Poetry Newsletter for March 2009

MARCH 2009 POETRY E-NEWSLETTER Hello, all. Thanks to those of you who have given me feedback and encouragement on the new blog (http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com). I hope to continue to improve it so that it will become a place for people who are looking for information about poetry and art events, especially in the Portland/Vancouver area. This is the first email I’m sending from my new email address, christopherjluna@gmail.com. Please use this address for all future email correspondence, and regard any messages from my earthlink address with suspicion. I am very excited about our featured reader for this month. Lorraine Healy is an Argentinean poet who lives on Whidbey Island, WA. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2004, she has been published extensively. Lorraine is a graduate from the New England College M.F.A and Antioch University Los Angeles post-MFA programs. A featured performer at the 2004, 2005, and 2007 Burning Word Poetry Festival, she has published two chapbooks (The Farthest South, The Archipelago), and her first full-length manuscript is making the rounds of contests and presses. Please join us the following day, Friday, March 13, from 2-5pm when Lorraine will be leading a workshop at the bookstore entitled “This Bunch of Flowers and Horseshoes…” What Neruda’s Odes can teach us as poets. Cost: $40. Contact Christopher Luna (360-694-9653) or Mel Sanders (360-514-0358) for more information. I have also pasted Lorraine’s description of the workshop below (Item 1). White Hen by Lorraine Healy This is what the old woman has done for the last three years: soak sun with a white hen on her lap. There can’t be a bigger measure of contentment, sun on the face, white hen on lap. After scores of years selling antiques and old cars, breeding poodles, after the long bout with life’s small tasks, there are these happy years of backyard and sun. And on her lap, the white hen. Then, one day, the hen is gone. A reason untrivial like the need for stew, a lone fox, the neighbor’s dog. Somebody ought to tell the old woman the news. Around her chair, half-grown chicks peck feed, oblivious to the sun. Somebody needs to deal with the sad path of bright white feathers. How the old untether suddenly, the warm weight of morning no longer enough. How they go fast, like a flash of white, after the feathery roundness of what they’ve loved. Open Mic Poetry hosted by Christopher Luna 7:00pm Thursday, March 12, 2009 (and every second Thursday) Cover to Cover Books 1817 Main Street, Vancouver (McLoughlin Blvd. & Main Street) For more info call 514-0358 or 694-9653 or email christopherjluna@gmail.com “always all ages and uncensored” **************************************** There are also some new podcasts to tell you about. Alex Birkett, Kyle Congdon, Kori Sayer and I were interviewed by Cara Cottingham: http://www.imeem.com/people/bjn0pJu/music/as0WiW65/producer_cara_cottingham_poets_alex_birkett_korinicole/ Also visit Cara’s website: www.shamelessproductions.org/radio Cara is looking for writers and artists who have ideas for radio programs. I am grateful to Alex and Cara for working hard to spread the word about Vancouver’s thriving lit scene. Monday night I attended a great reading at Three Friends Coffee House featuring Constance Hall, Toni Partington, and Eileen Elliott. All three wowed the crowd with their socially relevant, emotionally powerful poetry. Eileen also displayed some of her visual art. You can hear their performance by going to Luke Lefler’s site, Broken Hours: http://www.brokenhours.net/podcasts/3F/3F-0033-1.mp3. You may also want to listen to part two, the open mic portion of the evening, which featured great work from Walt Curtis, Dan Raphael, Steve Williams, Melissa Sillitoe, and impressive songs by The Crash and Betty Show. Thanks to Melissa Sillitoe (www.showandtellgallery.org) for curating this great series. Please consider checking out the Show and Tell Gallery’s first Thursday extravaganza on March 5. The great lineup includes my friends James Honzik, Brittany Baldwin and Patrick Bocarde. See my previous blog post, or item 8 for more info. I have also begun working with Leah Jackson’s Angst Gallery (www.angstgallery.com) in Vancouver. The gallery is located at 1015 Main Street, on the same block as the Kiggins Theatre. Leah has been kind enough to invite me to show my collage art at Angst, and she is also selling copies of my chapbook, GHOST TOWN, USA. Leah is a great curator, and I am proud to be associated with what she is trying to do. We hope to expand our offerings to include poetry events and interactive events. So stop in on Friday, March 7 for Vancouver’s First Friday art walk. If you’d like to visit me at the gallery, I will be there on Wednesday afternoons from 12-2. Finally, I have wanted to connect with the deaf community in Vancouver for several years. As many of you know, the Washington State School for the Deaf (http://www.wsd.wa.gov/) is right here in Vancouver. So I was thrilled to run into Kris Rydecki, the school’s Outreach Director. When I told her what I do, she told me about a poetry reading at the Deaf School that will take place on March 26. Let’s come out and show our support for the young deaf poets of the ‘Couve! See item 2 below for more info Hope to see some of you out there! Rock on, Christopher MARCH 2009 POETRY E-NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS “This Bunch of Flowers and Horseshoes…” What Neruda’s Odes can teach us as poets workshop by Lorraine Healy Friday, March 13, 2009, 2-5pm at Cover to Cover Books in Vancouver, WA Flying Hands ASL Poetry and Art Festival at Washington School for the Deaf March 26 VoiceCatcher 3 readings for March and submission call (deadline March 31) Brave New Words Poetry Festival on Whidbey Island April 18, 2009 Rain Taxi 50th Issue Celebration Winter 2008/2009 Online Edition: Part the Second First Families of Vancouver's African American Community present "Connecting to Our Heritage," a celebration of Black history and culture in song, dance, and the spoken word March 8. 7. Irradiated Poets Retirement Party at Lucky Lab Brewery March 28 8. Touching and Feeling Show at Show and Tell March 5 Submission Calls 1. “This Bunch of Flowers and Horseshoes…” What Neruda’s Odes can teach us as poets. Friday, March 13, 2009, 2-5pm at Cover to Cover Books in Vancouver, WA Instructor: Lorraine Healy, MFA Pushcart Prize nominee; author of The Farthest South, The Archipelago Cost: $40 for more info contact Mel Sanders: 360-514-0358 or Christopher Luna: 360-694-9653 Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s three books of odes are an extravagant catalog of praise to the simplest things of this world. The atom, a tuna, laziness, love—the everyday elements and essences of human experience glow in the translucent language of these poems. Nothing is “beneath” the poet’s perception: the odes praise ordinary objects as well as the struggle of those who are marginalized. What can we, as poets, learn from Neruda’s Odes, which he offered up as “this bunch of flowers and horsehoes”? What can these songs of joy and abandon, of pain and compassion for sufferers, teach us, fifty years after they were first published? This three-hour class will begin to explore the range of Neruda’s topics in the three books of the Odas Elementales, talk about the vision of the world that stands behind them, and discuss the ways in which we can “unleash ourselves” upon the simplest objects and artifacts that surround us, and start writing our own poems of praise. So bring pencil and paper, poets, because you will go home with some freshly-written odes of your own… Directions to the venue: Take I-5 to the Mill Plain Exit, and head West (toward the City Center). Make a right onto Main Street, heading North. Cover to Cover is on the corner of Main Street and McLoughlin Blvd., in the same parking lot as the City Dog Wash, Mojo’s Bar & Grill, and Provecho Mexican Restaurant. Prior to this workshop, on Thursday, May 12, Lorraine Healy will be the featured reader at our monthly open mic poetry series. Please join us for what promises to be a very special evening. http://www.covertocoverbooks.net/ 2. Flying Hands Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:00 – 2:00 pm at Washington School for the Deaf’s Lloyd Auditorium 611 Grand Blvd Vancouver, Washington ASL Poetry & Art Competition for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students Preschool-12th Grade 3. The VoiceCatcher 3 Anthology was released in November to rave reviews. VoiceCatcher 3, edited by Sara Guest exists because a group of women who love to read and write wanted to collect the voices of local women and offer them to the community. In its third year, VoiceCatcher represents a wide range of voices through a transparent and cooperative publishing process. Participation in VoiceCatcher provides an accessible opportunity for both burgeoning and proven local artists from a diverse, multi-generational community. VoiceCatcher Spring Readings & Open Submission Window VoiceCatcher is an anthology of Portland women's writing. Central Library downtown Saturday, March 28 at 2pm Readers: Coral Serene Anderson, Favor Ellis, James Savage, Bette Lynch Husted, Penelope Scambly Schott, Meriwether Falk Central Library 801 SW 10th Avenue Portland, OR 97205 (503 )988-5123 Looking Glass Bookstore Thursday, April 9 at 7pm Readers: Paulann Peterson, Sharon Wood Wortman, Mary Warren Foulk, Chris Depres, Helen Green Looking Glass Bookstore 7983 SE 13th Avenue Portland, OR 97202 503-227-4760 Unitarian Church downtown Saturday, March 7 at 7pm Readers: Marti Brooks, Mary Kay West, Grace Harms, Melanie Jennings, Sulima Malzin, Lyssa Tall Anolik Unitarian Church 1011 SW 12th Avenue Portland, OR 97205 (503) 228-6389 VoiceCatcher4 Open Submission Window: February 1- March 31, 2009 We accept poetry, short fiction, novel excerpts, and creative nonfiction. For complete submission guidelines, please visit our website: www.voicecatcher.org. Work must be postmarked March 31, 2009. We will also accept submissions at our February and March readings. P.O. Box 6064 Portland, OR 97228-6064 editors@voicecatcher.org www.voicecatcher.org VoiceCatcher3 is available several places locally, including Cover to Cover Books, Powell's Books, 100th Monkey Studios, New Seasons Markets and many other local, independent booksellers. 4. Brave New Words Saturday, April 18, 2009 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM Brave New Words Celebration of Inspiration! All-Day, All-Event Tickets Only $15 for Adults, $5 for Students! Whidbey Island's historic Greenbank Farm is excited to host Washington's premier poetry festival, a dynamic and diverse all-day celebration of poetry. An exceptional event in an exceptional location! Announcing Brave New Words Performers! Our Headliners: Suheir Hammad Def Poetry Jam Tony Award Winner http://www.suheirhammad.com/ http://www.thescreamonline.com/poetry/poetry2-1/hammad/ Colleen McElroy Renowned Poet & Professor http://faculty.washington.edu/dragnldy/poet.html http://www.answers.com/topic/colleen-mcelroy Our Featured Poets In Order of Appearance: Matt Gano "Page to the Stage" Workshop http://www.artscorps.org/roster/teaching-artist-details.php?id=0033000000ObpJiAAJ David Ossman, Judith Walcutt & Preston Ossman Open Mic MCs http://www.davidossman.com/lfti/DOssmanBio030708.htm http://www.davidossman.com/lfti/JWalcuttBio030708.htm Molly Cook Afternoon MC http://www.skylarkwritingstudio.com/ Swil Kanim Native American Violinist, Poet, Storytelleer http://www.swilkanim.net/ Arianne Bergman Performer Hugo House Youth Writer-in-residence http://www.hugohouse.org/residencies/youthwriter/ Terry Martin Performer Blue Begonia Press author and Hedgebrook alumni http://www.cwu.edu/~english/Faculty/Martin.html Kim-An Lieberman Performer Blue Begonia Press author http://www.kalieberman.com/ Whidbey Youth Poets Winning Performers Michael Daley Performer http://www.skagitriverpoetry.org/poets.php?poet=daley John Burgess Evening MC http://www.seattlepoetpopulist.org/nominees_07/burgess.htm http://punkpoet.net/ Tim McNulty Performer http://www.ravenchronicles.org/nwwriter/index/mcnulty/mcnulty2.htm Le Jefa Performers: JT Stewart http://www.jackstraw.org/programs/writers/WritersForum/06/writers/jt.shtml Felicia Gonzales http://rainiervalleypost.blogspot.com/2009/01/rainier-beach-poet-felicia-gon zalez-to.html Jourdan Keith http://www.urbanwildernessproject.org/about.htm Pesha Gertler http://www.peshajoycegertler.com/ Stephen Roxborough (aka Roxword) Performer http://www.harbourpublishing.com/author/StephenRoxborough Lorraine Healy Performer http://www.lorrainehealy.com/ Oleh Lysiak Performer http://www.bostonliterarymagazine.com/win09interview.html Major sponsors include the Elizabeth George Foundation, Greenbank Farm, Hedgebrook, Walking Woman Productions and the Whidbey Island Arts Council. Brave New Words operates under the auspices of Greenbank Farm, a qualified 501 C-3. All donations to BNW are tax deductible. If you've been meaning to support our grassroots festival please send donations to: Brave New Words 765 Wonn Road - #C-103 Greenbank, WA 98253 … Please make out checks to: "Greenbank Farm / BNW" … Under "memo" please write: "For Brave New Words" For more information: Victory Lee Schouten 360-331-7099 or 360-222-3070 victory@robschoutengallery.com Greenbank Farm, http://www.greenbankfarm.com/ is located on Whidbey Island, at the corner of State Highway 525 and Wonn Road in Greenbank, 18 miles north of the Clinton Ferry dock. Accommodations: (Langley, Freeland and Greenbank Addresses will be closest to the festival site) http://langleychamb.whidbey.com/ http://www.whidbeycamanoislands.com/ 5. Rain Taxi (www.raintaxi.com) 50th Issue Celebration Winter 2008/2009 Online Edition: Part the Second The second installment of our Winter 2008/2009 Online Edition is out in the world and illuminating computer screens! Check out interviews with Anne Fadiman and Mark McMorris, articles on David Foster Wallace and James Baldwin, and reviews of Jack Spicer, Susan Sontag, Roberto Bolano, Deb Olin Unferth, Ross Campbell, Francine Prose, Geoffrey Hartman, and many more... Part One, of course, also remains available for your enjoyment. Thanks for reading! 6. Connecting to Our Heritage Sunday, March 8, 2009 3:30-5:30PM WSU Vancouver Administration Building (VADM) 110 Light refreshments will be served. Admission and parking are free. On March 8 First Families of Vancouver's African American Community will present "Connecting to Our Heritage," a celebration of Black history and culture in song, dance, and the spoken word. The program will honor local and national heroes of color and highlight First Families, an NAACP-sponsored community project documenting the stories of African Americans who moved to the city during World War II. This public event is free and all are welcome; I encourage faculty to offer extra credit opportunities for students to attend. Please post and share the attached program flier. For more information about the First Families project, visit http://sites.google.com/site/firstfamiliesvancouver. I'll see you on March 8! Melissa Melissa E. E. Williams, M.A. Managing Editor, Northwest Passage Education Department Washington State University Vancouver 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue Vancouver, WA 98686 meewilliams@vancouver.wsu.edu 7. Irradiated Poets Retirement Party After ten years of orange jumpsuits and cooling towers it's time to realize our half life and hang up the suits for a while (no one says we can't unretire?). Please join the Irradiated Poets and friends at the Lucky Lab Brewery on March 28th for some poetry, beers, food and maybe a few tears, as we say goodbye to one of the seminal poetry groups of the northwest, and possibly even the world! When: March 28th, from 4-9pm Where: Lucky Lab Brewery, 915 SE Hawthorne, Banquet room Food and Drink: We will supply drink tickets and food platters. Whatever is left of our dues will be donated to Street Roots What to bring: Yourself, some poems, a thirst for beer and a healthy appetite. Please bring a guest or significant other. RSVP (For example: Yourself, plus 1 guest): By March 16th. We will not accommodate for your thirst and hunger otherwise. Thanks to all of our members and friends for ten great years! Much Love, Joe Wheeler 8. 03/05/2009 06:00 PM - First Thursday at Show and Tell Gallery * 625 NW Everett Street Portland, US Cost: FREE Join us for "Feeling: a Touching Show"...cookies, wine, and touchy fun from 6-9 p.m. Enjoy ongoing music and poetry performances by: Gary Aker, Brittany Baldwin, Patrick Bocarde, Eric McEuen, and Rick J Featuring visual art by: Rage Anders, Melissa Armstrong, Dave Benz, Brittle Star, Nicolas Hall, James Honzik, Chris Ives, Elizabeth Kuzmovich, Richard Schemmerer, Katie Simpson, Anna Todaro, Robin Upton, and Cathie Joy Young. SUBMISSION CALLS from Michael Nicoloff: THE WILD: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS The human animal distinguishes itself from the common animal by driving cars and baking pies, sleeping in beds and slurping strawberry juliuses. The human animal keeps household pets like the sphinx cat, the chihuahua and the canary, while fearing panthers, spiders and other underminers of civilization. The human animal defines its borders with and against natural space, cutting paths through the wilderness to build homes and roads, and sprouting seeds on windowsills. Civilization makes incursions into the wild, and the wild makes incursions into civilization. The Wild is a project that investigates ideas about animals, wilderness, nature and their intersections with humans and culture. We have questions: What do we mean when we use the word wilderness? What is animal intelligence and/or emotion to humans? Where is the porous border between civilization and nature? Why do you love Fluffy so much? Please help us answer these questions, and ask some more. The Wild is a journal of literature and art. We are currently open to submissions of poetry, fiction, essays, and criticism around the theme of animals, wilderness, household pets, nature/culture, protozoa, parasites, etc. Submissions, questions and queries can be sent to the.wild.editors@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is May 15, 2009. Please feel free to re-post this call for submissions. -- Alex Dumont & Laura Jaramillo, Editors