| POETRY CURRENTS | |
SPRING, WHEN THE POETS COME BACK TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Hello aMUSErs from the frazzled Poetry Festival front... Spring is in the air, the trees, the wind, just in time for National Poetry Month, when they bring in the Big Wigs to the Pacific Northwest. Just this week, readings included Adrienne Rich at Town Hall on Monday, April 9 and Lawrence Ferlinghetti on Wednesday, April 11 (his first visit to Seattle in 40 years) at the University of Washington.
WALDMAN & SCHELLING AT SPLAB
I have been up to my eyeballs getting ready for the Seattle Poetry Festival (information below), and have, unfortunately, had little time to enjoy the poetry flow... However, I did get the chance to see the fabulous Anne Waldman and Andrew Schelling at Northwest SPokenword LAB on Friday, April 6th as part of SPLAB's annual Allen Ginsberg Memorial Marathon. Anne and Andrew are dear to my heart as they were my mentors at Naropa. They were in great form; Andrew's translations of Indian poetry evoked spontaneous sighs from around the room and Anne's powerful presence was a bit surreal in the small conservative town of Auburn, WA. If you haven't picked up Anne's book Marriage: A Sentence (Penguin USA, 2000), I highly recommend doing so.
|
ON A MORE SOMBER NOTE...
...a few months ago, much admired poet Jo Nelson passed away. Below is a portion of John Marshall's notes on her death in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
A Poet's Passing
The local poetry community is close-knit and caring, as has been much in evidence during the past two weeks after the sudden death of poet Jo Nelson. The body of the 54-year-old writer, who lived in Gig Harbor for the past few years, was found [on her farm]. She apparently suffered a heart attack.
Nelson was perhaps best known as a member of the poetry performance group, the Seattle Five Plus One. But she was an active presence in the poetry community, appearing at various venues, publishing in the small magazines that keep poetry alive, teaching creative writing at the Gig Harbor branch of Tacoma Community College and always sharing her enthusiasm with fellow poets.
As poet Anne Sweet, one of Nelson's many friends, recalled, “She was a gifted poet and artist who influenced my work and contributed immensely to my growth as a poet. She was a comrade-in-arts who I trusted to keep me honest to my craft. Her intense attention to the craft of writing and her continual efforts to move to new levels with her writing were an inspiration to those who worked with her.”Jo Nelson's teaching credentials were extensive. She lectured at writers' conferences throughout Western Washington, conducted private workshops across the Western United States, and taught creative writing at the college level. She served as chairman of the Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula Cultural Arts commission, and directed its writers' conference. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in hundreds of national magazines and anthologies, including Chariton Review, Pacific Coast Journal, Plain Songs, Pleiades, Poetry NW, Portland Review, Switched-on Gutenberg, West Wind Review, Comstock Review, and Willow Creek Journal. Nelson maintained an active poetry reading schedule, performing solo as well as with two popular groups, the Seattle Five Plus One, and the Daughters of Dementia.
Barbara Benepe (Cayuse Press) has created a special memorial Web site for Jo where people can post their thoughts, poems, memories, etc. at greentricycle.com/jo. Links to find her work online:
- In The Horsethief's Journal, #5
- In The Horsethief's Journal, #4
- In The Horsethief's Journal, #3
- In The Horsethief's Journal, #2
- In Cenotaph, #2
- In Cenotaph, #3
- In Cenotaph, #5, which is dedicated to her.
People can send books or money in Jo's name to:
Lynne ZeiherIf money is sent the donor can stipulate what kind of material they would like the library to purchase. The library will put bookplates in the books that name the donor and who it is in memory of. But they urge authors to autograph their books, too. It will make for a truly special collection of books.
Peninsula Library
4424 Pt. Fosdick Drive NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98335
Remembrances in Jo's name can also go to:
Spaying to Save Our Pets
P.O. Box 622
Burley, WA
253.853.4699 (STSOP)
FROM KOTAPRESS
As a high-profile Museletter correspondent, I'm now receiving requests from others around the Pacific Northwest to share news, event listings & literary happenings, which I am more than happy to pass along. Here is a message from KotaPress, a Seattle-based independent press offering a quarterly online journal, semi-annual anthology contests (completely free and legit!), poetry titles available thru their eStore, and grief support through the Mrs. Duck Project in partnership with Seattle M.I.S.S.:
Kota Press reading
Friday, May 4th, 7 to 10pm
Sunset Hill Community Center, Seattle (Ballard neighborhood)
At this release party, winning authors from the KotaPress Anthology Contest Vol. 1, No. 2 will read and be available to sign copies of the book. Featured readers include Charles Fishman, Ruth Daigon, Allegra Wong, Joseph Lisowski, and Kevin Simmonds. Open mic spots are available to anyone who is previously published through KotaPress. Suggested donation at the door is $4/person (which enters you into door prize contest) with a portion of donation proceeds going toward the Mrs. Duck Project providing free grief support books to families around the world who are enduring the death of a baby. For full information send inquiry to info@kotapress.com.
KotaPress.com eJournal submission deadlines
Please see the eJournal site for full submission guidelines. Next deadline is May 15 for June publication, theme Summer Solstice: longest day, departure of light, growth.
KotaPress print anthology contest deadlines for 2001
Please see the eJournal site for full anthology contest guidelines. Deadline May 15, winners to be announced in the Summer Solstice Issue 2001, book release Winter 2002.
Here's an article on the history of KotaPress
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS TO THE NORTH
The Edgewise ElectroLit Centre is seeking videopoem submissions for the Vancouver Videopoem Festival -- the only screening event of its kind in Canada. Get public exposure and have your work screened in a premier public venue, Pacific Cinémathèque, November 8-11, 2001. We are interested in any original, creative combination of poetry with material on videotape. Cinepoems are also acceptable provided they are transferred onto videotape format.
Deadline: June 1, 2001
To obtain an official VVF 2001 submission application form, contact Executive Director, Heather Haley @ 604.535.8588 or visit our Web site at www.edgewisecafe.org.
SEATTLE POETRY FESTIVAL 2001
And lastly (because I can barely contain myself any longer!) please check out Eleventh Hour Production's Web site for the complete schedule of events for the 2001 Seattle Poetry Festival (April 27th - May 6th).
Headline and feature poets include Ishmael Reed, Judy Grahn, Michael McClure, Ted Joans, Opal Palmer Adisa, Carolyn Lei-lanilau, Lisa Gill, Gary Mex Glazner, robertkarimi, Crystal Williams, and the Oakland Slam Team. Ancillary events include the Guerrilla Poetry Truck Tour, daily living-room style open mics, the Poetry Clothesline, the “silent” open mic, panels, films, workshops, and the announcement of Seattle's new Poet Populist.
What's that? You say you're planning to attend the Seattle Poetry Festival but don't know where to stay? If sofa-surfing ain't your thing, two hotels are giving festival attendees 10% discounts on rooms:
- Ace Hotel, 206.448.4721
- Moore Hotel, 1.800.421.5508
- Green Tortoise (“best hostel on the West coast”), 206.340.1222
- Hostelling International, 206.463.2592
Here's the Festival contact info:
Eleventh Hour Productions
P.O. Box 28976
Seattle, WA 98118
eleven@poetryfestival.org
for tickets and information: 206.725.1650
Well, that's it for now. Guess I'd better get back to work. Be well. Create. Make a living, make a loving. Cheers and blessings!
