
John Wronoski
Lame Duck Books
Pierre Menard Gallery
10-12 Arrow Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-868-2022 (bookshop)
617-868-2033 (gallery)
617-407-6271 (mobile)
www.pierremenardgallery.com
www.lameduckbooks.com
An Exhibition of Art by Writers
15 December 2007 through 15 January 2007
Opening Reception 15 December 6-10 (or longer if we can stand it):
We are pleased (neigh unto delighted) to announce our next exhibition, a monumental show of visual art by writers, mounted in conjunction with the publication of the wonderful new book on the subject, entitled The Writer's Brush, by Donald Friedman, with supplementary essays by John Updike and William Gass (see the wonderful review in this week’s New York Times Book Review).
The first leg of the show took place in New York in September and October at Anita Shapolsky Gallery, and our show is an expanded (and I hope improved) version of that event. It will run from the 15th of December through the 15th of January, with an opening reception on 15 December, at which Mr. Friedman and some of the writer/artists will be present and happy to sign or inscribe books. The show will go to Los Angeles from mid-February through mid-April at Denenberg Fine Arts (with a reception during the Los Angeles Antiquarian Book Fair), and perhaps then on to Houston. It will contain work by more than 120 writers, including
Walter Abish, Rafael Alberti, Roberta Allen, A.R. Ammons, John Ashbery, Enid Bagnold, Amiri Baraka, Djuna Barnes, Mary Beach, Andrei Bely, Bill Berkson, Ted Berrigan, Elizabeth Bishop, Star Black, Jorge Louis Borges, Breyten Breytenbach, Joseph Brodsky, Charles Bukowski, Gelett Burgess, David Burliuk, William Burroughs, Josef Capek, R.V. Cassill, G.K. Chesterton, Tom Clark, Daniel Clowes, Jean Cocteau, Norma Cole, Douglas Coupland, Morris Cox, Jim Crace, E.E. Cummings, Annie Dillard, J.P. Donleavy, John Dos Passos, Rikki Ducornet, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Durrell, Russell Edson, David Eggers, Kenward Elmslie, Mary Fabelli, Jules Feiffer, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jacopo Fijman, Charles Henri Ford, Federico Garcia Lorca, Kahlil Gibran, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Gluck, Guenter Grass, Alasdair Gray, Nicolai Gumilov, Alan Gurganus, Brion Gysin, Donald Harrington, Hermann Hesse, Jack Hirschman, Susan Howe, Georges Hugnet, Victor Hugo, Aldous Huxley, Tama Janowitz, Charles Johnson, Donald Justice, Anna Kavan, Weldon Kees, Robert Kelly, Jack Kerouac, Maxine Hong Kingston, Bill Knott, Richard Kostelanetz, Alfred Kubin, D.H. Lawrence, Jonathan Lethem, Wyndham Lewis, Pierre Louys, Mina Loy, Lucebert, Clarence Major, Gerard Malanga, Andre Malraux, Robert Marshall, Henri Michaux, Leonard Michaels, Henri Michaux, Henry Miller, Susan Minot, Bradford Morrow, Walter Mosley, Vladimir Nabokov, Hugh Nissensen, Clifford Odets, Fernando del Paso, Kenneth Patchen, Mervyn Peake, Claude Pellieu, Francisco Picabia, Alexandra Pizarnik, Sylvia Plath, Beatrix Potter, Annie Proulx, James Purdy, Alexei Remizov, Kenneth Rexroth, Maclaren Ross, Peter Sacks, William Saroyan, Mira Schor, Maurice Sendak, Charles Simic, Patti Smith, William Jay Smith, Iris Smyles, Ralph Steadman, Mark Strand, Aldo Tembalini, Igor Terentiev, Cecilia Thaxter, Ruthven Todd, Frederic Tuten, Josef Vachal, Cecilia Vicuna, Tino Villanuevo, Kurt Vonnegut, Janwillwem van de Wetering, Derek Walcott, Keith Waldrop, Rosanna Warren, Lewis Warsh, Denton Welch, Marjorie Welish, Richard Wilbur, Tennessee Williams, Gahan Wilson, Stanislaw Witkiewicz and Unica Zuern (and a few others not all yet committed, if you can imagine that).
A catalogue will be made for the exhibition, with an introduction by the magnificent novelist Joseph McElroy.
Contact:
John Wronoski
Lame Duck Books
Pierre Menard Gallery
10-12 Arrow Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-868-2022 (bookshop)
617-868-2033 (gallery)
617-407-6271 (mobile)
www.pierremenardgallery.com
www.lameduckbooks.com
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
C. M. Mayo Offers Travel Writing Workshop in Mexico City
LITERARY TRAVEL WRITING
A special one-day writing workshop with C.M. MAYO
January 19, 2008, 10 AM - 2 PM, in Mexico City
Take your travel writing to another level: the literary, which is to say, giving the reader the novelistic experience of actually traveling there with you. For both beginning and advanced writers, this workshop covers the techniques from fiction and poetry that you can apply to this specialized form of creative nonfiction for deliciously vivid effects.
Fee: M.N. $1,000 (Mexican pesos) plus 15% tax per person
For more information, and to apply, click here: Dancing Chiva.com
About C.M. Mayo’s one-day workshops:
Uniquely geared toward both beginning and advanced writers, C.M. Mayo’s one-day creative writing workshops emphasize techniques for tapping into creativity, and specific aspects of craft. As at the Bethesda, Maryland Writers Center where Mayo has taught highly popular workshops since 1999, Mayo does not critique manuscripts but rather offers a series of mini-lectures interspersed with exercises, readings, and discussion. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your writing will be of notably higher quality.
About C.M. Mayo:
She is the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico, a work lauded by the Los Angeles Times as "luminous" and the Interamerican Studies Institute as "perhaps the best new book about Mexico in many years." She is also the author of Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and editor of Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion. Her many other awards include three Lowell Thomas Awards for travel journalism. Her essays have appeared in avenues as diverse as the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and literary journals including Creative Nonfiction, the Massachusetts Review, North American Review, and Tin House.
Visit her website: CM Mayo.com
For more information please visit Dancing Chiva.com
dancing chiva literary arts mexico city
www.dancingchiva.com
A special one-day writing workshop with C.M. MAYO
January 19, 2008, 10 AM - 2 PM, in Mexico City
Take your travel writing to another level: the literary, which is to say, giving the reader the novelistic experience of actually traveling there with you. For both beginning and advanced writers, this workshop covers the techniques from fiction and poetry that you can apply to this specialized form of creative nonfiction for deliciously vivid effects.
Fee: M.N. $1,000 (Mexican pesos) plus 15% tax per person
For more information, and to apply, click here: Dancing Chiva.com
About C.M. Mayo’s one-day workshops:
Uniquely geared toward both beginning and advanced writers, C.M. Mayo’s one-day creative writing workshops emphasize techniques for tapping into creativity, and specific aspects of craft. As at the Bethesda, Maryland Writers Center where Mayo has taught highly popular workshops since 1999, Mayo does not critique manuscripts but rather offers a series of mini-lectures interspersed with exercises, readings, and discussion. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your writing will be of notably higher quality.
About C.M. Mayo:
She is the author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico, a work lauded by the Los Angeles Times as "luminous" and the Interamerican Studies Institute as "perhaps the best new book about Mexico in many years." She is also the author of Sky Over El Nido, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and editor of Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion. Her many other awards include three Lowell Thomas Awards for travel journalism. Her essays have appeared in avenues as diverse as the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and literary journals including Creative Nonfiction, the Massachusetts Review, North American Review, and Tin House.
Visit her website: CM Mayo.com
For more information please visit Dancing Chiva.com
dancing chiva literary arts mexico city
www.dancingchiva.com
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Mark Wisniewski Wins the 2007 Gival Press Short Story Award
Mark Wisniewski of Peekskill, New York won the 2007 Gival Press Short Story Award for his story entitled Better Terms.
In addition to being published online at the Gival Press website Wisniewski received a cash prize of $1,000.00.
(Photo by Elizabeth Rendleisch.)
Click here for the link to Mark Wisniewski's story at Gival Press:
Mark Wisniewski
The short stories were read anonymously and the winner was chosen by last year's winner Marie Holmes.
"Better Terms is propelled by the strength of its narrator's voice: contradictory, confused, and entirely believable. With a poignant and compelling mix of self-pity, disillusionment, self-deprecation and disbelief, the narrator takes the reader through what begins as a seemingly regular day in his life. The story earns the emotional impact of its final, kaleidoscopic scenes through a series of interactions between characters who refuse to deny their complexities. In the end, it is not the eccentricity of these characters that keeps the reader invested in their story—it is their beautifully depicted and very human struggle to connect with one another."
—Marie Holmes
Biography:
Mark Wisniewski is the author of the novel Confessions of a Polish Used Car Salesman, the story collection All Weekend with the Lights On, and the book of narrative poems One of Us One Night. His fiction is published or forthcoming in more than 100 magazines including The Southern Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, New England Review, The Georgia Review, The Sun, The Yale Review, and The Missouri Review. He’s won a Pushcart Prize, the 2006 Tobias Wolff Award, the TIL Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story for 2006, an Isherwood Foundation Fellowship in Fiction, and two Regents’ Fellowships from the University of California, Davis.
Finalists:
The Adventure of the Tainted Canister
by Thomas A. Turley of Montgomery, Alabama.
No Brochure
by Marilyn Greenberg of New York, New York.
Some Other Sort of Hunger
by Nicole Louise Reid of Evansville, Indiana.
This Filthy City
by Iraj Isaac Rahmin of Houston, Texas.
Monday, December 03, 2007
The Lastest Postings of Events/Readings from Beltway Poetry Quarterly
Thankfully to Kim Roberts, editor of Beltway Poetry Quarterly, we have the following announements:
POETRY NEWS: December 2007
NEW RELEASES
Broadkill Review, Vol. 1, No. 6, November 2007. Edited by James C. L. Brown. Contributors include: Martin Galvin, Sid Gold, Sarah Browning, Ernie Wormwood. Also features a special section on the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize winners, awarded annually at the Milton Poetry Festival, and whose winning chapbooks are published by Bay Oak Publishers, with features on James Keegan, Emily Lloyd, Michael Blaine and Scott Whitaker. Subscription and info at: the_broadkill_review@earthlink.net.
Gargoyle, Issue 52 (audio CD). Produced by Richard Peabody. Contributors include: Silvana Straw, Neelam Patel, Jonathan Vaile, Venus Thrash. http://www.gargoylemagazine.com.
If Poetry Journal, Issue #1, 2007.Edited by Donald Illich. Contributors include: Grace Cavalieri, Joshua Gottlieb-Miller, Michael Gushue, Reb Livingston, Gregory Luce, Tom Orange, Kim Roberts, J.D. Smith, and Doug Wilkinson. http://ifpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/
Not Just Air, Issue #7: Earth, Fire and Water. Edited by Parris Garnier and Christina Wos Donnelly. Contributors include: Elisavietta Ritchie, Cliff Bernier, Hiram Larew, Lyn Lifshin, Kim Roberts. Spotlight on Patricia Davis. Deja Vu section includes short fiction by Jean Toomer. Plus audio files and Landsat photos of Earth. http://www.notjustair.org.
Electric Grace: Still More Fiction by Washington Area Women, ed. Richard Peabody (short fiction, Paycock Press). Contributors include: Maxine Clair, Rosie Dempsey, Jamie Holland, Eugenia SunHee Kim, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Faye Moskowitz, Jessica Neely, Sheila Walsh, Christy J. Zink. http://www.gargoylemagazine.com.
The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel - Second Floor, ed. Reb Livingston and Molly Arden (No Tell Books). Contributors include: Deborah Ager, Sandra Beasley, Jill Alexanxder Essbaum, Julie R. Enszer, Piotr Gwiazda, Donald Illich, Cheryl Pallant, Shann Palmer, Kim Roberts, Carly Sachs. http://www.notellbooks.org.
COMPETITIONS, GRANTS and CALLS FOR ENTRY
Gival Press Poetry Award. Open to all national and international poets writing in English (no translations). Mss. of 45 typed pages or longer eligible. Winner receives book publication and $1,000, plus standard book contract. $20 entry fee; deadline Dec.15. Gival Press, PO Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203. http://www.givalpress.com.
Pretend Genius press announces a call for short fiction for the 2008 Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize, adjudicated by Zadie Smith. Open to all, free to enter. Pretend Genius will publish an anthology of 10 winning stories, New Short Stories 2, in 2008. Deadline: Dec. 24. Required entry form and full guidelines: http://www.newshortstories.homestead.com/index.html
The Library of Congress Poetry at Noon series is looking for poems on "Fathers and Daughters," which will be presented at noon on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. Poets should send three of their own poems and two by other poets on the father-daughter theme.
Deadline: Dec. 31. Mail to Patricia Gray, Poetry and Literature Center, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C. 20540-4861. For further information: 202-707-5394. http://www.loc.gov.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival calls poets to a greater role in public life and fosters a national network of activist poets. Building the audience for poetry of provocation and witness from our home in the nation’s capital, we celebrate poetic diversity and the transformative power of the imagination. The Festival takes place March 20-23, 2008. Split this Rock invites proposals for panel discussions and workshops on a range of topics at the intersection of poetry and social change. Possibilities are endless. Challenge us. Let’s talk about craft, let’s talk about mentoring young poets, let’s talk about working in prisons, connecting with the activist community, sustaining ourselves in dark times, the role of poetry in wartime. Deadline extended to January 1, 2008. Download the form here: http://splitthisrock.org/documents/Call-for-Proposals.doc.
Reginald S. Tickner Writing Fellowship in any genre: fiction, poetry, playwrighting, or creative non-fiction. Gilman School, an independent boys' school with coordinated classes with our sister schools, Bryn Mawr School & Roland Park Country School, will continue to sponsor a writer-in-residence position for the '08-'09 academic year. Responsibilities include teaching one class in creative writing, directing a speakers' series, advising the literary magazine, & working one-to-one with students on their writing. Salary: $30,000, plus full benefits package. To apply: send c.v., cover letter, three confidential letters of recommendation or dossier, & a sample of published writing to: Dr. Meg Tipper, Director, Writing Center, Gilman School, 5407 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210. Firm deadline for receipt of all materials is January 8.
Split This Rock Poetry Contest. Winners recieve $500, $300, and $200 awards plus free festival admission. Top winner will be invited to read during the festival and their poem will be published on the festival website. Kyle G. Dargan, Judge. Submit up to 3 unpublished poems (no more than 6 pages total) on themes of politics and political engagement (interpreted broadly, see web site for more information). $20 reading fee benefits the festival (checks made out to "IPS/Split This Rock"). Postmark deadline: Jan. 15, 2008. http://splitthisrock.org/contests.html.
Hurston-Wright Award for College Writers, for fiction by students of African descent enrolled full-time (grad or undergrad) in any college or university in the US. Awards of $1,000/$500/$500 for best previously unpublished short story or novel excerpt. Send 2 copies, typed, double-spaced, 12 point font, up to 20 pages with completed application and $10 reading fee. Deadline: Jan. 15. http://www.hurstonwright.org.
Andres Montoya Poetry Prize. Open to Latino/a poets who have not had a book professionally published (authors of chapbooks and self-published works are eligible). No entry fee. Submit 2 copies of book manuscript of 50-100 pages of original poetry in English (no translations). Winner receives $1,000 and publication by the University of Notre Dame Press. Deadline: Jan. 15. Francisco Aragón, Coordinator, Institute for Latino Studies, 230 McKenna Hall, Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. http://www.nd.edu/~latino/poetry_prize/guidelines.htm.
Moving Words Adult Poetry Competition. Poets who live, work, or study in Arlington, VA are invited to submit poems of 10 lines or less. Winning poets published on large posters, displayed on public Metro buses. Deadline: Jan. 18. http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/movingwords.htm.
Poetry Society of Virginia Annual adult and student contests. Many categories and prizes; over $3,000 total prizes awarded. Fees charged. Deadline: Jan. 19. http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org.
Potomac Review annual Poetry Contest. Prizes: $250 and publication in jounal/$150 and publication on website. Send up to 3 typed, unpublished poems in blind format (cover letter with contact info) with SASE. $20 fee includes subscription to journal. Deadline: Feb.1. Potomac Review, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Macklin Tower Room 212, Rockville, MD 20850.
Not Just Air seeks submmissions on the theme "Pregnant." Accepts poetry, flash fiction, creative nonfiction and essays, reviews, 5-minute plays, multimedia, translations. Previously published OK if work does not appear elsewhere on the web. Deadline: February 1. See full guidelines: http://www.notjustair.org.
WORKSHOPS, EXHIBITIONS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS
The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a workshop for students. "Shakespeare's Sisters" is a 9-week seminar for students in grades 10-12 from the DC region. Meets Wednesdays, 4-6 pm, from Jan. 23 through March 19. Free admission to those selected. The group reads and discusses poems by British and American women poets from the mid-16th century to the present, explores poems about women (written by men), and writes and shares poems of their own. No previous writing experience necessary. Deadline: Dec. 14. http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2495
Monthly Poetry Workshop at Shirlington Library, Wednesday, December 19 at 6:30 pm. Free. Meets the third Wednesday of each month, with a different theme for each workshop, and quarterly guest writers to lead the group. No reservations needed. Arlington Public Library, Shirlington Branch, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA. (703) 228-6545.
Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Writing Workshop at the George Washington University, led by Ryan G. Van Cleave. Meets Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, January through April 2008. No academic qualifications or publications needed to apply. Beginning and intermediate writers will find this workshop most beneficial. The class will focus on reading poetry by established writers and roundtable critiques of work submitted by class members. To apply, submit a brief biographical statement with contact information, a statement of interest, outlining your writing history and motivations for taking the course, 6-10 pages of your best original poetry. Deadline for receipt of applications: Dec. 20. Poetry Workshop, Dept. of English, GW University, 801 22nd St. NW, Ste. 760, Washington, DC 20052.
AWP Conference, New York. Hilton New York and Sheraton New York Hotels, Jan. 30 - Feb. 2. Readings, panels, book signings, book fair. http://www.awpwriter.org.
The Writers' Center Winter Workshops. Most begin in February; registration now open. Fees charged. Instructors include: Reuben Jackson, Nan Fry, Jean Nordhaus, Rod Jellema, Kenny Carroll. http://www.writer.org.
AREA READINGS and PERFORMANCES
December 1
Opening reception for "Tres Raices" exhibit and poetry reading by Naomi Ayala, Darry Strickland, and Sami Miranda. Music by Pepe Gonzalez and JB Sotomayor. Paintings and sculpture by Lazaro Batista, Ronald Chacon, Samuel Miranda, Luis Peralta, and Wilfredo Valladares.
Saturday, 4:00 pm
Free. Art and Media House, Galeria Uno, 3035 15th St. NW, DC. (202) 319-7312.
December 2
Susan Muaddi Darraj and Angela Leone read fiction
Sunday, 2:00 pm
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.
December 3
Dana Gioia
Monday, 6:30 pm
Free. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW, Great Hall, DC. (202) 727-2122.
December 3
Cafe Muse: reading from Echoes: An Anthology of Prince George's Poets, edited by Foretine Bynum and Hiram Larew, featuring J. Joy Matthews Alford, Steve M. Butler, Spencer L. Duffy, and Susan Levy, plus classical guitar by Michael Davis and open mic.
Monday, 7:00 pm
Free. Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD. (301) 581-9439.
December 4
Poetry at Noon Series: A Sampling of South Carolina Poets, featuring Marjory Wentworth, John Lane, Susan Meyers, and Carol Ann Davis
Tuesday, Noon
Free. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE, James Madison Blg., Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd floor, DC. (202) 707-5394.
December 4
Visiting poets from South Carolina: Carol Ann Davis, Kwame Senu Neville Dawes, Linda Annas Ferguson, Susan Meyers and Marjory Wentworth
Tuesday, 7:30 pm
Free. The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.
December 5
Intersections series: featured poets Bettina Judd and Carrie Addington, plus discussion, live music, and open mic. Hosted by Fred Joiner.
Wednesday, 7:30 pm
$2 suggested donation. Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE, DC. (202) 889-5000 x141.
December 5
HearArts: poetry and music, followed by open mic. Hosted by Philip Wexler.
Wednesday, 7:30 PM
Free. VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, MD (301) 315-8200.
December 6
James Tate and Jorie Graham
Wednesday, 6:45 pm
Free. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE, James Madison Blg., Mumford Room, 6th floor, DC. (202) 707-5394.
December 6
Faculty and Alumnus Reading, featuring Howard Norman, Stanley Plumly, and Kevin Craft
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. University of Maryland, McKeldin Library, Special Events Room #6137, College Park, MD. (301) 405-3809.
December 9
Nine on the Ninth Series: featured reader TBA, followed by open mic. Hosted by Derrick Weston Brown.
Sunday, 9:00 pm
$3 Admission. Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets NW, DC. (202) 387-POET.
December 9
Iota Poetry Series: Sarah Browning and Rosemary Winslow. Followed by open mic.
Sunday, 6:00 pm
Free. Iota Cafe and Club, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Clarendon neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 522-8340 or (703) 256-9275.
December 10
Emily Dickinson Birthday Tribute Reading: Richard Howard
Monday, 7:30 pm
$12 Admission. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St. SW, DC. (202) 544-7077.
December 11
Password Project: a writers' and visual artists' collaboration via the web involving 40 artists from more than a dozen nations. Exhibition (in projected digital form) and live reading by Daniel Thomas Moran, Walter Holbling, and Gabriele Potscher
Tuesday, 6:30 pm
Free. Goethe Institute, 812 7th St. NW, Chinatown neighborhood, DC. RSVP to: (202) 289-1200, ext. 162.
December 12
Brookland Reading Series
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. Brookland Visitor's Center, 3420 9th St. NE, DC. (202) 526-1632.
December 13
Laura Brown and Miles David Moore
Thursday, 7:00 pm
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7224.
December 13
Cheryl's Gone Reading Series: Open Mic with guest host Richard Hanks
Thursday, 8:00 pm
Free. Big Bear Cafe, 1st and R Streets NW, DC. (202) 470-5543.
December 16
Sunday Kind of Love, Heather Davis and Mike Maggio, followed by open mic.
Sunday, 4:00 pm
Free. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V Streets NW, U Street neighborhood, DC. (202) 387-POET.
December 19
Poesis Series: Mary Sherman Willis and Paul Hopper, with live music by Shep Williams and James "Curly" Robinson. Hosted by Cliff Bernier.
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. Pentagon City Borders, 1201 S. Hayes Street, Pentagon City neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 418-0166.
December 19
Intersections series: readings, discussion, live music, and open mic. Hosted by Fred Joiner.
Wednesday, 7:30 pm
$2 suggested donation. Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE, DC. (202) 889-5000 x141.
December 19
Mothertongue
Wednesday, 9:00 pm
$5 Admission. The Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW, DC. (202) 726-1821.
December 20
Cheryl's Gone Reading Series: Hosted by Joe Hall.
Thursday, 8:00 pm
Free. Big Bear Cafe, 1st and R Streets NW, DC. (202) 470-5543.
***PLEASE NOTE: Open mic events are not listed on this page. Please see our full listing of Reading Series for more information***
Information subject to change. Please call in advance to confirm events.
To get your event listed, send complete information during the month prior to beltway.poetry@juno.com.
POETRY NEWS: December 2007
NEW RELEASES
Broadkill Review, Vol. 1, No. 6, November 2007. Edited by James C. L. Brown. Contributors include: Martin Galvin, Sid Gold, Sarah Browning, Ernie Wormwood. Also features a special section on the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize winners, awarded annually at the Milton Poetry Festival, and whose winning chapbooks are published by Bay Oak Publishers, with features on James Keegan, Emily Lloyd, Michael Blaine and Scott Whitaker. Subscription and info at: the_broadkill_review@earthlink.net.
Gargoyle, Issue 52 (audio CD). Produced by Richard Peabody. Contributors include: Silvana Straw, Neelam Patel, Jonathan Vaile, Venus Thrash. http://www.gargoylemagazine.com.
If Poetry Journal, Issue #1, 2007.Edited by Donald Illich. Contributors include: Grace Cavalieri, Joshua Gottlieb-Miller, Michael Gushue, Reb Livingston, Gregory Luce, Tom Orange, Kim Roberts, J.D. Smith, and Doug Wilkinson. http://ifpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/
Not Just Air, Issue #7: Earth, Fire and Water. Edited by Parris Garnier and Christina Wos Donnelly. Contributors include: Elisavietta Ritchie, Cliff Bernier, Hiram Larew, Lyn Lifshin, Kim Roberts. Spotlight on Patricia Davis. Deja Vu section includes short fiction by Jean Toomer. Plus audio files and Landsat photos of Earth. http://www.notjustair.org.
Electric Grace: Still More Fiction by Washington Area Women, ed. Richard Peabody (short fiction, Paycock Press). Contributors include: Maxine Clair, Rosie Dempsey, Jamie Holland, Eugenia SunHee Kim, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Faye Moskowitz, Jessica Neely, Sheila Walsh, Christy J. Zink. http://www.gargoylemagazine.com.
The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel - Second Floor, ed. Reb Livingston and Molly Arden (No Tell Books). Contributors include: Deborah Ager, Sandra Beasley, Jill Alexanxder Essbaum, Julie R. Enszer, Piotr Gwiazda, Donald Illich, Cheryl Pallant, Shann Palmer, Kim Roberts, Carly Sachs. http://www.notellbooks.org.
COMPETITIONS, GRANTS and CALLS FOR ENTRY
Gival Press Poetry Award. Open to all national and international poets writing in English (no translations). Mss. of 45 typed pages or longer eligible. Winner receives book publication and $1,000, plus standard book contract. $20 entry fee; deadline Dec.15. Gival Press, PO Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203. http://www.givalpress.com.
Pretend Genius press announces a call for short fiction for the 2008 Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize, adjudicated by Zadie Smith. Open to all, free to enter. Pretend Genius will publish an anthology of 10 winning stories, New Short Stories 2, in 2008. Deadline: Dec. 24. Required entry form and full guidelines: http://www.newshortstories.homestead.com/index.html
The Library of Congress Poetry at Noon series is looking for poems on "Fathers and Daughters," which will be presented at noon on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. Poets should send three of their own poems and two by other poets on the father-daughter theme.
Deadline: Dec. 31. Mail to Patricia Gray, Poetry and Literature Center, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C. 20540-4861. For further information: 202-707-5394. http://www.loc.gov.
Split This Rock Poetry Festival calls poets to a greater role in public life and fosters a national network of activist poets. Building the audience for poetry of provocation and witness from our home in the nation’s capital, we celebrate poetic diversity and the transformative power of the imagination. The Festival takes place March 20-23, 2008. Split this Rock invites proposals for panel discussions and workshops on a range of topics at the intersection of poetry and social change. Possibilities are endless. Challenge us. Let’s talk about craft, let’s talk about mentoring young poets, let’s talk about working in prisons, connecting with the activist community, sustaining ourselves in dark times, the role of poetry in wartime. Deadline extended to January 1, 2008. Download the form here: http://splitthisrock.org/documents/Call-for-Proposals.doc.
Reginald S. Tickner Writing Fellowship in any genre: fiction, poetry, playwrighting, or creative non-fiction. Gilman School, an independent boys' school with coordinated classes with our sister schools, Bryn Mawr School & Roland Park Country School, will continue to sponsor a writer-in-residence position for the '08-'09 academic year. Responsibilities include teaching one class in creative writing, directing a speakers' series, advising the literary magazine, & working one-to-one with students on their writing. Salary: $30,000, plus full benefits package. To apply: send c.v., cover letter, three confidential letters of recommendation or dossier, & a sample of published writing to: Dr. Meg Tipper, Director, Writing Center, Gilman School, 5407 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210. Firm deadline for receipt of all materials is January 8.
Split This Rock Poetry Contest. Winners recieve $500, $300, and $200 awards plus free festival admission. Top winner will be invited to read during the festival and their poem will be published on the festival website. Kyle G. Dargan, Judge. Submit up to 3 unpublished poems (no more than 6 pages total) on themes of politics and political engagement (interpreted broadly, see web site for more information). $20 reading fee benefits the festival (checks made out to "IPS/Split This Rock"). Postmark deadline: Jan. 15, 2008. http://splitthisrock.org/contests.html.
Hurston-Wright Award for College Writers, for fiction by students of African descent enrolled full-time (grad or undergrad) in any college or university in the US. Awards of $1,000/$500/$500 for best previously unpublished short story or novel excerpt. Send 2 copies, typed, double-spaced, 12 point font, up to 20 pages with completed application and $10 reading fee. Deadline: Jan. 15. http://www.hurstonwright.org.
Andres Montoya Poetry Prize. Open to Latino/a poets who have not had a book professionally published (authors of chapbooks and self-published works are eligible). No entry fee. Submit 2 copies of book manuscript of 50-100 pages of original poetry in English (no translations). Winner receives $1,000 and publication by the University of Notre Dame Press. Deadline: Jan. 15. Francisco Aragón, Coordinator, Institute for Latino Studies, 230 McKenna Hall, Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. http://www.nd.edu/~latino/poetry_prize/guidelines.htm.
Moving Words Adult Poetry Competition. Poets who live, work, or study in Arlington, VA are invited to submit poems of 10 lines or less. Winning poets published on large posters, displayed on public Metro buses. Deadline: Jan. 18. http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/movingwords.htm.
Poetry Society of Virginia Annual adult and student contests. Many categories and prizes; over $3,000 total prizes awarded. Fees charged. Deadline: Jan. 19. http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org.
Potomac Review annual Poetry Contest. Prizes: $250 and publication in jounal/$150 and publication on website. Send up to 3 typed, unpublished poems in blind format (cover letter with contact info) with SASE. $20 fee includes subscription to journal. Deadline: Feb.1. Potomac Review, Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Macklin Tower Room 212, Rockville, MD 20850.
Not Just Air seeks submmissions on the theme "Pregnant." Accepts poetry, flash fiction, creative nonfiction and essays, reviews, 5-minute plays, multimedia, translations. Previously published OK if work does not appear elsewhere on the web. Deadline: February 1. See full guidelines: http://www.notjustair.org.
WORKSHOPS, EXHIBITIONS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS
The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a workshop for students. "Shakespeare's Sisters" is a 9-week seminar for students in grades 10-12 from the DC region. Meets Wednesdays, 4-6 pm, from Jan. 23 through March 19. Free admission to those selected. The group reads and discusses poems by British and American women poets from the mid-16th century to the present, explores poems about women (written by men), and writes and shares poems of their own. No previous writing experience necessary. Deadline: Dec. 14. http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2495
Monthly Poetry Workshop at Shirlington Library, Wednesday, December 19 at 6:30 pm. Free. Meets the third Wednesday of each month, with a different theme for each workshop, and quarterly guest writers to lead the group. No reservations needed. Arlington Public Library, Shirlington Branch, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA. (703) 228-6545.
Jenny McKean Moore Free Community Writing Workshop at the George Washington University, led by Ryan G. Van Cleave. Meets Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, January through April 2008. No academic qualifications or publications needed to apply. Beginning and intermediate writers will find this workshop most beneficial. The class will focus on reading poetry by established writers and roundtable critiques of work submitted by class members. To apply, submit a brief biographical statement with contact information, a statement of interest, outlining your writing history and motivations for taking the course, 6-10 pages of your best original poetry. Deadline for receipt of applications: Dec. 20. Poetry Workshop, Dept. of English, GW University, 801 22nd St. NW, Ste. 760, Washington, DC 20052.
AWP Conference, New York. Hilton New York and Sheraton New York Hotels, Jan. 30 - Feb. 2. Readings, panels, book signings, book fair. http://www.awpwriter.org.
The Writers' Center Winter Workshops. Most begin in February; registration now open. Fees charged. Instructors include: Reuben Jackson, Nan Fry, Jean Nordhaus, Rod Jellema, Kenny Carroll. http://www.writer.org.
AREA READINGS and PERFORMANCES
December 1
Opening reception for "Tres Raices" exhibit and poetry reading by Naomi Ayala, Darry Strickland, and Sami Miranda. Music by Pepe Gonzalez and JB Sotomayor. Paintings and sculpture by Lazaro Batista, Ronald Chacon, Samuel Miranda, Luis Peralta, and Wilfredo Valladares.
Saturday, 4:00 pm
Free. Art and Media House, Galeria Uno, 3035 15th St. NW, DC. (202) 319-7312.
December 2
Susan Muaddi Darraj and Angela Leone read fiction
Sunday, 2:00 pm
Free. The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.
December 3
Dana Gioia
Monday, 6:30 pm
Free. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW, Great Hall, DC. (202) 727-2122.
December 3
Cafe Muse: reading from Echoes: An Anthology of Prince George's Poets, edited by Foretine Bynum and Hiram Larew, featuring J. Joy Matthews Alford, Steve M. Butler, Spencer L. Duffy, and Susan Levy, plus classical guitar by Michael Davis and open mic.
Monday, 7:00 pm
Free. Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD. (301) 581-9439.
December 4
Poetry at Noon Series: A Sampling of South Carolina Poets, featuring Marjory Wentworth, John Lane, Susan Meyers, and Carol Ann Davis
Tuesday, Noon
Free. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE, James Madison Blg., Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd floor, DC. (202) 707-5394.
December 4
Visiting poets from South Carolina: Carol Ann Davis, Kwame Senu Neville Dawes, Linda Annas Ferguson, Susan Meyers and Marjory Wentworth
Tuesday, 7:30 pm
Free. The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, MD (301) 654-8664.
December 5
Intersections series: featured poets Bettina Judd and Carrie Addington, plus discussion, live music, and open mic. Hosted by Fred Joiner.
Wednesday, 7:30 pm
$2 suggested donation. Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE, DC. (202) 889-5000 x141.
December 5
HearArts: poetry and music, followed by open mic. Hosted by Philip Wexler.
Wednesday, 7:30 PM
Free. VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, MD (301) 315-8200.
December 6
James Tate and Jorie Graham
Wednesday, 6:45 pm
Free. Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE, James Madison Blg., Mumford Room, 6th floor, DC. (202) 707-5394.
December 6
Faculty and Alumnus Reading, featuring Howard Norman, Stanley Plumly, and Kevin Craft
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. University of Maryland, McKeldin Library, Special Events Room #6137, College Park, MD. (301) 405-3809.
December 9
Nine on the Ninth Series: featured reader TBA, followed by open mic. Hosted by Derrick Weston Brown.
Sunday, 9:00 pm
$3 Admission. Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets NW, DC. (202) 387-POET.
December 9
Iota Poetry Series: Sarah Browning and Rosemary Winslow. Followed by open mic.
Sunday, 6:00 pm
Free. Iota Cafe and Club, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Clarendon neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 522-8340 or (703) 256-9275.
December 10
Emily Dickinson Birthday Tribute Reading: Richard Howard
Monday, 7:30 pm
$12 Admission. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St. SW, DC. (202) 544-7077.
December 11
Password Project: a writers' and visual artists' collaboration via the web involving 40 artists from more than a dozen nations. Exhibition (in projected digital form) and live reading by Daniel Thomas Moran, Walter Holbling, and Gabriele Potscher
Tuesday, 6:30 pm
Free. Goethe Institute, 812 7th St. NW, Chinatown neighborhood, DC. RSVP to: (202) 289-1200, ext. 162.
December 12
Brookland Reading Series
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. Brookland Visitor's Center, 3420 9th St. NE, DC. (202) 526-1632.
December 13
Laura Brown and Miles David Moore
Thursday, 7:00 pm
Free. Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., Takoma Park, MD. (301) 891-7224.
December 13
Cheryl's Gone Reading Series: Open Mic with guest host Richard Hanks
Thursday, 8:00 pm
Free. Big Bear Cafe, 1st and R Streets NW, DC. (202) 470-5543.
December 16
Sunday Kind of Love, Heather Davis and Mike Maggio, followed by open mic.
Sunday, 4:00 pm
Free. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V Streets NW, U Street neighborhood, DC. (202) 387-POET.
December 19
Poesis Series: Mary Sherman Willis and Paul Hopper, with live music by Shep Williams and James "Curly" Robinson. Hosted by Cliff Bernier.
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Free. Pentagon City Borders, 1201 S. Hayes Street, Pentagon City neighborhood, Arlington, VA. (703) 418-0166.
December 19
Intersections series: readings, discussion, live music, and open mic. Hosted by Fred Joiner.
Wednesday, 7:30 pm
$2 suggested donation. Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE, DC. (202) 889-5000 x141.
December 19
Mothertongue
Wednesday, 9:00 pm
$5 Admission. The Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW, DC. (202) 726-1821.
December 20
Cheryl's Gone Reading Series: Hosted by Joe Hall.
Thursday, 8:00 pm
Free. Big Bear Cafe, 1st and R Streets NW, DC. (202) 470-5543.
***PLEASE NOTE: Open mic events are not listed on this page. Please see our full listing of Reading Series for more information***
Information subject to change. Please call in advance to confirm events.
To get your event listed, send complete information during the month prior to beltway.poetry@juno.com.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
"The Last Day of Paradise" Is Reviewed in Shortcut
The Last Day of Paradise by Kiki Denis and winner of the 2006 Gival Press Novel Award has a review posted on Shortcut A European City Blog.
The author of the review Jason Jobson has understood the nature and intent of the novel unlike any one else who has reviewed the book.
Take a look at the review by clicking on the link:
Shortcut A European City Blog
The author of the review Jason Jobson has understood the nature and intent of the novel unlike any one else who has reviewed the book.
Take a look at the review by clicking on the link:
Shortcut A European City Blog
