THE WORK
POETRY NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2010
Compiled and arranged by Christopher Luna
Greetings, datahounds,
Please stop into Angst this month to see a great group show featuring artists whose work appeared in the gallery this year including Eliza Lane, Chris Eagon, Kelly Keigwin, Pablito, Greg Bee, Erin Dengerink, Toni Partington and myself, among others. I have three pieces, including “Curandero,” a psychedelic portrait of Allen Ginsberg inspired by my reading of Peter Conners’ new book White Hand Society.
On Saturday, December 11, I will be teaching my monthly workshop at Niche (1013 Main Street, Vancouver). If you’d like to join us, please bring a poem to share. Thanks to Christy and Elizabeth for their participation last month. On Monday, December 20, Toni Partington and I will appear on KBOO’s “Talking Earth” with host Barbara LaMorticella. Barbara has been a featured reader at Cover to Cover and is a longtime supporter of the Vancouver poetry community.
And of course, please don’t forget to join us this Thursday for a very special reading at Niche:
THE GHOST TOWN POETRY TOUR*
CONTINUES WITH A SPECIAL EVENT
TO CELEBRATE THE PUBLICATION OF
VoiceCatcher 5
Open Mic Poetry
hosted by Christopher Luna
7:00pm Thursday,
December 9, 2010
At a special location
Niche: A Wine and Art Bar
1013 Main Street, Vancouver
For more info contact: christopherjluna@gmail.com
With our featured readers:
Jo Barney
Elizabeth Elfring
Lisa Maier
Kristin Roedell
And four of the artists whose work appears in the anthology:
Anni Becker
April Bullard
Jane Poole
Sara *
Featured reading hosted by
VoiceCatcher co-editor Toni Partington
 |
| VoiceCatcher editors Frances Bates, Kristin Berger, and Toni Partington at Wordstock |
* While Cover to Cover Books rebuilds after a recent fire, Christopher Luna is taking the open mic series he founded in 2004 on tour to various poetry-friendly locations in downtown Vancouver.
AUTHOR BIOS
Jo Barney graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and spent most of the next thirty years teaching, counseling, wifing, mothering, and, of course, writing. Her work has appeared in Apple Valley Review, Kalliope, Main Street Rag, The Sun, and both VoiceCatcher 1 and 2. Jo was also an editor for the Oregon School Counselor Journal. “Cleaning Up” is the first two chapters from a novel of the same name and is the most fun she’s had so far as a writer.
Elizabeth Elfring came to the Pacific Northwest almost twenty years ago and fell in love with the area and the people. She lives in Yacolt, Washington where she is teaching poetry as a part of The Cedar Creek Writers Group. Along with her family she grows Christmas trees, is a Lions Club member, and loves being a writer, homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and whatever else she feels like. She also enjoys being just a little crazy!
Lisa Maier’s love of poetry began in her grandmother’s attic, where she happened upon a dusty copy of Where The Sidewalk Ends. Her eight-year-old self was so enchanted by Mr. Silverstein’s use of words that she decided then and there to become a poet. She now lives on a mountain in Beaverton with her husband and two inspiring sons, and is currently working on her own poetry collection for children.
Kristin Roedell is a Northwest poet and retired attorney. Her recent work appeared in City Arts, Damselflypress, Eclectica, Soundings Review, Gutenberg and several others. She was the featured poet in Quill and Parchment in January 2010. Her chapbook, Seeing in the Dark, was published in 2009 by Tomato Can Press. She is co-editor of Cradle Songs: An Anthology on Motherhood, forthcoming from Quill and Parchment Press.
ARTIST BIOS
Nothing has been the same since Anni Becker left the life she once knew and discovered that she could make magic with a camera. Anni lives in Vancouver with her cats Greta and Danger Dan.
April Bullard lives with her husband aboard a boat on the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington. April says, “River life is unique in many ways. I photograph ordinary scenes, looking for a tiny piece of the magical that lets my imagination run free.”
Jane Poole won first place in the 2007 and the 2009 Battle Ground Art Alliance Spring Show. In 2007, she was invited by the North Clark Historical Museum to show 24 of her paintings of Amboy for the annual Territorial Days Celebration. Her first book, Adam's Astronomy: The Original Zodiac grew out of her love of nature, ancient history, foreign languages and the Bible.
Sara makes paintings and world religion icons in her home studio in Vancouver, WA. She paints to express something about women's spirituality, women's bodies, and women's perceptions. To Sara, the idea is what is paramount to a painting.
Toni Partington and Christopher Luna
Photo by Anni Becker
Christopher again: Printed Matter Vancouver, the editing and manuscript review business I co-founded with Toni Partington, is looking for new clients. Whether you’re just getting started and need advice and guidance, or would like help stepping up your game, we’d love to help: printedmattervancouver@gmail.com
Also, check out this article from Publishers Weekly about New York Journal of Books, the publication in which my review of “White Hand” will soon appear: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/45268-new-book-review-site-launches.html
Enjoy the holidays,
Christopher Luna
THE WORK
DECEMBER 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Portland Fiction Project fundraiser for Domestic Violence Awareness Dec. 8
2. Multnomah Arts Center Literary Arts Program Group Reading December 10 (Portland)
3. Figures of Speech reading with Paulann Petersen and Vern Rutsala at PSU Dec. 15 (Portland)
4. Paper Tiger Coffee Open Mic with featured reader David Mathews Dec. 16 (Vancouver)
5. Pre-order Matt Meighan’s new CD
6. Ed Coletti’s P3
SUBMISSION CALLS from VoiceCatcher, Uphook Press, and Snakeskin
1.
The Portland Fiction Project Presents
The BENEFIT of DOUBT
A Performance Fundraiser for Domestic Violence Awareness
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Alberta Rose Theatre
$10 at the Door
Doors at 7:30, Show Starts at 8:00
Join local writers ALICE CLARK, GENEVA CHAO, GEORGE RACHEL, SHANNA SEESZ and SCOTT WARFE for this special performance fundraiser for Domestic Violence Awareness. Local playwright, author and activist RENEE MITCHELL will be performing a piece from her play Tangoing With Tornadoes, and local cellist KENDRA CARPENTER and the band FUTURE HISTORIANS will provide musical accompaniment. Also featuring dance troupe TRIP THE DARK.
All proceeds to benefit the YWCA and BRADLEY ANGLE.
The Project: Over the past five weeks of workshopping, our writers have written a DV-focused fiction piece each week inspired by a prompt (example: “Call one thing another’s name long enough, it will answer”), the best of these pieces to be performed at the Alberta Rose performance on December 8th.
About the Portland Fiction Project: The Portland Fiction Project was an experimental writing group that met weekly and explored suggested themes and specific words through short stories, publishing the result in its online publication at portlandfiction.net.
About Bradley Angle: Bradley Angle offers survivors of domestic and sexual violence options for safety, empowerment, healing and hope, while collaborating with our communities to create social change.
About the YWCA: The YWCA of Greater Portland changes lives by empowering women and their families to achieve safety, opportunity and independence. Yolanda House is their domestic violence shelter and resource center for survivors of abuse. Last year, Yolanda House served 145 women and children.
Tickets available at the door or by going to The Alberta Rose Theatre website.
2.
MAC Literary Arts Program
Group Reading
Instructors, students, & staff
past, present, future
reading from their work
poetry, fiction, nonfiction
Friday, December 10, 7:00 pm
Free admission
Multnomah Arts Center Gallery
7688 Southwest Capitol Highway
(503) 823-2787
http://www.multnomahartscenter.org/
3.
From Steve Williams and Constance Hall
December Events:
Dec. 12th at 5 p.m. Our monthly critique group meets at Looking Glass books in Sellwood. Bring 8-10 copies of a poem you’d like feedback on. Hope to see you there.
Our next Figures of Speech event is on Dec 15th at 7 p.m. and will be held at PSU – Smith Student Union in the Multicultural Center (Rm. 228). This will be a benefit for the Oregon Cultural Trust who provide funds for many cultural organizations statewide. Among those, the trust funds our Poet Laureate position currently held in such elegant fashion by Paulann Petersen. Paulann will be reading with Vern Rutsala which promises to be a memorable evening. We wish we had a camera showing Paulann’s happy dance when we told her she would be reading with Vern.There will be a special commemorative broadside available for $10 and all proceeds will be donated to the Oregon Cultural Trust. Kimberly Howard, the trust manager, will on hand to speak about the trust and how it works for each of us.But wait, there’s more! Michele Glazer will give opening remarks (Thanks again to Michele for sponsoring the room). Also, John Morrison and Cindy Williams-Gutierrez will be speaking about how Vern and Paulann inspired their own writing life.We also will have volunteers from VoiceCatcher working the donation and book tables and Carolyn Martin (VC Chairwoman), will say a few words about her organization.So make sure you put this one on your calendars. We have a big room and want to fill it up!
Bios:
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Vern Rutsala received his B.A. from Reed College and his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. He is the author of numerous poetry books. His previous book, The Moment’s Equation, was a finalist for the National Book Award in poetry. Among his awards are a Guggenheim fellowship, two National Endowment for Arts fellowships, the Richard Snyder Prize, and the Kenneth O. Hanson Award. Rutsala taught at Lewis & Clark College from 1961-2004.
Paulann Petersen is a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford University whose poems have appeared in many publications including Poetry, The New Republic, Prairie Schooner, and Wilderness Magazine. She has four chapbooks–Under the Sign of a Neon Wolf, The Animal Bride, Fabrication, and The Hermaphrodite Flower. Her first full-length collection of poems, The Wild Awake, was published by Confluence Press in 2002. A second,Blood-Silk, poems about Turkey, was published by Quiet Lion Press of Portland in 2004. A Bride of Narrow Escape was published by Cloudbank Books as part of its Northwest Poetry Series in 2006. Kindle was published by Mountains and Rivers Press in 2008. Her latest book, The Voluptuary, was recently published by Lost Horse Press.Her work has been selected for the web site Poetry Daily and for Poetry in Motion, which puts poems on buses and light rail cars in the Portland metropolitan area. The recipient of Oregon Literary Arts’ 2006 Holbrook Award, Paulann has taught a number of poetry workshops for colleges, libraries, and writers’ conferences, including Fishtrap, Oregon Writers’ Workshop in Portland (Northwest College of Art, Portland Art Museum), Mountain Writers Series, Oregon State Poetry Association, The Creative Arts Community at Menucha, Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, and the Lifelong Learning Institute at Chemeketa Community College. She serves on the board for Friends of William Stafford, organizing the annual January William Stafford Birthday Events.
4.
From Dan Nelson
Hey there poetry fans,
Immense gratitude to everyone who promoted or attended our Poetry Night on the 18th. Those who didn't make it missed out on Steve and Constance enthralling us with their fabulous verse. It was a real treat to hear the First Couple of Portland poetry do extended reading and fun to watch the interplay between the two. By turns funny, clever, poignant, thoughtful and gut wrenching, they really layed it out there for us. Thank you so much, -M- and Steve. Plus our open mic readers made up for a lower than average turnout with inspired glimpses into a variety of lives. Hope folks didn't miss out because I foolishly said the reading was on the 25th rather than the 18th. I apologize for the misinformation glitch.
At 7pm on the Third Thursday of December, which is the 16th, (I checked a calendar this time) Paper Tiger (703 Grand blvd. in Vancouver, between Evergreen and Mill Plain about a mile east of I-5) will host David Mathews. I first heard David read at St. Johns Booksellers and was immensely impressed by the intelligence, wisdom, compassion and romance of his art.
David Matthews is a native of the South Carolina Midlands who resides in Portland , Oregon . Among his influences are the English Romantics, French Surrealism, Emily Dickinson, Gregory Corso, and Bob Dylan. Poems have appeared in Chattahoochee Review, Night Bomb Review, Quill and Parchment, Tryst, Blown Out: Portland's indie poets, Raising Our Voices: an anthology of Oregon poets against the war, and elsewhere. He is the author two small, self-published volumes: Notes to One Who Is Far from Here (2003) and A Portable Bohemia (2008). His blog House Red can be found on his website at http://www.matthewsmanofletters.com/ .
Hope to see and hear you all there. Be sure to bring a poem or two (sorry, 5 minute limit please) to read at our open mic. Enjoy great beverages and hang out with some of the finest creative writers in the Northwest.Here's a sample of David Mathews work to prime the pump.
Dan Nelson
360-334-1129
nelsondaniel59@yahoo.com
Short poem:
The Unspoken Language
la Tour Eiffel
Apollinaire
triangles numbers consonants
naked Chagall paints
Russian soul novabright with Paris light
horses graze on blue rooftops
a wingèd fish embraces a clock
the man with one green hand plays a red violin
angel candle dream
nude on a couch and Christ on a cross
oh but what color Marc is the color of the spirit?
which letters belong to the unspoken language of love?
I don't have any certainty or clarity myself; it would be dishonest to give it to the characters of my movies. It's more honest to leave in the viewer a torment that can engender meditation, instead of offering a euphoric solution at any price. — Federico Fellini
5.
From Matt Meighan matt@mattmeighan.com
Hi,I'm recording a new CD and I'm psyched about it! It's my first recording project in more than five years and my first studio CD ever.
I need to raise funds to pay for the studio, backup musicians, and CD manufacture, and you can help by pre-ordering the CD and/or making a contribution. I've set up a project on Kickstarter.com, where you see the details , pre-order the CD and/or pledge a contribution. I hope you'll take a look at it:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattmeighan/matt-meighans-new-cd
I've set up some rewards to say thank you for contributions; you can read about them on the site. If I raise my goal of $3,000 by Dec 14, the project will be funded - if I don't reach the goal, no one is charged and the project is canceled.
All pre-orders and donations, large or small, will be much appreciated and will help me get this CD out into the world!
You can also help by forwarding this email to anyone you know who may be interested.
If you're not familiar with kickstarter.com, it's a site to help people raise funds for projects, and is worth checking out in its own right. (If you prefer, you can pre-order or donate the old fashioned way, by sending a check in the mail - Matt Meighan, 5773 N. Commercial Ave, Portland OR 97217).
thanks much,
Matt
6.
from Ed Coletti edcoletti@sbcglobal.net
Hi readers, friends, family, enemies, new and old comers,Some humor, pathos, politics and philosophy today that I suspect may even prompt a comment or two or fifty.
Enjoy,
Ed Coletti
http://edcolettip3.blogspot.com/
SUBMISSION CALLS
1.
Submission Window for
VoiceCatcher 6 Opens January 15
VoiceCatcher submission deadlines for 2011 are earlier than in previous years. Take note:
Writers: January 15 - February 28, 2011
Artists: March 1 - March 31, 2011
For updated guidelines, go to www.voicecatcher.org.
2.
UPHOOK PRESS seeks well-crafted, energetic, and unexpected poetry for our next anthology. We are open to most contemporary and experimental styles. Send us your best!
UPHOOK PRESS is especially interested in poets who enjoy performing their work. Selected poets will be invited to read in various cities.
Date for submissions is December13th 2010 to February 28th 2011
One to four poems pasted in body of email and sent, together with a short bio and full contact details, to submissions@uphookpress.com. No attachments unless asked for. Please include your name in the subject line. And let us know how you discovered Uphook Press!
No previously published work, translations, haikus, sentimental, or light verse. We suggest you take a look at hell strung and crooked, you say. say.- or come to one of our readings - to see the type of work we are interested in.
Simultaneous submissions are fine if indicated but inform us immediately at editors@uphookpress.com if accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions.
Poets who have been accepted once by us, feel free to submit again. Poets who have been in two Uphook Press anthologies, we have a “one year break” policy.
United States based poets only please.
http://www.uphookpress.com/
WE LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR WORK!
3.
The February 2011 issue of the online poetry magazine Snakeskin,
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