Welcome to the latest edition of The Work. As always, the newsletter is quite long, so I have provided a table of contents. The New Year is off to a rollicking start, as you’ll soon see. Here’s hoping 2012 will be filled with poetry, art, music, and discovery.
Artist and Writer April Bullard at Cover to Cover Books
I was very moved by April Bullard’s remarks at December’s VoiceCatcher launch at Cover to Cover Books. If you’d like to read what she had to say about her work and her opinions about the local literary community, go to: http://printedmattervancouver.com/2012/01/05/april-bullard-talks-about-her-work-in-voicecatcher-6/
Christopher Luna goes Roman at
Cover to Cover's Book Fair December 10
I’d also like to thank Cover to Cover Books for inviting Printed Matter Vancouver to participate in its first Holiday Book Fair. Toni and I enjoyed meeting the other writers and publishers, and conversing with the booklovers who attended the event: http://printedmattervancouver.com/2011/12/17/printed-matter-vancouver-thanks-cover-to-cover-books-for-the-holiday-book-fair/
Hope you can join us for what promises to be a party:
CELEBRATE FIVE YEARS OF GHOST TOWN POETRY
OPEN MIC AT COVER TO COVER BOOKS
with Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, and musical guests
Jennifer Pratt-Walter, Bret Jorgensen, and Lincoln’s Beard!
Bring a dish to share and arrive early at 6pm (open mic begins at 7):
Thursday, January 12, 2012
COVER TO COVER BOOKS
6300 NE St. James Rd., Suite 104B
(St. James & Minnehaha)
Vancouver, WA
360-993-7777
mail@covertocoverbooks.net
Printed Matter Vancouver would like to thank the following businesses and individuals for making 2011 another great year for poetry in the ‘Couve: John Barber, The Catalyst, Clark County Historical Museum, Everybody’s Music, Gallery 360, Leah Jackson (Angst Gallery and Niche Wine and Art Bar), Marci McReynolds, Mint Tea, Moe’s, One World Merchants, Paper Tiger Coffee, Pop Culture, Susan Tissot, and Urban Eccentric. We would also like to thank the featured readers who shared their work with our community in 2011: John Amen, Judith Arcana, Turiya Autry, John Barber, April Bullard, Michael Daley, Tommy Gaffney, Brad Garber, Alice Hardesty, M, Eliel Lucero, Peter Ludwin, Dennis McBride, Dan Nelson, Jane Ormerod (Uphook Press), Deb Scott, Mary Slocum, Leah Stenson, Meredith Stewart, Dawn Thompson, and Carolyne Wright. In addition, we owe a debt of gratitude to the many poets who have moved and entertained us at the open mic—without your continued participation and support, we would have nothing to celebrate. Finally, our thanks to Mel Sanders for staying open late once a month and demonstrating her undying commitment to local writers.
Performer Bios:
Jennifer Pratt-Walter is a former RN and freelance musician. She lives in Vancouver, WA with husband Craig, children, and farm animals. She sings in a women's trio, "Circle Round." Jennifer also teaches harp, with emphasis on the beginning adult. Jennifer communicates her reverence for her instrument and music with her hands, searching to define and transcend human experience. Her musical background includes band, choir, and madrigal performance, and she has studied piano and fretted dulcimer. Her true love for the past 27 years has been the Celtic harp. “Celtic Muse” came into being in 1995, when Jennifer and Valerie Blessley started performing together for weddings. There has been no stopping them since, and they have been privileged to play in a variety of settings throughout the Northwest. Jennifer’s recordings include “Ancient Realms” (1998), “Wind and Wood: A Sylvan Dance" (1998 with Celtic Muse), "Merry & Bright" (2000, with Celtic Muse), "Ancient Muse: Celtic Harp and Friends," and "Crossroads," 2009, with Celtic Muse). Jennifer is a Certified Healing Musician, playing at the bedside of the dying. Her most recent recording, "Ancient Slumbers," is representative of mastery of creating a feeling of reverence and peace with pure solo harp played in a rich improvisatory style.
Bret Jorgensen is a kid who likes to write and sing songs. He likes to sing songs about love. He also likes to sing about the sad parts of life using simple chords and simple words. Bret Jorgensen sings songs to sing songs. He can be seen about riding his bike and singing at the top of his lungs while doing so.
Kris Chrisopulos, Tyler Morgan and Dwayne Spence formed Lincoln’s Beard during the summer of 2006. Playing as a trio (and without a drummer) Lincoln’s Beard charged ahead, writing, recording, and gigging as a three piece. After the release of Our American Cousin, well-known local percussionist Eddie Esparza joined the band. Lincoln’s Beard began playing longer, heavier sets, developing a unique sound which ultimately led to the follow up album Brothers Grace. Lincoln’s Beard’s sound continues to evolve with the attributed guitar work of Ross Morgan and Conner Ghormely on the group’s latest album, entitled Lincoln’s Beard, and the recent addition of Aram Arslanian on lead guitar and lapsteel.
Ghost Town Poetry, the recent anthology of poetry from the series edited by Toni Partington and Christopher Luna, is available for purchase at Cover to Cover Books.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On January 14, my monthly poetry workshop entitled “The Work” will begin again at Niche Wine and Art Bar. The workshop, which runs from 12-2:30, costs $20. Please bring a poem to share. We will listen to, discuss, and write poems. I like to conduct these workshops at a fast pace so that you can leave with several potential poems, so come prepared to work and have fun.
On January 18, we will celebrate the winners of Niche’s Coaster Poetry Contest. See item 6 for details.
On January 21 at 4pm, April Bullard and Dennis McBride will help us celebrate the life and work of William Stafford at Cover to Cover Books. For information on this and other Stafford events, see item 1 below.
On January 28, sculptor Olinka Broadfoot will read poetry in Czech and English. This is the latest in my ongoing series of bilingual readings at Niche. See item 7 for more details.
On January 29, Printed Matter Vancouver will be among the participants in the second annual National Unpublished Writers Day at the Clark county Historical Museum. We will have books for sale, and will be facilitating a workshop entitled “Poetry As Survival” inspired by Gregory Orr’s book of the same name. See item 8 for more information.
Create something beautiful in 2012,
Christopher Luna
THE WORK JANUARY 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Stafford Reading at Cover to Cover Books featuring April Bullard and Dennis McBride January 21(Vancouver, WA)/ Stafford Birthday Reading Schedule
- Figures of Speech Critique Group and Stafford Reading with Leah Stenson, Paul Merchant, Cindy Williams Gutierrez, and Lars Nordstrom January 8 at Stonehenge Studios/ Stafford Reading at In Other Words Books January 17 (Portland, OR)
3. Dirty Queer Open Mic Five Year Anniversary at In Other Words January 13 (Portland)
4. Ruby Hansen Murray, Deborah Woodard, and Sam Lohmann at Powell's on Hawthorne January 15 (Portland)
- Matt Meighan’s Songwriting as Truth-Telling workshop begins January 17 (Portland)
- Coaster Poetry Contest Winners Reading at Niche January 18 (Vancouver)
- Poetry in Czech and English with sculptor Olinka Boradfoot at Niche January 28 (Vancouver)
- National Unpublished Writers Day at Clark County Historical Museum January 29 (Vancouver)
- Stafford Reading at Barnes & Noble Vancouver with Leanne Grabel, Steve Sander, and FWS board member Tim Barnes January 31
SUBMISSION CALLS AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST (January 15 deadline)
1.
Printed Matter Vancouver, Cover to Cover Books, and Christopher Luna are proud to present a celebration of the life and work of William Stafford, one of many events throughout the Portland metropolitan region during January.
William Stafford Reading
Featuring April Bullard and Dennis McBride
and your host Christopher Luna
Cover to Cover Books
6300 NE St. James Rd., Suite 104B
4pm
January 21
Artist, photographer, poet, and musician April Bullard lives with her husband aboard their 50-foot-long houseboat near Vancouver, Washington. She creates work inspired by living cradled on the magically reflective and tumultuous undercurrents of the Columbia River. “Living full-time on the water,” April explains, “I’ve come to realize I inhabit three distinct worlds: the real world my body exists in; the reflected world on the river’s surface; and the underwater world with its universe of currents and creatures struggling to survive.”
Dennis McBride’s essay “Reflections on the Mystery of William Stafford” was a highlight of last year’s Stafford birthday celebration at the Vancouver Library. Irreverent and thought- provoking, the piece was later published in the Spring 2011 edition of the Friends of William Stafford newsletter. Dennis is the author of Looking for Peoria and Killing the Mockingbird (both from Quiet Lion Press) and the recipient of the 1996 Andreas Berger Award for poetry. Vancouver’s literary community has embraced McBride, whose sardonic wit and speedy delivery make every reading an event.
Christopher Luna is the co-founder, with Toni Partington, of Printed Matter Vancouver, which recently released Ghost Town Poetry, an anthology of poems from the popular Vancouver, WA open mic reading he founded in 2004. His books include GHOST TOWN, USA and The Flame Is Ours: The Letters of Stan Brakhage and Michael McClure 1961-1978, an important piece of film and literary history that Luna edited at Brakhage’s request, available on Michael Rothenberg’s Big Bridge.org.
JANUARY BIRTHDAY PARTIES HONOR POET WILLIAM STAFFORD
PORTLAND--Come out of the winter cold and celebrate with local poets and writers the birthday of Oregon’s most famous poet--and one of America’s most important 20th century poets--in venues throughout the Northwest and other states and two foreign countries throughout the month of January.
The venues for these popular “birthday parties,” known formally as the William Stafford Birthday Commemorative Readings, which are sponsored by the Friends of William Stafford (FWS), include libraries, bookstores, art galleries, college campuses, a national park, a hospital, even a prison--wherever poetry can be read to and heard by appreciative audiences. Local poets and speakers provide the programs. The public is invited to these free events.
This year FWS is sponsoring more than 61 poetry readings and presentations not only in towns and cities throughout Oregon and Washington, but also in California, Nevada, Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont, and New York City. Events will also be held in Glasgow, Scotland, and Sapporo, Japan.
More than 225 poets, musicians, and speakers will participate in these programs. Featured Northwest poets and writers include (and this is a fractional list) Oregon Poet Laureate and FWS Board Member organizer for these events, Paulann Petersen, Ingrid Wendt, Joel Nightingale Berning--now of New York City, Ralph Salisbury, Bob Balmer, Greg Simon, Diane Holland, Sharon Wood Wortman, Kit Stafford, Jennifer Hager, Joe Green, James Bertolino, Joanna Rose, Martha Gatchell, Linda Gelbrich, Mark Thalman, Penelope Scambly Schott, Joaquin López, Harold Johnson, Willa Schneberg, A. Molotkov, and Shirley Plummer.
Different from most poetry readings, the “parties” usually feature four or five local poets, each of whom read a Stafford poem and one of their own written in the spirit of Stafford's writing. Some events also include speakers who address topics related to Stafford and his work, short films, or Stafford poetry-related musical pieces. After the featured participants’ presentations, the guests, members of the audience, are then invited to read a favorite Stafford poem or to tell a personal anecdote about the late Oregon poet laureate.
As always, several programs are particularly noteworthy. On Sunday, January 8, 7-9 p.m., Stonehenge Studios, 3508 SW Corbett Ave., Portland, the program, "Stafford in Translation," features Paul Merchant who will talk about the translation of Stafford's poetry into various languages as well as Stafford's work as a translator of Spanish, Cindy Gutierrez who will read Spanish Stafford translations, and Lars Nordstrom who will read his translations of Stafford into Norwegian.
The program on Sunday, January 15, 2 pm, at Sanctuary, West Hills Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 8470 SW Oleson Road, Portland, features Susan Bucharist, David Hedges, Bill Siverly, and the VOX Spoken Word Chorus. At the Sunday morning worship services, 9 and 11 a.m., Sulima Malzin will speak on "Another World Instead: The Life and Vision of William Stafford."
On Sunday, January 22nd, 2 p.m., the Beaverton City Library, 12375 SW 5th St., Beaverton, features three-time Oregon Book Award winner John Daniel who will read from William Stafford's poems and his own and talk about Stafford's life and work in relation to his own writing, both poetry and prose.
At the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, Jan. 23, Shaun Griffin conducts a reading of Stafford’s poems; and on Jan. 28, 2 p.m., Paul Willis again hosts a reading at the First Crossing Day Use Area, Santa Barbara, CA. This event, now in its fourth year, is held on the exact site of the Los Prietos Civilian Public Service Camp where Stafford was stationed during WWII. (For a full list of the dates, times, contacts for these and all the readings, go to the FWS Website: www.williamstafford.org)
William Stafford was born on January 17, 1914. A favorite professor at Lewis and Clark College, where he taught for 30 years, he remains one of America's most celebrated poets. Known for his encouragement of other writers and for his advocacy of free expression in writing and speech, Stafford is the author of more than fifty books and a recipient of the National Book Award. He died in August 1993.
The Friends of William Stafford is a non-profit poetry-advocacy organization that, by keeping alive Stafford's gift as a teacher devoted to all types of free expression, provides ongoing education in literature, particularly in poetry, in ways that will encourage and broaden the community of readers and writers. FWS also supports and helps to underwrite a variety of literary projects and events open to the public.
For its commitment to promote the reading, writing, and enjoyment of all literature, FWS received from the International Society of Philosophical Enquiry the 2001 Whiting Memorial Award for public service to the arts.
#
Joseph A. Soldati
www.josephsoldati.com
2.
From Steve Williams:
A busy poetry January awaits. First up is our monthly critique group meeting at Stonehenge Gallery at 4 p.m. on January 8th. Our first meeting went well and we're looking forward to Sunday afternoon. Bring 8-10 copies of a poem and join us for a marvelous afternoon of poetry and discussion. Followed by Leah Stenson's reading in the same locale at 7 p.m. So stick around, have something to eat in the cafe and make a night of it.
Join us for our January William Stafford event at In Other Words Bookstore at 14 N. Killingsworth St., PDX January 17th at 7 p.m. We will have open mic, but this month we have a Stafford theme. So bring a poem inspired by or of a theme by William Stafford. In addition to our normal fare of cookies/poetry prompts/broadsides, there will be Stafford broadsides as well. Hope to see you there.
The Studio Series: Poetry Reading and Open Mic will feature “Stafford in Translation,” at Stonehenge Studios, 3508 SW Corbett Avenue, Portland 97239 on Sunday, January 8 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Stafford Archivist Paul Merchant will speak about the translation of Stafford's poetry into various languages as well as Stafford's work as a translator of Spanish; Cindy Williams Gutierrez will read Spanish Stafford translations; and Lars Nordstrom will read his translations of Stafford into Norwegian. Attendees are invited to share a Stafford poem or anecdote at the open mic. The event is hosted by FWS Board Member Leah Stenson, organizer and host of the Studio Series. Free and open to the public, the Studio Series is held monthly on second Sundays. For additional information please contact leahstenson@comcast.net.
A native of Wales, Paul Merchant studied at Cambridge, the Shakespeare Institute, and the University of Athens, and taught for many years at the University of Warwick. Since 1996, he has been Director of the William Stafford Archives and co-edited two collections of Stafford's prose. He has also edited plays by the early 17th-century English dramatist Thomas Heywood, essays on contemporary American writer Wendell Berry, and two publications relating to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is currently Special Collections Associate at Lewis and Clark College. Some Business of Affinity, a finalist for the 2007 Oregon Book Award in poetry, follows three earlier collections of poetry: Salt Water Island, Bone from a Stag's Heart and Stones. He is also the translator of four collections of modern Greek poetry: Modern Poetry in Translation, Eleni Vakalo’s Genealogy, Monochords by Yannis Ritsos, and Twelve Poems for Cavafy, also by Ritsos.
Poet-dramatist Cindy Williams Gutiérrez collaborates with musicians, thespians, and visual artists. Her collection, the small claim of bones, is forthcoming from Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe (Arizona State University). Poems and reviews appear in Borderlands, Calyx, Harvard’s Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Rain Taxi, Rattle, and UNAM’s Periódico de poesÃa. She has performed her Aztec-inspired poetry accompanied by pre-Hispanic instrumentalist Gerado Calderón through Washington Humanities, the Miracle Theatre’s Luna Nueva Festival, the Multnomah County Library, and Associated Writing Programs (AWP). Cindy earned an MFA from the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast Program with concentrations in artistic collaboration and Mesoamerican poetry.
Lars Nordström is the recipient of several Fulbright grants, a Scandinavian Foundation grant for academic research in the USA, several Swedish Institute grants and awards, three Baltic Center residences as well as a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center fellowship. In 1988 he won the Oregon Book Award for Nonfiction for Making it Home and has published prose, poetry, translations, interviews, oral histories, articles, and scholarly materials in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, Japan and the United States in places such as The Oregon Online Encyclopedia, The Great River Review, The Greenfield Review, Hubbub, Northwest Review, Oregon Literary Review, PRISM International, International Poetry Review, The Chariton Review, and WRIT. His most recent publication is Harry Martinson: The Procession of Memories. Selected Poems 1929 - 1945 (2009), a translation of the Swedish 1974 Nobel Prize winner.
Leah Stenson is a Board Member of Friends of William Stafford, coordinator and host of the Studios reading series in Portland and a regional editor of the upcoming Ooligan Press anthology The Pacific Poetry Project. She has previously served as an assistant editor in New York City, a teacher of English at a university in Tokyo and the Managing Director of the Oregon Peace Institute. Her chapbooks include East/West (William Stafford Institute at Lewis and Clark College, 2005) and Heavenly Body (Finishing Line Press, 2011).
3.
Dirty Queer Open Mic Five year Anniversary
It's our anniversary!!! five beautiful, sexy, smart, brave, loving, creative, resourceful years ... and many more to come.
Friday, January 13
Every 2nd Friday of the Month
at In Other Words
14 N Killingsworth at Williams, #6 & #72 buslines
wheelchair accessible building & stage, gender neutral bathroom
6:30-8:30pm, 18+, $1-$5 donation at the door for IOW, nobody turned away for lack of funds
we've got a special format for the anniversary celebration:
6-7 is mingling, treats and a fliptography booth!
7-8 is open mic part one
8-8:30 is intermission (ditto on the treats and fliptography booth!)
8:30-9:30 is more open mic
9:30-10 is mingling, winding down, possibly more fliptography.
sign ups will start at 6, and i *highly* encourage you to use not only your words, but also your dance moves, your improv, your gender performance, your secret magic skills and more. c'mon, portland, show me what you've got hidden under those layers of creativity and perversion ...
we had over 200 people last year for the anniversary so come early if you want to sit down! if you have accessibility needs around seating, please contact IOW directly ahead of time to make arrangements. (more accessibility info below.)
we'll have tasty treats at intermission from local companies. we're still seeking donations so please get in touch if you have suggestions, or even better, solicit them directly and send the confirmation info my way. we fall under the 501c3 umbrella for iow, so donations are a tax write off.
and, if you'd like to feed your fellow freaks, show off your hot(pad) skills, or otherwise tempt the taste buds of a roomful of dirty queers, please feel free to bring along some food to share. all food will be served ahead of time and at intermission, and we've no way to heat or cool it, so keep that in mind, please. (labeling things as to ingredients would also be cool.)
>> door prizes from good margot, alicia shaffer from fancy! salon, as you like it pleasure shop, and lady scarlett.
Good Margot makes gear for the Domestic Protagonist in your life! Inspired by a need for natural options for her own family, Good Margot began crafting original designs to address everyday needs and has never stopped. She's now making a diverse range of quality creations from sustainable materials including clothing, accessories, lap blankets, courtesy pads, dog beds and home decor. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Good-Margot/238435329527907
Alicia says "I hail from the bay area and am very excited to give P-town a little bit of my style. I'm in my 9th year of the craft, and I don't want to sound cliché, but I do love it. I specialize in creative color and razor cuts. I'm most definitely an out-of-the-box cutter, with the every day capability as well. If I had to give myself a niche, it would be that super-textured sexy hair, with a "rock and roll" edge to it. Whether it be your "glam chic" or your "Portland wash and wear" I do it all." http://www.thefancysalon.com/alicia.html
As You Like It is a gender inclusive, body positive, sex positive, and environmentally friendly pleasure shop that is wholly committed to being sustainable in our practices. We believe that pleasure products should be body safe. Our purpose is to provide an emotionally and physically safe environment for your pleasure shopping. We provide non-toxic and environmentally friendly products. We will also host and promote an abundance of fun and educational workshops and events for our community. http://www.asyoulikeitpdx.com/
Lady Scarlett offers a unique counseling service, using kink to work through concerns. New to kink and want to explore in a safe space? Have past trauma and want to find power over it? Queer/trans owned and friendly, sliding scale ($75-150/session, 1.5 hour sessions). Offered up tonight is a full session of "Counseling Through Kink: Using BDSM To Find Healing". For more info contact: counselingthroughkink@gmail.com.
>> sex q&a about mabel hampton
>> photo booth from fliptography!
flip•tog•ra•phy: dance, get freaky, sign, or kiss your date in front of a camera for seven seconds. in two minutes, have a flipbook of your performance in-hand. http://www.fliptography.net/
>> boot blacking by kyle minnie minstrel
>> chair massage from aster wolfe
>> dirty queer buttons and 'stir the juice' poetry books for sale: http://www.facebook.com/stirthejuice
as always, the money from the door at dirty queer goes to support in other words - the nation's last surviving non-profit feminist bookstore in the united states. show your support for this vital resource center however you can, and get involved! http://www.inotherwords.org/
sign ups for the open mic will be first come, first serve as always - we may not be able to get to everyone on the list if we run out of time. 5 mins per person unless you get specific permission from me for a longer time slot.
for more info on dirty queer, including podcasts (which will be updated soon as we've gotten a web hosting cost donation from a lovely and generous dirty queer!) from previous shows, see our website: http://www.dirtyqueer.com/
accessibility info:
+ no steps to the door, or inside the building
+ slight ramp between the two areas of the building
+ aprox 3' width for the entrance
+ gender neutral bathroom
(not sure about wheelchair access to the bathroom - it's wide, but there is a 90 degree turn from hallway to room, and no rail)
+ ramp to the stage
+ sturdy folding chairs and some couches
+ASL interpretation can be arranged for w/ a request from Deaf/HOH person to DHOR (dhor.blogspot.com) and enough advance notice
4.
Poets Ruby Hansen Murray, Deborah Woodard, and Sam Lohmann will read at Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., January 15th at 4 p.m.
Puget Island writer and photographer Ruby Hansen Murray and Seattle poet Deborah Woodard will read from their contributions to American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry (Stockport Flats).
With "Ghost Fishing" and a photo-essay, Murray turns what editor Lillien Waller calls a sure eye and muscular prose onto the fishing communities of the Lower Columbia River. A counselor licensed in Washington and Oregon with a background in cultural anthropology, Murray has taken personal essays from a life of listening deeply. Her work has appeared in Oregon Humanities Magazine and on Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio. She is the recipient of a fellowship residency at Playa in Eastern Oregon.
Pushcart Prize nominee Deborah Woodard was born in New York City and raised in Vermont and lives in Seattle where she teaches at the Richard Hugo House. She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of New Hampshire, an MFA from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington. For further information: www.deborahwoodard.com.
Portland poet Sam Lohmann edits the magazine Peaches and Bats, co-edits Airfoil chapbooks with David Abel, and is one of the organizers of Portland's Spare Room reading series. He's the author of Stand on This Picnic Bench and Look North (Publication Studio) and several chapbooks, including Lines on Canvas or What I Know or Have Seen of His Life.
Sunday, January 15th @ 4:00PM Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd. ###
5.
Hi,
I'm writing to let you know about two upcoming songwriting events: Songwriting as Truth-Telling, a weekly workshop beginning Jan 17, and Truth-Craft, a one-day songwriting workshop which Chris Kokesh and I will offer on Feb 19.
Songwriting as Truth-Telling will meet Tuesdays Jan 17 through Feb 21 (6 weeks). There will be two sections: 7-9 pm at Artichoke Music, and 3:30-5:30 pm at my home in N. Portland. Each class is limited to 8 participants and pre-registration is required. Details at http://www.mattmeighan.com/classes.php. The evening class is nearly full, and both will likely fill up, so if you have questions or would like to register, please let me know soon. Cost is a sliding scale, $100 - 160.
Truth-Craft: Communicate Your Truth in Song. Sunday, Feb 19, Chris Kokesh and I will offer a one-day songwriting workshop at Artichoke Music, 10 am - 4 pm with a break for lunch. Chris & I are looking forward to hosting this workshop, a mini version of our Zigzag Mountain Songwriting Camp. Cost is $60; details at http://www.mattmeighan.com/TruthCraftPoster19Feb2012.pdf.
Give the Gift of Songwriting: I'm offering gift certificates for Songwriting as Truth-Telling classes as well as for one-on-one songwriting help. Recipients of the class certificate can sign up for the January class, or a future class that fits their schedule. One-on-one help is $50 per hour, with a gift-certificate discount to $40 per hour for 3 or more hours. Contact me for details.
Happy Holidays,
Matt
6.
Coaster Poetry Contest Reading
7pm
January 18
Niche Wine and Art Bar
1013 Main Street Vancouver
http://lekkerentertainment.blogspot.com/
http://www.printedmattervancouver.com
http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com
Leah Jackson and Christopher Luna are proud to announce the winners of Niche Wine and Art Bar’s Coaster Poetry Contest. Each of the ten winning poems will be published on a set of limited edition coasters to be used in the bar and available for purchase now. You can buy a complete set for only two dollars.
At 7pm on Wednesday, January 18 we will gather at Niche for a special reading featuring the winning poets. The winners are:
Anni Becker, "a copy of me"
April Bullard, "Ever searching clouds of wispy gray"
Ed Coletti, "haiku"
Carole Doane, "Middle child"
Dene Grigar, "I could cry"
Anne McQuary, "Botanical Suicide"
Daniel Nelson, "Crows"
Jessica Samuelsen, "An Adult Wish"
Erma Schmeckpepper, "the rain falls steadily from grey woolen skies"
Mary L. Slocum, "A Function of Sitting"
Congratulations to our winning coaster poets.
Leah Jackson is a visual artist and the proprietor of both Angst Gallery and Niche Wine and Art Bar. In late 2010, Jackson named Christopher Luna poet laureate for Niche and Angst. Along with the poetry contest, he has organized a series of bilingual readings at Niche which have featured poets reading in Spanish, Chinese, French, Vietnamese, Romanian, and Russian. In early 2012 Luna and Niche will host readings in Czech and Japanese.
7.
Niche Poet Laureate Christopher Luna invites you to join us for an evening of poetry in Czech and English with sculptor Olinka Broadfoot.
6:30pm
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Niche Wine and Art Bar
1013 Main Street
http://lekkerentertainment.blogspot.com/
http://christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com
Olinka Broadfoot is an accomplished sculptor and painter who recently returned to Oregon from Prague. Her work is currently available through TONDACH Sculpture Park (Jircany, Czech Republic), Siler Gallery (Portland, Oregon), TONDACH (Stod, Czech Republic), and RiverSea Gallery (Astoria, Oregon). She was included in the 2007 edition of ART IN AMERICA, Guide to Museums, Galleries and Artists. Her artwork is found in private and public collections all over the world. According to Olinka, “My work is varied because life is varied and I create from at least three different cultural backgrounds. I work in a wide range of mediums, reflecting the language of whatever medium happens to be on hand. I enjoy the challenge. One medium releases the energy for the other.” About the poems that she will share at this special event, Olinka comments: “These are mostly poems written after my husband committed suicide. It was the one thing besides sculpture and music that made any sense to me. They follow the particular form of grief and healing that this sort of death brings.” For more information about Olinka Broadfoot and her artwork, go to: www.olinkabroadfootgallery.com.
8.
2nd Annual National Unpublished Writers’ Day Workshop
Join us on Sunday, January 29th, from noon – 5 pm for the 2nd Annual National Unpublished Writers’ Day Workshop at the museum! The museum galleries will remain open for viewing as will the Brautigan Library. The research library will be closed during the program. Admission to this event is free!
Sponsors include: Riverview Community Bank, the Clark County Historical Museum, and Washington State University Vancouver.
National Unpublished Writers’ Day is an annual event held in partnership between the Clark County Historical Museum, the Writing Center at Washington State University Vancouver, and The Creative Media & Digital Culture Program at Washington State University Vancouver. The event highlights The Brautigan Library Collection at the Museum. Washington- born writer Richard Brautigan conceived of the idea for a library where anyone could deposit a copy of their unpublished book, regardless of content or quality of writing, and all those folks who wish to create or communicate through writing.
National Unpublished Writers’ Day is free, both in terms of admission and in the spirit of a sixties “happening” with their multiple, simultaneous events and opportunities. We do, however, welcome any contributions and donations. The event will feature a series of “creative stations” and workshops around the Museum, each offering different opportunities to learn or experience something associated with different aspects or kinds of writing. These Creation Stations and workshops serve to highlight a broad approach to writing and offer a wide array of information, theory, and practice for our visitors.
Creative stations will include:
Zines
Editing/resumé writing
Writing for mobile media
Poetry
Spontaneous writing
Comedy writing
Creative writing
Radio writing
Descriptive writing
9.
From Barnes & Noble Vancouver:
VANCOUVER, WA - Come out of the winter cold and celebrate with local poets and writers the birthday of Oregon’s most famous poet--and one of America’s most important 20th century poets--in venues throughout the Northwest and other states and two foreign countries throughout the month of January. This year the Friends of Williams Stafford (FWS) is sponsoring more than 61 poetry readings and presentations not only in towns and cities throughout Oregon and Washington, but also in California, Nevada, Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont, and New York City. Events will also be held in Glasgow, Scotland, and Sapporo, Japan.
More than 225 poets, musicians, and speakers will participate in these programs. Featured Northwest poets and writers include Oregon Poet Laureate and FWS Board Member organizer for these events, Paulann Petersen, Ingrid Wendt, Ralph Salisbury, Sharon Wood Wortman, Kit Stafford, Jennifer Hager, Mark Thalman, Penelope Scambly Schott, Joaquin López, Willa Schneberg, A. Molotkov, and Shirley Plummer. Some events also include speakers who address topics related to Stafford and his work, short films, or Stafford poetry-related musical pieces. After the featured participants’ presentations, the guests, members of the audience, are then invited to read a favorite Stafford poem or to tell a personal anecdote about the late Oregon poet laureate.
As always, Vancouver's program is noteworthy. On Tuesday, January 31st from 7 - 8:30 pm, the local duo of Leanne Grabel and Steve Sander will read some of their Stafford-inspired pieces. The program, held at Barnes & Noble Vancouver and hosted by Shawn Sorensen, will also feature commentary from FWS board member Tim Barnes, followed by the open mic round table mentioned above.
William Stafford was born on January 17, 1914. A favorite professor at Lewis and Clark College, where he taught for 30 years, he remains one of America's most celebrated poets. Known for his encouragement of other writers and for his advocacy of free expression in writing and speech, Stafford is the author of more than fifty books and a recipient of the National Book Award. He died in August 1993.
The Friends of William Stafford is a non-profit poetry-advocacy organization that, by keeping alive Stafford's gift as a teacher devoted to all types of free expression, provides ongoing education in literature, particularly in poetry, in ways that will encourage and broaden the community of readers and writers. FWS also supports and helps to underwrite a variety of literary projects and events open to the public.
For its commitment to promote the reading, writing, and enjoyment of all literature, FWS received from the International Society of Philosophical Enquiry the 2001 Whiting Memorial Award for public service to the arts.
Everyone is invited to the January 31st Stafford event at Barnes & Noble booksellers in Vancouver, 7700 NE Fourth Plain Boulevard.
Shawn Sorensen
Community Relations Manager
Barnes & Noble Vancouver
7700 NE 71st Ave.
Vancouver, WA 98662
SUBMISSION CALLS AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
1.
“The 30s Are Back,” a new poem by David Madgalene:
http://hoodoodog.blogspot.com/2011/12/30s-are-back.html
2.
deb scott
plays with words.
http://stoneymoss.org/
http://swimmingwithpoets.wordpress.com/
3.
Paul Nelson has put his excellent essays on Organic Poetry in one place. This page should keep you busy: http://paulenelson.com/2011/12/12/organic-poetry-essays/
4.
Missive is a new literary journal built around the idea of community. We are committed to publishing a broad range of styles, themes, and idea. We accept art, poetry, prose, and drama. Our website is www.missivelit.com, please send all submissions to submissions@missivelit.com.
Missive stems from the idea that every piece of literature is a letter from a writer to a reader. Every literary journal is a letter from editor readers. Missive sets out to create a letter from readers to readers. Thus, at its core, Missive is about harnessing 21st century technology to create a community based literary journal, which represents a broad range of views, tastes, and opinions.
To facilitate this, Missive is based around a readers’ panel composed of between ten to fifteen readers, which looks at all the submissions. Each reader has the ability to choose one wild card pick that automatically goes in, because even though the other readers on the panel may dislike it, the fact that one person loves it means that other people out there would enjoy it as well.
Missive is also an experimental literary magazine, with an emphasis on trying new things. The goal is to determine the best possible ways to find readers and keep them engaged.
5.
CALL FOR POEM SUBMISSIONS
(WWW.FAULTLINESPOETRY.COM)
Dec. 15, 2011
FAULT LINES POETRY JOURNAL is calling for poets of all ages and backgrounds to submit their poems for publication: an exciting opportunity to get published in the newest poetry journal on the West Coast. Published out of Portland, Oregon, Fault Lines, is reaching out to poets from Oregon, Washington, Northern California, and British Columbia. It seeks imaginative, evocative, and powerful poetry for its maiden edition. Poetry can be on any topic in any form. I hope to receive your poems soon. Space is limited and the submission end date is looming.
The deadline is Jan. 15, 2012.
Fault Lines Poetry encourages submissions from poets of all backgrounds and circumstances: from polished, published poets to shy beginners, from the young to the middle aged to the Boomers. All are encouraged to send us poems so that Fault Lines can give them a VOICE.
As editor, I am looking for poems that nourish and encourage reflection, that enchant so that the readers turn page after page, repeatedly, because these poems inspire.
Submit your poems on the poetry website under the Call for Submission section.
WWW.FAULTLINESPOETRY.COM
ANTHONY PFANNENSTIEL
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
You may contact me if you have any questions faultlinespoetry@gmail.com