POETRY E-NEWSLETTER FOR JUNE 2009

Poets and poetry lovers, Summer is here, and poetry is in the air! As always, the PNW is positively brimming with events guaranteed to make you sweat and cry and beg for air conditioning. Allow me to begin by telling you about a few items near and dear to my heart. I’d like to announce an exciting event: “Words,” a show at Angst Gallery that will feature collaborations between poets, songwriters, and other artists. I am seeking poets and musicians who would like to perform during the opening reception on September 4. See item number 1 below for details on how to submit art for the show, or how to be matched up with a partner-in-crime. I can also send you a PDF file of the entry form if you’d like. On June 10, I will be among those who will help Sage Cohen celebrate her fantastic new book, Writing the Life Poetic, at the Vancouver Barnes & Noble, a great resource for new and experienced writers alike. I am proud to be among those who Sage consulted while preparing the book, and she has very graciously asked some of us to share the mic with her that night. See item number 2 below for more details. I am also writing a monthly blog on poetics and community for Sage’s companion e-zine, also available at http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/. Let me know if you want to read a copy of the e-zine, or just send Sage an email and get on the list. Sage Cohen is a shining example of the generosity I called for at last month’s open mic: a warm, open, talented person who is always thinking of creative ways to spread the word and get as many people as possible involved in our poetry community. And of course, as always, I am really looking forward to: Open Mic Poetry hosted by Christopher Luna 7:00pm Thursday, June 11, 2009 (& every second Thursday) Cover to Cover Books 1817 Main Street, Vancouver McLoughlin Blvd. & Main Street “always all ages and uncensored” For more info call 514-0358 or 694-9653 christopherjluna@gmail.com http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com With our featured reader, Jeff Lair: Seattle area poet Jeff Lair will read from his two lavishly illustrated books, TALL GRASS and BUCKING AND BRAYING AT THE DARK EDGE, both of which will be available at the reading for $15 each. His often humorous writings turn out poetry's pockets for the spare change of consciousness clinking against the keys of life's dissonant chords where he discovers the sweeter harmonies hidden. Laugh and cry, give death the finger. Don’t miss him! *if* I roll up the living room rug, remove it, will the cat still puke? Jeff Lair POETRY E-NEWSLETTER FOR JUNE 2009 (compiled by Christopher Luna) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. First Friday Artwalk in Vancouver June 5 Submission Call: WORDS 2. Writing the Life Poetic Reading at Barnes & Noble Vancouver with Sage Cohen and Friends June 10 3. Upcoming readings featuring Judith Arcana 4. Show and Tell Gallery Events June 1-15 5. Mountain Writers Series Columbia Gorge Writers Conference June 19-21 6. Green Poems Contest Guidelines 1. From Leah Jackson, Director of Angst Gallery: You are invited to attend the First Friday Artwalk Reception Hosted By 1220 Main Street Restaurant and Bar 1220 Main Street Corner of 12th and MainStreet First Independent Bank Building Vancouver, WA 98660 360.448.2020 www.1220main.com Friday, June 5th 5:00 - 7:00pm (please feel free to share this invitation with others - everyone is welcome) A free, fun evening of wine, hors d'oeuvres and guided tours of Vancouver's Fine Art Galleries! Come discover the art enthusiast in you! Please RSVP to Kristy Weaver at 360-735-3707 or firstfriday.artwalk@yahoo.com by June 4, 2009 Doing what you love is also good for you. Community Choices and Steps to a Healthier Clark County reminds us that: "Walking is for All Reasons and for All Seasons" Participating in First Friday Artwalk adds healthy steps to your life. ************************************************************ WORDS A juried show of art inspired by words (or words inspired by art) Have you been inspired by a word, a phrase, a speech, or a song? Have you written a poem, story, or song inspired by a work of art? All media are welcome, including the written word. Angst Gallery is currently accepting submissions for a juried show exploring the power of words. Accepted work will be on display in Angst Gallery for the month of September 2009. Work submitted and accepted must be available from August 24 – September 27, 2009. Entry Deadline is July 31. Show runs September 4-27. Opening night, September 4, will feature a live collaborative project. Are you interested in collaborating to create such a piece? Contact Angst Gallery by Saturday May 30 to be connected with another artist. How to enter: Fill out attached entry form and include a $20 jury fee made payable to Angst Gallery. Include up to 3 images that best represent each piece. A maximum of 3 pieces may be submitted. Images may be photos, slides, or digital images on CDR. These will be returned if you include a self-addressed stamped envelope. For further questions please email leah.angstgallery@gmail.com Official rules and regulations Entry form must be completed and returned with the $20 fee. Work submitted must be ready to hang if selected. Entries must be received by July 31. Artists will be notified by August 14 if accepted. Work must be at Angst Gallery by August 24. All art must be delivered to Angst Gallery and picked up when the show ends. If art is being shipped, return shipping must be included. Art that is not picked up 30 days after the show ends becomes property of Angst Gallery and may be sold (unless prior arrangements are made). Artists will receive 60% of the sale price of their work that is sold during the show. Angst Gallery will collect a 40% commission. An artist reception will be held on September 4 from 5-9pm. Angst Gallery 1015 Main St Vancouver WA 98660 360.253.1742 www.angstgallery.com Name______________________________________________ Address____________________________________________ City__________________State_________Zipcode__________ Email Address________________________________________ Phone number_______________________________________ Title #1_____________________________________________ Title #2_____________________________________________ Title #3_____________________________________________ Angst Gallery 1015 Main St Vancouver WA 98660 360.253.1742 Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat 12-5pm (or by appointment) 2. From Sage Cohen: I'll be taking the show on the road in June to discuss Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry in Newport, OR and Vancouver, WA! Come on out and join me, won't you? This Tuesday, June 2, I'll be leading a Writers-on-Writing Workshop at the monthly Willamette Writers meeting in Newport. We'll explore what it means to live and write a poetic life--and will do a few exercises to prime your poetry pump. Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. Oregon Chapter of Willamette Writers Writers-on-Writing Workshop: Writing the Life Poetic Newport Public Library McEntee Room 35 NW Nye St. Newport, OR For more information, contact Sue Lick at suelick@casco.net or Dorothy Blackcrow Mack at dmack@netportnet.com. * * * * * Next Wednesday, June 10, I'll be joined by seven Writing the Life Poetic contributors as we celebrate the publication of Writing the Life Poetic at Barnes & Noble, Vancouver, WA. You'll hear excerpts from the book as well as wisdom and poetry from: Lane Browning, Dale Favier, Sara Guest, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, Shawn Sorensen and Steve Williams. The event will be hosted by the one and only Shawn Sorensen, master of ceremonies. Wednesday, June 10, 7:00 p.m. Book launch reading and celebration featuring Sage Cohen and special guest contributors to Writing the Life Poetic Barnes & Noble Vancouver 7700 NE 4th Plain Blvd. Vancouver, WA (easily accessible from both major freeways) For more information please email Shawn Sorensen at crm2679@bn.com. 3. From Judith Arcana: Come to these independent bookstores for evening readings by Judith Arcana from her new chapbook 4th Period English poems written in the voices of high school students talking about immigration arguing and thinking together about those always-attached themes: race, nation, class, border & language June 4, 7pm at Looking Glass Books in SE Portland and/or July 9, 7pm at Cover to Cover Books in Vancouver, WA (with its regionally renowned Second Thursday open mic series) Both readings include work-in-progress; pick one date or come to both - mark your calendar now! Reading and writing are sustainable and organic. Support your local independent booksellers to maintain the community you need. for more info: http://juditharcana.com/index.php/arc/events/ and http://juditharcana.com/index.php/writing/book/4th_period_english 4. From Melissa Sillitoe: Hi Friends! The Show and Tell Gallery is located at Everett Station Lofts: 625 NW Everett Street #231—a working/ living art space community in Portland. Featuring visual, literary, and musical programming, Show and Tell Gallery Productions hosts free artistic events in public places and promotes collaborations between indie artists. Find out more about Show and Tell Gallery: www.showandtellgallery.org or Keep up with event listings through Myspace: www.myspace.com/showandtellgalleryproductions or Check out reviews of our events at: http:/www.brokenhours.net/blog Show and Tell Gallery Productions 6/1/2009-6/15/2009 Mark your JUNE Calendar: 6/1/2009, 7:00pm, 3 Friends Mondays Caffeinated Art Series: Jason McBeth Friends Coffee House, 201 SE 12th Avenue Portland, US Cost:free The Lightning Bug Romantics are 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam runner-up Jason McBeth and Michael Roberts, author of the Puschcart Prize nominated collection "No More Poems About The Moon" (2008 Write Bloody Press). Teaming together to eradicate the lines between page and stage poetry, these two touring performance poets are polar opposites. Peanut butter and Jelly and siamese twins. Michael Roberts is trustworthy, heroically humble, and a recognized saint in seven different religions in 32 languages. Jason McBeth, on the other hand, is criminally insane. Formerly an award winning classical theater actor, McBeth grew up as a ’ward of the state’ of California, an upbringing which fostered in him a keen empathy for the plights of the downtrodden and dispossessed. He tackles these issues and more with a ferocious energy and passion that explode upon the page and stage. For more information, audio and writing samples, tour dates, and booking contact info, please visit www.myspace.com/lightningbugromanticstour or call 310-728-9904 Carrie Seitzinger has been featured in poetry venues throughout Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego. She self-published her first book of poetry, The Dots Don’t Connect, and one of her poems will be included in this year’s addition of the literary publication Mosaic. She recently has fallen in love with and moved to Portland, Or. 6/1/2009, 8:15pm, Show and Tell Open Mic Three Friends Coffee House 201 SE 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, US Cost: FREE You know, you know--this is the Portland community's open mic. With the casual comfort of the coffee shop as your backdrop, and a welcoming audience of artists and appreciators, standing on that stage is everything thrilling. You will be pod-cast so later you can show and tell with all your friends who couldn't make it. In the meantime, you'll enjoy the pleasure of performing with other passionate people and maybe make new friends in the process. Amateurs and verbal veterans alike are in high demand every Monday, so just jump and come do it. You know you're a star, so show us! 6/5/2009, 6:00pm, First Friday and Three Friends Coffee House 201 SE 12th Avenue Portland, US Cost:free Sarah Cruse is this month’s exhibiting artist! Check out her art and enjoy live music by Exosphere at 8 p.m. 6/8/2009, 7:00pm, Caffeinated Art Series: Casey Bush 3 Friends Coffee House, 201 SE 12th Avenue Portland, US Cost:free Casey Bush is a senior editor, book reviews and poetry, for The Bear Deluxe Magazine, the Pacific Northwest’s finest environmental arts magazine, and is Non-fiction editor for the on-line magazine www.WritersDojo.org. Casey will be accompanied by multi-percussionist and didgeridoo master Charles Sorgie. Bill Shively is bringing a host of new material and no musicians (save you in the audience) from Astoria. On the menu are a couple of participation pieces, a broadside about Central Oregon and some frogs. Leuth Novotny nee Bartels (recently married & 8-mo pregnant) has been on extended performance hiatus. The current massage school student & kitchen-witch-crafty domestic goddess-in-training has a variety of art projects in development. Her writing projects involve longer works & burlesque theater concepts, so the artist will be reading excerpts from a multiversal poem-in-perpetual-progress (detailing her love affair with the hyphen!). 6/8/2009, 8:15pm, Show and Tell Open Mic Three Friends Coffee House 201 SE 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, US Cost: FREE You know, you know--this is the Portland community's open mic. With the casual comfort of the coffee shop as your backdrop, and a welcoming audience of artists and appreciators, standing on that stage is everything thrilling. You will be pod-cast so later you can show and tell with all your friends who couldn't make it. In the meantime, you'll enjoy the pleasure of performing with other passionate people and maybe make new friends in the process. Amateurs and verbal veterans alike are in high demand every Monday, so just jump and come do it. You know you're a star, so show us! 6/15/2009, 7:00pm, Caffeinated Art Series: Blind Dates 201 SE 12th Avenue Portland, US Cost:free This week we match up James Williams; Kevin Nelson and local poet and open mic hostess, Jamondria Harris. Guest 1 "Jamondria Harris is a poet writing in Portland, Or. She is fighting an often difficult battle to write poems with real objects in them while not taking the "I" for granted.She is fascinated by the surreal aspects of things both outrageous and mundane, and is also the current host of the Alberta St. Broken Word poetry open mic on Tuesdays at the Alberta St. Pub." James Williams makes music that is a mixture of awkward genius and twisted humor that transcends genres and comes solely from the mind of one man, his guitar, his voice, and his computer. He writes: "I am one man in my apartment recording my songs on Garage Band. Kevin Nelson writes poems but prefers to call himself a poet since that’s what his poems do. He has avoided publication to date. As a poet, he crafts clean and tight imagery and delivers it with a powerful punch. On stage he has natural presence and is recognized around Portland and at other random open mic nights in other random states as a rare type of poet performer. He not only writes, he breathes the words in from the page and releases them into life. Show and Tell Open Mic, 6/15/2009 Three Friends Coffee House 201 SE 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, US Cost: FREE You know, you know--this is the Portland community's open mic. With the casual comfort of the coffee shop as your backdrop, and a welcoming audience of artists and appreciators, standing on that stage is everything thrilling. You will be pod-cast so later you can show and tell with all your friends who couldn't make it. In the meantime, you'll enjoy the pleasure of performing with other passionate people and maybe make new friends in the process. Amateurs and verbal veterans alike are in high demand every Monday, so just jump and come do it. You know you're a star, so show us! Where else is Show and Tell? * become a "Friend" of Show and Tell on Myspace; stay informally informed about indie art in our community: www.myspace.com/showandtellgalleryproductions If you missed Mondays, you can simply click this link and check out the talent that happened on Show and Tell's Three Friends Stage during previous weeks: http://www.brokenhours.net/podcasts/3F/3F.html Hugs, Melissa Sillitoe, Host/Producer and Nikia Cummings, Marketing Coordinator Show and Tell Gallery: “Art. Caffeine. Collaboration. Good times.” www.showandtellgallery.org 5. June 19-June 21, Mountain Writers Series Columbia Gorge Writers Conference will be held at Columbia Gorge Community College’s Hood River-Indian Creek Campus and will feature award-winning authors William Kittredge, Annick Smith, Vern Rutsala, Tom Crawford, Monica Drake, Ceiridwen Terrill and Gerald Costanzo, the Director of Carnegie Mellon University Press. In addition to three days of workshops and classes, the public may attend readings both Friday and Saturday evenings at the Columbia Center for the Arts, located at 215 Cascade Street, in Hood River. For workshop descriptions and registration, go to www.mountainwriters.org Contact person: Tim Schell at tschell@cgcc.cc.or.us (541) 506-6171. Mountain Writers Series 2804 SE 27th Avenue, #2 Portland OR 97202 503.232.4517 pdxmws@mountainwriters.org 6. Green Poems Contest http://www.virginiabookarts.org/2009/04/green-poems-submit-your-green-poem/ posted by Kevin McFadden: Green. It’s the color of our money and the banner of our environment. It can be drab as olive or sharp as spring. Green Poems is a contest whose name says it all…but not so much that you can’t further the conversation. Envy? Pastures? Miles? Acres? We don’t mind where you take it–the ecological, the economical, the ecologonomical—just not too far afield of the low 500 nms of wavelength. Supported by Poetry Daily and the Virginia Arts of the Book Center, Green Poems is a contest whose prize is a limited edition letterpress broadside and an appearance on Poetry Daily’s internationally reviewed website. Grand Prize: 30 limited edition, letterpressed broadsides, created by artists at the VABC, and special publication of the winning poem on Poetry Daily (poems.com). Contest Guidelines Submission size: Two poems per submission. Each submission should have a separate entry form. Multiple submissions may be sent in the same entry packet, with appropriate forms and fees enclosed. Entry fee: $15 per submission made payable to the “Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.” (The VABC is a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.) Entry form: Get form by clicking HERE. For a printed form, send an SASE to: Green Poems-Form Request / Virginia Foundation for the Humanities /145 Ednam Drive / Charlottesville, VA 22903. Submissions received without a completed entry form will not be eligible. Eligibility: Contest open to any poet(s) living and writing in the United States who are not employees, affiliates, or students of Poetry Daily, or the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Rights to works must reside with the submitting poets, though they may have been previously published. Poems must be original work by eligible submitters. Considerations: No poem should be no longer than one 8.5”x11” page in 12 pt font. Poems should be stapled together and submitted “blind,” with identifying information appearing only on the entry form. Winning poems and honorable mentions may be made available online for a limited time on the VABC website, pending permission of the author. Deadline: Submissions must be postmarked by July 1, 2009. Notification: Winners will be announced in September 2009. Judges: Poets and artists of the Virginia Arts of the Book Center. Selections will be made on literary merit, engagement of theme, and visual interest as a broadside. Judges are poets whose backgrounds are in publishing and book arts. Each has editorial experience with nationally recognized journals, anthologies, and/or prize committees, including the Virginia Quarterly Review, Best New Poets, Little Big Form, and recent VABC Companion Poems, Belle Letters, and Taste ‘Test contests.

Another great night at Cover to Cover Books

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been present at David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg’s reading at the second Thursday open mic at Cover to Cover understand what a special evening it was. Michael shared poems from his new collection, “CHOOSE,” a gorgeous, wise, and profound selection of some of his best work. I was deeply moved by the ferocity of his perception, the deep well of his heart, and his jazzman’s facility with the language. At Cover to Cover, Michael’s reading was confident and moving. He revealed himself to be a compassionate and principled man, especially in his descriptions of the time he spent caring for ailing poet and zen master Philip Whalen, whom Rothenberg cared for in his final days. One of the poems told the story of Whalen being kicked out of a zen hospice center for not “actively dying.” Rothenberg has edited two volumes of Whalen’s poetry, including his collected poems. I strongly recommend that you seek out the work of both men. David Meltzer is beatific, warm, open soul with a love for poetry that was evident in both his astounding energy and his presence during the open mic. Meltzer was charming, hilarious, and entertaining as he read great pieces such as “The Red Shoes” and “Bark,” a funny polemic about dogs. The reading was also an opportunity for me to implore people to read Meltzer’s “Beat Thing,” a great long poem about the Beat generation from a completely different perspective. Meltzer also graciously agreed to read Robin Blaser’s poem “Letters to Freud” with me, as a way to pay tribute to the recently deceased elder poet. It was a long night, and we heard from 18 readers. A few highlights: Toni Partington, Constance Hall, and Eileen Elliott read a poem of Eileen’s that she had arranged for three voices; Zoe (aka Princess Rock ‘n’ Roll Cupcake) played her pink guitar; Brett Jourgensen banged out a few punk songs on acoustic guitar as his baby bobbed her head in ecstacy; Kyle thrust his hips and read poems that he had written on his hand while working at plaid pantry. As often happens, there were several new readers, and a few people who were reading poetry in front of an audience for the first time. It is an honor to create a space in which people who are taking this big step can feel comfortable enough to do so. Of course, the love they receive from the Cover to Cover crowd is a huge part of this. We also noticed that there were phrases and themes that recurred throughout the night, such as “connect the dots.” Here is a poem I wrote that borrows material from a few of the readers who participated that night, including David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, Mary Tindall, and Kyle Congdon: Beware of Definitions A Poem to be Read with One Hand for David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, & the gang at Cover to Cover Books I declare the Dawn of a New Age of eternal silliness, and mushrooms, and punk rock banged out on an acoustic guitar actively living actively dying our profound scribblings connect the dots arouse the senses awaken the pink guitar strummer in each of us

and make us forsake our day jobs get it down— on a receipt or the inside of your hand, if you must and when you are exhausted at the end of a week spent toiling for The Man rest easy in the open, outstretched palm of your tribe step up to the mic it is completely safe we love you it is OK to speak freely here you have found us Welcome Christopher Luna Vancouver, WA May 14, 2009 Thank you to all those who participated, and a special thanks to those who made contributions that allowed us to defray the costs of David and Michael’s expenses: Mel Sanders of Cover to Cover Books, Nora Nichols, Jim Finley, Lori Loranger, Jim Templeton, Catherine Warner, Judith Arcana, Karen Havnaer, David Ronen, Judith Arcana, David Rizzi, David James Randolph and David Madgalene of New Way Media, Leah Jackson of Angst Gallery, Shawn and Donna Sorensen, Cathi Simmons, Jim Martin, Michelle Bloomquist, Constance Hall, Kyle Congdon, Toni Partington, and Eileen Elliott. I encourage all of you to check out Michael Rothenberg’s www.bigbridge.org and http://www.meltzerville.com/, and to tell your friends about David and Michael’s upcoming tour, Rockpile on the Road. Christopher Luna May 25, 2009

THIS THURSDAY - Poets David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg visit Vancouver, WA

California poets David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg visit Vancouver for two events on May 14. Contact: Christopher Luna 360-694-9653 christopherjluna@gmail.com I want to thank all of those in the community whose donations made these events possible: Mel Sanders of Cover to Cover Books, Nora Nichols, April Younglove, Jim Finley, Lori Loranger, Jim Templeton, Catherine Warner, Judith Arcana, Karen Havnaer, David Ronen, Judith Arcana, David Rizzi, David James Randolph and David Madgalene of New Way Media, Leah Jackson of Angst Gallery, Shawn and Donna Sorensen, Toni Partington, and Eileen Elliott. May 14th, 1 pm - David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg talk and reading “ROCKPILE ON THE ROAD: Collaboration and The Troubadour Tradition in the 21st Century” Columbia Writers Series Clark College (http://www.clark.edu/) Penguin Union Building Rm 161 1933 Fort Vancouver Way Vancouver, WA 98663 ROCKPILE ON THE ROAD: Collaboration and The Troubadour Tradition in the 21st Century: Beat generation dissident poet/musician David Meltzer and poet/songwriter and editor of Bigbridge.org Michael Rothenberg talk about the evolution of song and poetry throughout history, censorship and activism, and the role of poetry and song as an instrument of change. May 14th, 7pm- David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg reading and open mic hosted by Christopher Luna 7:00pm Thursday, May 14, 2009 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 DAVID MELTZER A leading poet of the Beat Movement, David Meltzer was raised in Brooklyn during the War years; performed on radio & early TV on the Horn & Hardart Children¹s Hour. Was exiled to L.A. at 16 & at 17 enrolled in an ongoing academy w/ artists Wallace Berman, George Herms, Robert Alexander, Cameron; migrated to San Francisco in l957 for higher education w/ peers & maestros like Jack Spicer, Robert Duncan, Joanne Kyger, Diane DiPrima, Michael McClure, Lew Welch, Philip Whalen, Jack Hirschman, a cast of thousands all living extra-ordinary ordinary lives. Beat Thing [La Alameda Press, 2004] won the Josephine Miles PEN Award, 2005. Was editor and interviewer for San Francisco Beat: Talking With The Poets [City Lights, 2001]. With Steve Dickison, co-edits Shuffle Boil, a magazine devoted to music in all its appearances & disappearances. 2005 saw the publication of David’s Copy: The Selected Poems of David Meltzer by Viking/Penguin, a collection spanning over forty years of work that paints a vivid portrait of Meltzer’s life as a poet through poems taken from thirty of his previous books of poetry. With a versatile style and playful tone, Meltzer offers his unique vision of civilization with a range of juxtapositions from Jewish mysticism and everyday life to jazz and pop culture. In 1967, Vanguard Records released The Serpent Power, a collaborative effort featuring the poems of David Meltzer, which would appear that same year in print in The Dark Continent from Oyez. The Serpent Power was not simply a spoken word album, but poetry made into rock 'n' roll. It featured David Meltzer on guitar and harmonica, Denny Ellis on rhythm guitar, David Stenson on bass, John Payne on organ, Clark Coolidge on drums, and vocals by David and Tina Meltzer. The final track, "Endless Tunnel," also featured J. P. Pickens on the electrified 5-string banjo. It is this long and sophisticated track that we present to you here. The Serpent Power is now available on a double-album CD with Poet Song, another poetic-rock collaboration by David and Tina Meltzer. Rolling Stone says about David Meltzer and Serpent Power: "Think of the Serpent Power as the Bay Area's version of the Velvet Underground. Led by poet David Meltzer, with Meltzer on untutored post-folk guitar, Meltzer and his wife, Tina, singing his songs, poet Clark Coolidge clattering behind on drums and the soon-vanished John Payne fixing a hole on organ, their music was minimalist folk rock with noise - the climactic, electric-banjo augmented "Endless Tunnel" goes on for thirteen minutes. Some songs began as poems, others didn't, but all feature notable lyrics - some romantic, some gruff, some both. And all but a few are graced by excellent tunes, none more winsome than that of the lost classic "Up and Down." For more info visit www.meltzerville.com or http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/meltzer/index.html MICHAEL ROTHENBERG is a poet, songwriter, and editor, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Rothenberg received his Bachelor of Arts in English at UNC-Chapel Hill. Afterward, he moved to California in 1976, where he began Shelldance Nursery, an orchid and bromeliad nursery. In 1993 he received his MA in Poetics at New College of California. In 1989, Rothenberg and artist Nancy Davis began Big Bridge Press, a fine print literary press, publishing works by Jim Harrison, Joanne Kyger, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen and others, and Big Bridge webzine, www.bigbridge.org. Rothenberg is co-editor and co-founder of Jack Magazine, a literary publication that relates to, but expands beyond, the beat generation. His books include Unhurried Vision, Paris Journals, What The Fish Saw, Nightmare Of The Violins, Man/Woman (w/Joanne Kyger), Favorite Songs and most recently CHOOSE, Selected Poems (Big Bridge Press). Editorial projects include Overtime, Selected Poems by Philip Whalen, As Ever, Selected Poems by Joanne Kyger, Way More West, Selected Poems of Edward Dorn, and The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen. Rothenberg received his MA in Poetry and Popular Song. His songs have appeared in Hollywood Pictures' Shadowhunter and Black Day, Blue Night, and most recently, TriStar Pictures' Outside Ozona. Other songs have been recorded on CDs including: The Darkest Part of The Night and Born Too Late by Bob Malone, Difficult Woman by Australian Rhythm and Blues legend Renee Geyer, Global Blues Deficit by Cody Palance, and The Woodys by The Woodys. Rothenberg's 2005 CD collaboration with singer Elya Finn, was praised by poet David Meltzer as "fabulous-all [the] songs sound like Weimar Lenya & postwar Nico, lushly affirmative at the same time being edged w/ cosmic weltschmertz. An immensely tasty production." For more info go to http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/rothenberg_m/

Five free film showings and lectures at U of O

Five free film showings and lectures by Steven Feld Trotter Visiting Professor, Univerisity of Oregon Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Music, University of New Mexico May 18 - 22. Free and open to the public; all events at University of Oregon. Monday, May 18, 7:00 pm 221 McKenzie Film showing and discussion:"Hallelujah!" from the trilogy "Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra (Ghana)" Legendary drummer Ghanaba and the Winneba Youth Choir perform theirunique talking drums interpretation of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus; plusa conversation with Ghanaba about Africa, jazz, and European music. Tuesday, May 19, 7:00 pm 221 McKenzie Film showing and discussion:"Accra Trane Station" from the trilogy "Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra (Ghana)" Nii Noi Nortey (Ghanaian musician, afrifone instrument inventor, andsculptor) and the African legacy of John Coltrane. Wednesday, May 20, 7:00 pm 221 McKenzie Film showing and discussion:"Por Por" from the trilogy "Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra (Ghana)" How a union of transport workers invented a funeral music from antiqueklaxon car horns, with resonances of swing, bebop, and the New Orleans jazz funeral. Thursday, May 21, 1:00 pm Student Forum. Beall Concert Hall. Lecture: "Acoustic Ecology of Bells and Birds" The significance of bell and bird sounds in Papua New Guinea and six European countries. Friday, May 22, 3:15 pm Proctor 41, Knight Library Lecture: "Schizophonia and its Discontents: Revisiting Brian Eno & David Byrne's 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'." Issues of free speech and censorship in the creative work of pop stars David Byrne and Brian Eno. *************************************************************************** Mark Levy Instructor of Ethnomusicology School of Music and Dance 1225 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403 U.S.A. email: mlevy@uoregon.edu office phone: 541-346-2852 fax: 541-346-0723

Mary Rose Allred and the Lusaka Art Project

This weekend Toni and I attended a very special event organized by our friend Mary Rose Allred. Mary Rose is a senior at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (http://arts.vansd.org/). For her senior project, she planned and performed in a benefit concert and silent auction for the Lusaka Art Project, which brings art to schoolchildren in Zambia. We were entertained by the Mark Simon Trio (http://www.marksimonmusic.com), a hot band featuring Mark Simon on piano, Leah Hinchcliff on upright bass, and Dave Averre on drums. The concert took place in the high school’s black box theatre, which had been decorated to resemble a nightclub. I wrote the following poem while listening to the trio: we remain - a prayer in honor of impermanence if people realized that each of those we love is as fleeting as the notes played by a jazz trio in a darkened room it would not be possible to take a single moment for granted people don’t value what is “always” there unaware that “always” is utter fiction pure nonsense Christopher Luna May 2, 2009 Later Mary Rose sang three songs with the trio. She has an absolutely lovely voice, but what really struck me was the control she exhibited over her voice, a quality one doesn’t often find in high school-aged singers. Then, when Mary Rose sang “My Funny Valentine,” I had chills, and felt as if I was truly feeling the emotion behind the song for the first time. When she sang that song, it broke my heart wide open, and I wept. What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Here is what Mary Rose had to say about the Lusaka Art Project:

“The Lusaka Art Project brings art supplies and instruction to students in Zambia. This work is a huge blessing in the K - 9 students lives, the opportunity for Artistic expression. The students it will be benefitting are orphans (or have lost at least one of their parents), victims of AIDS, malaria, and other disease. The Lusaka Art Project has also: - helped build a studio space for the kids to learn - sold their art work to help them economically and also to bring them more supplies. - sistered with the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics so to create an artistic relationship and liason to bring a local awareness of this cause. In Zambia there is a rich artistic culture, but often few tools to express this creativity. The Lusaka Art Project is a way to allow their creativity to unfold, to help their emotionally sanity, and to help the students and their families economically. If they would like to donate they can call me at (360) 852-4394 or e-mail me at maryroseallred@hotmail.com.”

Please consider donating to the Lusaka Art Project.

I admire Mary Rose for her musical talent, for organizing this event, for caring enough to make her senior project a benefit concert, and for believing in the power of art to bring people together and change their lives.

Congratulations, Mary Rose!

POETRY NEWSLETTER FOR MAY 2009

Hello poets and poetry lovers, Hope you enjoyed National Poetry Month! There certainly were enough ways to celebrate it in the PNW! Two recent poems and a selection of my postcard collage art have been published by Full of Crow, which is edited by Aleathia Drehmer and Lynn Alexander: http://fullofcrow.com/christopherluna.html. For a review of my art work, go to http://fullofcrow.com/crowreviews/2009/04/christopherlunainfull-of-crow-galleries/#more-22 Please check out the following profile by Tacoma poet Tammy Robacker which appeared in her blog for the Weekly Volcano. It includes an excerpt from my poem, "Burning Word Triad:" http://weeklyvolcano.typepad.com/spew/2009/04/poematacoma-lunas-literati.html Recently I added links to Sage Cohen’s Writing the Life Poetic Blog (http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/, for which I am one of the guest bloggers), David James Randolph’s New Way Media (http://homepage.mac.com/davidjrandolph1/newayfilmfest/Menu11.html), my cousin Reggie Marra and Marianela Medrano-Marra (http://www.integraljourneys.com/), Whidbey Island painter Rob Schouten (http://robschoutengallery.com), and Lit Fuse (http://www.litfuse.us/). I also added links to Jason Levis, and Rob Ewing, two talented musicians with whom I collaborated when the three of us were students at Naropa (‘97-‘99). Jason is an amazing drummer, and Rob plays a mean trombone. Also be sure to check out the link to Rob’s band Disappear Incompletely (http://www.disappearincompletely.com/live/), which plays electrojazz arrangements of Radiohead songs. I have also posted some new Ghost Town poems. My chapbook Ghost Town, USA is still available through Cover to Cover Books, Angst Gallery, or directly from me, for six dollars. Congratulations to Victory Schouten and the Whidbey Island community for the Brave New Words Festival, which was a great success. One of the things that made it more than worth the drive was all the poets I heard whom I hadn’t heard before. Whidbey Island continues to be the place to be every Spring. But the big news is that we have succeeded in bringing David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg to Vancouver, WA. I have spent a considerable amount of time putting this together, and am very relieved that everything seems to be working out. Unfortunately, Joanne Kyger won’t be able to join them. I encourage you to read her work, and to attend her readings, if you are able. We are still looking for help covering Meltzer and Rothenberg’s expenses. Many thanks to those who have already donated money, time, or services: If you can help, please contact me right away. If you would like to write a check, send it to me at 919 U St. Apt. K Vancouver, WA 98661. May 14th, 1 pm - David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg talk and reading “ROCKPILE ON THE ROAD: Collaboration and The Troubadour Tradition in the 21st Century” Columbia Writers Series Clark College (www.clark.edu). Penguin Union Building Rm 161 Clark College 1933 Fort Vancouver Way Vancouver, WA 98663 ROCKPILE ON THE ROAD: Collaboration and The Troubadour Tradition in the 21st Century: Beat generation dissident poet/musician David Meltzer and poet/songwriter and editor of Bigbridge.org Michael Rothenberg talk about the evolution of song and poetry throughout history, censorship and activism, and the role of poetry and song as an instrument of change. May 14th, 7pm-David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg reading and open mic hosted by Christopher Luna 7:00pm Thursday, May 14, 2009 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 http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com DAVID MELTZER A leading poet of the Beat Movement, David Meltzer was raised in Brooklyn during the War years; performed on radio & early TV on the Horn & Hardart Children¹s Hour. Was exiled to L.A. at 16 & at 17 enrolled in an ongoing academy w/ artists Wallace Berman, George Herms, Robert Alexander, Cameron; migrated to San Francisco in l957 for higher education w/ peers & maestros like Jack Spicer, Robert Duncan, Joanne Kyger, Diane DiPrima, Michael McClure, Lew Welch, Philip Whalen, Jack Hirschman, a cast of thousands all living extra-ordinary ordinary lives. Beat Thing [La Alameda Press, 2004] won the Josephine Miles PEN Award, 2005. Was editor and interviewer for San Francisco Beat: Talking With The Poets [City Lights, 2001]. With Steve Dickison, co-edits Shuffle Boil, a magazine devoted to music in all its appearances & disappearances. 2005 saw the publication of David’s Copy: The Selected Poems of David Meltzer by Viking/Penguin, a collection spanning over forty years of work that paints a vivid portrait of Meltzer’s life as a poet through poems taken from thirty of his previous books of poetry. With a versatile style and playful tone, Meltzer offers his unique vision of civilization with a range of juxtapositions from Jewish mysticism and everyday life to jazz and pop culture. In 1967, Vanguard Records released The Serpent Power, a collaborative effort featuring the poems of David Meltzer, which would appear that same year in print in The Dark Continent from Oyez. The Serpent Power was not simply a spoken word album, but poetry made into rock 'n' roll. It featured David Meltzer on guitar and harmonica, Denny Ellis on rhythm guitar, David Stenson on bass, John Payne on organ, Clark Coolidge on drums, and vocals by David and Tina Meltzer. The final track, "Endless Tunnel," also featured J. P. Pickens on the electrified 5-string banjo. It is this long and sophisticated track that we present to you here. The Serpent Power is now available on a double-album CD with Poet Song, another poetic-rock collaboration by David and Tina Meltzer. Rolling Stone says about David Meltzer and Serpent Power: "Think of the Serpent Power as the Bay Area's version of the Velvet Underground. Led by poet David Meltzer, with Meltzer on untutored post-folk guitar, Meltzer and his wife, Tina, singing his songs, poet Clark Coolidge clattering behind on drums and the soon-vanished John Payne fixing a hole on organ, their music was minimalist folk rock with noise - the climactic, electric-banjo augmented "Endless Tunnel" goes on for thirteen minutes. Some songs began as poems, others didn't, but all feature notable lyrics - some romantic, some gruff, some both. And all but a few are graced by excellent tunes, none more winsome than that of the lost classic "Up and Down." For more info visit www.meltzerville.com or http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/meltzer/index.html MICHAEL ROTHENBERG is a poet, songwriter, and editor, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Rothenberg received his Bachelor of Arts in English at UNC-Chapel Hill. Afterward, he moved to California in 1976, where he began Shelldance Nursery, an orchid and bromeliad nursery. In 1993 he received his MA in Poetics at New College of California. In 1989, Rothenberg and artist Nancy Davis began Big Bridge Press, a fine print literary press, publishing works by Jim Harrison, Joanne Kyger, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen and others, and Big Bridge webzine, www.bigbridge.org. Rothenberg is co-editor and co-founder of Jack Magazine, a literary publication that relates to, but expands beyond, the beat generation. His books include Unhurried Vision, Paris Journals, What The Fish Saw, Nightmare Of The Violins, Man/Woman (w/Joanne Kyger), Favorite Songs and most recently CHOOSE, Selected Poems (Big Bridge Press). Editorial projects include Overtime, Selected Poems by Philip Whalen, As Ever, Selected Poems by Joanne Kyger, Way More West, Selected Poems of Edward Dorn, and The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen. Rothenberg received his MA in Poetry and Popular Song. His songs have appeared in Hollywood Pictures' Shadowhunter and Black Day, Blue Night, and most recently, TriStar Pictures' Outside Ozona. Other songs have been recorded on CDs including: The Darkest Part of The Night and Born Too Late by Bob Malone, Difficult Woman by Australian Rhythm and Blues legend Renee Geyer, Global Blues Deficit by Cody Palance, and The Woodys by The Woodys. Rothenberg's 2005 CD collaboration with singer Elya Finn, was praised by poet David Meltzer as "fabulous-all [the] songs sound like Weimar Lenya & postwar Nico, lushly affirmative at the same time being edged w/ cosmic weltschmertz. An immensely tasty production." For more info go to http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/rothenberg_m/ See you May 14, Christopher POETRY E-NEWSLETTER FOR MAY 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Sean Patrick Hill, Claire Rudy Foster, Paul Martone, and Charles Deemer at Blackbird Wine Shop (Portland) May 6 Give Mama the Mic (Portland) May 8 Jeff Lair at King’s Books (Tacoma, WA) May 8 Vashon Poetry Fest on Vashon Island, May 21-25 David Abel and Bev Dahlen (Portland) May 10 Poem-A-Tacoma: The Debut of Tacoma's NEW Poetry Anthology Solar Plate Intaglio by Barbara Mason, Poetry by Paulann Petersen May 6 – 31, Waterstone Gallery (Portland) Sage Cohen and Writing the Life Poetic contributors at the Lloyd Center (Portland) May 13 Poetry contests and submission calls 1. Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE 44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. Readers and performers interested in participating should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com with an expression of interest and sample work. The readers/performers for May 6 are Sean Patrick Hill, Claire Rudy Foster, Paul Martone, and Charles Deemer Sean Patrick Hill (http://theimaginedfield.blogspot.com/) is a writer and teacher living in Portland, Oregon. He earned his MA in Writing from Portland State University, where he won the Burnam Graduate Award. He received a grant from Regional Arts and Culture Council and residencies from Montana Artists Refuge, Fishtrap, and the Oregon State University Trillium Project. His poems appear or are forthcoming in Exquisite Corpse, elimae, diode, In Posse Review, Willow Springs, RealPoetik, New York Quarterly, and Quarter After Eight. He freelance writes for the Oregonian, Rain Taxi, and Fringe Magazine. His blog is theimaginedfield.blogspot.com. Claire Rudy Foster was born and raised south of the Mason-Dixon line. She came to Portland in 2001 to earn her BA from Reed College, and will begin in the MFA program at Pacific University this summer. Her stories have appeared in the Ink-Filled Page, The Benefactor, and other publications. She is at currently at work on her second novel. Claire lives with her husband and son in Southwest, within sight of a cemetery, the highway, and a red-tail hawk's nest. Paul Martone holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany. His short fiction appears in recent issues of the Saranac Review, the Stickman Review, and Fiddlehead. A core faculty member at The Northwest Academy, a progressive arts school in downtown Portland, Martone is currently at work on his first novel, The Last to Leave, and a graphic novel, Sacred Ink. Charles Deemer is the editor of Oregon Literary Review. His book SEVEN PLAYS was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. He teaches screenwriting at Portland State University. 2. Give Mama the Mic "Kicking off Mother's Day weekend with an evening of poetic relaxabration" Friday, May 8 7:00 pm Airplay Cafe 701 East Burnside www.airplaycafe.com Bring your best poems about motherhood, kick it with your mommy comrades and speak your art out! All mamas and mama poets welcome. 3. From Connie Walle: The City of Tacoma and Puget Sound Poetry Connection PRESENT The Distinguished Writer Series May 8th, 2009 7:00 p.m. Kings Books, 218 St. Helens, Tacoma Featuring: Jeff Lair Open mic follows. 4. Vashon Poetry Fest will celebrate a weekend of poets and poetry on Vashon Island, Thursday, May 21st through Monday, May 25th. With open mics, workshops, readings, and events, the Fest will be laced with plenty of food and drink, music, and fun. But, the real draw of the weekend will be the poetry with headliners Washington State Poet Laureate Samuel Green and award-winning Irish poet, Tony Curtis; mythologist, Michael Meade; and some of the best local and regional favorites. Both day and evening events are free or very reasonably priced “at the door.” An ideal getaway, relaxed and beautiful Vashon Island is easily reached by ferry (just minutes from Seattle, Tacoma, and the Kitsap Peninsula) and each venue will be just steps from the next in downtown Vashon. Check out vashonpoetryfest.com for information about this fun-filled, word-loving Memorial Day Weekend event, and call Stranger Than Fiction (408-7268), Vashon’s newest bookstore, to register for weekend workshops. 5. From: David Abel Spare Room presents Beverly Dahlen David Abel Sunday, May 10 7:30 pm Concordia Coffee House 2909 NE Alberta $5.00 suggested donation www.flim.com/spareroom spareroom@flim.com ============================================= Upcoming Readings May 17: Andrew Schelling & music by Michael Stirling June 4: Jim McCrary & James Yeary June 14: Anne Gorrick & Deborah Woodard July tba: Jennifer Bartlett & Sarah Mangold July 12: Farrah Field & Jared White August tba: Norma Cole & Lindsay Hill August 16: Graham Foust & Eric Baus ============================================= Beverly Dahlen was born in Portland in November, 1934, attended public schools there, and after the end of World War II, moved with her family to Eureka, California. In 1956, she resettled in San Francisco. Her first collection of poetry, Out of the Third, was published by Momo’s Press in 1974. Two chapbooks, A Letter at Easter (Effie’s Press) and The Egyptian Poems (Hipparchia Press) were followed in 1985 by the publication of A Reading 1-7 (Momo’s Press). Since then, three more volumes of A Reading have appeared, as well as the chapbook A-reading Spicer & Eighteen Sonnets (Chax Press). Her essay “Beauty: Another Reading” recently appeared in Crayon 5. Ms. Dahlen was a co-founder, with Kathleen Fraser and Frances Jaffer, of the feminist poetics newsletter (HOW)ever; in December of 2008 her work was honored by Small Press Traffic with their Lifetime Achievement Award. David Abel was born in Salt Lake City in November, 1956, and schooled there and in South Florida, Eastern California, the Mid-Hudson Valley, and the Rio Grande Valley. After tenures in New York City and Albuquerque (where he established the Bridge Bookshop, and Passages Bookshop & Gallery, respectively), he relocated to Portland in 1997. He is the author of numerous artists's books and objects -- including Rose, Selected Durations, and Threnos (with Katherine Kuehn), and Let Us Repair and While You Were In (with Anna & Leo Daedalus) -- and several chapbooks, including Black Valentine (Chax) and Twenty- (Crane's Bill). His most recent chapbook, Commonly, will premiere at this reading, along with two new issues (one for each reader) of the broadside journal Envelope, which he edits. ============================================= Thoughtless as shadow The ground of shadow One wouldn't would One want All one wants And then what The light across the lake And the eye creates space The distance Which is not One Not only That but All one Wants -- Beverly Dahlen (from Sweep) 1357 A snapshot -- a freeze frame -- a thread (or is it a needle?) drawn through the entire world: every person, anywhere (let's say), entering a building at this moment. They are (they were) an army, a religion, a dance, an analysis, a race, and an extinction. -- David Abel 6. From: tamsugah@aol.com Date: Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 12:56 PM Subject: Poem-A-Tacoma: The Debut of Tacoma's NEW Poetry Anthology Dear Friends, Hot off the press, an anthology of Tacoma poetry, In Tahoma’s Shadow: Poems from the City of Destiny, is being released April 30! I had the amazing opportunity to compile, co-edit and support this publication with Poet Laureate Bill Kupinse over the past few months. We are extremely excited to release it to the community this month. Please enjoy my blog! http://weeklyvolcano.typepad.com/spew/2009/04/poematacoma-tales-from-the-city.html Enjoy it! Tammy Robacker _______________________________________________ TacomaArt mailing list TacomaArt@cityoftacoma.org http://smtp001.tacoma.lcl/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tacomaart 7. A Collaboration Solar Plate Intaglio by Barbara Mason Poetry by Paulann Petersen May 6 – 31, 2009 Please join us to celebrate our collaboration Preview Party May 6, 5-8pm First Thursday Reception May 7, 5-9pm Waterstone Gallery 424 NW 12th Avenue Portland, OR 97209 503.226.6196 www.waterstonegallery.com WATERSTONE GALLERY Hours: Wed-Sat 12-6 pm Sundays 12-4 pm 8. Poetry and Prose for the People reading series is delighted to celebrate the publication of Sage Cohen's Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry. Sage Cohen will read from her new book and speak briefly about the art of living and writing a poetic life. Plus, you'll hear poems from these fabulous Writing the Life Poetic contributors: Brittany Baldwin, Don Colburn, Leanne Grabel, Constance Hall, Willa Schneberg, Claire Sykes and more! When: Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 p.m. Where: Barnes & Noble 1317 Lloyd Center // Gift section Portland, OR 97232 503-249-0800 Hosted by: Sage Cohen & Tom Mattox About Writing the Life Poetic No one needs an advanced degree in creative writing to reap the rewards of poetry. Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, a new book from Sage Cohen and Writer’s Digest Books, makes poetry accessible to––and enjoyable for––everyone. Practicing poets, aspiring poets, and teachers of writing in a variety of settings can use Writing the Life Poetic to write, read, and enjoy poems. Craft, process, and content lessons are all designed to invite readers to tune into the poetry of their lives, then get it down on the page. Filled with whimsical illustrations, ample wisdom, and plenty of sample poems from great poets everywhere, Writing the Life Poetic is a fun, user-friendly resource for poets and writers of all levels. Learn more at www.writingthelifepoetic.com. "Instructional without being text-bookish, inspirational without being preachy, suggestive without being demanding, Writing the Life Poetic goes beyond the assemblage of quality how-to poetry books to become a work of art -- with endless rows of blank canvasses on either side for the reader's own brush strokes." – Shawn Sorensen, Oregon Writers Colony We look forward to celebrating with you! Questions? Contact sage@sagesaidso.com. ************************ www.writingthelifepoetic.com www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com www.sagesaidso.com POETRY CONTESTS AND SUBMISSION CALLS Announcing Fugue's Eighth Annual Prose & Poetry Contest! Nonfiction and Poetry Categories http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/fugue/contest09.htm Judge: Patricia Hampl First place winner receives $1000 and publication. Second and Third prize winners receive publication. Check back August 4, 2009 for announcement of the winners. To enter: 1. Story submissions should not exceed 10,000 words in length. 2. Enclose a cover letter that contains a short biographical sketch and a current email address, mailing address, phone number, and the title of your essay. 3. Send an SASE for acceptance notification. 4. Enclose a $20 reading fee, payable to Fugue, that guarantees consideration and a one year subscription to the journal. Submissions must be postmarked by May 1, 2009 to this address: Fugue Nonfiction Contest 200 Brink Hall English Department University of Idaho Moscow, ID 83844-1102 Poetry Judge: BH Fairchild First place winner receives $1000 and publication. Second and Third prize winners receive publication. Check back August 4, 2009 for announcement of the winners. To enter: 1. Poetry submissions should not exceed 3 poems or 5 pages. 2. Enclose a cover letter that contains a short biographical sketch and a current email address, mailing address, phone number, and the titles of your poems. 3. Send an SASE for acceptance notification. 4. Enclose a $20 reading fee, payable to Fugue, that guarantees consideration and a one year subscription to the journ al. Submissions must be postmarked by May 1, 2009 to this address: Fugue Poetry Contest 200 Brink Hall English Department University of Idaho Moscow, ID 83844-1102From: allenbraden@comcast.net To: "chris OPN dahl" , "connie walle" Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2009 8:06:21 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: poetry contest: Alehouse Press • The 2009 Happy Hour • Poetry Awards http://www.alehousepress.com/ $1000 • Best Poem $100 • Four Runners Up Postmark Deadline: July 1st, 2009 Contest Rules: • Contest open to all poets across the country and around the world. • Maximum length: 40 lines per poem. Any topic. Any form. • All entries considered for publication in the 2010 issue of Alehouse. • All entries must be typed and include an SASE for notification. • All manuscripts will be recycled. Please do not send your only copies. • All entries must be original and not yet nor soon-to-be published. • Simultaneous submissions accepted: We report six weeks after deadline. • Please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. • Omit poet’s name and all personal information from the poems. • Include name, address, telephone, email, and poem titles in cover letter. • Please postmark entries by July 1st, 2009. (No FedEx or UPS.) • Entry fee is $15 per batch of 3 poems, payable to Alehouse Press. • All US entrants receive a subscription copy of Alehouse 2010. • Mail poems, entry fee(s), and additional information requests to: Alehouse Press The Happy Hour Poetry Awards PO Box 31655 San Francisco, CA 94131 5th Annual Burnside Review Poetry Chapbook Competition Judge: Martha Ronk We are sponsoring our fifth annual poetry chapbook competition. Winner will receive twenty-five copies and a two hundred dollar cash prize. Competition runs March 15th to June 30th. Winner will be announced approximately September 1st, with publication date set for winter. The same dedication and care will go into the production of the chapbook as with our journal—quality cardstock cover with photography, linen paper, excellent layout. We will make the publication process as cooperative as possible. Guidelines --18 to 24 pages of poetry. Individual poems may be previously published. --2 cover sheets, one with the title of the manuscript, your name, telephone number, and address. The second cover sheet should list only the title of the manuscript. --A page acknowledging previously published poems --A self addressed stamped envelope --Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere IF BY POST: Include a self addressed stamped envelope and a check or money order for $15- made out to Burnside Review. Entry must be postmarked by June 30th to: Burnside Review Poetry Chapbook Contest, P.O. Box 1782, Portland OR 97207 IF BY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: E-mail all of above a single Word file to contests@burnsidereview.org. Send $16- by Paypal to sid@burnsidereview.org. Fee and entry must be submitted within 24 hours of each other. Receipt of entry will be sent after both arrive. (This method will save money and trees.) The initial readers of the manuscripts will be Burnside Review staff members. They will choose between five and ten manuscripts as finalists to be passed on to the judge for selection of the winning collection. We ask that former students or colleagues of the Burnside Review Chapbook Contest’s judge—as well as any writer whose relationship with the judge constitutes an unfair conflict of interest—refrain from entering the contest. The Burnside Review staff reserves the right to disqualify entries deemed conflicts of interest and will return those entry fees. At no time will the judge have the names of the finalists. Winner will receive 25 copies of the chapbook printed by Burnside Review Press and a cash prize of $200-. All questions happily answered by e-mail : sid@burnsidereview.org. Martha Ronk is the Irma and Jay Price professor of English at Occidental College. Her poetry books include Why/Why Not, Eyetrouble, State of Mind, and Vertigo, winner of the 2006 National Poetry Series. A 2006 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, her poetry has been widely published in journals and magazines. She lives in Los Angeles. complete guidelines available at www.burnsidereview.org

GHOST TOWN, USA March/April 2009 by Christopher Luna

GHOST TOWN, USA

March/April 2009

3/17 Auto Body Shop Evergreen & V St.

“Di Angelo? Al Angelo? He owns all of Vancouver, and my brother helped him build half of it….”

Waiting Room Vancouver Clinic 3/25

For a moment the woman in the waiting area reading ELIJAH in jeans, red sweater, purple socks, and comfortable shoes forgets herself and throws one leg over the arm of the chair exposing her crotch to the longhair reading poetry seated across from her

Later, in the clinic

Doctor to patient: “Were you kinda goin’ in slow motion? It happens. Things

come out at you, then they turn the corner, and they’re gone….

I’m a Vancouverite all the way. Hudson’s Bay…. What are they

doing out there? It’s crazy. It used to be a nice place, but not anymore.” Nurse: “Go out in the hall and come back. You can still smell it.

The smell is everywhere out here. Sir, do you smell that?

A printer, a marker smell. Yesterday it was doing a

jibbery-jabbery thing up at the top.”

April 2009

April 3

Mint Tea: “I’m proud of her for her convictions. And I think she’s done the research to make the right decisions.” Naked Toes: A Lament In the ‘Couve sunny and balmy give way to hail storm within a matter of moments No matter the weather nor the time of year one encounters young ladies in jeans and flip flops (a footwear choice New York girls make only for the beach) provoking the paternal instincts of this East Coaster: makes me want to buy them all socks

Outside Harney Elementary 4/8

Young woman on cell phone: “Nothing really to be scared of. With him working only one day a week…. OK. I love you.”

At “The Red Park”

“Guess what, Daddy, I went poo poo today, twice!” “In your pants?” “NOOOOOOOO!”

4/18

Stickered letters in the back window of a car heading southbound on I-5 near Fort Lewis:

DEVILS ARE DEAD SOULS

The People on the Bus April 2009

4/22 Evergreen and C Street Waiting for the #32

Guy in brown, paint-spattered hoodie yells out to his pal, who is walking up C Street: “Hey, get a job!” Other guy shouts back: “I’m tryin’.”

#32 4/24

“I don’t really like ‘em, personally. He’s a bottom feeder…. They talk a lot.” GHOST TOWN, USA

Clark College 4/28

ENG 102 student after class: “What’s up with that retarded fat chick? I just wanna stab her with

a salty knife. Sterilize that shit. She is always talking, and when she

doesn’t know what she’s talking about, she lies. One day I’m gonna

stab her. She’s gonna be the first.”

Sign in back window of white pickup parked outside Clark College’s auto mechanics department:

Swine flu Deporting

Christopher Luna

Vancouver, WA

March/April 2009

What Angelo said in April 2009

Angelo plays video games with his friends April 7, 2009 “Isaac, my head’s corrupted by chaos.” Angelo blows dandelions At Winchell St. and Evergreen Blvd.: April 22, 2009 “I’ve got all my wishes stuck in my head and I need to get ‘em out. Too many wishes!” Angelo comments on the noise barriers on either side of I-5 during the ride home from his father’s reading at the NW Branch of the Multnomah County Library: “Why are there doors on the Great Wall of Not-China?”

Sage Cohen and Writing the Life Poetic contributors at Barnes and Noble Lloyd Center May 13

Poetry and Prose for the People reading series is delighted to celebrate the publication of Sage Cohen's Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry. Sage Cohen will read from her new book and speak briefly about the art of living and writing a poetic life. Plus, you'll hear poems from these fabulous Writing the Life Poetic contributors: Brittany Baldwin, Don Colburn, Leanne Grabel, Constance Hall, Willa Schneberg, Claire Sykes and more! When: Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 p.m. Where: Barnes & Noble 1317 Lloyd Center // Gift section Portland, OR 97232503-249-0800 Hosted by: Sage Cohen & Tom Mattox About Writing the Life Poetic No one needs an advanced degree in creative writing to reap the rewards of poetry. Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry, a new book from Sage Cohen and Writer’s Digest Books, makes poetry accessible to––and enjoyable for––everyone. Practicing poets, aspiring poets, and teachers of writing in a variety of settings can use Writing the Life Poetic to write, read, and enjoy poems. Craft, process, and content lessons are all designed to invite readers to tune into the poetry of their lives, then get it down on the page. Filled with whimsical illustrations, ample wisdom, and plenty of sample poems from great poets everywhere, Writing the Life Poetic is a fun, user-friendly resource for poets and writers of all levels. Learn more at http://www.writingthelifepoetic.com/. "Instructional without being text-bookish, inspirational without being preachy, suggestive without being demanding, Writing the Life Poetic goes beyond the assemblage of quality how-to poetry books to become a work of art -- with endless rows of blank canvasses on either side for the reader's own brush strokes." – Shawn Sorensen, Oregon Writers Colony We look forward to celebrating with you! Questions? Contact sage@sagesaidso.com. ************************ http://www.writingthelifepoetic.com/ http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/ http://www.sagesaidso.com/