Still glowing
From my book launch
this spring! Thanks to the more than 40
people who came to the Hudson River Museum to hear me read from Face
Painting in the Dark (Dos Madres Press, 2014). I have
such a beautiful circle of talented artists, musicians, poets, and writers in
my life, and more in the wider annogram
community. You know who you are!
Auden, Johnson, and the Psalms
When the Episcopal Church set about updating
the Book
of Common Prayer, its committee to retranslate the Psalms faced a daunting
task: Not only did it have to rework the Psalms, but the committee’s one
poet, W. H. Auden, was returning to his
native England. In the current Illuminations, I interview poet
and translator J. Chester Johnson on how he came to
replace Auden, correspond with him, and help refine the Psalms in light of new
scholarship.
 |
| Alan Shulman in 1954 |
Imagine,
as part of the NBC
Orchestra, rehearsing to perform for the Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, in
1949. Leonard
Bernstein is unhappy with Kurt
Weill's arrangement of the Israeli national anthem. Cellist Alan
Shulman offers to rearrange it and, doing so, earns the legendary
conductor's “gratitude and great respect.” To learn more, read this fascinating article by Alan’s son, Jay Shulman.
 |
| Carol Booth admires her and Michael Holstein's photos |
Congratulations to
Michael Holstein and Carol Booth for photos exhibited this month in Cuba:
Contrasting Visions at the Museum
Gallery at the Palm Beach (FL) Photographic Centre.
Two years ago, Michael and Carol snapped up colorful photos of Cuba—while
practicing their other passion—conversing in Spanish.
Texas, fair pay, and cars
I am thrilled to have
work in Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the
Workspace (Lost Horse Press, 2015); Coming
off the line: The Car in American Culture (Main Street Rag Press,
2015) the 2016 Texas Poetry Calendar (Dos Gatos
Press, 2015). Order now
to receive prepublication discounts.
New books
 |
| Alexandra Van de Kamp |
Soft Passer by Shane Anderson (Mindmade Books, 2015) pulses with an alluring mosaic-like dissonance. Order for $7 or as part of Mindmade Books’ 2015 series for $25, which includes work by Pedro Xavier Solís Cuadra (trans. Suzanne Jill Levine), Piotr Macierzyński (trans. Aleksandra Malecka & Piotr Marecki), and Ciara Miller.
Summer Solstice Pita
Now
is the time to eat light, and this pita is a no-brainer. Serves two with side such as coleslaw:
One
whole pita
Juice
of ½ organic lemon
2
Tablespoons extra virgin olive (EVO) oil
Handful
of organic baby kale
½ cup
shredded organic carrots
¼ organic
English cucumber, sliced
½ organic
avocado, sliced
2-4
slices of smoked salmon (optional)
Halve
pita so two pockets form. Toast until crisp in toaster oven. Combine lemon juice with olive oil. Stuff each pita-half with vegetables in above
order and salmon if desired; drizzle with lemon dressing. To make chips: Slice whole pita in pie
sections, splitting each apart. Sprinkle
with EVO and broil in oven or toaster oven until curled and starting-to-brown. Great for dips and to replace potato chips!
’Round the Net
Congratulations
and/or thanks to:
Guy Bennett, poet and publisher, for alert that Mindmade Books is on Facebook
Sarah Bracey White, memoirist,
on giving keynote address at Morgan
State's Writing Center's First Annual Open House
 |
| Lilac and Gold by Hector Bitar |
Gary Glauber, for work in Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Pilgrimage, Silver
Birch Press, and West Trade
Review
Beth Gersh-Nesic, art historian, for introducing me to Hector
Bitar’s work, and scholarly review of the Demoiselles
Staring Back
Janet Kaplan, poet and publisher, on editing Hofstra’s new literary journal, AMP
Kevin Pilkington, poet, for having his poem appear in the Poetry Society of America's Poem-A-Day
Linda Simone, poet and artist, for this
fascinating history on Brooklyn's Free African-American
neighborhood
Jay Shulman, music archivist, for remembering jazz saxophonist Ornette Colman and Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers
Frank Vitale, filmmaker, for Episodes
18-20 of the Metropolis
Organism
Wishing you a summer of spontaneity and joy!
Until next time,