your good-lovin' annogram

 

"Sweet Love" by Linda Simone

Dear annogrammers, welcome new subscribers: pull up a chair, meet some new poets and artists, and maybe get your hands a little sugary making some almond amaretti. We love what we do here, and encourage you to pursue your big-hearted dreams this Valentine’s and throughout 2022; then write me when they come true.

 

 

Trainwreck Poets to Read

 

Thanks to everyone for continuing to purchase my chapbook, When the Pilotless Plane Arrives (Trainwreck Press). On March 5, 4pm ET, I will read with outstanding Trainwreck poets: eco-poet Mary Newell, Hinge Theory founder Heller Levinson, poet and translator Anthony Seidman, and poet and visual artist Giorgia Pavlidou. Please register on Zoom here for a fun and lively hour of poetry!

 

 

Bridezillas, Marilyn Monroe, What Georgians Should Read, and More

 

It could not be more perfect this Valentine’s month to have work in They Call Us Bridezillas, I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe (Milk+Cake Press), and Poets Speaking to Poets: Tributes and Echoes (Ars Omnia Press). Thrilled that Mother Mary Comes to Me (Madville Publishing) was named a 2022 Book All Georgians Should Read by Georgia Center for the Book. Finally, roses and bon-bons to Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for welcoming me to his poetry workshop last month, and for the gifted poets in attendance.

 

 

Et Voici La Chanson reviewed by Tristan Hordé

 

Congratulations to Hélène Sanguinetti on Tristan Hordé’s glowing review of Et Voici La Chanson (Éditions Lurlure):

 

What an excellent idea to republish the book, published by Éditions de l'Amandier in 2012, for new readers! Start with the back cover, which sheds light on two of the book's main characters: Yoke and Joke. They are day and night, moon and sun, water and thirst, Eros and Thanatos, but also the classic villain and hero, sorrow and happiness, bad luck and good fortune, pain and pleasure; sometimes him, sometimes her, everyone, no one. Discover others firmly rooted in a world where the best and worst characters sit side by side.

 

My translation of this fantastic book is available—publishers, what are you waiting for? This iconic poet mesmerizes US audiences every time I read from this work. It’s timely and timeless at once.

 

 

Holding Up the Sky

 

Ed Jordan at work

Ed Jordan, a former felon, tells his transformational story in the documentary Holding Up the Sky. Through the project, filmmaker Bob Nesson hopes to “foster greater access to education inside prison and stimulating change [to help] a ‘returning citizen’ gain a stable life.” See a rough-cut (password “Ed Jordan”), and consider a donation to help this important film get over the finish line this year.

 

 

Black History Month

 

Some wonderful events this month: poet David Mills will read, February 15 at 7pm, from Boneyarn (The Ashland Poetry Press), the first poetry book about slavery in New York City (register on Zoom here); Faith Ringgold: American People at the New Museum starts February 17; poet Linda Simone alerted us to MoMA artist Joseph E. Yoakum, and the new quarter honoring Maya Angelou, her fav poet whom she met years ago; and Mattel’s debut of the Ida B. Wells Barbie, honoring the early civil rights pioneer.

 

 

Creative Opportunities

 

Letter addressed by
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Furious Flower Poetry Prize, $1000 and publication in Obsidian for a group of poems; by February 15

 

Omnidawn Publishing, $3000 and publication of first or second poetry book; submit by February 28

 

Open Door Magazine poetry on “footsteps” by February 15

 

Pedestal open reading, submit up to five poems by March 4

 

Sarabande Books, $2000 and publication for a poetry and fiction book; submit by February 15

 

Terrapin Books, submit poetry manuscripts by February 28

 

 

New and Recent Releases

Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever, eds. I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe (Milk+Cake Press)

David Mills, Boneyarn (The Ashland Poetry Press)

David A. Petreman, trans. Between Good-Byes and Nostalgia & Distances and Solitudes by Marino Muñoz Lagos (Dos Madres Press)

 

Jan Zlotnick Schmidt, Over the Moon Gone: The Vanishing Act of Bess Houdini (Palooka Press)

 

Edwin Torres, Quanundrum: i will be your many angled thing (Roof Books)

Linda Marie Walker, Thresholds (Trainwreck Press)

 

 

Creative Workshops

 

"Lunch" by Kathy Bradford

Stealing from the Poet’s Toolbox: A Fiction Writers Workshop with Estha Weiner, March 19, 10am-2pm, Sarah Lawrence College, $175

 

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

 

 

February+ Readings and Events – ET

 

David Mills

February, Kapej Gallery & Cafe – San Antonio, Valentine teabag-art cards by watercolorist Linda Simone

 

February 3, Comedy Film Festival, Best of 2022 Shorts, free for one day, register here

 

February 4, 7pm, Syracuse Downtown Writers' Center, Suzanne Cleary, to register for this free Zoom reading, click on Suzanne’s photo: https://ymcacny.org/blog/category/downtown-writers-center

 

February 10, 7pm, Byram Shubert Library, Beth Gersh-Nesic on “Romantic Love through the Ages in Art” via Zoom; register here

 

February 12-21, Lowell Observatory, I Heart Pluto Festival, buy tickets here

 

February 14, 7pm, KGBBAR, I Wanna Be Loved By You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe book launch (LIVE), vax card required

Marilyn Monroe
(1926-1962)

February 15, 7pm, Scarsdale Library, David Mills; register here

 

February 21, 7pm, Oceanside Library, Christina Rau and Nathan Brown via Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88391662640?pwd=WEp6TVIraGQySzh6cjNUeHZFRWFEZz09

 

 February 24, 7pm, Red-Headed Stepchild, poets from I Wanna Be Loved By You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe via Zoom; email marilynmonroepoems@gmail.com for link

 

February 26, 6pm, Italian American Writers Association New York and Boston Literary Series, Mary Lou Buschi and Chloe Miller via Zoom, register here

Giorgia Pavlidou

 

March 2, 6pm, Norwalk Public Library, Poets Vincent Bell and Ginny Lowe-Connors in Conversation with Laurel S. Peterson via Zoom, register here

March 5, 4pm, Trainwreck Poetry Reading with Ann, Heller Levinson, Mary Newell, Anthony Seidman and Giorgia Pavlidou via Zoom, register here

 

 

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

 

 

Amaretti

 

Some gluten-free sweets to celebrate Valentine’s, or your afternoon cup of tea….

 

2 1/2 cups almond flour or 3 cups blanched slivered almonds, 

finely ground

1 1/4 cups baker's (superfine) sugar

3 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Extra sugar for dusting

 

Preheat oven to 300°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In food processor, pulse together almond flour and sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract and pulse a few seconds. Add egg clears one at a time and continue until dough is smooth. Place teaspoons of dough on parchment-lined baking sheet and dust with sugar. Bake 24-30 (20-24 for chewy cookies) minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before serving. They will be chewy at first, but crisp up after a day or two. Store in a cool, dry place.

 

 

ʼRound the Net

 

B. K. Fischer

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White for the Hollywood-directed “sizzle reel” of Transcendence, the musical based on her enormously popular memoir Primary Lessons (Cavan Kerry Press)

 

Translators Chen Du and Xisheng Cheng on translations of contemporary Chinese poet Yan An in Life and Legends, and Tilted House Review

 

Poet and filmmaker Terry Dugan for sharing a fiction contest that “Honors the Worst of the Worst”

 

Westchester Poet Laureate B. K. Fischer on being short-listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award

 

Michael Holstein

Photographer Michael Holstein on the ArtsWestchester spotlight for his role as an Arts Ambassador

 

Civil rights historian and poet J. Chester Johnson on sharing this 18-minute Johnson House video featuring Sheila Walker discussing Damaged Heritage (Pegasus Books)

 

LitHub for this personal catalog of the world’s best bookstores

 

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for always inviting new subscribers to annogram

 

The New York Public Library for its reads to help support mental health in the new year

 

Poet Christina Rau on having work in Nine Cloud Journal, on the Alien Buddha Press Twitter Space Reading, and Destinies Radio Show (at 12:30)

 

Poet and artist Linda Simone on having work in Prolific Press’s Haiku Journal #68

 

Fiction writer Ron Tanner on having Far West (Elixir Press) featured in last month’s SPD Recommends

 

Poets Estha Weiner and Alan Walowitz on why people hate poetry in podcast Poetry! What Is It Good For?

 

 

Gratitude, Love, and Writing

 

Once again, thanks to poet and artist Linda Simone for this quote from neurologist Oliver Sacks (1933-2015) plucked from an Austin Kleon newsletter:

 

I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

 

Until next time,

Ann