Jack Straw streaming

Tune in tomorrow, Friday, July 10, 2020, at 7:00pm Pacific, for the Jack Straw 2020 Reading Series, Night 3. Hosted by 2020 Writers Program Curator Anastacia-Reneé, the reading will feature Jeffrey Lee Cheatham II, Arianne True, Jose Trejo-Maya, and Troy Osaki. The the writers will read from their homes, streamed live via Jack Straw’s Facebook page. The video will be available afterward on Facebook and YouTube.

The 2020 Jack Straw Writers Anthology will be available for purchase online from Open Books: A Poem Emporium.

got a question?

Let’s say you’re working on a series of poems and you need to find out more about some aspect of your project but you don’t know exactly how to go about locating what you need. Maybe you have a question about a word, a publication, a citation. Whatever it may be, you can AskWA. AskWA is a live, interactive chat service that connects you to a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help you find the most credible information available on the Web. AskWA is staffed by professional librarians from a statewide virtual reference cooperative of more than 50 public and academic libraries throughout Washington State.

The AskWA portal is here and is also available on the website of each participating library.

Got a question?

new podcast

We recently wrote about voca, the University of Arizona Poetry Center’s Audio Video Library of more than 1,000 recordings of poets reading their work during visits to the Center between 1963 and today. The Poetry Center has now curated selections from voca for a brand-new podcast series, Poetry Centered.

In each episode, a guest poet introduces three poems from voca, sharing their insights about the remarkable performances recorded in our archive. Each episode concludes with the guest poet reading a poem of their own. Our inaugural season includes episodes hosted by Hanif Abdurraqib, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Ada Limón, Urayoán Noel, Maggie Smith, and TC Tolbert.

Visit the Poetry Centered Podcast page to listen, subscribe, or download transcripts.

Dear reader,

In response to a question you didn’t ask, maybe because you’re too polite to inquire about a magpie mind, I will say yes, it is getting more challenging to find fuel to feed the furnace of daily posting during a pandemic.

Today, I started thinking about all of the plein air typewriter poets who earn a few bucks poeming on demand at festivals and farmers markets, now out of work. That line of thought led me to the wonderful oz.Typewriter, Robert Messenger’s act of love and obsession since 2011. Here you’ll find the mechanics, history, and lore of typewriters, richly illustrated and somewhat magpie-ish, too, from Canberra, Australia.

Following an oztypewriter link to Welcome to the Typosphere, I was prompted to read a recent article in The New York Times, “Snail Mail Is Getting People Through This Time.” That made me curious about the recent stamp releases from our beleaguered post office (above).

It also prompts me to remind you that there are still 12 days remaining to sign up for the August POetry POstcard Fest. It launched early this year, with plenty of postcards already exchanged, but as more people register, new groups (of 32 each) are forming and can begin sending poetry postcards as soon as they receive their list. Just another way to get through this time. (Earlier posts on PoPo Fest here.)

With thanks for your attention, Likes, and Comments, I remain your masked correspondent,
Judy

. . . . .
Voices of the Harlem Renaissance, Forever stamps, issued May 21, 2020

free poetry workshop

The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) invites you to participate in a free online poetry writing workshop, “Poetry of Stillness,” this Wednesday, July 8, 2020, at 3:00pm Pacific.

A writing experience for people who have been affected by COVID either through work or personal connections, this workshop is designed to focus on a quiet moment and find beauty and peace in something small.

Workshop participants will read several peaceful, beautiful poems, and then be guided through writing a poem of their own. No previous writing experience is needed, but even experienced writers should enjoy the time of focus and meditation.

Danielle Hanson is the author of Fraying Edge of Sky (Codhill Press Poetry Prize) and Ambushing Water (finalist for Georgia Author of the Year Award). She is Poetry Editor for Doubleback Books, and is on the staff of the Atlanta Review.

Find the workshop here (sundress).

July 4, 1855

There may have been many other notable events on July 4, 1855, but we mark two in particular: the New York state legislature passed an early prohibition law (struck down by its Supreme Court soon after) and Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass at the Brooklyn print shop of James and Andrew Rome. Whitman continued to revise the text for the remaining three-plus decades of his life. Read it on Project Gutenberg. And auspicious Fourth to you.

more books!

More recommendations for your poetry shelf:

• Book Riot – Poetry Books for Beginners, Haters, or the Utterly Confused
• Book Riot again – 8 Poetry Collections and Verse Novels to Get You Into Poetry
• Financial Times – Summer books of 2020: Poetry
• The Guardian – Four new collections up for the Forward poetry prizes
• Medium – 12 Formally Innovative Books by Contemporary Poets of Color
• The Millions – Must-Read Poetry: July 2020
• The Oprah Magazine – All the LGBTQ Books That Are Changing the Literary Landscape in 2020 (includes 6 poetry titles)

Happy reading!

on poetry

“I prefer the absurdity of writing poems/
to the absurdity of not writing poems.”
Wisława Szymborska
(July 2, 1923 – February 1, 2012)

. . . . .
photo: Piotr Guzik
quote from “Possibilities”

virtual Dodge

If you’ve ever longed to attend the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival but couldn’t quite swing a trip to Newark, New Jersey, 2020 may be your year. Festival organizers have just announced that this year’s events will stream live at no charge beginning Thursday, October 22, 2020. (Performances on-demand will be available for a nominal subscription fee.)

As usual, the Festival will feature individual and group poetry readings and performances, conversations and panel talks among several poets, and Q&A with Festival poets. Though many of the details are still being worked out, there is already an impressive list of confirmed poets. Stay tuned!

awards season

The Poetry Society of America has announced the winners of the 2020 Annual Awards. See the complete list of winners and finalists and read sample poems here. You can also see and hear a number of the winners reading their work with the links provided below (but not on the PSA website):

Atsuro Riley is the winner of the 2020 Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award for a manuscript in progress. Atsuro Riley reads “Oak”

Teri Ellen Cross Davis is the winner of the 2020 Robert H. Winner Memorial Award for a selection of poems by a mid-career poet. Teri Ellen Cross Davis reads “The Goddess of Cleaning”

Michael Dumanis is the winner of the 2020 Lyric Poetry Award. Michael Dumanis reads “The Empire of Light”

JinJin Xu is the winner of the 2020 George Bogin Memorial Award for a selection of poems that use language in an original way to reflect the encounter of the ordinary and the extraordinary and to take a stand against oppression in any of its forms. JinJin Xu reads from “To Red Dust (II)”

David Keplinger is the winner of the 2020 Emily Dickinson Award for a poem inspired by Emily Dickinson’s work. David Keplinger reads “Reading Emily Dickinson in Amherst Massachusetts”

Dai “Debby” Shi is the winner of the 2020 Student Poetry Award. Dai “Debby” Shi reading “It’s Too Early”