good news

In a year-end/year-start bit of good news, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts has announced a $1 million endowment gift from artists Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) and Jack Shear to establish an annual $40,000 C.D. WRIGHT AWARD FOR POETRY. The award will be made each year to a poet over the age of 50 whose work exemplifies Wright’s vibrant lyricism, seriousness, and striking originality. It will be one of the few, significant unrestricted poetry awards in the country. The inaugural C.D. Wright Award will be made to experimental poet LISA ROBERTSON.

Confidential nominations are accepted from invited artists and arts professionals once a year. In the field of poetry, two established poets, poetry editors, or poetry professors are asked to review nomination materials for each poetry nominee, confer, and make a joint recommendation to the Selection Committee, which is comprised of artists, arts professionals, and FCA’s Board of Directors.

C.D. Wright was herself a recipient of a Grants to Artists award in 1999. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 67. Wright was a selfless champion of the poetry community. She was a tireless teacher and supporter of young poets as the I.J. Kapstein Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University from 1983 until her death. With her husband, the poet Forrest Gander, she founded and ran Lost Roads Publishers, a book press of some 45 titles. In addition to celebrating the spirit of her own work, the C.D. Wright Award for Poetry will also continue Wright’s deep commitment to supporting her peers.

Happy New Year!

get away to Galiano

For your mid-winter getaway, consider Galiano Island, British Columbia, where the 9th Annual Galiano Literary Festival will take place February 23 – 25, 2018. An intimate, one-venue festival, Galiano includes a robust lineup of authors, workshops, readings, book signings, and a book fair. Find details on the Festival website and also learn more about Galiano Island.

Best-of, round two

• CBC – The best Canadian poetry of 2017
• Chicago Tribune – Notable poetry of 2017
• The Irish Times – 2017: A stellar year for new poetry
• Minnesota Public Radio – Best poetry collections of 2017: Poets’ picks
• The National Council of Teachers of English each year selects notable poetry titles for children ages 3-13 – both poetry books and verse novels (links appear about halfway down the page)
• The New York Times – David Orr lists The Best Poetry of 2017
• The New Yorker – The Poetry I Was Grateful for in 2017 By Dan Chiasson
• The Poetry Foundation’s 2017 Staff Picks

say something

ornament 2017 © j.i. kleinberg

on poetry

“Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense — the creative act.”
Kenneth Rexroth
(December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982)

. . . . .
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hurry, poets

Add your poems of joy, resolution, dire warnings, laments, or songs of praise to the Vashon Poetry Post in the Village Green to celebrate the Winter Solstice, Thursday, December 21, 2017. If you’re on Vashon Island, post your own. Otherwise, email your poem to Ann Spiers – spiers [at] centurytel.net – to add to the season’s much-needed cloak of poems.

a new reading in town…

Wondering what to do on the first Monday of the month? Ponder no longer. SPLAB (Seattle Poetics LAB) has partnered with Easy Speak Seattle to launch a first-Monday reading series at Jude’s Old Town in Rainier Beach, Seattle.

The new series rounds out a month of Mondays for Easy Speak, including

• Second Monday open mike & featured reader or musician at Wedgwood Ale House & Cafe
• Third Monday Re/Write (critique group) at Third Place Books, Seward Park
• Fourth Monday open mike & featured reader or musician at Wedgwood Ale House & Cafe

See the list of upcoming featured artists on the Easy Speak site.

on poetry

“There are books in which the footnotes, or the comments scrawled by some reader’s hand in the margin, are more interesting than the text. The world is one of those books.”
George Santayana
(December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)

. . . . .
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Friday in Anacortes

Join with other fine poets this Friday, December 15, 2017, at Pelican Bay Books & Coffeehouse in Anacortes, as friends of Robert Sund gather for an evening of poetry and music. Featured poets include Georgia Johnson, John Brooks, Jeff Langlow, Brad Killion, Jeff Winston, and more.

and so it begins…

As you may recall from years past, we’re particularly fond of year-end best-of lists. Although it’s not easy to find out how many poetry books are published each year (one source says 10,038 books of poetry or drama were published in the United States in 2012), it’s certainly a lot, and recommendations — from friends, reviewers, instructors, etc. — can help narrow the field a bit. Here’s the first of this year’s best-of poetry:

• Chicago Review of Books – The Best Poetry Books of 2017
• Entropy – Best of 2017: Best Poetry Books & Poetry Collections
• The Guardian asks for recommendations from some favorite authors. Plenty of poetry included. Part 1, Part 2,
• The Guardian – Carol Rumens’s best poetry books of 2017
• NPR Book Concierge
• Publishers Weekly – five Best Poetry Books of 2017
• The Telegraph – The best poetry books of 2017