PEN
World Voices Festival
Come celebrate National Poetry Month
with me at the PEN
World Voices Festival. I will read
from and sign copies of Free Ferry at the
Upper Hand Press booth 4-4:30pm on
April 20. The Press Fest event,
sponsored by CLMP, will allow me to meet my
publisher, the extraordinary Ann Starr!
National
Poetry Month at Chappaqua Station
 |
| Chappaqua Station Café |
St.
Petersburg Review and
more
Thanks to Libby Hodges for publishing my translation from The Hero by Hélène Sanguinetti in St. Petersburg Review. Charles
Alexander of Chax Press is preparing galleys for the book’s debut in June, and Lynne DeSilva-Johnson of The
Operating System announced my
translation, Alparegho, Like Nothing Else, as part of its 2019
catalog. Exciting!
Extraordinary
planetary travels
 |
| Photo from the Mars Rover |
Last night, Westchester Amateur Astronomers got a treat! Carter Emmart, director of astrovisualization, American Museum of Natural History, and Dr. Alexander Bock demonstrated open-source software streaming the latest, sometimes live, satellite images of planets. Emmart can zoom in at angles on mountains for an accurate if rarely seen view of planetary landscapes. We traced an Apollo mission in an astonishingly close-up way. Emmart shows these exhilarating fly-bys Sunday eves at the Hayden Planetarium.
Nile
Rodgers Front and Center
 |
| Niles Rodgers |
The lovebird that got
away
Our good friend Mary Wasacz will be a featured
storyteller in the second annual Tales from the 'Dale and Beyond, April
12 at 7:30pm, at the Heathcote auditorium. Discover how she lost her lovebird
Shirley, and how she got her back! You can also hear Mary at the Scarsdale Public
Library Festival of Writers, April 15 at
11:00-12:30pm, and 1-2pm. Break a line, Mary!
Poetry
in America
 |
| Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) |
New
Releases
How to be a Poet by Jo Bell, Jane Commane guest writers (Nine Arches Press, 2017)
Pedestal 81
Creative opportunities
Manhattanville College, The Art of The Pitch
Workshop, agent Katharine Sands/editor Ron Hogan , April 21, 10am – 4pm,
register here
Cahaba River Literary
Journal, Soap Stone Creek Literary Journal for Kids, Mothering With
Imagination, and Writer’s Bi-Monthly Review invite submissions to cahabariverlitjournal2018@gmail.com
Cauliflower
Kung Pao – wow!
Dear friends Linda and Joe Simone have come over to the
green side as vegetarians, and they bring delicious recipes! This one is a
winner, healthy and tasty all at once.
1 large cauliflower head, cut into small floret
pieces
1 red organic pepper, diced
1 yellow organic pepper, diced
1 orange organic pepper, diced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 scallions, cut 2” in lengths
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 tsp pepper flakes, optional
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb rice
noodles
Sauce
2 tbsp rice
wine vinegar
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
4 tbsp soy
sauce, gluten free
2 tbsp unrefined
sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tsp arrowroot
powder, or cornstarch
Cook
noodles according to package instructions. Mix sauce ingredients in small bowl;
set aside. In large nonstick skillet, over
medium heat, place olive oil. Add cauliflower, stirring occasionally 5
minutes until cauliflower is cooked a bit but not thoroughly. Take our cauliflower
and set aside. Add diced peppers to skillet; cook 3 minutes. Add cauliflower
back to skillet and cook with peppers, stirring occasionally, another 5 minutes
until veggies are nearly cooked but not mushy. Add garlic, ginger, cashews;
cook 2 minutes more. Add sauce to skillet and cook 1 minute over high heat or
until thickened. Add onions and serve over warm noodles.
Poetry
readings
 |
| Laurel Peterson |
Barnes and Noble
Stamford, April 9, 7:15pm, John
McMullen
Curley’s Diner, April 10, 7:30pm, Van Hartman
National Arts Club,
April 10, 7pm, PSA Awards, Ron Padgett, Jennifer
Chang, Molly Spencer, Kevin Prufer, Brian Tierney, and Elizabeth Knapp
 |
| Janet Kaplan |
Chappaqua Station Café, April 13, 7:30pm, Laurel Peterson, Van Hartman, Jane
Ormerod, Bill Buschel, Ann Cefola, and host Jerry Johnson
Berl's
Brooklyn Poetry Shop, April 19, 7:30pm, Steven Alvarez,
Adam Deutsch, Lauren Hilger, Janet Kaplan, Joanna C. Valente
Poetry Institute, April 19, 7pm, Marilyn Nelson
 |
| Jerry Johnson |
HVWC, April 20, 7:30pm, Open
Mic, Featured Brandon Rumaker, $5
Masters School, Westchester
Poetry Festival, April 21, 12noon, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Chris Campanioni, Andrés Cerpa, Nicole Sealy, Anya Krugovoy Silver
ʼRound
the Net
 |
| Ursula LeGuin |
The
American Literary Translators Association on being
shortlisted for the London
Book Fair International Excellence Award
 |
| Photo by Sarah Bracey White |
Photographer Sarah Bracey White whose work made the cut into the juried Westchester County Amateur Photo Contest
 |
| Linda Simone |
Record producer Nile
Rodgers on being inducted into the Songwriter
Hall of Fame
Poet Linda Simone
for the acceptance of her book The River
Will Save Us by Aldrich Press and for letting us know about the new poet laureate of San Antonio
Gratitude
for Claire Barre
 |
| Claire Barre |
In the literary world, unknown
people often open doors, connect a person to a publisher, suggest a residency—and
quietly help establish authors. Such a person was Claire Barre, an English-language
expert who, for two decades, reviewed my translations of Hélène Sanguinetti’s books. Claire, with her eye for nuance, provided
invaluable comments. In person, she was kind, generous, gracious—with a sparkling
laugh. Her recent loss seems impossible, as if something as delightful as champagne
had evaporated. I am grateful for her friendship and commitment to Hélène’s work—which is catching fire now in the States. In Claire’s
honor, I am including a poem of mine she and Hélène translated at the beginning of our journey together. Merci, chère Claire!
Je ressemble à la grenouille des bois
qui vit sa vie, tête au-dessus de l'eau, tranquille.
Qui plonge, au passage d'un vieux camion soulevant la
poussière,
dans l'humidité rassurante de la vase et de la feuille
éteinte.
.
Je me suis souvent demandé quelle était ma vraie maison :
celle de la pluie se rassemblant au printemps en
ruisseaux clairs
ou celle de l'air ensoleillé, baigné par la moiteur des
pins.
La grenouille préfère l'eau et moi j'ai besoin d'air.
Mais certains jours,
parfois accompagnée de sourds grondements de tonnerre
et d'éclairs pareils à un soleil artificiel,
l'eau tombe du ciel. Alors la grenouille chante,
gorge déployée, béate, et moi aussi.
Traduit par Claire Barre et Hélène Sanguinetti
Amphibious
I have
been like the woodland frog
who lives
life, head above water, still.
Diving,
when an old truck disturbs the dirt road,
into the
watery safety of silt and colorless leaf.
I have
wondered where my true home is,
where the
spring rain collects in clear streams
or air
sun-illumined and punctuated by moist pine.
The frog
preferring water as I need air. But there are days,
sometimes
accompanied by low rumble of thunder
and bursts
of lightning like unnatural sun,
when water
falls from the sky. Then the frog sings
open-throated,
amazed, and so do I.
Ann Cefola
