on poetry

“At first, when an idea, a poem, or the desire to write takes hold of you, work is a pleasure, a delight, and your enthusiasm knows no bounds. But later on you work with difficulty, doggedly, desperately. For once you have committed yourself to a particular work, inspiration changes its form and becomes an obsession, like a love-affair… which haunts you night and day! Once at grips with a work, we must master it completely before we can recover our idleness.”
Natalie Clifford Barney
(October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972)

. . . . .
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still relevant

Published by Lost Horse Press in 2017, Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse is still fresh, relevant, and full of powerful voices. Hear some of them on Sunday, November 1, 2020, live on Facebook at Noon Pacific (don’t forget to set your clock back!).

Julie Kane and Lost Horse Press editor Christine Holbert co-host, with the following Nasty Women Poets reading from the anthology: Nordette Adams, Desiré Aguirre, Melissa Balmain, Judith Barrington, DeMisty Bellinger, Tara Betts, Carolyn Breedlove, Kim Bridgford (posthumous — read by Nicole Caruso Garcia), Patricia Clark, Annie Finch, Twyla Hansen, Allison Joseph, Julie Kane, Jenna Lê, Lesléa Newman, Jennifer Perrine, Valentine Pierce, Hilda Raz, Pat Gallagher Sassone, and Andy Young.

If it’s not already on your shelf, or you need a copy to give as a gift, distributor University of Washington Press is giving Cultivating Voices LIVE Poetry members, guests, and attendees a 30% discount (on all books you order) with the promo code WST30.

Sunday reading

You are invited to join with friends, colleagues, and former students of Marvin Bell at a reading and celebration on Sunday, November 1, 2020, Noon Pacific (2pm Central).

Hosted by Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City, the reading will feature John Irving, Tess Gallagher, Heather McHugh, David St. John, Naomi Shihab Nye, Kwame Dawes, Ellen Bass, Juan Felipe Herrera, Stephen Kuusisto, Dorianne Laux, Lia Purpura, Eric Pankey, and many more. Nathan Bell will sing, and all will raise a toast to the ways in which this extraordinary poet has shaped the literary landscape.

“You are not beautiful, exactly,” Bell writes in his famous poem for his wife, “To Dorothy.” “You are beautiful, inexactly.” His precise understanding of the world’s inexact beauty has influenced the lives of readers and writers worldwide.

Click here to register.

LiTFUSE 2021!

Yes, September 2021 is a long way off, but if you’ve ever felt the disappointment of signing up for a master class only to find it full, now is your chance! LiTFUSE 2021 will be held September 24-26, in Tieton, Washington (“fingers crossed,” as Program Director Lauren Westerfield says), and pre-registration is now open for master classes with Claudia Castro Luna, Camille Dungy, and Brooke Matson.

Seabeck Haiku Getaway this weekend!

Haiku Northwest’s Seabeck Haiku Getaway celebrates its thirteenth annual retreat Friday, October 30, to Sunday, November 1, 2020, this year via Zoom, all free. More than 200 attendees have already registered, but it’s still possible to sign up and participate. (No previous haiku experience required!)

Activities include multimedia readings, workshops, and presentations by Kelly Sauvage Angel, Susan Antolin, Chandra Bales, Roberta Beary (Ireland), Brad Bennett, David Berger, Maxianne Berger (Quebec), Melinda Brottem, Nicholas Klacsanzky, Yvette Nicole Kolodji, Annette Makino, Dorothy Matthews, Tanya McDonald, Tom Painting, Sally Penley, Kala Ramesh (India), Bob Redmond, Mike Rehling, Ron Swanson, Cathy Tashiro, Julie Warther, and Lew Watts. Michael Dylan Welch is serving as retreat director.

For more information, including the schedule, registration link, and list of attendees, visit the Haiku Northwest Seabeck Haiku Getaway page.

. . . . .
Thanks to Michael Dylan Welch for the info!

more recommendations

As if your to-read shelf was running low, here are a few more recommendations:

• The Guardian – The best recent poetry collections
• National Poetry Day – 40 Recommended Poetry Books
• PEN America – Healing through Stories: A Latinx Heritage Month Reading List from Tia Chucha Press and Bookstore
• Spectator Life – Seven poetry collections every child should read
• The West Review – Ten Underrated Poetry Collections to Read This Summer and Twenty Queer Books to Read During Quarantine

Happy reading!

on poetry

“One doesn’t have to be constantly looking over one’s own shoulder asking, ‘Can I say this? Is the reader still with me?’ I think you have to go with the faith that there are readers who are with you. You may not know who or where they are but you have to take that risk.”

Nathaniel Mackey

(b. October 25, 1947)

. . . . .

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your turn?

Applications are now being accepted for the position of Washington State Poet Laureate.

The position serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry through public readings, workshops, and presentations in communities throughout the state.

The new laureate will serve from April 15, 2021-April 14, 2023. The position is sponsored by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and Humanities Washington, with the support of Governor Jay Inslee.

To be considered, applicants must meet all eligibility requirements and submit an application online. Applications must be submitted electronically by 5:00 p.m. on December 4, 2020.

Those wishing to apply are encouraged to attend a webinar on Tuesday, October 27, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. or Wednesday, October 28 at 5:00 p.m.

The current poet laureate is the wonderful Claudia Castro Luna (a hard act to follow, as were her predecessors). A Washington State Book Award-nominated poet and creator of Washington Poetic Routes and One River, Many Voices series of readings along the Columbia River, Castro Luna has held hundreds of poetry workshops and readings across Washington State since February 2018. See more on the Washington State Poet Laureate blog.

Is it your turn?

haiku and friends

This haiku contest notice comes with a couple of caveats: 1) the contest rules insist upon the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, and 2) the contest is open to University of Iowa alumni, faculty and staff, students, and friends of any age, but there’s no information about what qualifies you as a “friend.”

If you’re still interested, the Hawkeye Haiku Contest is open through November 18, 2020. Read all about it.

virtual reading… ages 5 and up

Treat yourself, and the whole family, to a virtual reading and conversation this Saturday, October 24, 2020, at 2:00pm Pacific, as John Green (aka Papa Green Bean) and Christen Mattix share their brand-new book, Whimsey Park: Poems for the Whole Family. The Village Books event is free, but you’ll need to register in advance.

With poems by Green and lively illustrations by Mattix (who is also a poet), the book is likely to appeal to ages 5 through 12… and up, up, up!