your merry annogram

 

Dyker Heights, NY

Dear annogrammers, Merry Happy Joy! This season of lights and feasts is a celebration of family and friends, and the spiritual communities and traditions we enjoy. Wishing you time away from work, deep winter solace, and refreshing times spent with those you love best.

 

 

When the Pilotless Plane Arrives

 

Thanks to so many of you who have ordered When the Pilotless Plane Arrives (Trainwreck Press). Publisher John C. Goodman reports increased sales after last month’s newsletter. Pilotless, which taps into 1950s sci-fi/horror film narratives as metaphors for the perils of writing poetry, makes a great gift for poets or film aficionados. You can order your copy here.

 

 

The Christmas Owl

 

Remember the little owl that workers found tucked inside the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree last year? A new children’s book follows the story of Rocky, the northern saw-whet, one of the smallest owls in the U.S., who unexpectedly traveled downstate in the 75-foot tall tree. This beautifully illustrated story is co-written by Ellen Kalish who rehabilitated and freed Rocky back into the wild. I gifted myself with a copy and can’t wait to read it!

 

 

Lost Stories of Looted Art

 

Thanks to Beth Gersh-Nesic for recommending Edmund De Waal’s The Hare with the Amber Eyes (Picador, 2011), the story of art collector Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905), said to have inspired Proust’s character, Charles Swann; and Letters to Camondo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021) on collector Moïses de Camondo (1860-1935). “Both explore the rise of two Jewish families in the 20^th century art world,” says Beth. The Jewish Museum’s exhibit, “After Lives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art,” and “The Hare with the Amber Eyes,” featuring Ephrussi’s former netsuke collection, bring these intriguing tales to life.

 

Soul Train World Record

 

Photo Credit: CBS2

Last month 526 dancers, in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, created the largest Soul Train line—breaking the Guinness World Record. Each pair of participants had to boogie down a 40-foot path. With the last-minute help of local passers-by, police, and children, the BET Network claimed victory. Little Steven, in a recent podcast, also evoked the musically-rich Soul Train era by featuring iconic soundtracks from Black action films.

 

Creative Opportunities

 

The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel, by January 31

 

The Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize, by January 15

 

Ethos Literacy 3^rd Annual Short Short Story Contest, by January 31

 

Guggenheim Poet-in-Residence, deadline December 5

 

MindFULL Magazine, call for poetry on mental health

 

The National Park Arts Foundation, writer residencies

The Poet, call for “Cultural Identity” theme, translated works in original language and English

 

Pure Slush accepting submissions for its Work Lifespan Vol. 5, deadline December 31

 

Upstream Gallery call for small works, deadline December 3

 

 

New and Recent Releases

The Disasters of War (Moonstone Press)

First Literary Review-East

Norman Finkelstein, Thirty-Six / Two Lives (Dos Madres)

Paul Dickenson Russell, The Will of the Magi (Lulu)

Creative Workshops

 

Workshop for Writers of Nonfiction with Lia Purpura, December 11, 11am-4pm (LIVE),
Reisterstown, MD

 

All-Genre Writers Group, 6:30pm, Thursdays

 

John McMullen Poetry Workshop, 6pm, fourth Wednesdays

 

Mahopac Poetry Workshop, 6pm, second Wednesdays

 

ModPo, University of Pennsylvania’s free poetry course and global community

 

Norwalk Poetry Workshop, first and third Mondays, 6:30pm; email poet_laureate@norwalkpl.org to register

The Poets Salon, led by Ed Ahern and Alison McBain of Fairfield Scribes Press, 10am, every second Saturday

 

Writers and Artists Lunch Conversation, second Fridays, noon

 

 

December Readings and Events – ET

 

Original teabag art by
Linda Simone

December, all month, San Antonio’s Kapej Gallery, new watercolors and teabag cards by Linda Simone with artwork by Vera Smith and Laura Gomez, @teabagartsa @kapej.satx

December through January 16, Lathrop Community Gallery, Meg Lindsay oils and acrylics from juried shows and museum exhibits

December 4, 11am, Fat Moose Comics (New Jersey), The Will of the Magi book launch with Paul Dickinson Russell

December 4, 4pm, Desmond-Fish Library, “Eco-Poetry in the Afternoon” with A. Anupama, Laurel Anderson, Rebecca A. Durham, Stephanie Heit, Petra Kuppers, Karen Neuberg, Mary Newell, and Jennifer Spector; register here

December 11, 7pm, Pieces Club, “12 Drags of Christmas,” an Imperial Court of New York charity show, featuring Fran Sisco singing her parody, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Mrs. Claus”

December 16, 7pm, “Holiday Celebrations in Art” with Beth Gersh-Nesic, PhD; the Byram Shubert Library; register here

Chax Poetry Series with Michael Gottlieb, Rachel Blau Duplessis, Tom Mandel (YouTube)

 

 

Monthly Readings – ET

 

First Sunday, 4pm, Poetic License (Austin)

 

Every Tuesday, 2pm, Spoken Word World (Paris)

 

Every Tuesday, 7pm, Curley’s Diner

 

Third Fridays, 7pm, Hudson Valley Writers Center Open Mic – click third Friday for details

 

Every Saturday, 5pm, Lit Balm

 

 

Veggie Onion Gravy

 

At last, a gravy recipe for vegetarians and vegans alike! This one is a keeper.

 

5 tablespoons butter (can sub Earth Balance)

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce (optional)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

 

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add onion and pinch of salt. Sweat the onions, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8-10 minutes. If they start to turn brown, turn down heat -- you're looking for translucent and tender, not golden. Increase heat to medium. Stir in flour and cook, stirring frequently, for three minutes. Gradually stir in vegetable broth and continue stirring, over medium heat, until thickened to a gravy consistency, 3 - 4 minutes. Stir in Tamari or soy sauce. Add salt and pepper and serve.

 

 

ʼRound the Net

 

The Book Movie’s María Luisa López for producing “The Beauty of Confrontation,” by Chinese poet Yan An, translated by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen, and read by yours truly

 

Greenburgh Arts and Culture Council Executive Director Sarah Bracey White on receiving a $1,000 ArtsWestchester grant for "Let the Poets Speak," a "Restart the Arts" spring 2022 live event

Poet, essayist and filmmaker Terry Dugan for alerting us to the new bookstore, Hudson Valley Books for Humanity, opened last week in Ossining’s historic Opera House

Jeff Kwitny

Bibliophile Elyse Faltz for sharing The Kwitny Report, a delightful literary newsletter

 

Translator and art historian Beth Gersh-Nesic for this panel discussion on Jewish art dealers and the European art market

 

Poet Cindy Hochman on being both nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a featured reader at this great weather for MEDIA event

 

Big Blue / Still Life
by Meg Lindsay

Poet and artist Meg Lindsay on showing 16 paintings in the gallery at the Lathrop Community in Northampton, MA where she and her husband moved a year ago; and on her recent book, Notes from a Caregiver (Poetry Box); see her website for more info

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for being featured at Spoken Word World last month, and for this wonderful article on William Shatner’s experience in space, and what we can learn from it

 

The New York Public Library for its list of Best Books of 2021

 

Poet Christina Rau on What We Do to Make Us Whole, her second poetry collection forthcoming from Alien Buddha Press

William Blake (1757-1827)
Endangered Cottage

Cellist and music archivist Jay Shulman for this article on the endangered cottage where Blake wrote “Jerusalem”

 

Playwright and poet Joseph Simone on having his poem, “The Elysian Fields,” appear in The Disasters of War (Moonstone Press)

 

Kapej, San Antonio

Poet and artist Linda Simone on having watercolors on exhibit at the Kapej Gallery in San Antonio

Performer Fran Sisco on singing for Mike Marino’s podcast, Live from My Mother’s Basement; acting at the historic WOW Café; performing comedy in the "First Annual Anthony J. Ribustello Memorial Night of Entertainment" fundraiser at Marina del Rey; reciting original poems at the Transgender Memorial and Celebration at St. Paul’s Church; and reading a selection from Quentin Crisp at the Gene Frankel Theatre

 

 

Herb Hadad, a Writer’s Writer

 

Herb Hadad (1936-2021)

To know Herb Hadad, who was both Jewish and Arab, was to know someone with a heart for the world. He would often joke that we met in a closet of the Episcopal Church in Briarcliff Manor. True! In a windowless supply closet, he headed a table with eight students for his essay class. An award-wining journalist born in the grit of a Boston Globe newsroom, he could have easily been wearing a turn-of-the-century visor and armband, saying “Take out the third sentence and it’s gold. Good job, kid. Now get back to work.” In that room, laughter ruled as much as his gently suggested revisions.

 

Not long after that, he put in a good word when I wanted to write for a Fortune 10 where I was a proofreader and he a staff writer. We participated on the National Writers Union’s local board with my soon-to-be indispensable writing pals, Sarah Bracey White, Linda Simone, and Terry Dugan. We immediately adopted him as our unofficial coach and mentor.

 

And when my first book was published, he came to celebrate. I said, “Herb, I can’t believe I’m doing this launch. My mother died two weeks ago.” Without missing a beat, he replied, “This is good, to keep your mind occupied.” That fatherly encouragement was just what I needed to hear.

For nearly two decades, Herb thrived in his role as press officer at the Department of Justice in New York. After retiring, he would email some of the Arabic he was learning. In a daring move that rattled the State Department, he took his entire family to Syria a year or two before that country imploded. It was vital to him that his adult children connect with the culture of his forebears. Tapping into his nomadic roots, he would often end emails with a playful “I am returning to my tent.” On a more reflective note, he once confided he knelt in prayer toward the east each morning.

 

Now the sun has set in the west, and you have returned to the tent of your Syrian ancestors. Shukran, Herb Hadad.

 

Until next time,

Ann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

your grateful annogram

Dear annogrammers, In this month that closes on a note of gratitude, I am grateful for your amazing literary and artistic talents, our creative journey together, and the collegial friendship we enjoy. Speaking of journeys, this issue gives you ways to feel like you’re traveling—even back in time! Enjoy….

When the Pilotless Plane Arrives

 

When the Pilotless Plane Arrives (Trainwreck Press) is now available! Thanks to editor John C. Goodman for publishing my chapbook, and all of you purchasing it and going back for more copies for friends who are sci-fi films buffs. Pilotless taps into 1950s sci-fi/horror film narratives as metaphors for the perils of writing poetry—and makes a great holiday gift. You can order your copy here.

 

 

The TWA Hotel at JFK

 

With the Connie

Keeping with our airplane theme, the TWA Hotel is a total 1960s time capsule! A Chrysler Newport convertible and two-color VW van sit outside, and inside, an upbeat songs like “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” immerse travelers in that cultural period.

 

Hmm...a new career?

The renovated Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) building, one of the “first space age” designs, features an exhibit of TWA stewardess uniforms, and access to the 1958 Lockheed Constellation plane, parked outside the airy lobby. The “Connie,” a bar lounge, once the jumbo jet of its time, requires climbing steps much like you see celebrities do—a fun photo op. 

Demanding more royalties

I got nostalgic seeing banks of dial pay phones. The site also features Saarinen’s “office” with blueprints, the “Pope Room”; several scenic designer bars, and iconic photos of stars such as Monroe and the Beatles exiting TWA planes. Go, and you too will be humming “Up, Up, and Away” when you leave.

 

 

Travels with Roger

 

Roger Weatherburn-Wells Baker

Thanks to dear friend Claudia Hammon for alerting me to the Luxe Travel Writer, a website by Roger Weatherburn-Wells Baker. You can pick just about any country, click on an image, and be immersed in a specific place—complemented by Roger’s literary narrative. Missing your home country? Planning an upcoming trip? Scroll and click your way through this beautiful website by an authoritative globetrotter.

 

 

Yan An Read by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen

 

When it’s 9pm in New York, it’s 9am the next day in Xi’ang Province, China. That’s the time my Chinese translator, Chen Du, read work via Zoom by Yan An, one of China’s premier contemporary poets. Chax Press recently released his book, A Naturalist’s Manor, a translation by Chen and Xisheng Chen. We enjoyed hearing Chen, Xisheng, and US poet Norman Fischer read, followed by a fascinating conversation on Chinese poetry. Thanks to Chax publisher Charles Alexander for hosting this global event!

 

 

It’s an Italian Thing. No, It’s a Black Thing.

Playwright Fran Sisco’s It’s an Italian Thing. No, It’s a Black Thing, which tests and circles cultural boundaries, debuted last month at Manhattan’s historic Guild Hall. The plot centers around Frankie, an Italian-American trans woman, played by Fran Sisco, who must meet Winnie, African-American mother of Frankie’s girlfriend, Tanasia. “[The dramedy] shows how much more alike we are than different,” said director Dakota Martin of Chill Bucket Productions. Congratulations to Fran, Dakota, producer Joe Rocco, and the cast!

 

 

Where Sonny Rollins Found His Muse

 

Sometimes you don’t have to go far for inspiration, only “up.” In 1959, sax virtuoso Sonny Rollins left the music scene to play in the clouds—atop the Williamsburg Bridge. High above the East River, Sonny answered tugboat horns, seagull cries, and rhythmic clacks of subway cars. Two years later, he recorded The Bridge, one of his most beloved albums. In Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge, Gary Golio tells this remarkable story—complemented by James Ransome’s illustrations—for the young and young-at-heart.

 

 

Creative Opportunities

 

Guggenheim Poet-in-Residence, deadline December 5

 

Hooking the Reader: Polishing Your First Line and First Page, a workshop with Laurel S. Peterson, November 4, 6pm

Moonstone Chapbook Contest, deadline November 5 

The National Park Arts Foundation, writer residencies – thanks to Christina Rau for this!

The Pedestal open call for submissions, deadline November 28

 

Poetry group forming at Scarsdale Public Library, email splwriterscenter@wlsmail.org

 

Pure Slush accepting submissions for its Work Lifespan Vol. 5, deadline December 31

 

Upstream Gallery call for small works, deadline December 3

 

 

New and Recent Releases

 

Laura Bass, The Burning Light of Two Stars: A Mother-Daughter Story
(Girl Friday Books)

Gary Golio, Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)

Gary Metras, Vanishing Points (Dos Madres Press)

John McMullen, Collected Poems 2008-2010 (Scars Publishing)

 Paul Dickinson Russell, The Will of the Magi (Lulu)

 

 

Creative Workshops

 

Laurel Peterson

Hooking the Reader: Polishing Your First Line and First Page, a workshop with Laurel S. Peterson, November 4, 6pm

 

All-Genre Writers Group, 6:30pm, Thursdays

 

John McMullen Poetry Workshop, 6pm, fourth Wednesdays

 

Mahopac Poetry Workshop, 6pm, second Wednesdays

 

ModPo, University of Pennsylvania’s free poetry course and global community

 

Norwalk Poetry Workshop, first and third Mondays, 6:30pm; email 

poet_laureate@norwalkpl.org to register

 

The Poets Salon, led by Ed Ahern and Alison McBain of Fairfield Scribes Press, 10am, every second Saturday

 

Writers and Artists Lunch Conversation, second Fridays, noon

 

 

November+ Readings and Events – ET

 

Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds

November 4, 8pm, Mutabilis Press’s Mutable Hour reading, register here

 

November 6, 1pm, 

Oceanside (NY) Library, Grief and Gratitude Panel and Performance with 

Poet-in-Residence Christina Rau; via Zoom meeting ID: 865 1903 1421; passcode: 186896; also a Facebook Event

 

November 11, 2pm, John McMullen Veteran’s Day Reading

 

November Saturdays, 5pm, Segue Reading Series, November 6, Rachel Levitsky, Anna Gurton-Wachter; November 13, Kamden Hilliard, Laura Elrick; November 20, Charles Bernstein; Geoffrey Olsen; December 4, Lila Zemborain, Justin Allen

 

November 4-28, Upstream Gallery, TB Ward and Luis Perelman Solo Exhibitions; artists’ reception, November 7, 2-6pm

 

Paul Dickinson Russell

November, all month, Studio Theater in Exile, Truth-telling: Voices of First People Exhibit featuring contemporary Indigenous artists Christi Belcourt, the late T. C. Cannon, Nicholas Galanin Yéil Ya-Tseen, Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds, Margaret Jacobs, Rose B. Simpson, Duane Slick and Benjamin West

December 4, 11am, Fat Moose Comics (New Jersey), The Will of the Magi book launch with Paul Dickinson Russell

 

 

Monthly Readings – ET

 

First Sunday, 4pm, Poetic License (Austin)

 

Every Tuesday, 2pm, Spoken Word World (Paris)

 

Every Tuesday, 7pm, Curley’s Diner

 

Third Fridays, 7pm, Hudson Valley Writers Center Open Mic – click third Friday for details

 

Every Saturday, 5pm, Lit Balm

 

 

Pumpkin Hummus

 

Thanks to Linda Simone for another yummy and nutritious recipe—Linda, a poet and artist both in and out of the kitchen!

 

2 cloves garlic
15-oz can chickpeas, skins removed (optional, but makes hummus creamier)
15-oz can pumpkin
½-1 tsp salt, per preference
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Optional: pumpkin seeds for garnish

 

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse on high until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve with pita bread slices, whole grain crackers, and/or sliced fresh vegetables. To store, place hummus in a sealable container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

 

ʼRound the Net

 

Sarah Bracey White

Bewildering Stories for its one thousandth issue last month

 

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White on her Morgan State University Soulful Centennial Literati interview

 

Translators Chen Du and Xisheng Chen on winning the Zachary Doss Friends in Letters Fellowship

 

Marcel Proust

Translator and art historian Beth Gersh-Nesic for this French test of Proust savvy

 

Poet Cindy Hochman for sharing a LitBalm reading where she, Bob Heman, and Patricia Carragon read

Poet Heller Levinson for five new poems in No Materialism

 

The International Dark Sky Association for free event on limiting the growing problem of light pollution, “Under One Sky”

 

Author J. Chester Johnson for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art blogon the Elaine Race Massacre, and his article on publishing during a pandemic for the Best American Poetry blog

Tony Bennett

Poet John McMullen for his new Medium newsletter

 

Poet Ralph Nazareth for sharing this clip of Tony Bennett performing at 95 despite the singer's Alzheimer’s diagnosis

 

Poets and Writers for its new series of online classes, “Five Things I’ve Learned”

Fran Sisco

 

Poet and artist Linda Simone for this list of venues for hybrid and experimental work

 

Poet, playwright, actor, and artist Fran Sisco for hosting an Open Studio of her sculpture and paintings in last month’s New Rochelle (NY) Art Fest

 

 

Until next time,

Ann