Free Ferry on the way
Welcome to March, and countdown to the
debut of Free Ferry, my second book! I am thrilled Upper Hand Press is inaugurating its Booktree
Poetry Series with my work, especially during April—National Poetry Month. Sincerest
thanks to everyone who preordered Free Ferry. If you’re Texas way, I will be reading with poet Linda Simone in San Antonio on April 4,
7pm, at Señor Veggie (perfect
for a vegetarian like me).
Ann at Dos Madres reading
Ruth Handel,
Maxine Silverman and I will
celebrate Dos Madres’ Realms of the Mothers with a reading
March 19 at 1:30pm at the JCC on the Hudson.
Realms, an anthology edited by Richard Hague,
celebrates the press’s first decade. Dos
Madres published my first book, Face Painting in the Dark, so I am deeply
grateful and congratulate publisher Robert
Murphy on this milestone!
Pranav Vaish at JCC Alexander Art Gallery
Long before coloring reduced adult stress, a young Pranav
Vaish discovered painting at the end of each day calmed his mind. Pranav, a 15-year-old
student at the Manhattan
Children’s Center, is exhibiting his extraordinary abstracts, whimsical
drawings, and collage through
March.
Artwork by Pranav Vaish |
Pranav intuitively combines complementary colors, from vivid
primary shades to subtle earth tones. Transparent horizontal strokes, layered
with solid blocks and unexpected bursts, suggest dream-like landscapes—such as a
pure sky-like stream in the middle of what might be red rock. Expert use of brush, roller and fingers
explore watercolor, acrylic, tempera, and pasted paper.
Great abstracts challenge viewers to trace the familiar in
complex terrain. This is their pleasure: finding oneself lost in a reminiscent
world. Pranav’s confident and pure compositions deliver this journey. Congratulations to Pranav on this amazing
exhibit, and thanks to his
teacher, Deborah Coulter, for inviting me to it.
Rare screening of Montreal Main
Steve Lack in Montreal Main |
Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave (2nd St.), NY 10003 will show the 1974 underground classic, Montreal Main on Friday, March 10, at 7pm and Sunday, March 12, at 8pm. The award-winning docufiction explores ambiguity and stereotypes around gay friendship. Filmmaker-screenwriter-actor Frank Vitale and screenwriter-actor Steve Lack will be on hand for a post-film Q&A.
Art Above the Sofa
The New York Arts Exchange, now New York Arts Etc., LLC, is sponsoring: Art Above the Sofa: Next Generation,
a juried show for students in accredited art programs and academies worldwide. Art Above the
Sofa, a poke at a much maligned phantom
category of art, seeks edgy, confrontational, uncomfortable, decidedly
spiritual, or intelligent witty art, by March 17. Exhibit to take place at 171
Elizabeth Street, between Spring and Kenmare, April 27-30, 2017.
Mars or Bust
Westchester Amateur Astronomers (WAA) will host Al Witzgall discussing
travel to the Red Planet. Witzgall, senior optician at ESCO Optics, is a frequent
speaker on astronomy. The event
will take place March 3, 7:30pm, at Lienhard Hall at Pace University in
Pleasantville. WAA’s first 2017 star party will be March 18
(rain-cloud date March 25) in the Meadow Parking Lot at Ward Pound Ridge
Reservation.
New releases
New releases
Laurence Carr, Threnodies:
Poems in Remembrance
(Codhill Press, 2016)
Estha Weiner |
Creative
workshops / lectures
Sarah
Lawrence College, March 7, 2pm, Charles Baxter on craft
Unicorn
Writers Conference featuring Thomas Moore, March 25, $325
Sarah
Lawrence College, March 29, 2pm, Teddy Wayne on craft
Sarah
Lawrence College, March 2, 6pm, A. Van Jordan
Poets House, March
4, 4pm, Pam
Laskin, Rick Mullin, Owen Lewis, Gwen Sonnenberg, Kip Zegers
Asian American Writers Workshop, March 6,
7pm, Sonya Chung, Rowan Hisayo
Buchanan, Annie Kim, Jyothi Natarajan on family trauma, $5
Word Bookstore, March 7, 7pm, Tiffany Jackson, David
Levithan, Suzanne Weyn read Ronit and
Jamil
Pénélope Bagieu |
Fordham
Poetry Out Loud Series, March 8, 7pm, Sandra Esteves, Kevin Pilkington
Astoria Bookshop, March 11, 3pm, Pénélope Bagieu on
her newest graphic novel with Jon Hogan
Community Bookstore, March 14, 7pm, Ronit and Jamil launch with Lisa Selin Davis
Kimiko Hahn |
JCC on the Hudson,
March 19, 1:30pm, Ann Cefola, Ruth Handel, Maxine Silverman, $5
Katonah Library,
March 26, 4pm, Kimiko Hahn, $10
Bowery
Poetry Club, March 27, 6pm, Stephen Massimilla, Myra Kornfeld
on Cooking with the Muse (live music, bar, organic treats), $30
Word
of Mouth/MOTR Pub, March 28, 7pm, Ralph LaCharity, Robert Murphy, Bea Opengart,
Nathan Swartzendruber
Candied Ginger, Coconut and Quinoa Granola
Admittedly, this sounds more like dessert but a
hearty breakfast for winter’s last chill via artist and poet Linda Simone,
courtesy Food
and Wine:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup sweet shredded coconut
1/4 cup light brown
sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup halved dried cherries
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Fresh ricotta or plain Greek yogurt, mixed berries
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup halved dried cherries
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Fresh ricotta or plain Greek yogurt, mixed berries
Preheat oven to 325º.
In medium bowl, combine oats, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, almonds, coconut, brown
sugar, and spices. In small bowl, whisk applesauce, honey and coconut oil. Add applesauce
mix to dry ingredients; toss to coat. Scatter granola in even layer on parchment
paper–lined baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden
brown and crisp. Let cool completely. Transfer to a bowl and stir in dried
cranberries, cherries and crystallized ginger. Serve with ricotta and mixed
berries.
ʼRound the Net
Congratulations and thanks to the following on sharing good
news and/or links:
Racoco Director Rachel Cohen on her March residency in Myanmar, followed by her
workshop and performance in Vietnam
workshop and performance in Vietnam
D. H. Lawrence |
Blogger Adam J. Calhoun on punctuation
in novels as art
Poet Mary Ladd
McCray for writing me all about Mark Doty’s
lecture on D.H. Lawrence
Photo by Greg Mohr |
Poets
and Writers on its newly refreshed website
The path of a poet
If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or even a
plumber or electrician, degree and union programs like a conveyor belt will
take you there. If you discover you’re a poet, you will find people’s eyes
glaze over; after you share a poem, loved ones say, “I’m not sure I get it,” or
strangers wave an arm, “I never got poetry.” There’s no path, no official
program to fulfill one’s destiny. You’re on your own, possibly unsure of your
ability, and wondering what century you were born into, and why.
Thomas Lux |
If someone responds, “You’re a poet? Fantastic!” and shows
you the heritage of greats before you, and invites you into a commonwealth that
encourages attentive reading, lively poetry events, taking risks in writing, sharing
one’s work with like-minded others, learning not only to seek out but love critique,
and standing up a little taller because the calling has its own timeless
nobility and mystery—well, it would be a miracle.
That miracle, dear annogram
readers, was Thomas
Lux. When he died February 5, a Camelot of poets stood breathless,
devastated, heartbroken. More than 25 years ago, he taught me to thoughtfully choose
words and ruthlessly revise; later he solicited my work, wrote recommendations,
and emailed congrats (“Yay!”). A cross between Robert Plant and Will Rogers—wild energy
under New England restraint—a regular guy who loved
baseball and read the Daily News yet
whose outsized passion for poetry generated
an extraordinary canon and whose equal
commitment to teaching raised up generations
of poets. Someone on Amazon asks—“Is this guy’s name really Lux? I mean, light?”
We who loved him can say an unequivocal yes. To Tom, ever shining, sometimes
irascible, deepest gratitude:
Ode to the Joyful
Ones
"Shield your
joyful ones." – from an Anglican prayer
That they walk, even stumble, among us, is reason
to praise them, or protect them—even the sound
of a lead slug dropped on a lead plate, even that, for them,
is music. Because they bring laughter's
brief amnesia. Because they stand,
talking, taking pleasure in others,
with their hands on the shoulders of strangers
and the shoulders of each other.
Because you don't have to tell them to walk towards the light.
Because if there are two pork chops
they will give you the better one.
Because they will give you the crutch off their backs.
Because when there are two of them together
their shining fills the room.
Because you don't have to tell them to walk towards the light.
– Thomas Lux
Until next time,
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