Free Ferry arrives
Free Ferry, my latest book, debuted
last month, and I thank everyone who bought it and shared reviews on Amazon,
Goodreads,
and Facebook.
Many of you say that you could not put it down, reading it two and three times.
I invite you to write reviews on Amazon,
Goodreads,
and Facebook.
Congratulations to my publisher,
Ann Starr, on the first book in her Booktree Poetry Series! Howard Mandel on Astrud Gilberto and the Bossa Nova
To celebrate Free Ferry’s
debut, I am interviewing artists who
contributed to it. First was with cover
designer extraordinaire Dave Provolo, and second, a fantastic interview
with jazz critic Howard
Mandel on Gilberto and the Bossa Nova. I learned much from Howard, and you
will too—looking back to a time in US history not unlike our own. Rio resident
George Kraus informs us that “The Girl From Ipanema”
was written by poet Vinicius
de Moraes, and recommends the cool bossa nova sounds of João
Bosco.
 |
| Astrud Gilberto |
 |
| Eddie Van Halen |
Driving
around listening to the radio
Amazing
things happen when I’m driving in my car—from comprehending the blues for the
first time, to hearing author Brad
Watson on The Write Stuff
last month. Watson read from Miss
Jane (WW Norton, 2016), so compelling a book that I immediately got it
from the library. Miss
Jane is one of the most beautiful and tender books I’ve read in a long
time. And to counter that, I went wild over the Van Halen solo that leads up to
“You Really Got Me,”
which unleashed my best Beavis
and Butt-head imitation at a stoplight.
Brooklyn Performance Combine
This Saturday, June 3, at 7pm, you can see Rachel Cohen,
director of the Racoco
Productions, perform in Norte Maar's
spectacular Brooklyn Performance Combine. The unlikely production unites
all art forms in a cohesive 120-minute event featuring a dozen painters and
performers with poets Bob Holman
and Dara
Mandel with special guest, meteorologist Amy Freeze. Click here
to purchase tickets ($15, $20, $40) and for directions to the venue.
New releases
Creative opportunities
Lose the Muse Poetry Workshop with
Estha Weiner, June 10, 10am-3pm, $200
 |
| Donna Zucker |
Family History 101 with Donna Zucker, June 11,
12:30-4:30pm, $124
One-Day
Literary Translation Institute, June 16, 10-4:30pm, free; by June 9,
email sample translated
poem or prose to BKLN-creativewriting@LIU.edu
Turning Your Obsession into a Book
with Pamela Hart, June 24,
12:30-4:30pm, $124
Poetry / literary events
HVWC, June 2, 7:30pm, Alex Dimitrov, Alan
Felsenthal
Poets House,
June 7, 7pm, emerging poets
HVWC, June
9, 7:30pm, Mervyn Taylor, Maeve Kinkead
HVWC, June
21, Rebecca Shiff, Rumaan Alam
Poets House,
June 22, 6pm reception, 7pm reading, annual book showcase
Vermont-inspired Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Just back from Vermont
where, among other delights, I enjoyed a jewel-like slice of strawberry rhubarb
pie. In honor of that state’s lilac-filled spring air, and the visual
profusion of green, I offer this delicious-looking recipe from Simply Recipes:
3
1/2 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups
strawberries, stemmed and sliced
3/4
cup to 1 cup sugar (sweeten to taste)
4
tablespoons quick cooking ("minute") tapioca
1/4
teaspoon salt
1
teaspoon orange zest
(If 10-inch pie, use 4 cups rhubarb, 2
1/2 cups strawberries, 1 1/4 cup of sugar)
*In large bowl whisk 2 cups flour, teaspoon
salt, 2 teaspoons sugar. Add 2 sticks butter cut into cubes. Use hands to mush until
it forms a coarse meal. With fork, add 1/2 cup sour cream; form large ball, and
cut into two pieces. Form each into a disk, wrap with plastic and refrigerate
30 minutes.
Preheat 400°F oven. In large bowl, gently
combine rhubarb and strawberries with sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange
zest. Let sit 10 minutes. Roll pastry dough and line pie dish. Trim 1/2
inch from edge. Place filling in pastry lined dish. Roll second dough
and place over pie. Trim edges an inch from edge. Tuck and crimp top crust over
bottom. Cut slits in top, place pie on oven middle rack, with baking sheet on
lower rack to catch juice. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 350°F, bake
40-50 minutes longer (50-60 minutes if 10-inch). When browned and filling bubbles,
remove from oven and let cool on rack.
ʼRound the Net
 |
| Margaret Fuller, second from left, accepts La Plume d'Ore |
 |
| C. M. Mayo |
Lakota Children's Enrichment for announcing the young poets and writers who won its
annual writing challenge
Poet/novelist/translator C.
M. Mayo on being selected artist-in-residence at
the Guadalupe Mountains National Park
 |
| Ted Hughes (1930-1998) and Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) |
Poet/artist Linda
Simone for this great opening
paragraph and article and discovery
of new Plath poems
Summer’s right around the corner! Wishing you delights of the season and creative productivity as profuse as the green all around us.
Until next time,