There once was a…
January 31, 2012
Have your Valentine poem wrapped and ready? Then it’s time to think about limericks! In recognition of St. Patrick’s Day, The Bellingham Herald will publish family-friendly limericks written by Whatcom County residents. Dean Kahn notes, “We’ve done it before, but never during a presidential election year, so feel free to submit a political limerick.”
The submission deadline is March 5, 2012, and, “whether new or green with age,” the limericks will appear in print and online March 12. Submissions become the property of The Bellingham Herald.
E-mail your limericks to Dean Kahn at dean.kahn@bellinghamherald.com, or mail them to The Bellingham Herald, 1155 N. State Street, Bellingham, WA 98225. “Or, if you’re burning off holiday pounds, walk your poem down to the Herald business office in person.”
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shamrock photo Michelle Gervais
airing poetry…
January 30, 2012
National Public Radio has announced a flavorful addition to All Things Considered: poetry! Once a month, the program will invite “a poet to spend time in the newsroom — and at the end, to compose a poem reflecting on the day’s news.”
The first featured poet is Tracy K. Smith. You can read and listen to Tracy Smith’s poem, New Road Station, and see the news article that inspired her on the NPR website.
Juneau jumps on the bus…
January 29, 2012
The appeal of poetry-on-the-bus continues to spread. We noticed that the Juneau, Alaska, Public Library is now inviting Juneau residents to submit poems for a new Poetry OmniBus project. Ride, poets, ride!
sweetheart…
January 28, 2012
Here’s a reminder: The Bellingham Herald will run love poems written by Whatcom County (WA) residents in honor of Valentine’s Day.
Selected entries will run in the February 13 edition of the Herald, and all accepted entries will run online at TheBellinghamHerald.com.
Poems can be e-mailed to dean.kahn@bellinghamherald.com; mailed to “Valentine’s Day poems,” The Bellingham Herald, 1155 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225; or hand-delivered to the Herald business office.
Please include your name, age and town of residence. Also, include your phone number, in case questions arise.
The deadline to submit a poem is Monday, February 6, 2012. For details, call Dean Kahn, 360-715-2291.
months and months…
January 27, 2012
The year is young. In case your calendar is still looking a little underpopulated, here are a few “months” that will be coming up to tweak your writing muscles and your imagination. (Note: the links vary in their up-to-date-ness; if you have an interest or an opinion, leave a comment when you visit the sites. Many of the sites offer prompts during the actual month.)
JANUARY
National Travel Writing Month
FEBRUARY
National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo)
The Month of Letters Challenge
February Album Writing Month
MARCH
Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest accepts submissions
APRIL
National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo)
Script Frenzy
MAY
National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo)
JUNE
breathe…
JULY
relax…
AUGUST
August Poetry Postcard Fest
SEPTEMBER
National Sketch Writing Month
National Pony Writing Month
OCTOBER
National Day on Writing
Pegasus Books National Paragraph Writing Month
NOVEMBER
National Novel Writing Month
November PAD Chapbook Challenge
National Blog Posting Month
National Playwriting Month (NaPlWriMo)
DECEMBER
International Plot Writing Month
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2012 calendar
the shortest month…
January 26, 2012
February, which will be here in a couple of blinks, is, of course, the shortest month, even in its longer-than-usual 2012 version. A short month is the perfect time for short poems, and thus it is the ideal calendar spot for National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo).
But, wait. There’s more. If the short, cold days of February have you longing for something rich and personal, author Mary Robinette Kowal invites you to participate in The Month of Letters Challenge.
The idea is simple: each day the U.S. Postal Service operates during the month of February (that’s 24 if you deduct Sundays and President’s Day), mail a letter, a postcard, something through the U.S. mail, and reply to any letters you receive. There’s more info on the Month of Letters website and on the Month of Letters Facebook page.
…So how long has it been since you received a handwritten letter? Wouldn’t it be nice?…
a poetry walk revisited…
January 25, 2012
Back in November, we mentioned a poetry walk in New York, Jon Cotner’s Poem Forest. Now, the BMW Guggenheim Lab has posted an audiovisual tour of Poem Forest that includes commentary by Cotner, photos of the walk and a brief audio clip “that features Poem Forest participants reading their favorite lines.”
If January has you feeling nostalgic for autumn, take a look and stroll along.
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poetry reading: February 9
January 24, 2012
Judith Roche will talk about poetry and read from her book, Myrrh: My Life as a Screamer, at a free presentation at the Bellingham Public Library on Thursday, February 9, 2012, 4:00pm. The following day from noon to 3:00pm, Judith Roche will conduct a writing workshop, Poetics of Place, at the Northwest Indian College.
Learn more about Judith Roche and her intriguing poetry in public places on her website.
mutable poetry…
January 23, 2012
Sometimes a poem seems to shimmer off the page as you read it. For Sebastian Lange, Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley took on a life of its own. Lange’s text-motion-video, flickermood, incorporates lines from Shelley’s poem along with other text and a jazz-funk sound track by Forss. flickermood has been around for a while…and it’s worth another look.
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on being a poet…
January 21, 2012
“The poet’s job is to find a name for everything.” Jane Kenyon
The Poetry Department . . . aka The Boynton Blog 