your summer annogram

 

Dear annogrammers, Welcome to almost-summer, the days of ease we await in the next few weeks. I have exciting news to share, the regular creative round-up, and a sweetpotato salad for lazy picnics with family or friends. Wishing you good books to read, naps on the sand or in the hammock, and picture-perfect times with loved ones.

 

Great News from Beautiful Days Press

I am thrilled that my translation of Hélène Sanguinetti’s Alparegho, Pareil-à-rien, will be one of the inaugural books published by Beautiful Days Press. Thanks to editors George Fragopoulos and Joshua Wilkerson, for selecting this timely and timeless tale of a quest for identity. In France, Alparegho will be reissued this fall by Lurlure. Look for my translation mid-2024, and bises to Linda Simone for suggesting this press!

 

The Hero Video

Equally excited to announce the debut of the seven-minute video from Hélène’s book The Hero (Chax Press, 2018) that combines gorgeous imagery and a haunting soundtrack behind the spoken narrative. Charles Alexander of Chax Press asked me to do a recording a few years ago, and I wanted something more visually intriguing. This is the result, and I hope you will enjoy and share.

 

My YouTube Channel

The Hero video needed a home, so a friend and I collated a dozen readings on my new YouTube Channel. You can hear a fascinating sound bite from French poet Jean-Luc Pouliquen on the migration of Beat Poetry to France, listen to my humble beginnings as a poet in the Vin Dacquino interview, or discover US poets from Trainwreck Press. It’s all there in one place!

 

Dead Poets Rise

 

How can poetry be more accessible? Enter Dead Poets Rise—a board game unlike any other, where poetry doesn’t feel like schoolwork, but something fun and challenging for anyone, from the poetry-averse to die-hards composing haikus and sonnets. DPR is about rescuing poets from obscurity–and everybody gets to take home their own poem at the end. Learn more here and help Kickstart this important game!

 

Vinyl Obsession

My favorite guitarist, Michael, and I adore this TV show. 

Episodes host two rock stars who select five favorite vinyl albums from Grimey’s Records in Nashville. They share how they fell in love or worked with certain bands—an autobiographical journey as much as a musical one. We also love Power Hour, which lists the week’s top ten metal videos—guided by a panel that includes Wolfgang Van Halen. ʼNuf said!

 

Kids Short Story Connection

Looking for a place where your young writer (ages 9-15) can join peers to cultivate their literary talent in a non-competitive environment? Greenburgh's Arts and Culture Committee is sponsoring a series of writing workshops (in person and over Zoom) on Saturday mornings in July. Contact sarahbracey.white@ gmail.com for details.

 

 

Creative Opportunities

Chapbook contests: Lines+Stars,  Omnidawn, Slapering Hol, Swan Scythe, deadlines soon

Fast Flesh Literary Journal, call for flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, interviews, craft essays, and hybrid or cross-genre work

 

The Pedestal Magazine, call for poems by June 4

Poetry Prizes: Frontier, Lois Cranston Memorial, Rattle, deadlines soon

Pure Slush and Truth Serum Press, poems on achievement, by June 30

 

 

New and Recent Releases

Cagibi

 

Barbara J. Dickinson and Margaret A. Herrick, The ABCs of Wishing (Independently published)

 

Alexander Dickow, translator, The Central Laboratory by Max Jacob (Wakefield Press)

First Literary Review-East

 

Jerry T. Johnson, A Coldness (Finishing Line Press)

 

George Kalamaras, To Sleep in the Horse’s Belly: My Greek Poets and the Aegean Inside Me (Dos Madres Press)

 

Dana Levin and Adele Elise Williams, eds., Bert Meyers: On the Life and Work of an American Master (Pleiades Press)

Heller Levinson, Query Caboodle (Black Widow Press)

 

Heller Levinson, Shift Gristle (Black Widow Press)

 

Presence

 

Creative Workshops

Ecopoetics with Mary Newell, four weekly classes starting June 7, 1-3pm, Zoom, register and pay

 

Charles Alexander

Four Steps to 

the Modern Poem II 

with Charles Alexander, 

four classes starting June 6, 

Live; and dates to come 

for a separate Zoom course, 

register and pay

 

Kevin Pilkington

Kevin Pilkington, Best Words—Best Order Poetry Workshop, Maine Media Workshop, July 17-21

 

Kids Short Story Connection (ages 9-15), four workshops in July, contact sarahbracey.white@gmail.com for details

 

Living the Poet’s Life with Suzanne Cleary, a 2.5 hour Zoom poetry workshop, Tunbridge Wells Poetry Festival, June 15, 9am

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 Peekskill Writing Table, serious critique for writers, second and third Tuesdays via Zoom; email tpwritingtable@gmail.com

 

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

 

 

June+ Events – ET

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Upstream Gallery (Hastings-on-Hudson), June 1-25, TB Ward: New Work, and Janine Menlove: Blue Journals; reception, June 2, 5-8pm

 

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (Huntington), June 10, 4pm, Staged Reading: American Poet: Whitman's Warnings

 

Sketchbook Brewing Company (Evanston), June 11, 2-4pm, Rhino Release Party, Isha Camara, Reginald Gibbons, Marcy Rae Henry, Nazifa Islam, Maja Teref, Steven Teref

 

BACCA Poetry Chat with Christina Rau: Let’s Talk About Footnotes; June 12, 6:30pm; FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/203234615680341; register: info@babylonarts.org

Bennington Museum (VT), For the Love of Vermont: The Lyman Orton Collection, July 15-November 5; Southern Vermont Art Center, July 22-November 5

 

NYC Poetry Festival (Governor’s Island), July 29-30

NYC Poetry Festival (Governor’s Island), July 29, 11:30am, The White Horse; Broadstone Books with Meredith Trede

Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, July 30, 1:30pm, A Persistence of Cormorants: Broadstone Books with Meredith Trede   

 

 

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

 

Frequent Saturdays (check Facebook), 5pm, LitBalm

 

Sweetpotato Salad

 

This recipe called for up to six potatoes but two will do for two+ servings. The North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, the recipe’s originator, has made the spud one word, so we will respect that:

 

2 sweetpotatoes, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons, plus 1 tablespoon, olive oil, divided

¾ teaspoon salt, divided

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 bunch curly kale, rinse and chopped

½ large lemon, juice only

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 large avocado, pitted and diced

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup almonds, coarsely chopped

¼ cup red onion, chopped

½ cup goat cheese

 

Dressing:

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

 

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place potatoes in large bowl. In small bowl, whisk 2 teaspoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Toss on potatoes and place them on sheet pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until tender, flipping once during baking. Place chopped kale in large bowl. In small bowl, whisk remaining olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. Pour over kale and massage with hands until mixed. For dressing, whisk syrup, olive oil, and vinegar in bowl. In kale bowl, add remaining ingredients. Toss with dressing and serve. Sweetpotatoes can be baked and refrigerated 1 day in advance.

 

ʼRound the Net

 

Poets Susana Case and Margo Stever, editors of I Wanna Be Loved By You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe (Milk and Cake Press), which won Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize in Poetry

 

Guitarist and songwriter Michael Cefola on discovering the great rock music programs on AXS TV

 

Poet Llyn Clague for his monthly emailed poems—see his website to subscribe

 

Ballet artist Elyse Faltz on sharing this meditation on Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

 

Sandra Lim

Poet Jennifer Franklin on her Poetry Society of America interview

 

Art historian and translator Beth Gersh-Nesic for this conversation with curator Elizabeth Cowling on Cubism and the Trompe L’Oeil

Poet Cindy Hochman on this insightful review of Telling You Everything (Unleash Press); latest First Literary Review-East, and three poems in Poetry Pacific

 

Poet Trish Hopkinson for this list of feminist literary journals

 

Poet Sandra Lim on winning the Jackson Prize for Poetry

 

Poet Heller Levinson on his two new books, work in Word for Word, and this great review of Jus’ Sayin’ (Black Widow Press)

 

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for his wonderful memoir, “Teddy Ballgame and My Brother,” in The New Croton Review; video of the first Midnight Special; and the Audubon definition of a songbird

 

Ralph Nazareth and friends

Poet Ralph Nazareth for founding GraceWorks, which directly funds projects for impoverished children in Africa and India

Poet Jean-Luc Pouliquen on cultivating peace, after meeting Nobel Prizewinner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

 

Poet Christina Rau on having her poem “Semaphore” appear in Armstrong Literary

 

 Hélène Sanguinetti
at Victoria Hall (Geneva)

Poet Hélène Sanguinetti on surprising longtime friend, Jean-Pierre Greff, former director of Haute École d’Art et de Design (2007-2022), at the ceremony awarding him the prestigious Geneva Foundation Award

 

Bassist Larry Schwartzman for this video of Skip James singing “Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues”

 

Poet and artist Giorgia Stavropoulou on reading at the Poet’s Agora (Athens), and sharing this video of Joan Miró at work

 

Joan Miró (1893-1983)
Painting, 1933

Memoirist Cheryl Strayed on having her Rumpus “Dear Sugar” column turned into a Hulu series called “Tiny Beautiful Things”

 

Tripadvisor for epic film locations you can actually visit

 

Grow Your Soul

 

Thanks to John McMullen for sharing Kurt Vonnegut’s (1922-2007) response to a high school English class that had written him in 2006. We close with a few words from his charming response: 

Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience 

becoming, to find out what’s 

inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives.

 

Until September,

Ann