your december annogram

No snow yet

Wishing you joys of Christmas, Hanukkah, or your own tradition in this season of lights. I’m celebrating work in poetry anthologies Polterguest (Main Street Rag), Realms of the Mothers (Dos Madres), Our Last Walk (University Professors) and Theories of HER (Mercurial Noodle); journals Opossum Lit and St. Petersburg Review; and next year, my second book Free Ferry (Upper Hand) that you can pre-order now, and an untitled Main Street Rag anthology on bars.

Fall Festival of Writing

Join me at Scarsdale Library, Sunday, December 4, at 11:45am for readings by novice and seasoned local writers.  I will be selling my books and sharing with the day’s readers and attendees about the literary life and craft. Thanks to novelist Barbara Josselsohn and her talented student Mary Wasacz for inviting me to this lovely event. Hope to see you there!

Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa at Westbury

Bonamassa, one of the best blues guitarists today, gave a soulful two hour plus concert last month. While his wide range of blues is inspired by the Three Kings (BB, Freddie and Albert), he is rooted in the British translation of Delta blues evidenced in his Beck-like “Going Down” and Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times.”

In trademark gray pinstripe suit and sunglasses, Bonamassa opened with a Fender Stratocaster which he also used in his tribute to Leon Russell. He dazzled on a Gibson ES-335 (like BB King’s Lucille); vintage 50s Les Paul, Explorer, Firebird, and 335 variants with and without Bigsby vibrato.  And Long Island welcomed him warmly, with one fan exulting, “Joey Bag-o-Donuts!”

Bonamassa and band

 Also impressive—drummer Anton Fig, formerly on Letterman; keyboardist Reese Wynans, formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble; ACM 2016 Bass Player Michael Rhodes, trumpeter Lee Thornberg, formerly with Tower of Power; Paulie Cerra, touring sax with R&B greats such as Stevie Wonder; and backup singers Lisa Richards and Susan McKinnon of Miami.

Thanks to my favorite blues guitarist, Michael Cefola, for help with this review.

New York Botanical Garden at Night

Enjoy the Holiday Train Show, 7-10pm, with cocktails, ice carving under starlight, pop-up acts by NYC street performers, and live music. Inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, model trains zip over bridges and past replicas of New York landmarks.  December 2, 3, 16, 17, 23, 30; January 7, 14, $35 nonmembers/$25 members (adults 21 and over). Advance tickets recommended.

Sasha Meret at Rafael Gallery

Sasha Meret: Selected Works, an exhibit curated by Beth Gersh-Nesic, director, New York Arts Exchange, will be at Rafael Gallery in New York from December 2-22 and opening reception take place December 12, 6-8pm.  The gallery, normally open Monday-Friday, 11:30-6:30pm, will be closed for the holidays. Call Rafael Gallery (212-755-4888) for hours and times after January 5.

High-energy universe

On Friday, December 2, Westchester Amateur Astronomers will host Dr. Reshmi Mukherjee, an astrophysicist and professor of physics at Barnard, who will speak on high-energy processes in the universe. You can look forward to more monthly talks next year by noted astronomers and free star parties held at Ward Pound Ridge. In the meantime, enjoy this amazing photo of the Pac Man nebula by WAA astrophotographer Olivier Prache.

Create your own video

Frank Vitale

In one weekly class for 10 weeks at the School of Visual Arts, Manhattan, you'll receive hands-on training from Frank Vitale, 30-year film instructor as you script/shoot your first promo video. Equipment provided and 25 hours instruction is $340, which would buy a mere 45 minutes in professional studio. Sign up at http://bit.ly/2gnpi8Z or contact Frank (vitaleproductions@me.com). Frank is a great teacher! Only a few spaces remain.

Unicorn Writers

Want to get your writer game on next year? Attend the Unicorn Writers Conference at Manhattanville College on March 27. If you can't wait for feedback from editors and agents, the conference is offering a pre-conference special for $150 to have 40 pages of writing reviewed by an expert. Send a check to PO Box 176, Redding CT 06876 and your manuscript and summary to unicorn4writers@gmail.com.

Last minute shopping?

Consider two fantastic Nashville organizations:  FashionAble for distinctive women's jewelry, leather handbags and wallets made by craftswomen worldwide seeking financial independence; and Thistle Farms, for natural oils, balms and soaps made by women who have come off the street and are building new lives in a safe community setting.

Holiday Coffee Cake

This has to be the ideal breakfast cake, perfect for house guests to help themselves with a cup of tea or coffee: not too fattening, easy to make ahead, delicious. You probably have all the ingredients, save the lovely green apple. 

2 cups all-purpose organic flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

10 tablespoons unsalted organic butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup whole organic milk

1 organic green apple, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thin slices

Topping 

4 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons organic flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon organic butter, cut into small cubes

Preheat 375°F oven. Grease 9-inch pie or square pan. In bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon, set aside. Using electric mixer, blend butter with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and eggs. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, beating until just combined. Pour half of batter in bottom of pan, cover with apples, then cinnamon-sugar, and rest of batter. Mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon; sprinkle over cake, dot with butter, and bake 30-35 minutes.

Poetry readings / book launches

Ruby Silvious, artist of 363 Days of Tea

Riverrun Books and Manuscripts, December 2, 6pm, 363 Days of Tea book launch

HVWC, December 2, 7:30pm, Columbia, Manhattanville, Rutgers MFA poets ($10)

Zinc Bar, December 3, 4:30pm, Natalie Diaz, t’ai freedom ford ($5)

HVWC, December 3, 7:30pm, Michael Cunningham ($10)

Scarsdale Library, December 4, 12 noon, Fall Writing Festival—Ann sells her books

Mercantile Library, December 7, 6:30pm, Realm of the Mothers book launch

HVWC, December 9, 7:30pm, Amy King, Camille Rankine ($10)

Eamon Grennan

New York Botanical Garden, December 10, 2pm, Billy Collins, Eamon Grennan ($25)

Zinc Bar, December 10, 4:30pm, Chialun Chang, Cecca Austin Ochoa, Tommy Pico, ($5)

National Arts Club, December 15, 7pm, Natalie Diaz, Ross Gay, Aimee Nezhukumatahil

Zinc Bar, December 17, 4:30pm, Alex Quan Pham, Ronaldo V. Wilson ($5) 

New releases

A Tibetan Grammar, by Bénédicte Vilgrain, trans. Keith Waldrop (Burning Deck Press)

Our Last Walk (University Professors Press)

Polterguest (Main Street Rag Press)

Realms of the Mothers (Dos Madres Press)

ʼRound the Net

Thanks and/or congratulations to the following for these links and good news:

Walt Whitman,
photograph by Matthew Brady

Translator Neil Blackadder for telling us about Theater in Translation

Actor Josh Brolin on a masterful reading of Whitman in this Volvo ad

New York Times columnist David Brooks on the incandescence of Gwen Ifill

DJ Bill Flanagan for asking if rock 'n' roll is dead or merely old

Translator Isabelle Fuller for this musical take on a difficult election

Poet Gary Glauber for work in Third Wednesday Fall 2016 Issue, Rivulets and Tributaries, Directionless Decade, Interior Motive, Now You See It, Now You Don't, Lex Loci, Ghost City Review

Poet Cindy Hochman for her latest reading at Cornelia Street Café

DV Activist David Kroenlein for sharing this veteran's story of sexual assault

The late Sir George Martin

PBS for the extraordinary George Martin-produced documentary series on rock and pop music, Soundbreaking

Actor Celia Pilkington for receiving funding for the play Bigger Than You, Bigger Than Me

Music archivist Jay Shulman for noting the loss of Mose Allison, Raoul Coutard, Leonard Cohen, Mort Okun, Leon Russell, and Robert Vaughn

Linda Simone and her lovely watercolors

Poet Linda Simone on discovering Black Lives Matter: A Poetry Reader and on her first art exhibit in her new hometown of San Antonio

Signature for 10 books to read and know about the late poet-songwriter-musician Leonard Cohen

Executive Coach Trish Tagle for interviewing Greenburgh Arts & Culture Executive Director Sarah Bracey White about her amazing achievements in growing community art

The UK’s Zoomorphic on its marine life-inspired anthology, Driftfish

We close this year by celebrating the strength and diversity of our creative community, and our mandate to bring our individual gifts into the world for healing, for joy, for wholeness.

Until next time,

Ann

your november annogram

Ann works hard on her pumpkin

All Hallows’ Eve

Sculpted my way into it at my friends’ house, and received the ultimate compliment at home from seven-year-old trick-or-treaters, a witch and baby bear, who pronounced my pumpkin “Very cool!” “Carved it myself,” I beamed. Costumes seem traditional this year, with a renaissance princess and Oz scarecrow my favorites. On the Internet, I found a treat—a poem of mine from last summer.

My "very cool" pumpkin

Lit Crawl Portland

Opossum Lit made its debut yesterday at an evening reading during the Portland Lit Crawl.  I'm excited that two of my favorite poems devoted to music, "Revolution," and "Ring of Fire," will appear in the inaugural issue.  Break a leg, or as my friend Meredith Trede says, break a line, Opossum Lit!

Audrie and Daisy

Concerned about the prevalence of sexual assault? Come see the documentary Audrie and Daisy, at Scarsdale High School’s Little Theater, November 30 at 7 p.m. A panel discussion, moderated by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, will feature Kristen Bowes, General Counsel, Mercy College; Katie Cappiello, activist, founder of The Arts Effect NYC; and Anna Utsinger, activist.   Reserve your seat online at bit.ly/audriedaisy.

Ruby Silvious at Riverrun

Come see Ruby’s painted tea bags—yes, you read that right.  Curated by New York Arts Exchange, Ruby Silvious’s art will be at Riverrun Books and Manuscripts to celebrate her book, 363 Days of Tea: A Visual Journal on Used Tea Bags.  Opening reception, December 2, 6-8pm; artist talk, December 3, 3-5pm; December 4, 2-4pm, talk on collecting by bookseller Tom Lecky.

Realms of the Mothers

 

Dos Madres Press will inaugurate its anthology celebrating its first decade of poetry, Realms of the Mothers (Dos Madres Press, 2016), on December 7, 6:30pm, at the Mercantile Library in downtown Cincinnati. Dos Madres published my first book of poetry, Face Painting in the Dark (Dos Madres, 2014) and will include “Dance in the City” and “Velocity” in Realms.

Calls for work / workshops

AMP, Hofstra’s digital literary journal, is open for submissions

The Manhattanville Review is open for submissions

Katonah Museum of Art, poetry/drawing workshop, November 6, 10am – 12noon, $50

Readings / events

Laurie Ann Guerrero

National Arts Club, November 9, 7pm, Max Ritvo Tribute, Kaveh Akbar, Timothy Donnelly, Dorothea Lasky, Sarah Ruhl, Jean Valentine, Cynthia Zarin

Book Court, November 10, 7pm, Amanda Nadelberg, Anselm Berrigan

Fordham Lincoln Center, November 14, 7pm, Beth Bachman, Laurie Ann Guerrero

Paul Muldoon

HVWC, November 11, 7:30pm, Poets on War and Peace ($10)

Zinc Bar, November 12, 4:30pm, Rickey Laurentiis, Miller Oberman ($5)

HVWC, November 13, 4:30pm, Paul and Anna Nugent in Seamus Scanlon's "The Long Wet Grass"

Irvington Public Library, November 13, 3-5pm, Homer’s Odyssey, poetry in the round

Fordham Lincoln Center, November 14, 7pm, Beth Bachman, Laurie Ann Guerrero

Camille Rankine

Lillian Vernon Creative Writing House, November 17, 7pm, Patrick Rosal

Zinc Bar, November 19, 4:30pm, Sasha Banks & Alex Cuff ($5)

Katonah Village Library, November 20, 4pm, Paul Muldoon ($10)

HVWC, December 2, 7:30pm, Columbia, Manhattanville, Rutgers MFA poets ($10)

HVWC, December 9, 7:30pm, Amy King, Camille Rankine ($10)

Spanish Shrimp and Rice

This recipe comes highly recommended from our resident music archivist, Jay Shulman, via the Food Network.  Sounds delicious. Olé!

 

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 small carrot, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 cups converted white rice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Hot sauce (optional)

Heat oil in deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, turmeric; cook until onion is soft, 3 minutes. Add tomato, carrot and bell pepper; cook, stirring until tender, 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn pink, 1 minute. Add rice, 2 cups water, and 1/2 tablespoon parsley; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat; sprinkle in peas and remaining 1/2 tablespoon parsley. Cover 5 minutes. Fluff with fork; add peas and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with hot sauce.

’Round the Net

Congrats and thanks to the following for links and news:

Poet Joel Allegretti on the new Wikipedia reference to Rabbit Ears (NYQ Books, 2015) and his quotes at length in The Writer on the anthology

My friend Donna for this hilarious video of a cat watching horror flick

Fast Company on why creativity requires community and a scientific look at creativity

Art historian and curator Beth Gersh-Nesic for a great part 1 intro to the NYC fall art scene, and part 2 too

Poet Gary Glauber for work appearing in Leaves of Ink and Scarlet Leaf Review

Dylan

DV activist David Kroenlein on the outing of the Harvard male soccer team

Huffington Post for these cool Scottish murals and how making art reduces stress

Poet Mary McCray for article on Amy King’s urging Dylan return his Nobel

Bassist Larry Schwartzman for sending me more authentic blues in the form of Buddy Guy, who NEVER gets "old"

Buddy Guy

Music archivist Jay Shulman on Dylan releasing his 1966 tour recordings on November 11 after November 1 release of his lyrics

Jay, also our resident undertaker, on passing of Phil Chess, Zacherly, and Bobby Vee

Poet and artist Linda Simone for this fascinating article on dreams

Poet Meredith Trede on her reading today at the Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library

Filmmaker Frank Vitale for releasing Episode 26, "Skin," and Episodes 27-30 of the Metropolis Organism on YouTube

Poet Neal Whitman and photographer Elaine Whitman on the joint publication of Elaine's photo, "Sand Dollars," and Neal's haiku "I-Ching and Change: Sand Dollar Cinquain" in Poets and Artists Around the World (Imagine & Poesia, 2016)

While this annogram promised to herald a new US president, I decided to get it to you beforehand.  Instead, I leave you with the enormous creativity of poets, artists, and musicians we salute here, and challenge you to contribute to this world--with your heart, your genius, your original soul.

Until next time,

Ann