Monday, September 03, 2018

your september annogram



Free Ferry and the Getz-Gilberto Connection

DougRamsey highlights Free Ferry in Rifftides, his award-winning jazz blog. His liner notes on the Getz-Gilberto reissue CD inspired Free Ferry’s opening. “In the post-Elvis Presley era,” he writes, “the track by Getz and the Gilbertos achieved something nearly unimaginable for a sensitive jazz performance; it became a hit.

That was “The Girl from Ipanema,” sung by Astrud Gilberto, the housewife who became an unlikely diva, and an intro- ductory voice to Free Ferry. The book, Doug says, evokes “the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with 20th and 21st century realities of weapons-grade plutonium, Cold War anxieties, episodes from everyday life and, sometimes, humor.”

Many thanks to Doug, winner of a Lifetime  Achievement Award from the Jazz Journalist Association, for allowing me to use his CD notes in Free Ferry.


The Hero at translation event

Hélène Sanguinetti
On September 30 at 1:30pm, I will participate in a JCC on the Hudson event by sharing from my translation of Hélène Sanguinetti’s The Hero forthcoming from Chax Press. George Kraus will read his translations of Borges, Vallejo, and 16th century Spanish poets; Ann Lauinger, her translations of Italian poet Fillippo Naitana, who will also present his work; and Beth Gersh-Nešić, poems by André Salmon, close friend of Pablo Picasso during the heyday of Cubism. Please drop by for a great afternoon of translation!


Alparegho announced for September 2019

The Operating System’s 2019 catalog is now live, and I am excited to have my translation of Hélène Sanguinetti’s Alparegho, like nothing else be part of its Unsilenced Texts series. Hélène’s work is finally catching fire here in the US. When you read it, you will find it truly is “like nothing else.”


Work in Poetry Salzburg

Claude Rains (1889-1967)
Thrilled to learn my poems, “Invisible Man" and "Origins of Horror,” respective tributes to Claude Rains and Lon Chaney Jr., will appear in Poetry Salzburg Review 34. Thanks to Dr. Wolfgang Görtschacher, who encourages everyone to subscribe to the journal or explore further collections on its website. I’ll have to go to Patisserie Salzburg with my copy for a full experience!


American Sign Language Poetry at CUNY

On September 13, at 6:30pm, the CUNY Graduate Center will present Publishing American Sign Language Poetry. Poets Douglas Ridloff, Peter Cook, Kenny Lerner, and John Lee Clark will read original work in American Sign Language. An exercise in translation by Adrean Clark and discussion by Sara Nović will follow. Free. Please click here to RSVP to this event.


Kathe Gregory in Boston Voyager

Kathe Gregory
Congratulations to my cousin, artist Kathe Gregory, on her interview in Boston Voyager. Kathe reflects on her uber-creative upbringing, with her father, mid-century architect Jules Gregory, and mother Nancy, an avid horticulturist. Even I learned things about Kathe I did not know—such as a youthful art heist perpetrated by grad school friends! If you appreciate or make art, this is a must-read.


The Kindergarten Teacher

This Sara Colangelo film, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and debuting on Netflix October 12, is a suspense-filled drama around the importance of poetry. “Kaveh Akbar and Ocean Vuong wrote the movie’s poems,” says poet Linda Simone, who shared the trailer. Thanks, Linda! Looking forward to this!





New releases

Michael Flatt and Derrick Mund, Chlorosis (The Operating System)


Wally Swist, Singing for Nothing (The Operating System)

Christine Aikens Wolfe, Garlanding Green (Dos Madres Press)


Creative opportunities

Andrés Cerpa
Poetry contest on theme “Something to start with” judged by Paul Mariani – send by December 2

Poets Salon meets second Saturdays each month at the Fairfield Library

Presence call for poems by October -- send to mmiller@caldwell.edu

Symphony Anthology – send up to three poems and brief bio by October 31 to symphonypoems@gmail.com

Writingthe Poetry You Love to Read with Andrés Cerpa, September 22, 12:30-4:30pm, $124

Writers’ Guide to Investigative Research Workshop with Donna Zucker, five sessions, September 24, $450


Cauliflower Pizza Casserole

Thanks to poet Terry Dugan for this healthy recipe which she suggests for the cooler days of fall! Serves four. Enjoy!


2 heads cauliflower, cut into florets
2/3 cup organic pizza sauce
Himalayan salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
2/3 cup grated parmesan, divided; more for garnish
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup onions, divided
1 tablespoon oregano, divided
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, divided
Fresh parsley, for garnish

Heat oven to 350°F. Blanch cauliflower 3 minutes. In large bowl, toss cauliflower with pizza sauce until coated. Season with salt and pepper. Place half the cauliflower in baking dish; top with half of mozzarella, parmesan, olives and onions; sprinkle with oregano and red pepper. Add rest of cauliflower to dish and repeat topping process. Bake until cauliflower is tender and cheese bubbly, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Garnish with parsley and parmesan.


Poetry / literary events

Anne Carson
HVWC, September 14, 7pm, Erika Meitner, Blas Falconer, Nicole Cooley; September 28, 7pm, D. Nurkse, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Alison Jarvis; October 5, 7pm, Anne Carson, Lafcadio Cass, $10

Norwalk Library, September 6, 7pm, Charles Rafferty, Jonas Zdanys; October 4, 7pm, Amy Nawrocki, Brian Clements, Poets in Conversation with Norwalk Poet Laureate Laurel Peterson

Open Door Tea, September 14, 6:30pm, SheSpeak event, writers, actors and audience collaboration

Brenda Shaughnessy
London, J. Chester Johnson on Auden, the Psalms and Me: Sept. 20: St. Philip’s Church, 6pm; Oct. 14: Grosvenor Chapel after service; Oct. 23: Southwark Cathedral, 7pm, rsvp; Oct. 25: St. Mary Magdalene Paddington, pm (check time); Oct. 28: St. Peter’s Church 11:15am; Oxford: Oct. 11, St. Giles Church, 12:30pm

Katonah Library, September 23, 4pm, Brenda Shaughnessy, $10


’Round the Net

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Translator Anne Appel for celebrating Women Translators Month

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White for a great interview on John McMullen’s radio show and on being selected for the Best of the Best 650 Reads

Poet Terry Dugan on her upcoming chapbook, I’m the Reason the Kids Are Dead (Moonstone Press)


Composer Rob Kapilow for this podcast celebrating the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein

Yorktown Heights Poet Laureate John McMullen for this great article on the state of poetry

Art Historian Laura Morelli for her TedTalk on the difference between art and craft

Poets and Writers for this great interview with poet and novelist Michael Ondaatje

Astrophotographer Olivier Prache for this amazing photo of the M31 galaxy

M31 photo by Olivier Prache
Playwright Elizabeth Primamore on winning the Bernard and Shirley Handel Playwriting Award from the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Arts Colony

Poet Natalie Safir on poems in The Same, Ginosko Review, and Westchester Review; and essay, “Unveiling the Stone,” in the anthology What Remains (Gelles-Coles Literary Enterprises)

Poet and artist Linda Simone on being featured in The Chapbook Interview; having her essay, “TripTych,” also accepted in the What Remains anthology; and for sharing this hilarious video of mean reviews


My summer with Marcel

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
How did you spend your summer? I traveled to Combray and Balbec, fictitious places in France, thanks to Marcel Proust. Yes, I plowed through all seven volumes of In Search of Lost Time, also known as Remembrance of Things Past. Reading it, I was alternatively riveted and bored, amazed and heartbroken. The voice, so personal and authentic, made me feel I knew Marcel—is that possible, across a century? That he walked Paris avenues I once did gave me a delicious frisson. And that’s why it’s a masterpiece; its complex messages around longing, aristocracy, and art are so immediate. Do you love extra- ordinary writing? Take the plunge! The beach at Balbec calls.

Until next time,



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