What was your most memorable experience giving a reading of your poetry? Was it in a new place or an unusual setting? Did you connect in some special way with other poets or your listeners? Share your story with us, and share the experiences of other poets by reading their stories.

We’re launching our collection of poets’ reading stories with a good one—Bill Seaton’s “Reading near the Roof of the World” in Kathmandu, Nepal. And Bill has very kindly given our About Poetry library two of his poems to accompany this article:

• “Mahashamsana,” from India
• “Boca de Tomatlan,” from Mexico

We’ve been collecting poets’ stories for many years here at About Poetry—here are some of the old ones:

• Reports from poets around the world
• Festival, reading and performance reports, 1997 - 2004

Curiouser and curiouser.... It’s been more than six years since the local authorities in Alfacar, near Granada, Spain began the initiative to dig up the mass grave believed to hold the remains of Federico García Lorca, assassinated at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War because of his left-wing sympathies and his open homosexuality. Divided public opinion and various court edicts have gone back and forth since 2003, and the digging finally began in October 2009. But the project will end this week, and they haven’t found Lorca:

from The Telegraph (UK):
“Lorca’ civil war grave found empty,” by Fiona Govan
“One of Spain’s most enduring mysteries has remained unsolved after archaeologists exhumed a mass grave without finding the remains of Federico García Lorca.... The project on a remote hillside outside the southern city of Granada was intended to trace the fate of the nation’s most celebrated modern poet and playwright. But the two-month excavation of an area of parkland about the size of half a football pitch will come to an end this week and as yet no human remains have been unearthed.”

More on Federico García Lorca:
Our biographical profile of Lorca
Federico García Lorca’s body to be dug up (2003)
Artistic power remains in the place where poetry was made: the poet’s home (2007)

Al Gore says he wrote the poem in his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis (Rodale Books, 2009), because his chapter describing the apocalyptic effects of climate change didn’t fit in a book focusing on solutions to the crisis of global warming. So he kept trying to condense the chapter down to its essence—and ended up with a poem. “I’m not a poet, but I did my best...” What do you think, dear readers? Is it a poem? Is it a good poem?

Both The Telegraph and The Huffington Post (linked below) quote the full text of the poem—and of course you can find it in Gore’s book. Better yet, you can see and hear Gore’s own reading of the poem on video at CNN’s American Morning Web site. Give it a listen and come on back to comment!

from The Huffington Post:
“Al’s Poem,” by William Petrocelli
“‘When I submitted the manuscript to the publisher,’ Gore said, ‘my editor wanted to know who wrote it, because I hadn’t attributed it to anyone. I told him, William Butler Yeats.’ Then Gore burst out laughing.... ‘When he acted like he might believe me, I had to tell him No, no, I wrote it!’.... a poem—one that Yeats might have been proud of.”

from Vanity Fair:
“Al Gore: The Poet Laureate of Climate Change,” by Mark Hertsgaard
“Now, with the publication of his new book, Our Choice, Gore has unveiled a fresh and most unexpected talent: the book’s opening chapter concludes with a poem he wrote—21 lines of verse that are equal parts beautiful, evocative, and disturbing.... It’s odd that none of the reviews of Our Choice have mentioned this poem.... a surprisingly accomplished, nuanced piece of writing.”

from The Telegraph (UK):
“Al Gore pens bleak climate change poem”

More on William Butler Yeats
Biographical profile of Yeats
Library: Poems by Yeats
Things Fall Apart: A Study Guide to “The Second Coming”

A selection of our previous notes on poetry in the political world:
Neruda: Politics and poetical judgment (July 2004)
Rediscovered: Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Poetical Essay against war (July 2006)
The Intersection of Politics and Autobiography in Poetry, Obama&8217;s poetry (March 2007)
Poetry vs. Prose in the Presidential Campaign? (February 2008) -- This one has a poll asking “Would you vote for a poet for President?” Stop in and see how our readers voted.
Found Poetry on the Campaign Trail, Sarah Palin’s statements made into poetry by Hart Seely (October 2008)
Poetry in the White House (December 2008)
Poetry and the Presidential Inauguration (January 2009)

Last week IBPC judge Majid Naficy announced his selection of the winning poems in the November InterBoard Poetry Competition—none of which came from our Poetry Forum:

• In first place, he chose “Certain in my Immortality - 1947” by Alice Folkart, a “beautiful and meaningful poem” that plays on the association of polio and water and evokes the child’s innate assumption of invulnerability in the face of danger.
• In second place, he selected “String Theory (Schrodinger’s Coffin)” by Jessica Haynes, a “touching and whimsical poem” that meditates on words and the emotional ties that can reach through the border between life and death when a loved one has crossed over.
• Majicy awarded third place to “Clothespin” by Sarah J. Sloat, a “Rorschach of the laundry sack” in which the poet spins out the metaphorical implications of a homely object.
• He also made honorable mention without comment of “‘Appy ‘Our,” an English-accented vignette by Stuart Ryder.

Poems for the December competition went to the judge this week, and we’re proud to announce the three poems entered from our Poetry Forum:

• “Night Sepia” by Tim J. Brennan (68degrees), a deft and delicate evocation of the poet’s dream visitors in the night “time when the strange bird / sings its own dark song.”
• “Education of Our Condemned” by Robin Taylor (bitoftruth), a poem that twists familiar nursery rhymes to recreate the horrors of the contemporary urban classroom.
• “Tree Planting” by Christine J. Schiff (cumin), a sweet, direct and natural elegy.

We sent these poems in with all good wishes, and will be back to report just as soon as the judge has made his choices. In the meantime, please remember to keep your nominations coming in—post the best poems you see on our Forum in the InterBoard Poetry Competition folder and be sure to address your post to the poet whose work you are nominating, so that the poet will be notified and can post the required permission and information before Poetry Guide Margy Snyder selects the next month’s three entries.

More on the IBPC:
General information
Requirements for IBPC nominees
Anthology of the monthly IBPC winning poems
Archive of poems entered in the IBPC from our Poetry Forum
Background information and reading links for October - December IBPC judge Majid Naficy

We’ve seen this question posed around the poetry performance community (there was a debate in poems at Poetz.com a few years back), but we’ve never fully resolved the issue even between ourselves—Poetry Guide Bob Holman tends to use the “mic” spelling, while Co-Guide Margy Snyder finds herself often in the “mike” camp. Now, thanks to a link forwarded to the NewPoetry list by JforJames (aka Jim Finnegan), we’ve run across an expansive new airing of the debate among the “tirades” at singer/songwriter Sam Bayer’s Web site. He makes his position quite clear in the essay’s title: “Mike, dammit.” Anyone care to extend the debate by commenting here?

Our articles on Open Mic/Mike:
“Open Mic: Definitions, Rules, Etiquette, Irony,” Bob Holman’s manifesto on the topic
“HipHop, Performance Poetry, Spoken Word, Slam: Definitions from a Teenager,” our interview with young poet and open mike host Eman
“Open Takes Over,” David Shapiro on open mikes and fame
“The Fuse: A circle of performance, poetry & safety in a public square,” by David Levine

Open Mic: Poetry HowTos
How to get started hosting a poetry reading
How to promote your poetry reading
The Barbaric Yawp: How to give a good reading of your poems, by Gary Mex Glazner

Something to think about if you’re visiting with your family for Thanksgiving and there are children about: Most people’s first experience of poems comes in the family setting, in the form of nursery rhymes—the lullabyes, counting games, riddles and rhymed fables that introduce us to the rhythmic, mnemonic, allegorical uses of language in songs sung to us by our mothers and other elders. We’ve begun a new anthology at About Poetry, to help you remember the nursery rhymes that have been handed down through the generations in the English-speaking world. Why not take the time this Thanksgiving to teach a few of the classic rhymes of your childhood to your young ones?

And better yet, help us expand our collection by sharing your first remembered poems: Readers Respond: The First Poem I Ever Knew.

We’ve just heard that Sam Hamill (founding editor of Copper Canyon Press and director of Poets Against War) and his wife Gray Foster are in need of assistance from their friends in the poetic community. Here’s the letter than has been circulated with this news:

Dear friends of Sam Hamill and Gray Foster, Copper Canyon Press, and Poets Against the War:
     You may have heard that Sam and Gray have had some financial reverses lately. Both have also have had recent hospital stays and still need treatment not covered by insurance. Because of impaired hearing, Sam can no longer teach classes. He survives on his pension but has no room for emergency expenses.
     We think that their friends will want to help Sam and Gray get through a difficult patch, and that’s why we are raising funds in their behalf. No contribution is too small, and the names (though not the amount of donation) will be given in a few weeks to Sam and Gray, along with the total of contributions. Because of the emergency, donations must be received before the end of the month. This kind of fund doesn’t qualify for tax-exempt status, so we suggest that those for whom this is a concern first determine the amount they would like to donate and then deduct from it the figure they estimate they would save if the contribution were deductible.
     Because Alfred is in the U.S., he has set up a dollar account for the fund and checks or money orders (in dollars) should be made out in his name and sent to P.O. Box 214, Hopkinton, RI 02833 U.S.A.
     This effort is probably best described not as charity but as compensation for unpaid labor involved in the founding and management of Copper Canyon Press and the website Poets Against the War, both extraordinary achievements for which we would like to show gratitude.
     If you can forward this letter to those on your mailing lists, that would be great. Thank you for your interest and cooperation.
     Sincerely,
     Alfred Corn
     Marilyn Hacker

The Lark Ascending was a New York City literary performance group who sought to revive classic works of high culture by performing them live in a chamber setting. Their last performance was more than a year ago, but they’ve just announced that the audio recordings and program notes of all their readings have been made available online for free downloading by anyone who wants to listen: Literary Downloads at The Twickenham Press. It’s a treasure trove of old classics—lots of Milton, including a dramatic reading of selections from Paradise Lost entitled “The Great Debate in Hell,” works from Lord Byron, T.S. Eliot and Walt Whitman, and a whole program devoted to women poets of the English Renaissance, “Shakespeare’s Sisters.” Bravo!

For more online listening, visit our audio library:
Links to audio poetry archives and podcasts

For poets who are spending the long winter evenings reading, revising and combining their poems into collections, here’s an updated list of upcoming contest entry deadlines:

• Perugia Press Prize for a first or second book by a woman (postmark deadline November 15)
• Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award (postmark deadline November 15)
• Yale Series of Younger Poets Award (postmark deadline November 15
• Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards (postmark deadline November 16)
• Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition (postmark/online entry deadline November 29)
• The Motherwell Prize for a first or second book by a woman from Fence Books (postmark deadline November 30)
• A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize from BOA Editions, Ltd. (postmark deadline November 30)
• Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition (postmark deadline November 30)
• The Motherwell Prize from Fence Books (postmark deadline November 30)
• The Plough Prize Poetry Competition (postmark/email deadline November 30)
• Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers from Kenyon Review (online submissions only, deadline November 30)
• The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize from Waywiser Press (postmark deadline December 1)
• Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books (postmark deadline December 1)
• Missouri Review Audio & Video Competition (postmark deadline December 1)
• Meridian Editor’s Prize in Poetry from the University of Virginia (online submission only, deadline December 15)
• Gival Press Poetry Award (postmark deadline December 15)
• The Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press (postmark or online submission deadline December 31)
• Pavement Saw Press Chapbook Contest (postmark or online submission deadline December 31)
• The Colorado Prize for Poetry from Colorado State University’s Center for Literary Publishing (postmark deadline January 14)
• Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize from Letras Latinas at the University of Notre Dame (postmark deadline January 15)
• John Ciardi Prize for Poetry from BkMk Press at the University of Missouri Kansas City (postmark deadline January 15)
• Grayson Books Chapbook Contest (postmark deadline January 16)
• Cleveland State University Poetry Center Prizes, First Book competition and Open Competition (postmark deadline February 15)
• Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry from Sarabande Books (postmark deadline February 15)
• New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition from Finishing Line Press (postmark deadline February 15)
• National Poetry Series (postmark deadline February 16)
• Robert E. Lee Wilson & Ruth I. Wilson Poetry Book Award from Margie Review (postmark deadline February 27)
• Fence Modern Poets Series (postmark deadline February 28)
• The American Poetry Journal Book Prize from Dream Horse Press (postmark deadline February 29)

Required reading before you submit to any contests:
"What's Really Wrong with Poetry Book Contests?," by David Alpaugh
How to put together a poetry manuscript for publication
"A Word To the Wise: On entering your poems in competition," by Kurt Heintz
"You Do It Because You Love It," by S.A. Griffin

Related resources:
More contest links

Our friend Michael Rothenberg is involved in an interesting journey this fall: Rockpile, a collaboration with David Meltzer “in the tradition of the troubadour and with the spirit of improvisation and collaboration,”—the two poets have been travelling across the U.S. performing poetry composed on the road “in a spontaneous fusion with local musicians.” They started the tour last month in Los Angeles & Albuquerque, and this week they’ve made it all the way across to Washington, D.C. and New York City—if you can’t make it to any of the cities where they are performing, you can follow the tour on the Rockpile blog, which has the poets’ road musings, performance videos, and more. The whole thing is meant to conclude with “a final grand performance” in San Francisco. Keep on truckin’, poets!

More postings on poetry/music collaborations:
Poetry and Music, Sister Arts Allied (2007)
Listen to the woodlark’s song: “Lullula” (2006)
Jazz & poetry on the road together in Copenhagen, Amsterdam & London (2005)
Are songs poetry? (2004)
Poetry + music, an inspired collaboration (2004)
Caught in the Act, The making of a live poetry + music CD, by Whitman McGowan (2004)
Ngoma: Entering the Dreamtime with Music and Poetry (2002)